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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 13m

Mmmm nuggets...

a cartoon of homer simpson with his mouth wide open

ALT: a cartoon of homer simpson with his mouth wide open

media.tenor.com

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 52m

I *think* my next novel would count as #hopepunk... I guess I'll at least watch this pitch day to find out!

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity

#HopePit Community @hopepit.bsky.social · 2d

Let's spin visions of hope & resilience!

🌞🌱

We hope you can JOIN US Nov 9 for #Hopepit, uplifting all types of media under the big #hopepunk & #clifi ⛱️ umbrellas.
Here on 🦋.

#solarpunk #permaculture #hopecore #hope
#WritingCommunity #GameDev #IndieDev #TTRPG #Comic
#WriteSky #Writers #MusicSky

Flier for #Hopepit
Sunday, Nov 9
community connect Nov 5 - 8

🌞🌱 Let’s elevate hope! 🌱🌞

An inclusive community-building hype event for voices of light & vision in the darkness.

Open to creators of all media telling stories of hope, resilience, sustainability, mindfulness, climate change, & collapse navigation

#Hopepit

🌞Use the #Hopepit hashtag to share your pitches, books, videos, articles, and art

🌱We encourage the use of additional tags, like: #hopepunk, #solarpunk, #clifi, #IndigenousFuturism, etc

🌳Not sure which genre? JOIN US anyway!

🌱We 💛 resource sharing & discussion threads!

@hopepit.bsky.social

climate fiction hopecore hopepunk clifi #Climatefiction nomadpunk solarpunk #solarpunk #hopecore indigenous futurism pitch hype permaculture

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 1h

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 12

Here's one of several potential openings for my next project... Possibly it's just a bit too on the nose to make the final cut!

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

They say that every disaster movie starts with a scientist being ignored. Georgia Harrison, one of the country's leading virologists, was being ignored - but luckily not in her professional capacity. Nonetheless, she wondered if this was some kind of foreshadowing of some hideous disaster to come.

Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 6h

Today on #WIPSnips, Phil Grundy is given a training montage by Dexy and his computer generated avatar.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 9h

a woman is sitting at a desk with a laptop and a spreadsheet on her lap .

ALT: a woman is sitting at a desk with a laptop and a spreadsheet on her lap .

media.tenor.com

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 10h

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Very loosely ranked.

Day 12

Back in the day I actually preferred Paradise City, but, well, the intro alone just lifts this one into timeless classic territory for me.

👨‍🎤 Guns N' Roses
🎵 Sweet Child O' Mine (1988)
💿 Appetite For Destruction

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by GunsNRosesVEVO

youtu.be

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 1d

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 11

Current state of my next WIP: about 12 pages of character and plot arcs printed in the hope that I can hammer them into a coherent outline of some sort.

Other stages: numerous notebooks of ideas, character sketches etc & a makeshift storyboard for a difficult chapter.

Several printed pages of notes in front of a computer screen.

A row of notebooks in front of a bunch of post-it notes on a whiteboard.

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 1d

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Very loosely ranked.

Day 11

Fire up the Quattro!

👨‍🎤 David Bowie
🎵 Ashes to Ashes (1980)
💿 Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

David Bowie - Ashes To Ashes (Official Video)

YouTube video by David Bowie

youtu.be

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 10

Basically finding enough time between an annoyingly necessary day job, neurospicy/disabled family, and actual downtime.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

Tracey Lee @traceyleewrites.bsky.social · 2d

📚 #WritingLifeMonthly October Day 10 📚

As a #neurospicy author, I find sticking to one project is really challenging, especially if I'm in a hard slog phase that doesn't give me any dopamine.

#writingcommunity #BookSky #BookSky💙📚 #authorchat #findtheglimmers #adhd #dyslexia

October #writinglifemonthly Day 10 What's the hardest part about writing for you?
Build Community - Share. Like.Comment in Group. @traceyleewrites

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

I've spent most of this year bouncing my attention between 4 projects... with the inevitable result that none of them are anywhere near finished. Sigh.

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

Yep, I have so many abandoned WIPs for so many reasons!

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

Errrm....

Cover art for The Ambivalence Chronicles Bits 4-6 by Steve Trower. A knight in medieval armour sits on an armchair strapped to the roof of a purple Mini 1275GT holding a shield and jousting lance.

Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

Today on #WIPSnips, Phil Grundy learns his daughter is the prize in a jousting contest, and reacts with Dad jokes.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

Phil's eyes and mouth widened. 'Charlie!'

Sam looked around, as if expecting her to be nearby. 'Where is she?'

'Rapunzeled away in a tower somewhere.'

Phil began to pace in front of the car. 'She's the prize in a jousting tournament.'

'Like a proper medieval joust?'

'No, not like a medieval joust,' Phil snapped.

'Actually a medieval joust, with knights and horses and those massive pointy sticks.'

'Lances.'

'I don't care whose they are! I have to win it, I have to get Charlie back!'

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Very loosely ranked.

Day 10

1985 was the year I discovered pop music, so there's a few tracks on my list because they were big that year and became part of that. Like this one.

👨‍🎤 Harold Faltermeyer
🎵 Axel F (1985)
💿 Beverley Hills Cop: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Harold Faltermeyer - Axel F (1984) Beverly Hills Cop - Soundtrack

YouTube video by DiscoBar80

youtu.be

16

Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 2d

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 9

For me it was reading something that should have been amazing, and somewhere in the middle thinking 'I'm sure I could do better than this...'

Since then I've just written what I want to read, be that an Old Testament Space Opera or ZX Spectrum based GameLit.

#WriteSky

Tracey Lee @traceyleewrites.bsky.social · 3d

📚 #WritingLifeMonthly October Day 09 📚

This one's not just a book you love, but one that makes you want to write. It could be fiction or non-fiction. What about it inspires you?

#writingcommunity #BookSky #BookSky💙📚 #authorchat

October #writinglifemonthly Day 09 Tell us about a book that inspired your own writing.
Build Community - Share. Like.Comment in Group. @traceyleewrites

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 3d

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Day 9

Very loosely ranked.

Is it a bit cheesy now? Probably.

Does the fact my kids will sing along in the car qualify it for a place in my favourite 80s songs? Definitely!

👨‍🎤 Bon Jovi
🎵 Livin' On A Prayer (1986)
💿 Slippery When Wet

Bon Jovi - Livin' On A Prayer

YouTube video by BonJoviVEVO

youtu.be

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 4d

Ray Davies (of The Kinks)

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 4d

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 8

Most of my books have an entire soundtrack/playlist, but not usually a specific song for a character.

The theme song for my next WIP, and for its protagonists as a collective, is Mis-Shapes by Pulp.

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #AuthorChat #BookSky

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 4d

My current WIP has no dungeon, but it does have a character Rapunzeled away in a tower...
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

'I'm here Charlie,' he said. 'Where are you?'

'It's Charlotte,' she said pointedly. 'I don't know, I think it's an attic of some sort, or a junk room... You'd love it.'

'Where is it?' Phil repeated. 'Can you see anything outside?'

'If I stand on a table I might just be able to see out of the window...'

Charlie went quiet, but Phil could hear faint shuffling noises, as of a table being moved, then a sudden startled scream, and a naughty word he didn't know Charlie knew.

'Charlie?'

'It's dark,' she growled.

'Ah,' Phil said sheepishly.

'And I think there's some kind of creature in here somewhere,' Charlie added. 'Or possibly a triffid. So you know, any help you can offer will be gratefully received.'

'I'm coming,' Phil took a second to get his bearings again, and set off in the direction of the Landmark. 'Don't go anywhere - I will find you.'

'I'm locked in an attic, Dad.'

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 4d

I feel like I should point out here that the existence in my writing of a cute lady mechanic who owns a classic Mini Clubman is in no way related to this poster existing when I was 14.

Probably.

Charlene from Neighbours (Kylie Minogue) sits on the bonnet of her green Mini, in mechanic's overalls, holding a spanner and what looks like an important piece of the engine.

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 4d

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Day 8

When this came out I was trying to look cool, pretending to like real bands like The Cure and whatever Paul Weller was in that week.

Now I know better of course, and enjoy a guity pleasure for it's own sake.

👩🏻‍🎤 Kylie Minogue
🎵 I Should Be So Lucky (1987)
💿 Kylie

Kylie Minogue - I Should Be So Lucky - Official Video

YouTube video by PWL

youtu.be

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 5d

Today on #WIPSnips, Magic Knight Phil Grundy is overwhelmed at Joust, and turns to some improbable Easter eggs for help.

#WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky #AuthorChat #GameLit

'Now what?' he said, adjusting his posture as Sir Galahad took to the skies again.

'Recite the incantation.'

'What incantation?'

'Abracazobadee.'

Phil gave an incredulous look at no-one in particular. 'What?'

'No,' Sam said patiently, 'abracazobadee.'

'Oh what the heck,' Phil muttered to himself as he turned the car at the end of the jousting field. 'You're a Magic Knight. Time to do some magic.'

And so, waving his lance in what he felt certain was a Hermionesque style, he triumphantly called out the magic word:

'Abracazobadee!'

A bolt of special effects magic streaked improbably from the tip of his lance and surrounded the goblet. A generous measure of mead jumped out and took refuge under the barrier, and as Phil looked on from a safe distance, the goblet slowly filled with something a lot more viscous and substantial.

'Phase one is a success,' he said quietly.

'Phase one?' Sam repeated.

'We have rice pudding,' Phil scanned the skies eagerly. 'Now we just need to see the bird take the bait.'

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 5d

#WritingLifeMonthly Day 7

Editing something I wrote in a Nanowrimo-style word vomit, or was just pantsing and took a wild direction change in the middle. Fun to write, but an absolute nightmare to turn into something usable...

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #BookSky #AuthorChat

Tracey Lee @traceyleewrites.bsky.social · 5d

📚 #WritingLifeMonthly October Day 07 📚

Okay, so yesterday we did our fav part of the process, now tell us what you wish you didn't have to do...

#writingcommunity #BookSky #BookSky💙📚 #authorchat

October #writinglifemonthly Day 07 What's your fav part of the writing process?
Build Community - Share. Like.Comment in Group. @traceyleewrites

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 5d

#80sTop30
#MusicChallenge

Day 7

Probably not the best Cure song; probably not even my favourite, but for me it was the gateway, that first glimpse into the weird world of Robert Smith.

Also there's a bloke playing a comb inside a wardrobe.

👨‍🎤 The Cure
🎵 Close To Me (1985)
💿 The Head On The Door

The Cure - Close To Me

YouTube video by TheCureVEVO

youtu.be

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Steve Trower @sptroweresq.bsky.social · 6d

It's been a while since I did the full 50k but I have ended up with some semi-usable first drafts that way.

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