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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 9h

#TimeTravelAuthors 11: Saturday excerpt (optional word: most)

An apropos quote from Atosho. There are limits to women's electrical abilities.

#ScienceFiction #SciFi #TimeTravel

They looked at each other, then Atosho turned back to me. “Horse, koganu not kill. Not make sleep, mostly.” She mimed her arm going limp. “Make leg weak, horse fall.”
Her lips quirked, then. “Attack bear… a woman can make one arm or leg weak. But the other arm can still move. Mouth can still bite.” A [polite shrug]. “And a woman must be close, to [shock] a bear.”

#TimeTravelAuthors
October 2025
Answer as a character!

1. Introduce yourself and the story
3. Your first appearance and/or line of dialogue in the story
5. Why are you important to the story?
7. Something odd/weird you've experienced
9. Favorite person
11. Saturday excerpt (optional word: most)
13. What does someone else in the story think of you?
15. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: give/gave)
17. What life advice would you give?
19. Proudest moment
21. If you got to write the story, what would you change?
23. Tell us about your enemies
25. Saturday excerpt (optional word: back)
27. How do you feel about time travel?
29. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: now)
31. Character's choice/promo

All time-travel authors and published works, WIPs, etc. welcome!
To join, just answer the prompts on odd days, using the hashtag #TimeTravelAuthors
On even days, post what you like!
Questions? @juliebihn@bsky.social

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 9h

#PlotTober 11. Growth & change

The MC will have to learn to think about others more. To plan ahead and foresee consequences of his actions.

And eventually he'll have to learn about courage. Doing what needs doing even when you're scared. (Because if you can't be scared, you can't be courageous.)

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 18h

#PlotTober Day 11: MC growth & change

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

#PlotTober - a WIP plotting game by @gunsmile.bsky.social

11. What are some possible ways your main character(s) could grow and change over the course of the story? On the other hand, what are some ways their growth could be hindered?

Remember: Use the #PlotTober hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 9h

#WIPSnips 11: welcome

Jim's good at languages, but he's only been here a few weeks. Visiting the "male grad student's dorm" for the midafternoon meal keeps him on his toes.

#ScienceFiction #SciFi

He gave me a frowning inspection, even as I was checking him out. Moinupee gave him a tehraitee, and introduced us. "ni'Ihmupoisee, I bring to thee Manayka and Jeema, as guests for sahwehmahlai."
A single moment's hesitation, and he replied, "I welcome thee-all to our home."
Once the door was closed I felt a little uncertain. I had been alone with Manayka regularly. Still, from the moment I got here I had never been in a space with just men. Not one where I could be reasonably sure no women would be showing up, at least.

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 9h

Definitely send a "Bug Report" and/or "Account Concern" via bsky feedback

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 20h

Last one of yours I see on that hashtag was day 7. Same behavior on mobile, too. 😞

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Julie Bihn (Titanic Voyage free on Hoopla!) @juliebihn.bsky.social · 21h

So for some reason, my most recent posts using the hashtag #TimeTravelAuthors seem to not be showing up in the feed. (Tried 2 browsers and 2 accounts, so I don't THINK it's just me.)
bsky.app/hashtag/Time...
bsky.app/hashtag/Time...

Anyone else having any hashtag issues? #RandomHashtagTest

bsky.app

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 20h

Yeah, I'm not seeing you in that hashtag either. Seeing other people, and me, but not you. WTF?

Bluesky

Social media as it should be. Find your community among millions of users, unleash your creativity, and have some fun again.

bsky.social

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 20h

❤️ (and 💔)

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Eliwood S. Gheist @eliwoodsgheist.com · 1d

Hello, #PretendPanel!

I've talked before about my fear of vulnerability as a writer, and not so long ago the thought of exposing enough of myself to leave an imprint to a reader was terrifying (but also impossible to avoid, I leave bits of myself around my books like laundry I didn't put away.)

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.bsky.social · 1d

#pretendpanel, I'm at a retreat over the next few days so I am incorrigibly absent! However, tell me...

October 10th: Writing and reading are kinds of necromancy. How do you hope your writing will hold/reflect your ghost after you're gone?

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

#pretendpanel
a daily prompt tag hosted by @hiriadunning.bsky.social
October 10th: Writing and reading are kinds of necromancy. How do you hope your writing will hold/reflect your ghost after you're gone?
Please support your fellow #pretentpanel posters with replies, likes and reposts
New #pretendpanel questions every Friday and Saturday. Hop in any time!

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 21h

#PretendPanel 11:

Frankly, I'd love to see more 'deep alternate history.' (*Especially* by people who aren't cis/het white males.) If my books were ultimately judged to merely 'interesting but limited attempts,' yet inspired a few others to try, I'd be happy.

Hiria Dunning @hiriadunning.bsky.social · 1d

#pretendpanel, I'm at a retreat over the next few days so I am incorrigibly absent! However, tell me...

October 10th: Writing and reading are kinds of necromancy. How do you hope your writing will hold/reflect your ghost after you're gone?

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

If 'AI' were as great as these dorks claim, we'd already be hearing about new and amazing scientific advancements discovered by these systems. The fact that we aren't - that the most we see is nonsense illustrations and fake citations speaks volumes.

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 2d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 1d

As Lex grew up, she's watched her father grow into a despot, increasingly paranoid about plots against him by first the common people, then his family. She's learned to navigate his unpredictable moods and hide her true feelings to keep herself safe around him. 🧵 #PlotTober

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 1d

#PlotTober Day 10: MC backstory & traumas

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

#PlotTober - a WIP plotting game by @gunsmile.bsky.social

10. What are some potential backstory or contextual reasons for your main character(s) having this kind of personality or behaving this way? In other words, what could have caused them to be the person they are at the start of your WIP?

Remember: Use the #PlotTober hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

#PlotTober 10. Backstory & traumas

Oddly enough, I don't know yet. Those get discovered in the writing, and I only have a solid outline for now.

Of course, there are traumas I know *will* happen in the story. (Day 22 will be a big one.)

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 1d

#PlotTober Day 10: MC backstory & traumas

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Brady West @bradytwest.bsky.social · 1d

💯

samuel mehr @mehr.nz · Dec 14

it's wild that R, the ubiquitous statistical computing language, was co-created by a Māori prof (Ross Ihaka) — and yet the vast majority of scientists who use R don't know

this is like inventing the toaster. possibly the largest impact of a single member of an indigenous community on modern science

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips 10: prize

Another footnote hit. The language and culture in this alternate timeline is odd, from our perspective. "Wife" is the best translation for... well.

#ScienceFiction #SFF

"A good wife is as gold.[1] Goddess could have followed Her pattern elsewhere, as with the bees. Men *could* have been small and rare."

[1] Gold is prized here not just for its beauty and rarity. It's also a good conductor that doesn't corrode.

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 1d

First (indoor) fall fire.

A fire burns in a fireplace behind a grate with curlicues in dark iron.

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 2d

I had to fight a bill for my kid - the ER he went to had the right insurance info, but one of the providers *in* that ER somehow had info for UHC, which was two jobs ago.

This, however, is next-level. My deepest sympathies. 😞

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 2d

#PlotTober

The MC is smart... but kinda lazy. Or at least, only willing to put effort into things that interest him. Physics, hobbies, etc.

Note, too, that "smart" and "wise" are two different things. So the *way* he pursues goals may be more oriented toward 'fun' than 'efficient'... or 'safe.'

Ange @gunsmile.bsky.social · 2d

#PlotTober Day 9: MC personality & behaviors

Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. Even if you don't share it publicly, I hope the prompt encourages you to think about it privately.

#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky

#PlotTober - a WIP plotting game by @gunsmile.bsky.social

9. What are some personality traits and behaviors, both positive and negative, that you think would suit your main character(s)? How do these traits affect your main character's goals and motivations?

Remember: Use the #PlotTober hashtag, engage with others, and have fun!

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 2d

#TimeTravelAuthors 9: [Atosho's] favorite person

I have my clan, but my duties at the Temple of Knowledge keep me from them. I am fond of Nusuku, my former commander in the war. And Manayka is an excellent foishee, but my time as his sponsor ends soon.

My two favorite two people are lost to me.

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 2d

#WIPSnips 9: battery

The law always struggles to catch up with technology.

#ScienceFiction #SciFi

A year and half ago she’d debuted a tailored set of viruses that could create a biological battery out of muscle tissue. A series of injections under the pectorals, for a couple months… and then you’d have a constant, guaranteed-for-the-life-of-the-patient trickle of power available for all kinds of medical implants–pacemakers, insulin pumps, brain monitors. “Groundbreaking” didn’t *begin* to cover *that*. Regulatory agencies around the world were struggling to figure out what a safety protocol would even look like for such an advance.

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 2d

OK. It's going to be coming out soon because of the relentless investigations of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, so I might as well admit it before the news breaks:

I am the General Counsel of Antifa.

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · 3d

It does take an exceptional sales job. 😀

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Sydney Scott (Author & Silly Goose) @sydneyscottauthor.bsky.social · 3d

I've been so overwhelmed by life that I hadn't looked at reviews for my last book, Home for the Harvest. Just checked Amazon and the average rating is 4.9/5. I'm not crying, you're crying. 🥹

tinyurl.com/yr5snw34

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Reposted by Ray Ingles

Sage T. Greene, Author @sagetgreene.bsky.social · 3d

My dad and I used to sit on the back porch and watch the rain together. He'd tell me, "I love you in the rain."

I Love You in the Rain turns “I love you” into a phrase for all occasions. It is about the unwavering nature of a parent’s love for their child.

I love you during DVpit 😉💚

#DVpit #PB 🌈✒️

A parent and child are sitting under an awning, holding hot chocolate, and watching the rain fall. "I love you in the rain."

A parent and child are at the beach building a sandcastle. "I love you at the beach."

A parent and child are at the kitchen counter preparing a meal. "I love you making breakfast."

Parents and children in different places at different times (playing, at the beach, in the kitchen, watching the rain, making snow angels, outside, in the evening). "I love you always."

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