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  #ScribesAndMakers Create a micro-story in six words "Great cruise, besides the space piranhas".

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  #ScribesAndMakers Have you ever 3D printed? I actually own a cheap little resin printer but I've never had the chance to use it and it's currently stuck in my father's house until I can get a chance to bring more stuff down to my place. I would love a bigger one though. Very jealous of an actor friend of mine who was gifted a really cool one from a company in the Czech Republic a couple of years back.

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  #ScribesAndMakers Have you done any customisation for your creativity? Not in the sense of keyboard layout, but I do do the occasional bit of action figure or Funko customisation and have been lucky so far in finding ones that work for my SF series, the Xanadu books. I still need the XO and navigation officer. So far though, these are starting to look good. They're all still WIP so a bit scrappy and eventually that white box will be a shelf unit for them.

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  #WritersCoffeeClub Do readers want a new experience in structure or narrative or prefer the familiar? Looking at other responses, I think I'm in a different set to most people because I actively look for things that are different. Maybe because my genre is horror but a specific area (non-gore, non-slasher, non-Universal monster general) and I've read an awful lot of what's out there. So to find something new that's not the same book I've read a hundred ti...

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  Familiarity... Sometimes, yeah, this means I take a chance on a book that I ultimately don't end up enjoying, but I find there's more chance I'll get at least something out of it than if it's just a carbon copy haunted house story for instance. Also, if I can guess all the twists and see exactly where that story is going to go from chapter one, I feel more like THAT wastes my time. I have probably abandoned more books because they turn out to be formulaic than an...

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  CONT Familiarity Which maybe explains why I sell pretty much no books because I also don't want to write the same thing as the stuff I've already read. I want to write MY thing. If other people like it, therefore, that is fantastic and kind of a surprise. But it's way more fun for me to spend months of my life working on something that's to my tastes than to some imaginary reader's who may or may not even hear about the book let alone like it. #WritersCof...

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  #WritersCoffeeClub What have you given up in order to write? My sanity? I probably would've done better at school if my head hadn't always been in the stories I wanted to write, but life would have been way more boring.

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  #ScribesAndMakers Is there a country other than your own that influences your creativity? The Czech Republic. My first professionally published story was one I wrote inspired by a cafe I liked in Prague, and even when I'm not writing specifically about CZ, like I did in Panelák, there are traces of it. Kazda is Czech, albeit future Czech born on another planet. Traces of the mythology and history creep into my fantasy stories. It's my second home and always will be. Všude dobře...

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  Just seen the pictures of Union St in Glasgow and the massive fire. Worked in Glasgow Central for a while and much though I hated working there, I love the building and I'm glad it seems to have minimal damage, but the Victorian block next to it was lovely as well and especially to see the dome come down, it's awful. Only upside is they're saying there were no casualties, which seems like a miracle with a fire that size. #Glasgow #Scotland

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  #PennedPossibilities How do you use social media as an author? Ineffectively, probably, but I've never been that active on any platforms. I promote my book via a professional FB page but I've noticed that practically nothing I do in that respect has any effect. I quit Twitter and am trying to persuade my friends to migrate off FB as well. There's just such a limited number of spaces now that aren't controlled by fascists, I think it's way less useful as a...

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  #WordWeavers If you need to share an important piece of history or lore what is your approach that avoids info dumping? Depends. Sometimes a quick "this is this" works better than having characters do an "As you know, Bob" conversation, sometimes it's more natural to have the characters talk about it. Depends on the character and whether their knowledge would naturally let them have that discussion. Eg, it always bugged in CSI when one scientist would...

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  #WritersCoffeeClub Do you prefer to write complex, intricate plots or more straightforward ones? I wish I could write simpler, but I think because I kind of started on crime writing and mystery, my tendency is always to head back into that territory regardless of the genre. I like creating the puzzles. Weirdly, it actually takes me more effort to come up with a very simple story that's still effective.

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  #WritersCoffeeClub How well did this month go in terms of writing? Pretty well. Finished the second Xanadu book and got it edited and released today. It's starting to pop up in all its sites where it's supposed to be. Running a promo for the first time ever on book 1 on ebook. Learned how to do that. And I've written 28K of book 3. I even sold three books this month so my run of no month with 0 sales so far is still going. #ScribesAndMakers

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  #WritersCoffeeClub What is the fundamental goal you seek to achieve with your current WIP? It is the third in a series, that I really hope people eventually discover and some folks end up liking my characters and universe as much as I do. I hope, unlike every other book I've ever written, it will sell a decent number of copies but going off past experience, I don't hold much optimism. And eventually I hope to be well enough that I could sell the books on a stall at local comi...

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  #ScribesAndMakers How much time do you expect to have for creative work this month? Not a lot if I'm honest. I'm still dealing with all the legal mess my uncle has created by not naming his executor well enough, I go back to work on Wednesday although I do want to talk to HR about going part time so I can have at least some time not working (my job does 50 hour weeks most weeks), and I need to get the house in order before the valuation guy comes. So not much, alas.

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  RE: https://mastodon.world/@QuokkaMocha/116147431736313043 Also, book 1 is still on sale for 99p / 1 USD on most platforms (ebook). According to the dozens of AI bots I get reviewing it, it's really good and really deserves promoting for which they're happy to charge me. #bookstodon #books #BookPromo #SciFi

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  I'm a bit late to the party, but all my titles are currently 50% off on Smashwords in their eBook Week sale. The offer runs until the 7th of March and includes the new Xanadu ebook, The Xanadu Invasion. #bookstodon #smashwords #sale #books #ebook

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  Book 2 of the Xanadu series is out now in ebook from Payhip, my site or most commercial platforms. Paperback is currently live on Amazon but will be up on other platforms soon. https://www.littleblueplanettours.co.uk https://www.books2read.com/XanaduInvasion #bookstodon #NewBook #ScienceFiction #sciFiSeries #books

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  @benjamincox@writing.exchange No, not just you! That irritates me as well, and in SF and fantasy. Planets that are totally different to Earth having the same measurement system.

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  #scribesAndMakers Do you have any annual traditions not tied to holidays? Nov 9 - I always wear something featuring butterflies, in honour of my mum's birthday. She loved butterflies and wore them all the time nearly. Nov 23 - Doctor Who day, anniversary of the first broadcast in 1963. Usually do something Who-related Usually I would take a trip to Prague at least twice a year, but that's been on hold because of illness.

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  #ScribesandMakers Greatest creativity stress take 2 I need to change my answer for this. My greatest stress right now is Draft2Digital. I have yet to have a single book uploaded there that their system hasn't either had a problem with or has itself screwed up. Between that an Atticus, it takes longer to actually format and upload the damn book than it does to write it. Rant over.

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  #PennedPossibilities Share a piece of lore from your WIP This also counts for The Xanadu Affair as I'm working on the sequel. Humans first arrived in the Trinary systems by accident, having fallen into a wormhole near Titan. The ship that brought them was a cruise vessel called the Nicht Gefunden. The company had wanted to call it something cool to impress their German investors so put their ideas into a translator app and the CEO thought this response the app gave sounded so cool.