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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 18h

#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title The Principle of Detachment, has 63 instances of ‘hope ’. Is that a lot? I hope not too many.
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And then there were the partings. Often there were tears, especially with the ones who weren't going to the Sung Lands. "Next year in Velyadero," was a hopeful, partial, consolation for some, but they all knew that, however determined they might feel now, not all would be going on there. Some might be married by then; others, almost certainly, engaged.
'Next year in Velyadero' was very definitely not enough for Fièdra, and Torvyn knew that it was painful for her to hear all around the regular cries of 'see you in a couple of weeks' or 'see you in Drumlenn'. There was nothing much she could do except promise to write. But letters from the Sung Lands? From the College of the Dawnsingers? There was a mail service now; that was not the problem. The problem was whether receiving such a letter, probably overfull of gushing enthusiasm, would be salt in Fièdra's wounds. I'll have to ask Mamma, she thought.

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 18h

…a series set in an imagined world (future Earth but not tied to specific geography as we know it).

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 18h

#WritersCoffeeClub 12/10: Do you prefer to use real-world settings or to invent new ones?
Yes, definitely.
The novel I’m currently serialising on Substack is all about real-world settings (some iconic ones suffer severely), but my main focus is…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 18h

#WordWeavers for 12/10: MC POV: Life in one sentence.
Jerya: it’s a more comfortable life than I could even have imagined as a girl, and many people treat me with excessive respect, but none of that matters compared to the work that sill needs to be done.
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title The Principle of Detachment, has 21instances of ‘welcome’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

He lowered his glass, now less than half full. "I might even look on it as an… experiment. And you understand that there is more to consider than simply the girl’s level of education. She would be spending more than half her time far from here, in another Principality, living under different customs, mingling with girls from very different backgrounds."
And that might be the best thing that could happen to her, thought Jerya. She took her first sip of coffee before making another measured reply. "I understand your position, I think, Your Highness. But is there anything in particular you require from me at this juncture?"
He blinked a couple of times. "Countess, you cut to the heart of the matter with admirable directness. My question is this. In light of the… complicated nature of prior dealings between us, I felt I could not simply take for granted that you would welcome a daughter of mine to your school."

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

…which Mav’s very happy about… but she still hasn’t managed to tell her mother that she is married to someone else. When she visits she might take Vireddi but in the guise of a maid, not a wife.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WordWeavers 11/10: Tell us about a strained but important relationship one of your characters has.
Mavrys, who’s at the centre of Book 4, has a complicated relationship with her mother. Mother ended up marrying the man Mavrys was supposed to marry,…
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Reposted by Jon Sparks

James Bennett @jamesbennett.bsky.social · 1d

Glad to see folks objecting to the famous author posting chat Gtp versions of his works on his FB page. With the greatest respect, I've added my own.

The last thing any artist of influence should be doing is encouraging the use of AI in art and entertainment.

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Any chance of a DM here too?

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

… the College, to everyone who has a vested interest in maintaining the status quo in the Five Principalities now.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WritersCoffeeClub 11/10: Have you ever written an unlikable protagonist?
Depends who’s doing the liking/disliking. Jerya’s always been able to rub some people the wrong way, from certain Tutors (not just Perriad) in her time at…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

A quote that has been informing the early development of the next boon in the series (i.e. after the one that’s now in thores of editing):

“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Diggers

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WIPSnips New month, same WIP, new working title.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon is now The Principle of Detachment.
Just one solitary instance of ‘prize’, so no trouble choosing today.
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"Well, she is my mother," said Tor mildly. Fearing another digression, she turned firmly back to the real subject. "They were fearing all sorts of scandals—and then, d’you remember all that fuss when Nuruda won the Mathematics Prize."
"Someone alleged she’d cheated, because a woman couldn’t possibly be that good at Maths…"
"Exactly. There wasn’t a shred of evidence but they investigated it as seriously as if there were. It seemed like it would drag on for months, until Nuruda said she’d be happy to sit another exam, under any conditions they cared to impose. Since one of the allegations was that women’s clothing offered far more opportunities to conceal… well, whatever it was they imagined she’d concealed… she offered to wear men’s clothing too."
"I wonder what that would be like…" said Aliénor, with that dreamy look.

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

Interesting how #WordWeavers and #WritersCoffeeClub prompts today (10/10) intersect around the character of the antagonist.
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

…that everything she does is for the best interests of the Guild of Dawnsingers.
*Some, not 100%.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WritersCoffeeClub 10/10: Have you written a likeable antagonist?
I don’t think anyone would describe Perriad as likeable, and I don’t think it’s anything she herself cares about. But I hope readers can see that there is some* truth in her protestations…
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

…the irregularities of her Choosing—and only months later, as she sees it, Jerya ‘betrayed’ this ‘kindness’ by absconding—and taking Railu with her.
Now (GR376) her animus extends to Jerya’s daughter.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WordWeavers 10/10: Tell us about an event in your antagonist’s life that has a big impact on what they’re doing now.
Perriad has been obsessed with Jerya for many years, ever since the summer of GR344, when she accepted Jerya into the Guild despite…
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

Sign the petition: Save our National Parks

🚨 The Treasury is threatening our national parks. Dartmoor, the Lake District & wild places could be bulldozed for development. Once gone, they're gone for ever. Join me and sign now to protect them:

38d.gs

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

#WIPSnips New month, same WIP, new working title.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon is now The Principle of Detachment.
No chance of finding ‘battery’ as electricity is unknown, except in naturally occurring forms like lightning.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

For three days the Zenzile ran ahead of the storm. By day the Eastern sky glowered, bruised, malevolent; by night, flickers of lightning were sometimes seen through the clouds. But the storm’s own wind kept pushing them onward, holding consistently around South-Easterly, so they could run on a broad reach about due West.

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

…them by ten years, has returned to the Sung Lands to forewarn the Guild of Dawnsingers, and thus the first recorded meeting between the two sides takes place in a bleak strath above the village of Blawith.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

#WordWeavers 9/10: Tell us about an event in the history of your world that has a big impact…
Easy. But this is a major spoiler for Book 3.
The Selton Expedition make what they believe is the First Crossing of the mountains. But Jerya, who anticipated…
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

Did you know that if you use DuckDuckGo as your search engine, it allows you to disable all AI features? It even has a feature aiming not to show you AI-generated images, though I don’t know how it can be 100% accurate in identifying them.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

#WIPSnips New month, same WIP, new working title.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon is now The Principle of Detachment.
This has nothing close to ‘dungeon’… but there is a deep and unnerving shaft (5 instances in this sense of the word).
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Next morning, Jerya reiterated her contention that they still needed to reconnoitre the other levels. "The room’s amazing, but it’s one room; only a small part of the whole." Neither of the others demurred, but there was a difference of opinion on which route to take. Jerya’s impulse was to try the ladder in the shaft, but Evisyn was less keen. As she argued, "It’s one thing to climb a ladder, but how would you do it and manage a lantern? You need to see where you’re going."
"And if you do find more doors, how are you going to bring any leverage to bear while hanging off a ladder?" added Harran.
She had to admit there was merit in these practical considerations, but the real clincher was Evisyn’s observation, "It’s a fine day for a change. Wouldn’t you rather spend a few hours in the sunshine?"

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

…ship is running ahead of a fearsome storm.