Author | Lightnews

Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

@carmunist.bsky.social

8.9K followers 7.8K following 220 posts

Learning and teaching my language—Nishnaabemwin. Jijaak ndoodem. Consultant at Oodenaw.com. Award-winning short fiction author and poet. Developmental editor at DarlingAxe.com. Kidlit, YA, hist fic, women's lit. She/they

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Carmen Wiigwaas Craig @carmunist.bsky.social · May 29

“I have tried to do what is true and not ideal.”

—Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · 3d

The First Page Challenge 2025—2nd place

CLOUDIA WITH A CHANCE OF DARKNESS by Melissa Grant

"It was her 11th birthday, and the sky had the nerve to be blue."

darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/f...

#writingcommunity #writingcontest #booksky

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 15d

"Damn right," he behemothed hoarsely.

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 14d

We’ve Come For Your Eggs is a comic fantasy adventure equal parts Dungeons & Dragons romp and razor-sharp satire, lampooning the US-Canada trade war and a few infamous celebrities along the way.

Book launch: Oct 23

Kindle pre-orders are live 🐲
mybook.to/dragoneggs

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Nature Art by Gibson @azgibsonz.bsky.social · 18d

“There's a bluebird in my heart
that wants to get out..."
~Charles Bukowski 🪶

💙

📸 Sialia mexicana, the Western Blueborb of Happiness 🐦

#MondayVibes
#BlueSkyMonday
#Bluebirds
#BirdLovers
#Photography
#EastCoastKin

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 17d

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!

In addition to my writing and editing work, I'm honoured to be a board member and treasurer for Oodenaw.com, an urban Indigenous consulting cooperative. We support education initiatives, cultural resurgence, and language revitalization.

♥️

Oodenaw: Urban Indigenous Consulting Cooperative

aanii, tanisi, ʔəy̓ sweyəl! We are the people who make up the Urban Indigenous Consulting Cooperative known as Oodenaw. We do our heart-centred work together in hopes that we will impact good change i...

Oodenaw.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · 17d

Timeline cleanse!

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · 17d

Tragedy and Comedy: The Two Faces of Story Structure

If the protagonist is going to succeed, then you want to bring them closer and closer to failure. If they are going to fail, you want to bring them closer and closer to victory.

darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/t...

#writingcommunity #booksky

Tragedy and Comedy: The Two Faces of Story Structure

If the protagonist is going to succeed, then you want to bring them closer and closer to failure. If they are going to fail, you want to bring them closer and closer to victory.

darlingaxe.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Nature Art by Gibson @azgibsonz.bsky.social · Sep 11

Some days you just need a Bluebirb of Happiness a little more than others. 💙

🕉️ May you have a sweet #ThursJay! 🌿

📸 Aphelocoma woodhouseii 🪶

#Corvids
#BirdLovers
#Photography

I think this might be Shaggy. It looks like Shaggy anyway. IYKYK. A beautiful blue headed corvid called a Woodhouse's Scrub-jay waits for a reward.

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Carmen Wiigwaas Craig @carmunist.bsky.social · Sep 11

I've read this and it's very cute!!

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Sep 11

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"This was a fun romp that had me laughing, snorting, and groaning in equal measure."

We've Come for Your Eggs
Launches: October 23 :)

Pre-order: mybook.to/dragoneggs

Book cover for WE'VE COME FOR YOUR EGGS, a fantasy satire about the US-Canada trade war

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Sep 11

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"This was a fun romp that had me laughing, snorting, and groaning in equal measure."

We've Come for Your Eggs
Launches: October 23 :)

Pre-order: mybook.to/dragoneggs

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · Sep 7

Did somebody say WRITING RETREAT?!

We have one room left! And it's a good one: the main-floor queen in the carriage house.

Location: Roberts Creek (north of Vancouver)
Dates: Feb 9 to 13, 2026

More info here:
darlingaxe.com/pages/author...

#writingcommunity #booksky

A sunset on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Sep 7

"Eggs is smart and hilarious and a LOT of fun."
—ARC review

A fantasy parody about the US-Canada trade war
Coming October 23 :)

Pre-order your e-book:
mybook.to/dragoneggs

Novel cover: We've Come for Your Eggs (a dragon flying across a yellow sky and clouds)

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · Sep 3

Everything I Know About Writing I Learned from the Rolling Stones

"Mick Jagger probably never realized this, but he and his bandmates knew a lot about how to write a good novel."

darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/r...

#writingcommunity

Everything I Know About Writing I Learned from the Rolling Stones

Mick Jagger probably never realized this, but he and his bandmates knew a lot about how to write a good novel.

darlingaxe.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Sep 4

"We have all a better guide in ourselves, if we would attend to it, than any other person can be."

—from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · Sep 4

How to Write a Synopsis: A 🧵for querying authors

A synopsis is more than just a plot summary. It’s another hook in your tacklebox. It should showcase your story’s emotional arc, nuanced characters, and narrative logic. But you can pick and choose what to highlight.

#amquerying

a little boy is fishing in a small boat

Alt: a monkey fishing in a small boat

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Steve Waycott Wildlife Photography 🍁 @stevewaycott.bsky.social · Aug 18

Black-capped Chickadee is very interested in something in the upper branches of its tree.

Hanwell, #NewBrunswick, Canada
August 2024

📸 #birds #chickadee #BCCH #nature #wildlife #photography #Nikon #Z9 #Nikkor800pf

A small bird with white cheeks and upper breast and a black face and head cap, with mostly grey back and tail feathers, is perching on a tree branch and looking up and to the left, in front of a soft green background.

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Aug 18

Burning house meme.
Little girl: author
Burning house: protagonist's stable, functional life

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Aug 19

Every quest needs a hero.

This one gets Glimm: a bonsai frost dragon stuck managing a band of blowhards on a doomed diplomatic mission.

ARC now available 🐉

www.septimusbrown.com/arc

Novel Preview: We've Come for Your Eggs | SeptimusBrown

Get a sneak peek at my forthcoming novel: WE'VE COME FOR YOUR EGGS

www.septimusbrown.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Nature Art by Gibson @azgibsonz.bsky.social · Aug 13

Happy #WrensDay Bluesky! 🌿

🕉️

📸 Cactus Wren, enfloofenating #birdonawire 🪶

#BlueSky 💙
#BirdLovers
#Birding
#Birds

Catching some ASMR with a Cactus Wren floofing up that trademark speckled plumage from a sunny perch on a wire.

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Aug 13

Get back to work!! 😁

skeleton on bench meme
author: waiting for inspiration to strike

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · Aug 13

A multi-POV novel can be fantastic, but it needs to be purposeful—the story needs to call for it. Without clear intent, extra POVs can feel like clutter rather than essential threads in the narrative tapestry.

Here’s a 🧵 on the craft of multi-POV storytelling 👇

#writingcommunity

a picture of a fox on a snowy slope with the caption pov : unlocked chest

Alt: a picture of a fox on a snowy slope with the caption pov : unlocked chest

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Aug 13

POV: Who’s Holding the Camera?

Intentionality is how you earn readers’ trust.

darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/p...

#writingcommunity #booksky

POV: Who’s Holding the Camera?

Intentionality is how you earn readers’ trust.

darlingaxe.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Aug 6

Story Skeleton—A Is for Alibi

Grafton straddles the two mystery worlds—noir and classic—to create something unique.

darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/a...

#storyskeleton #writingcommunity

Story Skeleton—A Is for Alibi

Grafton straddles the two mystery worlds—noir and classic—to create something unique.

darlingaxe.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Darling Axe Editing @darlingaxe.com · Aug 7

Not every manuscript requires a nuke.

But some do.
So it's best to be open to it.

As developmental editors, we recommend foundational revisions on at least 70% of the manuscripts we see.

Chances are, yours might need one too.

A thread 🧵🪓

#writingcommunity

a picture of a vault with the words got you a gift below it

Alt: two cartoon men carrying a nuclear bomb with the caption: got you a gift

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Carmen Wiigwaas Craig

Septimus Brown @septimusbrown.com · Jul 31

Meow 🐈

Panel 1: author reaching for "a finished draft"
Panel 2: author being held back by "cat videos"

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