V, The Dragon Witch 🌙

Hey, if you use Stripe for anything, just FYI that you have to *opt-out* of their new AI, which they will charge you for. You don't want Standard (which is free until January, I think, and is their AI plan), you want Lite. You can opt-out in your dashboard.

I absolutely adored The Dragon Has Some Complaints by John Wiswell! A three-headed dragon, traumatised by the loss of one of his heads, decides to take revenge on humanity (and also get some much needed food and shelter) by getting himself taken in by humans alongside other injured tame dragons. Except everything is a lot more complicated than that: his memory, how he feels about humans, and particularly how he feels about his new messy, big-hearted rider. https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-dragon-has-some-complaints-1

#WritersCoffeeClub 2: What are the limits of critique? There is a culture among writers, especially ambitious unpublished or early-career writers, that you need a thick skin and to ask for as harsh critique as possible. This has very limited value and in many cases, will hurt or discourage the author who requested it. Not all critique is created equal, anyway.

Good morning folk and friends from far and near! Today I wish you something to look forward to ✨

#WritersCoffeeClub 3: What's the sign of a good critique? It understands what you are trying to do with your story and helps you achieve that. It is respectful and undemanding, and does not cross your stated boundaries or fall outside the scope of your requested feedback. Or that's the case for me, anyway.

#WritersCoffeeClub 8: What's the last thing you read which motivated you to write? Well, pretty much all fiction I read motivates me to write. Good, bad, inspiring, depressing...I think just the act of consuming fiction gets my creative brain firing. I just read Fabulous Bodies by Chuck Tingle yesterday. It was excellent, it was horrifying, I would never write something like it. And it makes me want to write!

hi You might want to check out the We Exist Without Permission book bundle, which includes 25 books by queer, disabled authors, with queer, disabled characters. It includes my own novel, The Old Goat and the Alien. https://itch.io/b/3669/we-exist-without-permission ok thanks 🏳️‍🌈

Some critiquers would never have liked what you wrote and want you to write something different. Some want you to rewrite it to be the story THEY would have written. Some, frankly, just like feeling superior. Critique is useful when it's the right critiquers, who give the right kind of critique for you, and who understand and respect your boundaries. That's hard to find, but when you find it, it's invaluable.

Good morning folk and friends from far and near! Today I wish you a moment of cool and comfort ✨

Strangers have been and gone. They did a good job but it was stressful. Been cuddling with Wren, since. Still trying to help her overcome her stress about Joh going to work. And since she's actually seeking cuddles, it's working. She's been so chill even with the stranger invasion.

In really good news, Wren seems to be really settled now with cuddles from me. The last few days, she wouldn't settle with me for long. Progress. 💙

(Many other things motivate me to write. TV, movies, art, video games. But not with the consistency of fiction. Good or bad, fiction gives me the urge to write. Other mediums, it's more hit or miss.)

#WritersCoffeeClub 11: Share something you saw or read recently which really inspired you. I went to the zoo yesterday and I really fixated on the yellow mongeese. I said to Joh, 'I really need to put one of these in a book' and Joh said, 'Yeah, they have protagonist energy' and I'm still rotating all that in my mind. They were just really beautiful and fun to watch. Especially when chubby garden birds were stealing their food!

Spent all day cuddling and playing with Wren and Wren was very sweet and settled. Joh got home and she had a minor tantrum. Joh is taking her for a big walk and that's the plan for the next few days. Quality adventure time with Joh!

#WritersCoffeeClub 10: What wisdom do you wish you could share with your younger self? It's okay to be weird. It's okay to be unmarketably autistic. What trad publishing wants is not what *everyone* wants.

#WritersCoffeeClub 8: What experience can you identify as having made you the writer you are today? I've been writing stories since I discovered that people actually made the awesome books I was reading. So long ago I don't remember it. A big turning point in my writing journey was when, exhausted and short on ideas, I begged Joh to give me something to write about. A bit fed up with me (I was being very dramatic), Joh suggested I write about necromancers.

#WritersCoffeeClub 9: Share the first line of your current WIP. Everyone: How enticed are you? Yiba carefully placed the last rock on the shelf, dusted her paws, and stood back to admire a job well-done. --- I've decided to combine some special interests for my next protagonist. She's a rock sorter--a rock collecting librarian! I don't know whether this first line will survive future drafts. It might! It's a question of whether I want the first line to be quiet or catchy.

Yellow mongeese, for reference

#WritersCoffeeClub 7: Do readers need to understand a character's motivations to understand the story? Understanding (even if not agreeing or approving) makes a huge difference to enjoyment, at least. You can absolutely tell a story where a character's motivations are inscrutable, but if you never discover why, even at the end, that can easily be unsatisfying. I think a reader can still understand the story without understanding every character's motivation, but it would likely lack depth.

He knew I was scared of them and thought it would make a good challenge. It did make a good challenge. I thought 'What would make necromancers less scary to me without changing their tropes at all?' And I had read lots of Terry Pratchett and thought, 'What if the book wasn't deadly serious?' Which at the time, was not something I'd ever thought I could do. But Tombtown was born, and from there I experimented with cosy fantasy, and now I'm the weirdo writer you see before you.

Okay, she's all done tantruming for now and I'm giving her cradle-cuddles.

#WritersCoffeeClub 12: If not in your current format (novel, play, music, etc.), in what format would you write? If I couldn't write books, I think I'd like to write games. Especially visual novels and huge, sprawling text adventures. I've dabbled a bit in that area and it's great fun, but to write a Roadwarden-esque game would take too much time away from novelling and requires skills I don't have! (Check out the game Roadwarden, if you haven't already! It's the perfect text adventure.)

You can also get a bundle of Space Dragons: Luxorian's Crew, The Old Goat and the Alien, and Non-Player Character 71% off on itch right now! https://itch.io/s/183560/cosy-the-day-away-may-2026

@LJ@zirk.us congrats! This is fantastic news!

@JonasJRichter@mastodon.pnpde.social a friend has talked about 3D printing me one. There may be a stencil in my future already!

@dona@mastodon.art this is so messed up

@ljwrites@writeout.ink :D

@ljwrites@writeout.ink I often lean toward quieter first sentences, against the general advice. 😅 I'm glad you like it!

⏰ Reminder: this sale is for today only! ⏰

@irina@wandering.shop Other books may have better options. If the only link offered is Amazon, likely that book is only available on Amazon. :(

@Bikil@mastoart.social absolutely :dragon_sweats:

@storydragon@dragonscave.space Roarning!

@dona@mastodon.art they're awesome! What a lovely study.

@skysailor@social.scribblers.club ah, great!

@robparsons@bookstodon.com

Unfortunately, my website is down at the moment. :dragon_sweats: In case anyone tries the link while that's true: My books from mainstream retailers in ebook and paperback: https://books2read.com/ap/nBmA09/ My books on itch: https://vicorva.itch.io/

@moonglow@mastodon.art thanks!

@irina@wandering.shop Unfortunately, many authors still use Amazon exclusively. But authors were encouraged to post their preferred link, as well as a link aggregating all the other places their books are available. So for my pages, my preferred link is Itch, but there's also a link of everywhere else the books are available (which does not include Amazon at all).

@moonglow@mastodon.art She was like this as a kitten and we worked through it. I don't know what's leading to it now--probably just because Joh has been spending less time with her this week (still a good amount of time with her, though). We'll work through it but yeah. It's a bit intense.

@ljwrites@writeout.ink this is amazing! Ahh, congrats! Your poem sounds awesome. Also, it must be so validating to have a rejected piece get an acceptance. It just needed the right publication! Sparkles!! ✨ ✨ ✨

@Tak you are so right. Large portions of LotR are very cosy apart from the overarching threat!

@Tuftears@wandering.shop Yes! Writing for big games is so much more work than novel writing, imo. Even if you ONLY do the writing, you have to handle so many possibilities at all times. But it's also amazing and I love the format.