Dan F. Bispo
@danfbispo.bsky.social
Professional word extruder. Author of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
My books: https://barrows.itch.io/
Currently working on: FIRST LIGHT, a sci-fi novella
My books: https://barrows.itch.io/
Currently working on: FIRST LIGHT, a sci-fi novella
#DecemberWorldbuilders
One of my notes for First Light reads "FIGURE OUT PARASITE SPECIES, DUMMY". Dummy that I am, I have not yet done so, but I want them to be a big part of the universe, fully sapient, and ethically complex, while requiring absolutely ruining someone's life to survive.
One of my notes for First Light reads "FIGURE OUT PARASITE SPECIES, DUMMY". Dummy that I am, I have not yet done so, but I want them to be a big part of the universe, fully sapient, and ethically complex, while requiring absolutely ruining someone's life to survive.
Howdy, #DecemberWorldbuilders! What are some symbiotic or parasitic relationships that occur in nature in your world? Feel free to interpret this one broadly and talk about a character with a parasitic personality, if you prefer😁 Don't worry, I'm not grading you on how much biology is in your world!
December 6, 2025 at 4:43 PM
#DecemberWorldbuilders
One of my notes for First Light reads "FIGURE OUT PARASITE SPECIES, DUMMY". Dummy that I am, I have not yet done so, but I want them to be a big part of the universe, fully sapient, and ethically complex, while requiring absolutely ruining someone's life to survive.
One of my notes for First Light reads "FIGURE OUT PARASITE SPECIES, DUMMY". Dummy that I am, I have not yet done so, but I want them to be a big part of the universe, fully sapient, and ethically complex, while requiring absolutely ruining someone's life to survive.
I had nothing for this one at first, then got an idea for a 'hook' and, well, now the robot part shop has a theme, I guess.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
December 6, 2025 at 3:34 PM
I had nothing for this one at first, then got an idea for a 'hook' and, well, now the robot part shop has a theme, I guess.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
It's a tough question; I'm not a particularly prideful person, I don't think. But I was very pleased to finalize First Light earlier this year--often I just hate my work by the time it's time for edits; that hasn't happened yet here! And who knows, people might even like it 😊
#PretendPanel
#PretendPanel
Happy December #pretendpanel! I hope you don't mind reflective questions. I'm a fan of them. But no worries if you give this month a skip, I'll understand.
December 5th: What are you most proud of from your writing this year?
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
December 5th: What are you most proud of from your writing this year?
#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts
December 5, 2025 at 7:56 PM
It's a tough question; I'm not a particularly prideful person, I don't think. But I was very pleased to finalize First Light earlier this year--often I just hate my work by the time it's time for edits; that hasn't happened yet here! And who knows, people might even like it 😊
#PretendPanel
#PretendPanel
#DecemberWorldbuilders
A fair amount, and because the main character is an epidemiologist, this is something I'll be adding to in the future. For now, special mention to the one planet where virulent bacterial growths went so out of control that they became both building-sized AND apex predators.
A fair amount, and because the main character is an epidemiologist, this is something I'll be adding to in the future. For now, special mention to the one planet where virulent bacterial growths went so out of control that they became both building-sized AND apex predators.
Good day, #DecemberWorldbuilders. Does your fictional world have any notable or unique diseases, medicine, or vaccination processes? What is healthcare like in your setting? Have your characters had to deal with a disease?
December 5, 2025 at 2:02 PM
#DecemberWorldbuilders
A fair amount, and because the main character is an epidemiologist, this is something I'll be adding to in the future. For now, special mention to the one planet where virulent bacterial growths went so out of control that they became both building-sized AND apex predators.
A fair amount, and because the main character is an epidemiologist, this is something I'll be adding to in the future. For now, special mention to the one planet where virulent bacterial growths went so out of control that they became both building-sized AND apex predators.
Had to cut out the spoilers for this one ;) I'm being a little pedant and going for exact matches this week, so I picked a 'screen' as opposed to the more common 'viewscreen' I use to refer to the large displays on a spaceship's bridge.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
December 5, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Had to cut out the spoilers for this one ;) I'm being a little pedant and going for exact matches this week, so I picked a 'screen' as opposed to the more common 'viewscreen' I use to refer to the large displays on a spaceship's bridge.
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#SFFChat
Sometimes I write very dialogue-heavy scenes that are a little inspired by conversations in cRPGs, where once you have chosen your dialogue options and read back, it feels like a very snappy, and slightly confusing, back-and-forth.
Sometimes I write very dialogue-heavy scenes that are a little inspired by conversations in cRPGs, where once you have chosen your dialogue options and read back, it feels like a very snappy, and slightly confusing, back-and-forth.
December 5, 2025 at 8:53 AM
#SFFChat
Sometimes I write very dialogue-heavy scenes that are a little inspired by conversations in cRPGs, where once you have chosen your dialogue options and read back, it feels like a very snappy, and slightly confusing, back-and-forth.
Sometimes I write very dialogue-heavy scenes that are a little inspired by conversations in cRPGs, where once you have chosen your dialogue options and read back, it feels like a very snappy, and slightly confusing, back-and-forth.
#SFFChat
To narrow it down to a single example, I've been on a gamebook kick lately and absolutely obsessed with the Sorcery! videogame adaptation, and how it integrates aspects of cheating/retrying and weaves them seamlessly into the plot.
To narrow it down to a single example, I've been on a gamebook kick lately and absolutely obsessed with the Sorcery! videogame adaptation, and how it integrates aspects of cheating/retrying and weaves them seamlessly into the plot.
#SFFChat Q3: What unique storytelling opportunities do games (of any kind you wish to talk about!) offer?
December 5, 2025 at 8:48 AM
#SFFChat
To narrow it down to a single example, I've been on a gamebook kick lately and absolutely obsessed with the Sorcery! videogame adaptation, and how it integrates aspects of cheating/retrying and weaves them seamlessly into the plot.
To narrow it down to a single example, I've been on a gamebook kick lately and absolutely obsessed with the Sorcery! videogame adaptation, and how it integrates aspects of cheating/retrying and weaves them seamlessly into the plot.
Isometric RPG is the easy answer, though I've had people compare First Light to the Mass Effect series, which I have yet to play!
My brain keeps coming back to 4X, though. Like a Stellaris or Alpha Centauri type thing, with the characters as faction leaders.
#SFFChat
My brain keeps coming back to 4X, though. Like a Stellaris or Alpha Centauri type thing, with the characters as faction leaders.
#SFFChat
#SFFChat Q2: If your story were a game of some kind, what would it be (e.g RPG, TTRPG, a boardgame of some kind, survival horror, first-person shooter, etc)?
December 5, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Isometric RPG is the easy answer, though I've had people compare First Light to the Mass Effect series, which I have yet to play!
My brain keeps coming back to 4X, though. Like a Stellaris or Alpha Centauri type thing, with the characters as faction leaders.
#SFFChat
My brain keeps coming back to 4X, though. Like a Stellaris or Alpha Centauri type thing, with the characters as faction leaders.
#SFFChat
Very presumptuous of #SFFChat to assume the plan wasn't to put the cast of First Light in a dating sim all along!
#SFFChat Q1: If your characters were in a dating sim (or another kind of game if you prefer), what roles would they have or what archetypes would they fulfill?
E.g. Healer, summoner, maybe in a dating sim they're the mayor's daughter, or in a farm sim they're an angry chicken! Be creative!
E.g. Healer, summoner, maybe in a dating sim they're the mayor's daughter, or in a farm sim they're an angry chicken! Be creative!
December 5, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Very presumptuous of #SFFChat to assume the plan wasn't to put the cast of First Light in a dating sim all along!
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
I doubt I'm your favourite, but it would do this me good to have some new knights in my audience. 🎺 🎙️ 🥺
youtube.com/@thebrambler...
If you want gallantry, comfort & whimsey please subscribe. #Raven+Bear is a collection of free stories to listen to.
#booksky #whattoread #bookrecs #audiobooks
youtube.com/@thebrambler...
If you want gallantry, comfort & whimsey please subscribe. #Raven+Bear is a collection of free stories to listen to.
#booksky #whattoread #bookrecs #audiobooks
December 5, 2025 at 4:08 AM
I doubt I'm your favourite, but it would do this me good to have some new knights in my audience. 🎺 🎙️ 🥺
youtube.com/@thebrambler...
If you want gallantry, comfort & whimsey please subscribe. #Raven+Bear is a collection of free stories to listen to.
#booksky #whattoread #bookrecs #audiobooks
youtube.com/@thebrambler...
If you want gallantry, comfort & whimsey please subscribe. #Raven+Bear is a collection of free stories to listen to.
#booksky #whattoread #bookrecs #audiobooks
Like everything about First Light, it varies. There are spaceships and megastructures and all that jazz, but due to the fragmented state of communities within the setting--every planet an isolated entity save for trade routes--there are species on every rung of the ladder.
#DecemberWorldbuilders
#DecemberWorldbuilders
#DecemberWorldbuilders! What is the "level" of technology in your fictional world? Is it a low-tech fantasy? A high-tech sci-fi? Or something in-between? Maybe something outside the tech progression of human history. Did they invent anything ahead of us in time? Any inventions suspiciously absent?
December 4, 2025 at 11:09 AM
Like everything about First Light, it varies. There are spaceships and megastructures and all that jazz, but due to the fragmented state of communities within the setting--every planet an isolated entity save for trade routes--there are species on every rung of the ladder.
#DecemberWorldbuilders
#DecemberWorldbuilders
A little sprinkle of worldbuilding. Just a hint, not much--like the nutmeg of fiction.
I've been in a festive mood lately, I wonder why. 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
I've been in a festive mood lately, I wonder why. 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
December 4, 2025 at 10:37 AM
A little sprinkle of worldbuilding. Just a hint, not much--like the nutmeg of fiction.
I've been in a festive mood lately, I wonder why. 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
I've been in a festive mood lately, I wonder why. 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
Today's #WIPSnips is "dominant"
This one's from a very recent session, so it's still rough around the edges. Yana goes to an orbital station to pick up a package, and there's a festival on. Her crew disappears to peruse the local cooking, leaving her to meet her contact alone.
Relatable, tbh.
This one's from a very recent session, so it's still rough around the edges. Yana goes to an orbital station to pick up a package, and there's a festival on. Her crew disappears to peruse the local cooking, leaving her to meet her contact alone.
Relatable, tbh.
December 3, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Today's #WIPSnips is "dominant"
This one's from a very recent session, so it's still rough around the edges. Yana goes to an orbital station to pick up a package, and there's a festival on. Her crew disappears to peruse the local cooking, leaving her to meet her contact alone.
Relatable, tbh.
This one's from a very recent session, so it's still rough around the edges. Yana goes to an orbital station to pick up a package, and there's a festival on. Her crew disappears to peruse the local cooking, leaving her to meet her contact alone.
Relatable, tbh.
December 2, 2025 at 9:14 AM
#DecemberWorldbuilders
In most cases, evolved, though there are, of course, creation myths everywhere. Some Tellari believe an ancestral entity still travels the cosmos, seeding life in its image. They also tend to convert to religions of other spacefaring peoples, though, and inherit their myths.
In most cases, evolved, though there are, of course, creation myths everywhere. Some Tellari believe an ancestral entity still travels the cosmos, seeding life in its image. They also tend to convert to religions of other spacefaring peoples, though, and inherit their myths.
Hello, #DecemberWorldbuilders! Tell us about the creation of your people according to the in-world lore. Were they created by gods? Did they evolve from single-celled organisms? Maybe a bit of both? Maybe they don't know, and maybe they have stories about it. What are their creation myths?
December 2, 2025 at 9:08 AM
#DecemberWorldbuilders
In most cases, evolved, though there are, of course, creation myths everywhere. Some Tellari believe an ancestral entity still travels the cosmos, seeding life in its image. They also tend to convert to religions of other spacefaring peoples, though, and inherit their myths.
In most cases, evolved, though there are, of course, creation myths everywhere. Some Tellari believe an ancestral entity still travels the cosmos, seeding life in its image. They also tend to convert to religions of other spacefaring peoples, though, and inherit their myths.
I always wanted to write a character who is cybernetically enhanced in order to become a more effective mercenary or agent of some kind. A cheerful, kind person who wants to be a net positive of joy in the world, and realizes too late he gave up most of himself to a cause he cannot stand behind.
Monday #WritingQ!
"Orphan" characters!
Tell me about a character you've dreamed up but haven't put in a story yet!
Who are they? What's the obstacles you've run into finding their story?
(Unless you have literal orphans in your story you want to talk about.)
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt
"Orphan" characters!
Tell me about a character you've dreamed up but haven't put in a story yet!
Who are they? What's the obstacles you've run into finding their story?
(Unless you have literal orphans in your story you want to talk about.)
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt
a cartoon of a woman with the words i feel so out of place here
Alt: a cartoon of a woman with the words i feel so out of place here
media.tenor.com
December 1, 2025 at 9:56 PM
I always wanted to write a character who is cybernetically enhanced in order to become a more effective mercenary or agent of some kind. A cheerful, kind person who wants to be a net positive of joy in the world, and realizes too late he gave up most of himself to a cause he cannot stand behind.
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
Anyone up for beta-reading a Lovecraftiana erasure poetry project? The manuscript is fairly short, a little over 5,000 words.
Slide into my DMs and I'll share the deets. 👀
#WritingCommunity #Poetry #HPLovecraft
Slide into my DMs and I'll share the deets. 👀
#WritingCommunity #Poetry #HPLovecraft
December 1, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Anyone up for beta-reading a Lovecraftiana erasure poetry project? The manuscript is fairly short, a little over 5,000 words.
Slide into my DMs and I'll share the deets. 👀
#WritingCommunity #Poetry #HPLovecraft
Slide into my DMs and I'll share the deets. 👀
#WritingCommunity #Poetry #HPLovecraft
I'm not usually much of a worldbuilder, but I'm throwing my hat on the ring this #DecemberWorldbuilders and see how well I do!
Science is widely spread throughout First Light's setting, as befits a sci-fi story, but different communities have different views on it and might forbid access to it. 1/6
Science is widely spread throughout First Light's setting, as befits a sci-fi story, but different communities have different views on it and might forbid access to it. 1/6
Welcome to the first week of #DecemberWorldbuilders! This week is about SCIENCE (broadly speaking) (you can play along even if you're writing pre-industrial fantasy!)
Today's Q: Can anyone in your world participate in scientific research? Or is it reserved for elites?
Today's Q: Can anyone in your world participate in scientific research? Or is it reserved for elites?
December 1, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I'm not usually much of a worldbuilder, but I'm throwing my hat on the ring this #DecemberWorldbuilders and see how well I do!
Science is widely spread throughout First Light's setting, as befits a sci-fi story, but different communities have different views on it and might forbid access to it. 1/6
Science is widely spread throughout First Light's setting, as befits a sci-fi story, but different communities have different views on it and might forbid access to it. 1/6
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
I'm incredibly excited to be part of this ENORMOUS book bundle on itch! 🤩
itch.io/b/3409/end-o...
Get Forest of the Morning along with 63 other diverse fantasy books! Fill up your TBR for next year. Check out some new and underrated authors!
itch.io/b/3409/end-o...
Get Forest of the Morning along with 63 other diverse fantasy books! Fill up your TBR for next year. Check out some new and underrated authors!
December 1, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I'm incredibly excited to be part of this ENORMOUS book bundle on itch! 🤩
itch.io/b/3409/end-o...
Get Forest of the Morning along with 63 other diverse fantasy books! Fill up your TBR for next year. Check out some new and underrated authors!
itch.io/b/3409/end-o...
Get Forest of the Morning along with 63 other diverse fantasy books! Fill up your TBR for next year. Check out some new and underrated authors!
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
it’s tiiiiime 🎄
December 1, 2025 at 1:41 PM
it’s tiiiiime 🎄
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
Great news, everyone! Hook & Quill Press is launching today as an indie publishing company, supporting and supported by the writing community (and one octopus). We have plenty of exciting announcements for your feed today, but here's a quick teaser...
#writesky #writingcommunity #quillbert4ever
#writesky #writingcommunity #quillbert4ever
December 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Great news, everyone! Hook & Quill Press is launching today as an indie publishing company, supporting and supported by the writing community (and one octopus). We have plenty of exciting announcements for your feed today, but here's a quick teaser...
#writesky #writingcommunity #quillbert4ever
#writesky #writingcommunity #quillbert4ever
Another repeat, but one I like a lot. It's from the later parts of First Light Book 1, when I was just chilling and letting the words land wherever they did. Worked out okay, I think!
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
December 1, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Another repeat, but one I like a lot. It's from the later parts of First Light Book 1, when I was just chilling and letting the words land wherever they did. Worked out okay, I think!
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
#WIPSnips #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts
Reposted by Dan F. Bispo
I'm pretty terrible at promoting (and I don't have much to promote at the moment anyway) but I do have a Ko-Fi tip jar linked in my bio and I'm more active on Tumblr (more writing snippets plus miscellaneous rambles and stuff I find fun).
November 30, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I'm pretty terrible at promoting (and I don't have much to promote at the moment anyway) but I do have a Ko-Fi tip jar linked in my bio and I'm more active on Tumblr (more writing snippets plus miscellaneous rambles and stuff I find fun).
👀👀👀👀👀
Wait...gasp!!
What has Quillbert found?
Is he finally at the end of his big book-related quest...?
Could it be...????
#writingcommunity #writesky #quillbert4ever #hookandquillpress
What has Quillbert found?
Is he finally at the end of his big book-related quest...?
Could it be...????
#writingcommunity #writesky #quillbert4ever #hookandquillpress
November 30, 2025 at 9:28 PM
👀👀👀👀👀