Michael Gattis
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mgattis.bsky.social
Michael Gattis
@mgattis.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.2K following 440 posts
He/him
Aspiring #fantasy #author 📖 🐲
Dad by day, #writer by naptime 🧑‍🍼
#AmQuerying
(I'm just leaving these parentheses here until I think of something clever to say)
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mgattis.bsky.social
Michael Gattis @mgattis.bsky.social · Jan 27
To save himself from prison – and the world from plunging into war – the Ayth Sea’s most bumbling pirate begrudgingly sets out to find Espira’s true heir: his estranged, resentful daughter.
Comps: Think Jack Sparrow + The Black Prism (Brent Weeks)

#2025Pit
#F
#A #YA crossover potential
mgattis.bsky.social
POV: You are a 3yo and your parents stashed your toy robot in the basement (because it's annoying as hell).
#WIPSnips #Movement #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
I know I can pull it off, provided I avoid The Guardians. The Guardians run this place. Their rules are arbitrary. Their moods, unpredictable. They think the rest of us are powerless. That our every movement needs monitoring. I shiver to think what consequences await me, if I’m caught. The Guardians wouldn’t send me to The Basement. No, I’m too valuable to them. More likely, they’ll take their fury out on one of my friends; exile them to The Basement or worse. This threat usually quells my heart’s rebellious tendencies. But not this time. I can’t abandon Roby. Won’t.
November 7, 2025 at 2:08 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Let's try this again...

Bit longer of a passage for today's #WIPSnips #Spell.
Context was needed.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
On the eve of the morrow, the king was set to marry an evil sorceress. The nobles whispered amongst each other at the general wrongness of it. The peasants, being out of His Majesty’s earshot, grumbled more loudly (and quite specifically) about the new taxes levied upon them to pay for the wedding. And the horses ate hay, giving exactly zero whinnies about the whole business. Yet even they suspected some ensorcelling must have occurred in the time between the king’s quest to vanquish the sorceress and his engagement to her. One thing they all agreed on? Having an evil sorceress as queen was likely to give everyone stomach ulcers. To find out exactly what had befallen the king, the nobles hired the most expensive psychologist their peasants’ taxes could buy. His name was Aremento Spellsage, and he was the only psychologist in the tri-kingdom area with a PHD in both witchcraft and wizardry. The king lay down on Aremento’s leather couch. He was under a spell – one of Aremento’s – essentially a hard hypnosis, as opposed to the suggestive sort that was hit-or-miss.
October 30, 2025 at 2:25 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Bit longer of a passage for today's #WIPSnips #Spell.
Context was needed.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
wipsnips.bsky.social ✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag @wipsnips.bsky.social · 11d
🎶 I put a spell on yooouuuu... 🎶

The #WIPSnips word for October 30th is "spell"

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips a bluesky writing community tag October 30 - spell Share a line from your WIP with the daily word for inspiration Use #WIPSnips. Don't forget Alt Text for graphics Synonyms, variation and vibes are fine. Support others on the #WIPSnips tag! Hosted by rosie-j-potter.bsky.social The image behind the text is a border that is black with stars with an orange rectangle highlighted by a purple line. An illustrated back cat is in the bottom left corner, with a few silhouettes of bats in the right corner and a spider dangling down from the top.
October 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes! #blood-curdling
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WritingPrompt #Writesky
I check through every cage twice, but my friend is nowhere to be found. I risk calling his name louder. “Roby?” Still no reply. Doubt slithers into my mind. Maybe The Guardians didn’t put Roby in The Basement. Maybe he ran away. No. He wouldn’t. He loves me. He told me so only yesterday. A loud sound bangs at the back of The Basement. A click. A whoosh. It startles me into a scream. Then I see it: a monster made all of metal. Sharp corners. Countless steel appendages. And fire in its mouth. I run and hide under a table.
October 27, 2025 at 1:20 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes. #Total = summed up!
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Finally, an idea hits me: I’ll write a short story about my hike today. But every story needs a disaster. When is mine going to strike? The path ahead leads down to the stream. My immediate reaction can be summed up in one, great big, “NOPE.” It’s a picturesque scene, but all that rushing water makes it loud. How will I hear the bear’s approach? And there are so many boulders. Which one is hiding the bear? Which dark, bear-sized cave has it chosen to lay in wait for an unsuspecting hiker (read: snack) to walk by? And when the bear does show up, how will I back away slowly while maintaining eye-contact without tripping, probably startling the apex predator and dooming myself?
October 24, 2025 at 12:46 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Outlining a novel from scratch is like making your own puzzle pieces and jamming them together until some sort of picture presents itself.

Reading your first draft is like realizing that picture looks like a three-year-old's drawing of the Mona Lisa.

#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky
October 23, 2025 at 3:19 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes! #gradient = hill.

Never underestimate the power of a haunting children's melody...nor the unexpected honk of a goose.

#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Ever upward, I march. I’m tired. What if I’m hit with vertigo, then have to back away slowly from a bear, down a hill, while I’m too dizzy to see straight? A children’s song plays in my head. If you go into the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise …because today’s the day “I’ll be the teddy bears’ picnic,” I finish aloud. I don’t know all the words, clearly, but it’s a haunting melody at any rate. A lone goose honks in the distance, startling me back into silence.
October 23, 2025 at 1:04 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes. #Charge = cost.
This was a fun little short story to write.

Premise: a support group for people with niche and useless superpowers.

MC: can fry a single egg per day.

#Writingcommunity #writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
“Then he went and started his own support group for people who wanted to increase their powers,” said Steven. Lenny sat up a little straighter. “Is that possible?” “Well, yeah, but at what cost?” Steven asked. “So, he can make a rabbit come sniff his finger now. So what?” “What do you mean, ‘so what?’” Lenny laughed. “Don’t you want to deliver important secret messages, Steve? And Louise, what if you could make daisies smell like funions? And Jimmy, what if you could…uh…” “Change the color of my freckles to look diseased and get out of taking finals?” Jimmy asked.
October 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Michael Gattis
smoking-gnu.bsky.social
Good Morning #SFpit!

It's been a while since I took part in a pitch event, so here's my #agentsguide for #literaryagents.
Presenting my #A #WIP that I guess is a #SSF with a small dash of #F to it.
CAVERN CLIPPER (TREASURE PLANET X JOURNEY TO THE EARTH).
Background, Flying sail ships amids obscuring clouds. presenting an Agents Guide to: Cavern Clipper. Status: first draft complete at 117K words Image Credit: “The Stormriders: Steampunk Pirates” by neko1206 on Deviantart. Background, cavern lit up by bright orange-yellow light. The Pitch: WHEN SAM DIES, HE AWAKENS IN A WORLD OF ENDLESS TUNNELS AND MASSIVE CAVERNS. JOINING A HUNTER CLIPPER CREW, HE GETS CAUGHT BETWEEN PIRATES AND A MYSTERIOUS STRANGER WHOSE URGENT MESSAGE COULD SAVE HUMANITY. Background, massive square cavern in background with small forest and deer in foreground. Comps: TREASURE PLANET X A JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH Tropes and themes: • TRANSMIGRATION (ISEKAI) • AIRSHIPS • PIRATES • CAT AND MOUSE BATTLES • A MESSAGE THAT MUST BE DELIVERED! Background, Cavern with a skull face being watched by a woman. Excerpt: THE CLIFF FACE STRETCHED DOWN FOR KILOMETERS! HOUSES WERE BUILT INTO THE SIDE OF IT! WALKWAYS BUILT INTO THE CLIFF-SIDE ALLOWED WALKING ACCESS DOWN TO THE BUILDINGS, WITH PEOPLE ON THEM AS IF IT WAS THE MOST NORMAL THING TO DO!… …HIS STOMACH TURNED AT THE SIGHT. HE STARTED BACKING UP WHEN A SHADOW PASSED OVER HIM, ANOTHER WONDERFUL, TERRIBLE SIGHT FLYING IN THE AIR FAR ABOVE HIM. A SHIP. WITH SAILS, LIKE YOU’D SEE ON THE OCEAN, IN HISTORY BOOKS OR PIRATE MOVIES. FLYING!
October 21, 2025 at 11:32 AM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #Second #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
What a lovely witch.
The boy hid behind the hedges, watching the witch feed her chickens. She wasn’t as ugly as the townsfolk joked. Her skin was neither green nor gray, but a pleasing combination of the two. She sported a thick beard that would have been considered attractive on any man. In fact, if you looked past the mountain range of warts on her cheeks, her knobby, horse-sized knees, and the second nose growing where her left ear should have been, she was quite lovely.
October 21, 2025 at 1:17 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Every Maga's response to No Kings: "What a great success! It must have worked, because there are no kings!"

Me, realizing there must have been lots of tea at the Tea Party protests:
a man wearing a hat that says hds is standing in front of a door
ALT: a man wearing a hat that says hds is standing in front of a door
media.tenor.com
October 20, 2025 at 1:07 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #Field
Demons have different olfactory opinions than most people.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
“It doesn’t pretend to know the impetuses of humankind.” Zaelzagog smothered a yawn in the crook of its arm and a sink hole swallowed one of their hovels. Half the villagers fled into the forest. “Apologies. Its strength grows the longer it remains awake. Mayhap if they turn over proper tribute, it can eat and be on its way?” “No!” the sacrifice cried. “I won’t let you take any more of the people I love!” “You don’t have to watch,” said the demon, quite reasonably. “You’ll have me or no one.” The demon considered her. She smelled terrible, it was true. Like a field of roses slathered in honey. Yet, something was familiar. “Has it eaten of your flesh before, sacrifice?”
October 20, 2025 at 12:47 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Who robbed the Louvre? Right answers only.
October 19, 2025 at 5:00 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibes today. #loaf = bread.
This was a fun one to write because I sought out cliches to use, rather than avoid them. It was the point.
#WritingCommunity #writing #writesky #writingprompt
Chef had time to neither dilly nor dally. Though it would be a quick read, her short story dessert still needed boatloads of preparation and careful editing. As she worked, Chef’s head floated up to the clouds. She could see The Critic’s article now, calling Cliché’s “the best thing since sliced bread.” The appetizer and entrée would never win any awards, but maybe she’d enter the dessert in a short story competition to see what would happen.
October 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
I #might have had too many choices for this week's #WIPSnips...
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #Writingprompt
…Well, it was less a superpower, and more a “specific issue resolver.” Lenny Livingston could [insert drumroll here] fry an egg under any circumstances, provided he had a frying pan handy. No, he couldn’t create fire to heat the pan. No, he didn’t have laser vision to cook the egg. And, no, he didn’t switch the uncooked egg for a fried one when you weren’t looking. He merely cracked the egg open, dropped it into the pan, and shook his fist at it threateningly. Moments later, the egg was so perfectly fried, Gordan Ramsay himself would call it “the most amazing” thing he’d ever eaten (before remarking the burnt toast that came with it was “a real shame”). I imagine some of you might be asking questions about Lenny’s power’s limits. How about an omelet? What if you wanted sunny-side up? Could he do an ostrich egg?
October 16, 2025 at 1:18 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky

Me: best friend, please give me critical feedback on this story I've worked my ass off to hone to perfection.

Friend: it kinda sucks except this one part. Also I don't get it.

Me:
a man is wrapped in a blanket with his arms crossed .
ALT: a man is wrapped in a blanket with his arms crossed .
media.tenor.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:26 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips #care #WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #writingprompt
Still, Patrick was exhausted; the kind of tired you get from years of working all day, only to come home and spend what free time you have left focused on other peoples’ needs. Helping the kids with their homework. Chauffeuring them to their various extracurriculars. Cooking, cleaning, doctor appointments, home maintenance, car repairs. Patrick and Rebecca thought they’d reclaim some time for themselves once their youngest left for college, but now Patrick’s mom, in her twilight years, needed daily care. With neither siblings nor the money to pay for a home health aide, that, too, fell on Patrick and Rebecca. It was a miracle they could (barely) keep up with the H.O.A.’s stringent demands in between everything else.
October 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
This #ultimate #WIPSnips from a short story where the king falls in love with an evil sorceress.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky #Writingprompt
After a moment, the king recovered himself enough to ask, “well, what is it? What’s wrong with me?” “Nothing,” Aremento said, his voice hollow. “Only…you are in love.” “Love?” asked the king. “Love.” Aremento looked out the window. He was really going to miss the sunshine. “It would be sweet, if the consequences weren’t so dire.” “Love.” The king nodded, slowly. “I see. Well, what can be done?” Aremento shook his head. “Nothing, unfortunately. Love is the ultimate blessing, but also the ultimate curse. People – even kings, it seems – do stupid things for love.” The next day, the king married the evil sorceress, and the kingdom burned.
October 14, 2025 at 1:30 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Today, I finally learned the value of being SPECIFIC in my writing. Short stories really force this. You can pack in a lot of information by not saying "he missed his wife" and instead saying something like "he missed their impromptu and tuneless karaoke sessions."
#Writing #WritingCommunity
October 14, 2025 at 12:26 AM
mgattis.bsky.social
Today's #WIPSnips #push from a tongue-in-cheek short story about a chef who owns a restaurant called "Cliche's." Seasons the dishes (stories) she makes with overused tropes and cliches.

#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #writingprompt
There are too many cooks in the kitchen.” “I wondered when we’d see that one,” said Waiter. As the staff shuffled out the door, Chef consulted the rolodex of clichés in her mind, muttering them to herself. “If you can’t stand the heat…no, not for a dessert. Tip of the tongue? It has potential, but I’d rather her swallow it whole.” Then Chef had it. “Icing on the cake!” That one always pushed a dish across the finish line. Chef thrusted the final course into Waiter’s hands and watched him funeral march his way back to the dining room. Then she leaned against the wall and slid to the floor.
October 13, 2025 at 12:49 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Truly some #WIPSnips vibes today for #prize. This is part of a short story I'm going to enter for The Hope Prize. Still lots of editing ahead.
#WritingCommunity #Writing #Writesky #WritingPrompt
Ron beamed. “A choice has been made! Tell him what he’s won, Bill.” “Connnn-gratulations, Patrick!” said a deep, sultry voice from the ceiling. “You’ll spend the next twenty years paying off a debt totaling $38,575. After graduation, you’ll land yourself in a stable career that has nothing to do with your major. Best of all, your choice today will lead you to Rebecca, the love of your life!” “Amazing!” said Ron. He clapped Patrick on the shoulder. “Good choice. Congratulations, Pat. Thanks for playing. And we’ll see you next time on—” LIFE’S! LITTLE! CHOICES!
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
Reposted by Michael Gattis
pamelaelaela.bsky.social
THE KINDLER
What’s trickier than straddling 2 worlds as an immigrant kid? Discovering there’s also a 3rd. When Danbi digs up her estranged father’s secrets in a hidden world, she finds a magic-stealing killer on the hunt for her rare powers. Better figure out how to use them.
#DVpit #YA #F #OWN #POC
October 8, 2025 at 12:20 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips vibing: #dungeon = cage
#WritingCommunity #Writesky #writing #writingprompt
“Roby?” I whisper into the silence. “Roby, where are you?” There’s no answer. Maybe he’s asleep. But, if he’s asleep, I should hear him snoring. Roby is a chronic snorer, and falls asleep instantaneously, if he’s laid on his back. One by one, I peer into The Basement’s plethora of cages. Some are empty, save for a few scrap parts and discarded batteries. Others house husks of prisoners long past their expiration dates, barely distinguishable from the trash around them. Too late for them. They’ll have a snack time appointment with the monsters already on the books.
October 8, 2025 at 1:13 PM
mgattis.bsky.social
Any short story contest suggestions for a first-timer? Maybe a website besides reedsy that lists some legitimate ones?

#writing #writingcommunity #writesky
October 8, 2025 at 1:19 AM
mgattis.bsky.social
#WIPSnips today from the bear story. Nice and short for my fellow snippers :)
#WritingCommunity #Writing #WriteSky #writingprompt
Back on the trail I miss the safety of the water. Why had I feared it? I can’t see anything through the trees. Don’t bears climb trees? I come to a fork in the road. This is the perfect time to turn around. But I can’t chicken out now. The tension’s still building. The story needs a climax. Onward I go, following red blazes.
October 7, 2025 at 1:10 PM