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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 3d

I've always preferred having physical books (don't we all?) but lately I've been really getting into the idea of physical media in general. Movies, games, even music. It's so nice to just... have something. In the flesh, as it were.

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 13d

In retrospect, doing a deep dive on the Rwandan genocide at 1am was... not the best choice

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 14d

Or, wait, could it be potatoes?

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 14d

Lettuce is the bread of the vegetable world.

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 15d

I'd rather spend 2 hours on a single paragraph I think is good than 1 hour on 2000 words I vomited to hit an arbitrary word count goal. Then again, I'd rather finish a shitty novel in 1 year than agonize over a 'masterpiece' for 10. Strive for perfection, but only until the deadline hits.

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 17d

Keen as hell to finally have something coming out again! Get ready...

In the mean time check out this badass cover by the great @kealanpatrickburke.bsky.social at elderlemon designs!

If you like bittersweet, noir horror, pre-order here: acesse.one/mw164

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Reposted by Ben Pienaar

Indie Book Spotlight @bookspotlight.bsky.social · 18d

I once saw advice that would grind my writing to a halt if I followed it. They said that 'you have to know the ending of the story at the start' and that would be impossible to me. I'd lose interest. I need to solve the mystery. I write as my interest arrives and then edit it together layer by layer

Addy Bross 🌈 they/xe @aebrossbooks.bsky.social · 18d

Friendly reminder that when folks say that you "have" to follow specific writing advice, you do not, in fact, have to.

What they are sharing is what works for them, and while it might be useful, there is no one way to get your writing out into the world. Do what works for you.

#WritingCommunity

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Reposted by Ben Pienaar

This Is Horror | Michael David Wilson @thisishorror.bsky.social · 22d

Write what you want.
Embrace who you are.
Forget everything else.
Get lost in the art.

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · 27d

I didn't know about this one! I'm on a Tremblay binge right now because of 'Horror Movie'. He's hitting a very specific kind of Creep I really like

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Reposted by Ben Pienaar

Jason K Pargin, author @jasonkpargin.bsky.social · 29d

My only piece of writing advice is that if your thing DOESN'T include characters saying things like this, it is bad and you should throw it out

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Reposted by Ben Pienaar

Jesse Lawrence @jesselawrence.bsky.social · Sep 11

Why I Love Horror lands 9/23. Edited by @raforall.bsky.social, published by @sagapressbooks.bsky.social, this one's not to be missed!

"... my first impulse is to look to my childhood..."
-- John Langan

Indeed, indeed, indeed. My memories are vivid and bloody. So bloody.
#whyilovehorror

Picture of the cover of the Becky Siegel Soeatford edited collection of essays Why I Love Horror, published by Saga Press

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Sep 12

It's Friday night tonight, and when work's done at 9 I got two bottles of wine waiting for me and whole lot of pages to fill. Life is good

Reposted by Ben Pienaar

Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · Sep 10

Simply the best slide I have ever seen in a powerpoint presentation care of @premeemohamed.com’s talk at @banffcentre.bsky.social re: Putting the Science in Science Fiction

Text mounted on a screen reads as follows:

WHAT IS SCIENCE FICTION?

1. DOESN'T MATTER
2. WHO CARES
3. MARKETING DEPARTMENT'S PROBLEM
4. NOT YOURS

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Sep 9

Oh my god no I had nightmares about being eaten alive. Then again, this was also around the time I was having nightmares about 'attack of the killer tomatoes'...

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Sep 9

Every time trash like this gets made it will only make people hungrier for the real thing.

Man I saw these when I was really young, my brother and Dad were laughing the whole time but I was jumping out of my skin. To this day the idea of critters really freaks me out. All those mouths...

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Sep 8

"You are only entitled to your labour, not the fruits of your labour" - Bhagavad gita. I think about this all the time

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Sep 3

My first exposure to horror as a kid was reading my Dad's graphic novel copy of Raw Head Rex. It's such a simple story yet filled with so much dread and horror. It's stayed with me all my life.

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 26

God damn that's crazy. You must have been permanently traumatized! To this day I don't like to get too close to drains... especially when it's raining

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 25

I did enjoy Bill skarsgard's portrayal as well, but at the end of the day there is no replicating Curry - he really nailed it.

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 24

IT (1990), when I was about 7. The worst part was I couldn't go to my parents for comfort because I was afraid they would turn out to be Pennywise in disguise and drag me down the drain

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 23

The greatness of the book is also the reason why there is no danger that it will be abandoned. The popularity of reading books might go up and down but I don't think people will stop reading any more than they'd stop eating. And if they do... that means book prices would plummet - more for me!

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Reposted by Ben Pienaar

Cat Hughes @celticqueen13.bsky.social · Aug 23

#books are awesome.

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 19

I used to care a lot about word counts, but these days I only think about time spent. As long as I spend that time dedicated to the story at hand, I don't care what I do with it. Sometimes I write, sometimes I edit, and sometimes I just stare into space with a loony smile.

Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 11

Somewhat less polished than everyone else, but it does the job...

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Ben Pienaar @benpienaar.bsky.social · Aug 8

I started learning how to draw recently. Obviously I suck right now, but it's actually pretty fun to be bad at something. There's no pressure to do well, and you can improve a lot at the beginning of a new skill. I'm thinking in 5 or 10 years I'll be good enough to illustrate my own books.