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Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

940 followers 220 following 2.3K posts

I’m a software developer with a lifelong taste for science fiction.

My first novel, SECONDARY, is now available! Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN meets Naomi Alderman's THE POWER.

https://secondary.blog

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Ray Ingles @ringles.bsky.social · Apr 22

SECONDARY is now available almost everywhere books and e-books are sold!

THE MARTIAN meets THE POWER; I can comfortably promise you've 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 read a story quite like it.

books2read.com/b/mdx1Jl
Amazon: t.co/0xpU28EWiE
Sample chapters: t.co/pvZX0lxq2v

#ScienceFiction #TimeTravel #SciFi

A man wearing a lab coat and a lanyard stands centered in the image. The background is split irregularly down the middle by a lightning bolt; the man straddles the divide.

On the right, a nuclear plant by the ocean, with a barbed-wire-topped wall. Sun and scattered clouds all the way to the horizon.

On the left, clouds and rain. Strange buildings by the ocean, brightly colored. A man and a woman stand in front of them, wearing odd clothing, also brightly colored.

The tagline reads, "One survivor of our timeline. And it's the wrong guy."

The blurb for SECONDARY, black on an off-yellow background:

Everybody has bad days. Jim McAllister's having one that spans two timelines.

For an anthropologist, joining the Time Eye project is a career-making dream. He's hardly above pulling strings–especially for a chance to pull photons from the Bronze Age and directly view ancient cultures. Then rogue scientists hijack the Eye, sending an engineered virus back thousands of years. Jim, the last person interfaced with the system, can only watch as reality warps around him.

Now he's the sole remnant of the old history: a conspicuous, bizarrely-dressed young man who speaks no recognizable language. Thanks to the virus, anyone with two X chromosomes is a living, and potentially lethal, taser. Men have never been a significant threat to women–quite the opposite.

To have any chance of getting home–to even survive, in a world where men's concerns have been secondary for all of recorded history–Jim will need to find allies. He'll have to apply his skills to a uniquely unfamiliar culture, where much more than the gender signifiers are radically different. He must figure out who might listen to his story. A story that's clearly impossible and deeply offensive. Plus, just as a bonus, heretical.

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Your Internet Friend Tom Tomorrow

@tomtomorrow.bsky.social

putting "a trip down memory lane for masochists who hate themselves" on the back of the next book

Ea-nāṣir @jedgarnaut.bsky.social · 12h

Reading the new @tomtomorrow.bsky.social collection is a trip down memory lane for masochists who hate themselves. It's very good but depressing.

January 24, 2026 at 2:14 PM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Don Moynihan

@donmoyn.bsky.social

Am wondering why more Democratic politicians aren’t joining in organic displays of resistance and protest in Minnesota. open.substack.com/pub/donmoyni...

America's founders were deeply opposed to the idea of a distant government maintaining "in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures." Now, as the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, some citizens raise the same grievance. They, and not their rulers, are the true heirs of the Founding Fathers.
- picture of protestor

January 24, 2026 at 1:23 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 24: Notable generals/commanders

Jim's been in the new timeline a few weeks; his grasp of local history is - ahem - rather shallow. And he's on trial for murder, so educational opportunities are, y'know, limited. He does *see* a sword wielded by a famous Empress, but no names.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 14h

Hello, #JanuaryWorldbuilders! We're doing military/warfare week in our fictional worlds. Do any of your armies have a notable general or commander? Who are they and what are they like? Are they well-respected or feared by their soldiers? How strategic are they?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JanuaryWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Week 4: Military/Warfare
24. Who are some notable generals or commanders in your world?

The background image shows a blurred magic tree with a waterfall coming down between two halves of its trunk. It’s nighttime and the night sky is magical with lots of blues and pinks and purples

January 24, 2026 at 1:33 PM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Julie Bihn (Titanic Voyage available now)

@juliebihn.bsky.social

A favorite moment? #TimeTravelAuthors

I have a lot of them. There's a long excerpt on the front page of my website juliebihn.com (I'm gonna update soon!). But overall, I'd just say "Emo Rocky."

juliebihn.itch.io/tv

#TimeTravelAuthors
January 2026

1. Introduce your story (optional: start with "First..." or "At first…")
3. Saturday excerpt (optional word: deal)
5. What projects are you working on?
7. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: name)
9. Your goals for 2026
11. Time travel tropes you love
13. How realistic is your story?
15. The cost of time travel
17. Saturday excerpt (optional word: work)
19. A character's goal
21. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: count)
23. A favorite moment in your story
25. Problem/difficulty you had with time travel
27. Medical care in your story
29. What trigger warnings would you give?
31. Author'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 or @juliebihn@mastodon.social

Titanic Voyage sitting on a railing at a wooden column on the queen Mary. An elevator is in view, with original turquoise-and-white checked linoleum flooring.

January 23, 2026 at 2:56 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#TimeTravelAuthors 23: Favorite moment in your story

Most of my favorite moments are upcoming in my WIP sequel. But I'm really happy with the conclusion of the inciting incident. It's set up so the reader can understand *exactly* how screwed Jim is.

(They don't, tho. It's even *worse*. 😀)

#SciFi

If Marilyn had been telling the truth, she’d changed all of recorded history less than five minutes ago. If I understood what she’d been saying, I was almost certainly the sole remnant of the former timeline. And if that disgusted couple was any indication, this was a drastically different timeline.
So… what the fuck was I supposed to do about it?

January 23, 2026 at 12:10 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 23: Food and medical care for soldiers

Medicine is more advanced in the new timeline; but hey, so are poisons! 🤦 And since war is more ruthless, that kind of stuff gets used more. (When Jim tells them about the Geneva Conventions, he's regarded as adorably naïve.)

1/3
#SciFi

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 1d

#JanuaryWorldbuilders! Today's military/warfare related Q: How does your world's military handle food and medical care for its soldiers? Do they have MREs, or the medieval equivalent? Supply lines? Foraging off the land? What kind of skills do the medics have?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JanuaryWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Week 4: Military/Warfare
23. How is food and medical care handled for soldiers?

The background image shows a blurred magic tree with a waterfall coming down between two halves of its trunk. It’s nighttime and the night sky is magical with lots of blues and pinks and purples

January 23, 2026 at 12:08 PM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

ColorsFade Gaming

@colorsfade.bsky.social

Real hard to focus on writing with the world burning all around us, but hey, I did already receive a request for Recurrence from my #SmallPitch.

Small victories, I guess. I wish the state of the world made it more enjoyable.

Hope the rest of you are seeing requests too.

January 23, 2026 at 4:13 AM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

Quote with two snippets of your writing/art & “Come for X, stay for Y”

Come for the ludicrously detailed alternate history, stay for the anthropologically-consistent exploration of the relationship of gender to culture.

We ate, and our late ‘sahwehmahlai’ was surreal. The main course was basically spaghetti with a spicy, fruity peanut butter sauce. As a combination, it worked better than you’d think. Still definitely took some getting used to.

I extracted a strand, held it up. “With ‘noodles,’” I said, making sure they got the word, “we put in different…”–I indicated the goop–“‘sauce.’ Made from red… fruit? Berry?”

After some back-and-forth, we got out a map and I indicated the continent of South America. Along the Andes through where Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia had been. Atosho thought for a bit, then admitted she had heard about something along those lines. Only in that part of the world, though.

Apparently tomatoes hadn’t made it across the Atlantic like in my history. No cheese or tomatoes… I contemplated the bleak prospect of a world without pizza.

I’d been experiencing how women checked out men here, right from the start. But Manayka’s unquestioning acceptance of it–his obvious belief that it was perfectly natural–shook me. Men were supposed to be the lecherous ones. That was my ‘perfectly natural.’ Women were more selective and choosy, because they had to be. They couldn’t have as many children as men. Guys could potentially spread their seed far and wide.
Such had been the received wisdom. What if it was really about who had the power, though?
In my world, women needed to be careful about showing sexual interest in general. It could upset their mates… leading to violence. Just drawing attention from males in a sexual way–any male–risked violence.
But here… it didn’t matter how territorial a guy was, he couldn’t physically threaten a woman to keep her in line. She could threaten him.

January 23, 2026 at 1:46 AM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Julie Bihn (Titanic Voyage available now)

@juliebihn.bsky.social

Next month's prompts, #TimeTravelAuthors! Hope to see you then! #TimeTravelAuthorsQs #WritingPrompts #WritingCommunity #WriteSky

#TimeTravelAuthors
February 2026

1. Introduce your story (optional: use the word "love")
3. Is your work a standalone or a series?
5. Languages in your story
7. Saturday excerpt (optional word: love)
9. Does your story get "political"?
11. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: hug)
13. Love in your story
15. Comp titles?
17. Does your world have the butterfly effect?
19. How honest are your characters?
21. Saturday excerpt (optional word: listen)
23. A time travel book/movie/show that your characters enjoy or would enjoy
25. Wednesday POST-SIZED snippet (optional word: glow)
27. Author'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 or @juliebihn.mastodon.social

January 22, 2026 at 3:05 PM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Dan F. Bispo

@danfbispo.bsky.social

Hey you know how the other day, I said I was getting a cover for First Light and was really excited to share it?

I got a cover for #FirstLight and I'm really excited to share it.

All credit goes to my partner who did not wish to be named.

Damn right it's a COVER REVEAL, NERDS!

Cover for the book "First Light - Event Horizon" by Daniel F. Bispo, showing a starship flying across space, with stars and a space station in the background.

January 20, 2026 at 7:09 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 22: Current wars in WIP. Is your MC involved?

The Empire that Jim lands in is not currently at war with anybody. (Well... no hot, declared wars, anyway.) A *world* war was less than a decade ago; they're recovering and digesting new territory.

1/4
#SciFi #SciFiBooks

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 2d

#JanuaryWorldbuilders We talked about weapons and armor, now for the wars. This week's worldbuilding questions are about your fictional world's wars and militaries. Today's Q: Are there any current wars in your WIP and is your MC involved?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JanuaryWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Week 4: Military/Warfare
22. Are there any current wars in your WIP? Is your MC involved in them?

The background image shows a blurred magic tree with a waterfall coming down between two halves of its trunk. It’s nighttime and the night sky is magical with lots of blues and pinks and purples

January 22, 2026 at 1:11 PM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Jason "Red5" Lyall

@jaylyall.bsky.social

Can’t reform this

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

This guy went to work today, put a mask on, kidnapped a 5 year old child, and then used him as bait so both he and his father could be sent behind bars

A masked ICE officials with a 5 year old child

January 22, 2026 at 2:24 AM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

❄️Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta ☃️

@charliedeltawrites.bsky.social

Rayna Clay is a world-weary monster hunter with a reckless streak that tends to get her in trouble.

Simon is a naïve incubus having second thoughts about the deadly conspiracy he's found himself wrapped up in.

The question is, is there enough time left for them to stop it?

#BluePit 📖 #LGBT #F #C

Rayna Clay, Fullbody painting of a woman. She's white, with short brown hair, grey eyes, and dressed in modern clothes (jeans, boots, black tshirt, and brown leather jacket). She's holding an expandable security baton in one hand and wiping blood from her lips with the other.
Art by Aowna

Cover: Anthropomorphic by Charlie Delta
Art By Conrad Altmann

January 13, 2026 at 6:46 AM

Reposted by Ray Ingles

Stephanie Winter

@wintersleep85.bsky.social

NAUSICAÄ X FF7

Nature is decaying, nobles are hoarding magic, and demons prey on everyone. A possible chosen one, a man who failed his destiny, and a woman rejected by fate must work together for one last chance to save the dying world.

#BluePit 📖 #A #F #Q #agentguide

Dark forest. An agent's guide to The Blessing Returned. Adult fantasy. 98,000 words.

Dark forest. Pitch. Idealistic Hana Hahl lives in a world that is slowly dying after a failed quest to bring back magic. The only ones left with power are self-serving royals and dark mages, while desperation has given rise to an anti-magic order. Caught up in a mystical event, Hana is blessed with an immense power that could restore nature to the world. As Hana struggles to control the overwhelming force, Lady Kalyn Nossi, the only known survivor of the disastrous quest, directs her to the one person who can help her. Matthias Azel, the failed chosen one, reluctantly agrees to teach Hana while concealing his past from her. Accompanied by Kalyn and a charismatic prince with a dangerous secret, they journey to seek answers about Hana’s destiny. They fend off demonic threats and the anti-magic forces as Hana struggles with magic that seems to resist her and a growing fear that the world isn’t meant to be saved.

A dark forest. Comps. Nausicaä. One Dark Window. The Starless Crown. Godkiller. Final Fantasy VII Remake. Tropes. Chosen One (s)? Ecofantasy. Dieselpunk. Grumpy/Sunshine. LGBTQIA+. Multi POV.

A dark forest. Snippet. She took a cautious step forward, unaware she was in a spectral form. Little drops of shimmering light followed her path, dissolving into the ground. “But this has to be a sign?” Grass grew where the light fell, delicate bits of nature that should be impossible. “Maybe it’s returning!”
The young woman spoke with such bright reverence as if life was a fairy tale and magic was all they needed for a happy ending. It was as if she couldn’t see the shadows approaching her. The inevitable death.
“Magic should never return.”
After speaking those words, he sprang forward and shoved her away from the shadows. Pain rocked him as soon as he touched her. The scorching mystical agony tore a scream out of him, but it kept her away from the unearthly menace, and the shock did what he intended.
Sent him back to his body.

January 13, 2026 at 6:51 AM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

Jim is an anthropology postdoc, with actual field experience. He's smart, but *hardly* world-class.

Then almost 60 centuries of history get drastically rewritten. Jim and (most of) his clothes are all that's left of our world.

And the change itself is... not in his favor.

1/3
#AwesomeCharacters

❄️Charlie (Chelizabeth) Delta ☃️ @charliedeltawrites.bsky.social · 2d

Tell me more about your #AwesomeCharacters

How out of their depth is your character during the story?

Are they an expert up against impossible odds? An enthusiastic amateur? Is all of this brand new to them and they are trying desperately to keep up?

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

January 22, 2026 at 12:42 AM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#TimeTravelAuthors 21: 'count' snippet

A tilt of the head, nodding forward, inviting me to respond. "I am afraid this is a space for women."

I stole a quick glance at the serving boy. A lot of times, certain things didn't #count, in this culture. "I did not know this. My apologies."

#SciFiBooks

January 21, 2026 at 12:10 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 21: Laws regarding weapons. Can anyone carry and use weapons?

Firearms are restricted; military and civil guard. Noblewomen of military age can possess and use them for training, even if they're not active. Like a militia, if you squint.

1/4

#ScienceFiction #SciFi

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 3d

Good morning, #JanuaryWorldbuilders! What kind of laws exist regarding the use of weapons in your world? Can anyone use or carry them? Are they usable only by a certain class? Or only after you've been trained in its use? Are some weapons banned entirely?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JanuaryWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Week 3: Weapons/Armor
21. What laws exist regarding the use of weapons? Can anyone use or carry?

The background image shows a blurred magic tree with a waterfall coming down between two halves of its trunk. It’s nighttime and the night sky is magical with lots of blues and pinks and purples

January 21, 2026 at 12:07 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

A #writing example - #screenwriting in this case.

So a kid is found wandering in the woods with no memory. He's taken to a doctor for an exam, and...

(You only need to watch the first 16 seconds of this video.)

1/3

www.youtube.com/watch?v=46vu...

Why Doesn’t D.A.R.Y.L. Get Mentioned With Other 80s Sci-Fi Favorites?

YouTube video by Loving The 80's

www.youtube.com

January 20, 2026 at 11:36 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#WIPSnips 20: troll

Don't have that word... but there's definitely some trolling going on in this passage.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SciFiBooks

Marilyn smiled indulgently, and launched into a mini-lecture. What I gathered was that they were used to set up some kind of interference pattern in the “hyper-entangled” quantum region, by doing something to two points on opposite sides of that volume. “Then photons from the past should start coming out of those two focus points,” she said, just as if her previous words had made sense.

Felix interjected. “A simplification, unfortunately. One cannot just aim a camera at them. One must correlate the particles coming out of both focal areas to build up the picture. That is why there are two Viewers.”

Marilyn gave him a glance tinged with vinegar, and Ellen looked a little irritated. I saw an opportunity to score some bonus points, and joked, “Dude, are you mansplaining the Time Eye to the woman who invented it?”

January 20, 2026 at 12:28 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 20: What kind of melee weapons are used in your world?

The main purpose of a weapon is to deliver an electrified shock to the target, by penetrating the skin past an insulating layer. So, you need something pointy and conductive.

Rapiers and stilettos are *very* common.

1/3

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 4d

Hey there, #JanuaryWorldbuilders! Yesterday I asked about ranged weapons, so today is for melee/close-range weapons! Whacha got for me? Are people using swords and maces? Got any cool polearms? Or are your characters conducting business with their fists, teeth, and claws?

MonthlyWorldbuilders prompts daily feed card
#JanuaryWorldbuilders
Hosted by Kira of the Wind
Week 3: Weapons/Armor
20. What kind of melee weapons are used in your world?

The background image shows a blurred magic tree with a waterfall coming down between two halves of its trunk. It’s nighttime and the night sky is magical with lots of blues and pinks and purples

January 20, 2026 at 12:27 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#TimeTravelAuthors 19: A character's goal

Saloro doesn't care at all about this weird boy and his nonsense about 'coming from another timeline.' She wants to understand these tiny silicon chips that *somehow* form functional circuits. The boy doesn't know enough to help.

#SciFi #SciFiBooks

January 19, 2026 at 3:23 PM

Ray Ingles

@ringles.bsky.social

#JanuaryWorldBuilders 19: What kind of long-ranged weapons are used in your world?

Scorpions and trebuchets and other siege weaponry were long a part of warfare, but personal ranged weapons were limited. Considered unwomanly, somewhat ignoble. Arrows are a *boy's* weapon.

🧵 1/6

#ScienceFiction

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle) @kiraofthewind.com · 5d

#JanuaryWorldbuilders. What kind of long-range weapons are used in your world? Do they have bows? Longbows? Slingshots or darts? Or is this an age of guns, spaceships, and rockets?