#PennedPossibilities 614 — SC POV: What is one phrase that you would really like to hear right now?

[SC:] It's wonderful and horribly embarrassing but I've got a crush on my new friend. She saved my life, but then I saved hers in a return, so maybe it's the intensity of that fateful 24 hours. I've only been with men before, even went to the trouble of flying tandem with the bad boy in high school to get him. Somehow she's different, so entirely smarter than me that it isn't funny, but oh so sexy and patient when she teaches a nobody like me things. Hormones don't lie, they just torment you! I know what I feel, and I don't flapping care that I've never felt this way before.

Unfortunately, she's got boyfriends. Two! They're rather important personages, despite being men—and for political reasons she's stated she's pregnant by one of them, but not by which. I think she's making it up, but I wasn't there. Worse, she's gushed about reconciling with her childhood sweetheart (okay, that had been a flapping mess) in that special way that says she's got further plans for the man, and I know for a fact that she's been eyeing her former teammate from the mob, the one I watched her give a kiss that could melt a mountain of ice. It helped melt my heart! I so want to be him, any of them, but I'm missing sir parts.

I'm going from being circumspect to stumbling over my words in an instant. I keep pretending the accidental contract is accidental, or misconstrued. Worse, as her bodyguard in training, I'm around her all the time and am sometime hands-on. I feel like I am going to explode!

[Author writes:] If I ever write this sequel to the story the SC was developed in, it may be from her POV. I don't think it will ruin much to say that if the SC were simply to ask, the words she'd hear might really surprise her.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#QuestionOfTheDay what's your comfort media thing when you're stressed or scared or need distraction? Like a show or episode of a show or book or chapter of a book or movie, music, game, comic, anime, manga, YouTube video, whatever

Sneaking into backyards of the ultra-rich inspired author's new novel
By Nicola Heath and Claire Nichols

Robert Lukins' third novel is a Succession-like saga set in a wealthy enclave in Connecticut in the 1990s.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-16/robert-lukins-author-somebody-down-there-likes-me/105042750

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2503.15 — Are you aware of any fanfiction about your work?

The author breaks out laughing and crying at the same time, and can be heard murmuring, "One day I hope someone will like it that much."

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2503.15 — If your SC found a wallet full of money, what would they do with it?

It feels like I am dodging the question by stating that the society does not have a concept of bank notes, thus no billfolds or wallets. Instead, things like IDs are typically made out of copper, etched to show a diffraction pattern, and lacquered heavily so they don't rub against bare skin—and worn on a lanyard. The characters often refer to money as "coin" because it is, and they keep that in a coin pouch.

Bolt, if she were to find the lanyard, would turn it in, or find the person if they were part of her cohort. Because of the nature of the clothing in this extremely hot climate era, things like coin pouches are visible and tend to be considered an accessory or an ornament, are sometimes distinctive, and not too rarely custom. If she found one, she might know to whom it belonged and would attempt to return it. If she found a generic specimen, it might be a different story. She has always had a difficult life, and if the chances of it being found immediately by the owner are low, she would have no qualms taking it. "Life is both skill and chance," people often say, "The successful cultivate the former and accept the latter." (They don't have the concept of good or bad fortune, supernatural help, or luck.)

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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‘Running scared!’

‘Pulp fiction style’

#reading #books #fiction #LongLife

I want to believe this meme, so I will. What can it hurt?

In any case, if you are not a regular reader of books, you might want to give it a try. The worst that can happen is you'll learn something about yourself.

The #MastoPrompt for Saturday 15 March 2025 is:

#indigo

The poem or story can include the prompt word or be about the prompt word.

@ me, if you like, or just include the #MastoPrompt tag (to allow people to follow or filter their feeds), or keep your work to yourself - all the options are good as long as you're writing.

If you're including an image please do include alt-text if you’re able to.

L'amie @filiaa a mis beaucoup de cœur et de temps dans un article fouillé sur la relation entre humour et interactivité. Article passé un peu inaperçu en raison du concours annuel de fiction interactive.

Lisons-le, commentons-le, partageons-le !

https://www.fiction-interactive.fr/humour-et-interactivite/

Algernon Blackwood, born OTD in 1869, was a prominent author of #weird #fiction https://cromwell-intl.com/travel/usa/new-york-hp-lovecraft/?s=mb #HPLovecraft #HPL

A RELUCTANT WARRIOR SEEKS refuge in a hostile state only to find that his troubles are far from over—and that he and his beloved dragon are targets of powerful evil. Fascinatingly nuanced fantasy world, lots of excitement, second in a series. B PLUS

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-desert-talon-karin-lowachee/1145681840?ean=9781837864027

@bookstodon

First Draft #WIP Live With Me, Sorrow complete! A #queer #novella

Sam wakes one to find himself haunted by his still living grandmother. About #grief #family and #forgiveness

Check out my website for updates!

#WritersCoffeeClub #WCC 2503.14 — What new themes are you currently exploring?

Not sure if it's a theme or not, but in Mars Needed Women I'm exploring what happens when a world of endpoint religio-fascist nations run by squabbling oligarchs who value loyalty over brains meet a no-nonsense brainy woman (a Martian colonist) who's been pushed too far too often by too many men, who's unwilling to play the old male-power-dominance game, who's unwilling to play by any the rules if it means saving her daughters and all the children born on Mars.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#WordWeavers 2503.14 — Antagonist POV: Do you want to be perceived as “good?”

Want? As in feeding my ego? I'm mature enough that I don't need that. It depends on the task and what happens if I fail. Do people die if I fail? Usually, I don't care then if people perceive me as good or bad, only that I keep people from dying. If being perceived as good helps me in my goals, I work at it. I'll literally charm the clothes off them and [NSFW] if it helps. Regardless, it's human nature to not like other people getting in the way of their need for power. There's always someone who doesn't like the way I run things, the peace I maintain. Bear in mind, I didn't want to be perceived as good when I invaded the dragon lands and occupied their northern prefecture, simply effective.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

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#ComingSoon

#upcoming #newbook #newrelease #new #bookboost #bookstadon #books #stories #storytelling #fiction
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In 2008, police raided a commune in France. It inspired this spy novel
By Hannah Story

In the Booker-shortlisted Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner turns the true story of French "anarchists" infiltrated by an undercover agent into a meditation on how to live.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-15/rachel-kushner-creation-lake-the-mars-room-booker-shortlist/104990582

Troll Song is now free, even on Amazon! I suspect some of you hammered them with price matching requests until they caved. Thanks for doing that!

https://books2read.com/TrollSong

Please do the same with She Hunts Demons, which is also free!

https://books2read.com/SheHuntsDemons

The Shortlist is out! Thank you to all the authors who submitted stories. One more week of stressful decision-making, and then it's the Winners List!
https://medium.com/.../first-line-fictions-final-six-the...
#firstlinefiction #writingprompts #WritingCommunity #writer #fiction #shortstory #creativewriting #writingcontest #flfcontest

"Look to Windward" by Iain M. Banks

My seventh Culture series novel. They can all be read out of order, but I don't recommend reading this one before "Consider Phlebas", and I don't recommend reading that one before any other one. If you're considering getting into this fantastic sci-fi world, I'd suggest starting at "Player of Games".

This space opera focuses on the aftermath of war: the trauma, the guilt, the blame, the desire for revenge, the hopefully even bigger desire for peace that will finally last for everyone. Like every Culture novel, it's dense, but worth the focused read. For me it's a perfect mix between a contemplative slow pace and sitting on the edge of your seat until you're pushed off by a twist you didn't see coming.

If you've read any other Culture books, you've experienced the high highs of the Culture: a utopic intergalactic society in which people can live without any scarcity, do as they please, travel anywhere, become who they want to be and live as long as they wish to. This text shows the downsides to the Culture's craving for positive change through forced involvement with other species. I want to defend the Culture at every turn, but like its citizens, this book made me feel embarrassed to do so.

There's intrigue, action, multiple points of view, ethical questions that keep you up at night, great characters, endless lore... If you have any interest in sci-fi, give this series a go. I feel like it's still a bit niche, a bit difficult to get into, its fans unfortunately a bit too dudebro male (blegh), but if you love it you will love it deeply.