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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21h

#scribesandmakers Oct 8
Why do I think some people do not value creativity?

Ever read Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The little Prince? Creativity is human nature. Not valuing it is a learned behavior.

"My drawing did not represent a hat. It depicted a boa constrictor digesting an elephant"

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 21h

#pennedpossibilities 807 — Have you ever written anything that falls within the genre of horror? If you haven’t, is it something you would be interested in doing someday?

One time I thought it would be cool to write a scary short story to read at a sleepover. One friend said it was kind of lame […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 1d

#scribesandmakers 10.7 — How often do you go to art galleries?

Not as often as I'd like. I live in a rural town. There are a couple "art galleries" and one is a showcase for the art majors at the small university here. I don't fit in with the artist crowd at the other gallery, unfortunately.
I […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 1d

#pennedpossibilities 806
What signals to your SC that it’s autumn?

Besides the calendar? Mabon and Samhain are important celebrations for Çaturans. School begins on Mabon and farmers begin harvesting their crops. Samhain signals the end of the harvest season and the beginning of a new year […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 1d

#writerscoffeeclub 251003: How do you transition into writing mode?

First, I brew a magic potion (coffee), then I set the chalice (mug) on my alter (desk), and I say a special incantation: "Hey Siri, put me on 'Do Not Disturb' mode".
Then I write.

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 1d

#wordweavers 10.7 — How does the world your characters inhabit deal with garbage?

Good question. Hmm. Their lifestyle doesn't create much trash. They don't have plastics, they try to mend and reuse things, compost, and when something is complete rubbish, it's probably safe to burn in the […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 2d

Many people I know and love are MAGA. I don't want to fight them. I don't want to "convert them to liberalism", I'd just like for them to stop believing the lies and behave reasonably again.
Feel free to boost or share.
#uspolitics #politics #maga #truce #nohate #republicans #liberal #democrats

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 3d

#writerscoffeeclub 5th of October: Have you ever included real-world disproven science in a work?

Alchemy, I guess? Actual magic.
In order for Tarragon to pass her magical exams, she uses science tricks and I stretched limitations to make it work out for her.

For instance, to make a feather […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 4d

#pennedpossibilities 803 Is there anything unusual in your MC's home?

Tarragon found a few unrecognizable coins from a place she's never heard of before and she doesn't know it yet, but her mother has a few of those mysterious coins tucked away in her trunk too.
#çatura

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 4d

#wordweavers 04 Choose a holiday that people in your world celebrate. What gift would you give to your MC?

I didn't get too creative, they celebrate the 8 pagan sabbats. Tarragon would love a new cloak for Yule. Hers has gotten tattered from so many secret trips into the forest to visit Geeta […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 4d

A short piece I wrote about an awkward social situation I found myself in recently with my cat.
For those who make it to the end: thanks, and which one would you rather be?

#writersofmastodon #writing #writingcommunity #funny #cats #parenting #story

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 5d

#wordweavers Oct 3 - If your antagonist had to live a week of your MC’s life, how would it affect them?

Oof—a role switch would put my antagonists precisely where they want, most desperately, to be.
And where would my protagonist be? In the antagonist's place? On vacation? Or right there […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 6d

Page one of my detective noir short story series.
Jasper “Jazz” Mallone has a vaping addiction, lives in a yurt behind the Lucky Strike bowling alley, and is the bartender at the Fourth Wall Lounge. Sometimes patrons come to him with a case to solve, sometimes […]

[Original post on mastodon.art]

Jazz Mallone and the Case of the
Disappearing Woman

Monday, June 2, 2024.

She entered the bar like a bad breakup song—smudged mascara,
cherry red lipstick, black leggings, stilettos, and an oversized
sweatshirt. Like a poet without a rhyme. Said she’s been in town
six weeks, I'd have guessed six hours. Said she writes smut
novels I probably haven't heard of.

“Try me,” I dared. She wouldn't give titles. Ordered tequila.
Neat. I thought it was a bold choice, but I've mixed worse
decisions before.

She threw it back like a woman trying to forget her own name.
That name? Tabitha Wesson. I noted a small birthmark in the
shape of Belgium under her sharp jawline.

Maybe that's her real name. Maybe not. She paid her tab with
plastic and was back at the Fourth Wall Lounge the next night.
Looking more like a local. Lip gloss, dark hair in a messy bun,
and a Temple University shirt she said she found at a thrift
store.

Ordered Rosé on a tab for “Tabitha Wiggins”. Sat at a table in
the corner with a notebook and pen. Eyes shifting around the
bar.

“What happened to Ms. Wesson?” I asked, wiping down the bar as
she approached for a refill.

“I don't know who that is,” she stated flatly. Took two large
gulps from the refilled glass. Paid in cash.

At her empty seat, I found the note. Folded twice, handwritten
in blue ink with out-of-place capital letters. Not subtle, but
coded enough to throw off the most basic intercepter.

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 6d

#scribesandmakers Oct 2. Are you harder on yourself or others when critiquing creative work? Why do you think that is?

Myself, though I have been known to rip apart other works. Usually it's beloved classic literature, just for the thrill of challenging the unquestioned celebration of famous […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 6d

#pennedpossibilities 801 SC POV: What requires your patience today?

Geeta: mending the frocks and quilts. I had wanted to be outside foraging, but the weather has been rather uncooperative. Nevertheless, all this rain should encourage the mushrooms to grow.
#Çatura

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 6d

#writerscoffeeclub 2 Do you tend to include prologues? Why?

Not really. The story begins precisely when I intend it to. I'd rather breadcrumb the background information into the narrative.

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 6d

#wordweavers 02 What do your characters argue about?

Mostly their country's politics. Which kind of magic is better. And which sports team is number one.
#Çatura

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 8d

#wordweavers 30/9: Which author, from any time, would you want as a mentor?

Dorothy Boone Kidney.
Getting sentimental here. I only met my great aunt Dot a few times. I didn't know she was an author then. She was kind and super fun.
I was told she wrote children's books and read them. A few […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 9d

#writerscoffeeclub 29 Sep: Speaking for yourself, what would make a work 'obscene'?

If the work was unreadable due to profanity, lewdness, gore, cruelty and violence. Like, when you have to put the work down and genuinely wonder if the author is actually okay.

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 10d

#writerscoffeeclub 28 Sep
Have you ever added to a work after it was ‘finished’?

I made some Christian themed art when I was a church kid. Received many compliments on them: "oh that's powerful" "reminds me of my favorite Psalm"...
After I went through a difficult divorce from the church, I […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 10d

#wordweavers Sep 28: Is your MC more likely to fight, flee, or talk their way out of trouble?

Probably talk. I'd say Tarragon definitely has a fawn response to danger. Survive first. Anger later. Then regret.
#catura

ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 11d

#writerscoffeeclub 27.How do you support your fellow writers?

I try to like, share, comment online and attend a local writers' group once a month. Sometimes the library hosts a local author book talk and I try to attend if I can.
Usually I buy used copies of books. But if the author happens to […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 11d

#wordweavers Sep 27: Has your MC had any amusing injuries?

The head cool has only reminded Tarragon half a million times that the kitchen stairwell is nota her personal shortcut to the stables. But Tarragon doesn't listen. Once, she missed a step and sprained an ankle trying to get out of there […]

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 12d

#pennedpossibilities Have you had to cut anything significant from your WIP?

Yeah, I started writing a short story at a novella pace. I had to chop quite a bit of part 1 to make it fit in my 3-part, ~2k word format

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ChelsieSp 🏳️‍🌈 @rockbythetree.mastodon.art.ap.brid.gy · 20d

#pennedpossibilities 787: How does your MC view the gentler, daintier things in life: as things worth preserving and caring for, or things only bound to wither and disappear?

MC Tarragon has an evolution in this regard throughout the story. She starts out not caring, things are disposable, only […]

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