Author | Lightnews

Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 7d

My first novel, Yellow Tape and Coffee, is set in modern #Portland, OR.

This is the Portland I know, which may differ quite a bit from what you've seen elsewhere, especially on certain TV shows about it.

The book is available everywhere books are sold!

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 7d

#WIPSnips 10/15

She remembered those early days, after leaving her last foster family. Living in the tunnels, hiding from the Martian Authority, unable to trust her own mind. She couldn’t go back to that. She didn’t dare go to a physician. There was too much chance that BeltSec would find out, and then where would she be? Unemployed and still unable to get the medication she needed. Out here where, as Jie kept reminding her, the slightest mistake could be fatal, she wouldn’t last long.
To the void with that thought. The future could take care of itself. She was here now. She reached back into childhood memory as she stood and pushed gently away from her broken spacecraft. Floating alone amongst the vastness of the stars, she reached over her head. With no other frame of reference, “up,” like fate, was whatever she decided.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 9d

Bilan asked the same question.
Del never found out, as she explains:

“Was he…?”
“He was breathing when I got to him. I was bawling. His parents ran in, and took him off to the hospital, and told me to wait there.” She had never told this story to anyone. She took another moment to calm herself, and was grateful to Bilan for waiting, quietly, and allowing her to. “I don’t know how long I sat there, right at the spot he’d fallen. Hours, maybe. But two people from the fostering system came and got me. The family had canceled the contract and they were going to place me somewhere else.”
“What about the child?”
“I never found out. I tried to ask but was just told that it’s over and not to try to contact the family again, but I did find out that that’s when they claimed I was possessed by demons. They said so on the official forms.”
“That’s awful! What a horrible thing to do to a child. And to just leave you alone like that? They should have at least let you know…”
“I was told it wouldn’t make any difference. They reminded me it was worse for my foster brother and that it wasn’t about me.”

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Reposted by Pat Luther

Seán @wizardhill.bsky.social · 9d

Accessibility =/= quality or worth

It's objectively just less of a time, focus, and energy commitment to read or craft a short story, but you can still get so much out of the process. Why isn't this a default, major thing? Why does it seem so sidelined?

Seán @wizardhill.bsky.social · 9d

The domination of the novel as the default writing format stifles creativity, especially in newer writers who are forced to consider it as the only format that really matters. Short fiction, inherently more accessible to read and write, doesn't get the respect it deserves.

Rachel Feder @rachelfeder.bsky.social · 9d

Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 9d

#WIPSnips 10/13
Another dark moment in Del's life. This one gets revealed pretty early, and we later find it's not the worst thing she did growing up on Mars.

“Sorry, I’m getting us off track. You said your parents thought they were demons…” Bilan started.
“Foster parents, and that was later. They changed their minds a few months before the contract was due to expire.”
“Why?”
Del looked out the window again. Somewhere out there was the tiny red dot where she grew up. “They…the way it works…sometimes it seems like information. Other times, more like a compulsion. An action I should take. I…I was playing with my foster brother; he was about a year younger than me, and we were on the balcony. I don’t remember exactly what he said, but I knew—knew with no doubt at all—that I should push him over it.”
“Depths below! Did you…?”
“Push him off the balcony? Yes. I realized what I’d done as he was falling, and ran down the stairs.”
“Was he…?”

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 9d

#WIPSnips 10/12
Del has had better days.
And, though she's not thinking of them now, worse.

She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked over at the large cargo door standing between her and the void, its controls now clearly exposed. One push of the button and it would all be over. All of the debris from her tantrum would be blown out into space and her along with it. They’d already won, why not just stop?
For a long time, she floated, drifting, staring at that button.
She drew back. She hadn't seriously considered such a thing since she was nine years old and on her own in the tunnels of Mars. Her answer now was the same as then: spite. Anger and hatred would see her through. A poor substitute for hope maybe, but it would do. They hadn't won yet. As long as she was alive, they hadn't won.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 11d

In order:
- Green
- White
- Yellow

Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 11d

#WIPSnips 10/11

When she arrived back at her own little asteroid, there was another BeltSec bike clamped outside her airlock. Inside the airlock, she peered through the inner window.
Bilan was sitting on her couch, console in hand. She waved, and waited for the airlock to pressurize.
"Welcome home," she said when Del entered. "How was your vacation?"
"The usual," Del responded. "Daring rescue, thrilling escape, ran out of missiles again. Freed an asteroid tethered to an illegal shipyard. How about you?"
Bilan's eyes grew wide, but she quickly regained her composure. "Oh, pretty much the same, except mostly correlating records over the net and doing a lot of in-depth data searches. Then I was ordered to back off."

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Reposted by Pat Luther

Shadow Spark Publishing @shadowsparkpub.bsky.social · 12d

🧚 PRE ORDER ALERT 🧚

We're excited to announce that The Cursed of Atharia, Ameila Grime's (@amygrimes.bsky.social debut novel is now on pre-order. Check out the blurb below and follow the link for more info.

Preorder here: books2read.com/u/bQvrXv

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 11d

Great line from the new Naked Gun movie: “I write true crime novels based on stories I make up.” :)

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 12d

Anybody else going to be at #OryCon this year?

I'll be around, and they only scheduled me for three panels for some reason, so I'll have lots of time to meet up if anyone here wants to do so.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 12d

#WIPSnips 10/10
From that time Del accidentally cheated at cards and won.

She tapped the top card, then dropped the joker on the table next to it.
"The hole card?" the woman asked.
Wasn't that what her mind had been screaming at her? Del nodded. She didn't trust her throat enough to form words. Black spots were forming at the edges of her vision.
The woman pulled it out and handed it to Del. It was another seven. She was as shocked as anyone and didn't bother to hide it.
Seeing she was beaten, the other woman folded, then got up from the table, scooping her remaining chips into a cloth bag.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 13d

#WIPSnips 10/9
So, in Thoughtless/Careless, they don't mention "batteries" but do mention "fuel", which comes in the form of small magnetic bottles of antimatter. (i.e., very advanced batteries.)

Back on the bridge of her extorted ship she prepared to leave. She wanted to get away from this whole area as quickly as she could. Realizing she was still carrying the bag of chips from Aluna, she stuck them in a cupboard and latched the door. As she started up the ship, she noticed several messages to the ship waiting on a console. Services offered by the dock.
She scanned through the list of recommendations. Air was at seventy percent, which seemed a little low, but not in the critical range. The water tank was about half full. The capacity was astounding, though, and a half was still two orders of magnitude more than her bike carried when full. The fuel, though, which unlike air and water could not be recycled, was slightly below one percent—a critically low amount. It would still be enough to use the ship to finish her patrol and get her back to Ceres, but not much further than that.
She checked the price of a refill and was stunned by how much it cost. Far more than she could possibly afford, even with her recent windfalls. She might double the value of the ship if she filled the tanks. Any thought she had of keeping it vanished. No wonder the former crew was desperate enough to commit murder to pay their bills.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 14d

#WIPSnips 10/8
I realized there's a few different prison breaks in this story. Here's part of one of them.

Bilan laughed and laid out the breaching cord on the door.
A console next to the door lit up and the face of the man they'd spoken to earlier appeared.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Preparing to open the door if you don't," Del replied.
"I can't do that."
"No worries. We're almost done. Might want to step back, though."
"No, I mean I can't. The whole place is locked down. I don't have access."
That was interesting. She looked to Bilan.
"That doesn't sound good," Bilan said. "We'd better hurry."
Del turned back to the screen, holding up one finger.
"How about you just tell us what cell Amelia's in, and we'll leave you alone?"
"I can't do that."
"Is that because you can’t, or you're not supposed to?"
"Uh…"
"Del?"
She'd been trying but failed. "I can't read him from here. Blow the door."
Bilan stepped backward and raised her helmet.
Del followed her lead.
A second later, the cord stuck to the door glowed red hot, then white, and the center of the door fell inward.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 14d

Couch Street

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 15d

#WIPSnips 10/7

"We'll explain later. Right now, just say it fits with what we know of this guy."
"What later? You said you'd take me back to Ceres if I answered your questions."
"We will," Del reassured her. "Assuming that's still where you want to go."
She looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"
"Where will you go from there?"
"Venus. Like I said. Where else?"
"I have an idea about that. You said you were an engineer?"
"Del, no," Bilan interrupted. "You can't."
"Why not? You know we can't send her back, not without ensuring she makes it to Venus somehow. Even then, if they find out I talked to her then let her go she won't be safe. Whoever these people are, they’re going to want to know what we talked about. I wouldn’t put it past them to send someone to Venus to find out.”

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Reposted by Pat Luther

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag @wipsnips.bsky.social · 16d

I’m looking forward to this interview on Twitch later!

Inviting all you #WIPsnips folx to come hang out and ask questions if you’d like!

7pm Eastern / 11pm UTC

🔗 ⬇️

David Payne @telinartho.bsky.social · 16d

11pm UTC - twitch.tv/telinartho - Interview with @rosie-j-potter.bsky.social - we'll be talking writing and Multiverse and probably cats and chickens. You never know, so you have to join in, watch, ask questions in chat. All the fun stuff!

#TwitchAuthors #WritingCommunity #Interview

Author Interview - David Payne talks with Author Rosie J. Potter. Monday, 6 October, 2025 - 11pm UTC - twitch.tv/telinartho

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 15d

#WIPSnips 10/6

“We won’t see you for another two weeks?” Bilan asked.
Del had met her at Rokoj for a last round of drinks before heading out on her long patrol. As usual, Jie had come with Bilan. Del had nothing against Jie, he was one of her favorite people at BeltSec. She’d just wished to get in a private conversation with Bilan.
“You’re doing the whole patrol on your bike?” Jie asked.
“It’s the only transport I’ve got,” Del said.
“It’s not really meant for that far of a distance. You can probably arrange—”
“I like my bike. I’m used to it. It’ll be fine.”
“Have you done the fuel calculations for such a distance?”
“It’s fine,” Del said again. “I can refuel on Hygiea itself, and there’s bound to be a bunch of corporate spots I can ask at if I need to.”
“We’ll miss you,” Bilan said, heading off the argument. “Stay in touch.”
Del took a sip of her beer and set it down on the table. A lot had happened since the last time she’d been drinking here, just over twenty hours ago. "You, too," she replied. "I’ve put a search up on our perp, Dario. If he shows up anywhere, you’ll both get notified as well as me.”

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 17d

#WIPSnips 10/5

"Before we go into that, though, I want to know why you're here."
"Because we wanted to talk to you," Bilan said. "Isn't that what you wanted?"
"I had been hoping to do so at Rokoj, after I'd had a chance to shower and change and where I could have a beer or several."
"I thought you'd switched to whiskey now," Jie said with a smile.
"I've sworn off whiskey for a while."
"That's too bad."
"Why is that too bad?"
"It means you won't want this," Jie replied and pulled a beautifully crafted bottle out of the bag at his feet. "Perhaps you can store it until…"
"Oh, give me that." Del got up and took the bottle from him. She pulled three of her four flasks out of the cupboard and added ice before pouring the whiskey into them. She noticed the writing on the bottle as she did so. "Is this from Earth?"
"That's what the guy who sold it to me claimed."
Del took a sip. "Damn, that's good. Okay, you're forgiven for breaking into my home and keeping me from Rokoj." She handed them the other two flasks.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 17d

#WIPSnips 10/4
Catching up - was out all day yesterday promoting the concept of Indie books to school libraries. :)
I was surprised the word didn't come up more, but here's one of the two times it appears. It sets up a lot of the worldbuilding for the sequel that I'm working on now.

When Amelia looked surprised, Del explained, "Bilan's from Venus originally, too."
"Really. They're nobody you've heard of, I'm sure," Amelia responded. Then, when nobody said anything, added in a quiet voice, "Armstrong."
"Oh," Bilan said, in a tone that indicated she was sorry that she'd asked.
"Why? Which one are you from?"
This time it was Bilan's turn to look embarrassed. "Berbera," she answered.
Del looked back and forth between them. "What am I not getting here?"
"It's nothing," Bilan said. "Back on Venus, on Berbera, Armstrong has a certain…reputation. It means nothing out here, though."
"It's where the poor people live," Amelia added. "It's one of the oldest and least safe of the floating cities and nobody wants to live there."
"I thought everybody on Venus was rich," Del said.
"Ha! Somebody's gotta do all the work required to let all the idle rich sit around by their pools all day."
"It's not quite that bad," Bilan said. "But yes, not everybody's rich."
"No, not everybody,” Amelia agreed. “But everyone in the great houses are. If you're from Berbera, what house are you from? And what are you doing out here playing assistant bounty hunter?"

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 18d

Strangely, they didn't even schedule me for my traditional Friday night reading. I might do a reading somewhere anyway. Maybe just stand in the middle of a hall or something. :)

This is the very last @orycon.bsky.social. I'm gonna try to recreate my costume from my very first one, 34 years ago.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 18d

I just got my schedule for #OryCon.
I also learned that I was accepted again as a panelist this year. I am on, weirdly, exactly one panel. I'm not sure why they even bothered.

But, if you're going to be there, I'll be talking about time travel Saturday at 1.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 18d

#WIPSnips 10/3
No bears (who else hibernates?) But there are a few mentions of people sleeping. This one's unconscious due to a strong injected sedative, so that's kinda like hibernation, right?

Before the woman swinging the pipe could bring it down on her again, Del bent low and launched herself forward, tackling her at the waist. Assisted by suit thrusters, she pushed up off the ground and carried her forward to slam into the far wall.
The metal bar fell to the floor.
"Hold her there, I got her," she heard Bilan say. "Three…Two…One…"
Her assailant went limp, right on time.
Del stood upright and let her fall to the floor. She resisted the urge to kick her. In the corridor, the smoke had mostly dissipated, and Del could see her clearly. There was no doubt it was Amelia. Her bright red hair was the same as in the picture. She looked even younger in person, sleeping peacefully on the floor.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 19d

Just finished watching the new Superman movie.

It was cute. I enjoyed it. Would have liked to see more of the Justice Gang.

And Superman finally did see what a good dog Krypto was. But he still shoulda told him.

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Pat Luther @plutherus.bsky.social · 19d

And seriously, what did Mr Terrific expect? He’s a super-powered dog. A T-Sphere to him is just a super-powered ball.

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