Ray Ingles
@ringles.bsky.social
I’m a software developer with a lifelong taste for science fiction.
My first novel, SECONDARY, is now available! Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN meets Naomi Alderman's THE POWER.
https://secondary.blog
My first novel, SECONDARY, is now available! Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN meets Naomi Alderman's THE POWER.
https://secondary.blog
Pinned
Ray Ingles
@ringles.bsky.social
· Apr 22
SECONDARY is now available almost everywhere books and e-books are sold!
THE MARTIAN meets THE POWER; I can comfortably promise you've 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 read a story quite like it.
books2read.com/b/mdx1Jl
Amazon: t.co/0xpU28EWiE
Sample chapters: t.co/pvZX0lxq2v
#ScienceFiction #TimeTravel #SciFi
THE MARTIAN meets THE POWER; I can comfortably promise you've 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 read a story quite like it.
books2read.com/b/mdx1Jl
Amazon: t.co/0xpU28EWiE
Sample chapters: t.co/pvZX0lxq2v
#ScienceFiction #TimeTravel #SciFi
#TimeTravelAuthors 13: Desserts?
Alternate histories do have alternate desserts. Jim doesn't get to sample many of them, of course. Homeless beggars and sanitarium inmates don't dine too fancy. 🙄
Alternate histories do have alternate desserts. Jim doesn't get to sample many of them, of course. Homeless beggars and sanitarium inmates don't dine too fancy. 🙄
November 13, 2025 at 12:11 PM
#TimeTravelAuthors 13: Desserts?
Alternate histories do have alternate desserts. Jim doesn't get to sample many of them, of course. Homeless beggars and sanitarium inmates don't dine too fancy. 🙄
Alternate histories do have alternate desserts. Jim doesn't get to sample many of them, of course. Homeless beggars and sanitarium inmates don't dine too fancy. 🙄
I'll play along!
Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.
Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.
November 11, 2025 at 3:13 PM
I'll play along!
Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.
Convincing you to read my novel by the first sentence. Share yours if you want.
Reposted by Ray Ingles
Sharing this stunning piece I had commissioned from @professoremily.bsky.social for my little post-apoc kiddos! Thank you so much, Emily!! You’re the best!
Featuring: Micah, Lennie, and the one-and-only Shrimp.
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Featuring: Micah, Lennie, and the one-and-only Shrimp.
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
November 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Sharing this stunning piece I had commissioned from @professoremily.bsky.social for my little post-apoc kiddos! Thank you so much, Emily!! You’re the best!
Featuring: Micah, Lennie, and the one-and-only Shrimp.
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
Featuring: Micah, Lennie, and the one-and-only Shrimp.
#WritingCommunity #WriteSky
#TimeTravelAuthors 11: Does time ever fly?
Not generally. Jim spends pretty much the whole first book in crisis mode, intensely aware of what's going on around him. (Mostly so as to not die.)
#SciFi
Not generally. Jim spends pretty much the whole first book in crisis mode, intensely aware of what's going on around him. (Mostly so as to not die.)
#SciFi
November 11, 2025 at 1:56 PM
#TimeTravelAuthors 11: Does time ever fly?
Not generally. Jim spends pretty much the whole first book in crisis mode, intensely aware of what's going on around him. (Mostly so as to not die.)
#SciFi
Not generally. Jim spends pretty much the whole first book in crisis mode, intensely aware of what's going on around him. (Mostly so as to not die.)
#SciFi
#WIPSnips 11: burger
In a history that split off just a little after the city of Ur was founded, burgers don't seem to have developed. They have different ways of cooking food, even.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
In a history that split off just a little after the city of Ur was founded, burgers don't seem to have developed. They have different ways of cooking food, even.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
![We got a snack in that plaza across from the park. A breaded seafood sandwich for me. T’ramoi paid–cloth money and metal coins, both square. She quoted some kind of aphorism: “ziDoiseemay ray doilo ray doisapi, seeda doikicho tamu.”[1] Roughly, ‘Hunger, thirst, and weariness give poor advice.’
The coating on the fish was weird; like whole-wheat, mildly-spiced panko. After a couple bites, I noticed the fish was cooked very oddly–like a microwave that left warm and cool spots. Uneven. Not raw, yet some parts were definitely more done than others.
I finally realized what was going on. It had been electrocuted. That put a damper on my appetite; especially in concert with the unfamiliar, bitter spicing.
[1] Where English has ‘and,’ they have two separate words. ‘Gawa’ means ‘and’ in general; ‘ray’ is specifically for sequences and lists. Note that the nominative prefix ‘zi-’ is used only on the first item in the list.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bu5ob3emr4yddctx53uitqhl/bafkreif6pzsc2bhlyb6maadjbmbbjcw3qkns7dnvrfcoo3jsx6u45idu2q@jpeg)
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
#WIPSnips 11: burger
In a history that split off just a little after the city of Ur was founded, burgers don't seem to have developed. They have different ways of cooking food, even.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
In a history that split off just a little after the city of Ur was founded, burgers don't seem to have developed. They have different ways of cooking food, even.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
#WIPSnips 11: local
Finding a bathroom in a foreign country is difficult enough. Try finding one in an alternate "timeline*...
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Finding a bathroom in a foreign country is difficult enough. Try finding one in an alternate "timeline*...
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
November 10, 2025 at 12:19 PM
#WIPSnips 11: local
Finding a bathroom in a foreign country is difficult enough. Try finding one in an alternate "timeline*...
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Finding a bathroom in a foreign country is difficult enough. Try finding one in an alternate "timeline*...
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
#TimeTravelAuthors 9: Strangest research?
Probably finding out what animals and plants were around 5,700 years ago, and which ones *hadn't* emerged yet. I hadn't realized how many fruits and flowers had been bred by humans just in the last few millennia.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #TimeTravel
Probably finding out what animals and plants were around 5,700 years ago, and which ones *hadn't* emerged yet. I hadn't realized how many fruits and flowers had been bred by humans just in the last few millennia.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #TimeTravel
November 10, 2025 at 1:44 AM
#TimeTravelAuthors 9: Strangest research?
Probably finding out what animals and plants were around 5,700 years ago, and which ones *hadn't* emerged yet. I hadn't realized how many fruits and flowers had been bred by humans just in the last few millennia.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #TimeTravel
Probably finding out what animals and plants were around 5,700 years ago, and which ones *hadn't* emerged yet. I hadn't realized how many fruits and flowers had been bred by humans just in the last few millennia.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #TimeTravel
November 9, 2025 at 2:29 PM
November 9, 2025 at 1:34 AM
November 7, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Ray Ingles
Exactly the same in AI video gen. To make this short film, each shot had to be converted from posed shots (on iPhone with actual people) to maintain clothing and scenery consistency, and even then the faces would jump and change regularly (see the credits at the end): ~12m20s: youtu.be/9ztAyAyv5Uk
FT Drama starring Stephen Fry - is AI going to change who we really are?
YouTube video by Financial Times
youtu.be
November 6, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Exactly the same in AI video gen. To make this short film, each shot had to be converted from posed shots (on iPhone with actual people) to maintain clothing and scenery consistency, and even then the faces would jump and change regularly (see the credits at the end): ~12m20s: youtu.be/9ztAyAyv5Uk
#WIPSnips 6: penultimate
Even sesquipedalian me doesn't have that word. 😂
But Jim appreciates Nusuku *trying* to say his name correctly. Stopping at the penultimate syllable, before the closing vowel people habitually append.
Even sesquipedalian me doesn't have that word. 😂
But Jim appreciates Nusuku *trying* to say his name correctly. Stopping at the penultimate syllable, before the closing vowel people habitually append.
November 6, 2025 at 12:56 PM
#WIPSnips 6: penultimate
Even sesquipedalian me doesn't have that word. 😂
But Jim appreciates Nusuku *trying* to say his name correctly. Stopping at the penultimate syllable, before the closing vowel people habitually append.
Even sesquipedalian me doesn't have that word. 😂
But Jim appreciates Nusuku *trying* to say his name correctly. Stopping at the penultimate syllable, before the closing vowel people habitually append.
#TimeTravelAuthors 5: 'meal' snippet
Humans *always* make slang. 😀
---
She made our ‘point granted’ gesture–right hand scooping something from the air, then placing it on an imaginary surface in front of her. (Kind of a slang usage of ‘accepting #food.’ ‘Okay, I’ll eat it.’)
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
Humans *always* make slang. 😀
---
She made our ‘point granted’ gesture–right hand scooping something from the air, then placing it on an imaginary surface in front of her. (Kind of a slang usage of ‘accepting #food.’ ‘Okay, I’ll eat it.’)
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
November 5, 2025 at 12:15 PM
#TimeTravelAuthors 5: 'meal' snippet
Humans *always* make slang. 😀
---
She made our ‘point granted’ gesture–right hand scooping something from the air, then placing it on an imaginary surface in front of her. (Kind of a slang usage of ‘accepting #food.’ ‘Okay, I’ll eat it.’)
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
Humans *always* make slang. 😀
---
She made our ‘point granted’ gesture–right hand scooping something from the air, then placing it on an imaginary surface in front of her. (Kind of a slang usage of ‘accepting #food.’ ‘Okay, I’ll eat it.’)
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 PM
#WIPSnips 4: steel
Even for familiar-ish musical instruments, unusual materials give them a different sound.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Even for familiar-ish musical instruments, unusual materials give them a different sound.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
![Manayka insisted on doing all the cleanup. I hesitated, but… the ‘harachunee,’ the mandolin, called. I undid the extra string–it looked like nylon yet twanged like steel–and spent a difficult hour trying to retune it from ‘just intonation’ to a tempered scale… purely by ear, without any of the usual tools.[1] Luckily, the frets were somewhat adjustable, like a sitar. It was still painful.
[1] I have a decent ear, but not perfect pitch or anything like that. I guessed at an ‘A’ and worked relative to that. So long as you don’t need to accompany another instrument, that’s usually fine.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bu5ob3emr4yddctx53uitqhl/bafkreifsrwclceoky5r2udkqjuzq3uyhv6nq3bvro6wdy63lotwrjozlue@jpeg)
November 4, 2025 at 11:58 AM
#WIPSnips 4: steel
Even for familiar-ish musical instruments, unusual materials give them a different sound.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Even for familiar-ish musical instruments, unusual materials give them a different sound.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
#TimeTravelAuthors 3: What would your characters do if they could travel forward in time?
There was hope the Time Eye might do that - or at least, help the future bridge contact back to us. Didn't work out... but it's not clear that it *couldn't* have, I suppose.
There was hope the Time Eye might do that - or at least, help the future bridge contact back to us. Didn't work out... but it's not clear that it *couldn't* have, I suppose.
November 3, 2025 at 11:59 AM
#TimeTravelAuthors 3: What would your characters do if they could travel forward in time?
There was hope the Time Eye might do that - or at least, help the future bridge contact back to us. Didn't work out... but it's not clear that it *couldn't* have, I suppose.
There was hope the Time Eye might do that - or at least, help the future bridge contact back to us. Didn't work out... but it's not clear that it *couldn't* have, I suppose.
![I think they were most surprised at my boxers, so radically unlike male underwear here.
“I don’t believe a nice petosee[1] would run around wearing such a thing!” Igocha was prissy, I had concluded. Baiyokee clearly agreed, shaking his head vigorously. He seemed appalled, in fact.
“Was this… normal?” Evaba asked.
[1] English just doesn’t have a word that corresponds to ‘petosee.’ Essentially, it means ‘an unmarried young man of good virtue.’ There’s no single-word male equivalent of the term ‘maiden’ in English. The best I can do is a French term: ‘demoiseau,’ the masculine equivalent of ‘demoiselle,’ which ‘Mademoiselle’ came from.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bu5ob3emr4yddctx53uitqhl/bafkreiehk7u6p7sskmhgw3pecjdmey4phhvm27jg7d6wld5fnsu4sckqgm@jpeg)
November 3, 2025 at 11:57 AM
#WIPSnips 2: cobweb
Definitely vibes on this one. The new timeline's version of a floor-cleaning robot is a *touch* more impressive than the ones from our world.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
Definitely vibes on this one. The new timeline's version of a floor-cleaning robot is a *touch* more impressive than the ones from our world.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
November 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM
#WIPSnips 2: cobweb
Definitely vibes on this one. The new timeline's version of a floor-cleaning robot is a *touch* more impressive than the ones from our world.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
Definitely vibes on this one. The new timeline's version of a floor-cleaning robot is a *touch* more impressive than the ones from our world.
#ScienceFiction #SciFi
#Writevember 1:
I'm Ray, and I'm working on the sequel to my debut novel, SECONDARY. I have a solid draft that I'm polishing into shape, and while I won't hit my target of the end-of-the-year, I hope to make major progress this month. I should get some long, uninterrupted writing time. ✌️
I'm Ray, and I'm working on the sequel to my debut novel, SECONDARY. I have a solid draft that I'm polishing into shape, and while I won't hit my target of the end-of-the-year, I hope to make major progress this month. I should get some long, uninterrupted writing time. ✌️
#Writevember begins!
Let's start with who you are, the WIP you'll be working on this month, and your writing goal. Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky
Let's start with who you are, the WIP you'll be working on this month, and your writing goal. Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post.
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky
November 1, 2025 at 3:38 PM
#Writevember 1:
I'm Ray, and I'm working on the sequel to my debut novel, SECONDARY. I have a solid draft that I'm polishing into shape, and while I won't hit my target of the end-of-the-year, I hope to make major progress this month. I should get some long, uninterrupted writing time. ✌️
I'm Ray, and I'm working on the sequel to my debut novel, SECONDARY. I have a solid draft that I'm polishing into shape, and while I won't hit my target of the end-of-the-year, I hope to make major progress this month. I should get some long, uninterrupted writing time. ✌️
#WIPSnips 1: ancestor
Time travel shenanigans can leave traces. Sometimes, very large ones.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SFF
Time travel shenanigans can leave traces. Sometimes, very large ones.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SFF
![They had official names, but their nickname was ‘nahtofehkeh tiRoygu,” the ‘Ryogu complexes,’ after a famous theologian.
They were very similar, all over the world. A few minor mutations, but they could not be older than seven thousand years, or younger than four thousand. The correspondence to the start of the First Bronze Age was obvious. What made it worse was they knew about the ‘mitochondrial Eve’–‘mitochondrial Levaro’ they called her here–and she had existed more than 120,000 years ago.[1] The complexes had obviously been *inserted* into the human genome, somehow.
[1] They were positive about that 120K figure. I am 98% sure “mitochondrial Eve” had lived 150K years ago in my world. Maybe the different demographics and migration at work, eliminating some ancestral branches? Or a consequence of the virus modifying X chromosomes? Or both?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bu5ob3emr4yddctx53uitqhl/bafkreihsyeyrtqxqxvrzu6aryrhrkiakmjqsprpgkzppns7z6omvs7huoe@jpeg)
November 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM
#WIPSnips 1: ancestor
Time travel shenanigans can leave traces. Sometimes, very large ones.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SFF
Time travel shenanigans can leave traces. Sometimes, very large ones.
#SciFi #ScienceFiction #SFF
#PlotTober 31:
This was useful, refining what I'd been noodling about for a while. Seeing where things fit in a 3-act structure, & where they didn't. It never hurts to look at something familiar from a new angle, and this helped.
Was fun seeing how others answered, or interpreted, prompts!
1/2
This was useful, refining what I'd been noodling about for a while. Seeing where things fit in a 3-act structure, & where they didn't. It never hurts to look at something familiar from a new angle, and this helped.
Was fun seeing how others answered, or interpreted, prompts!
1/2
#PlotTober Day 31: Monthly wrap-up
Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. And on this final day, I would like to thank everyone for participating. I hope you had fun!
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky
Answer the prompt on the card by quoting this post. Remember, answering a prompt is always optional. And on this final day, I would like to thank everyone for participating. I hope you had fun!
#WritingCommunity #WritingPrompt #WriteSky
October 31, 2025 at 9:10 PM
#PlotTober 31:
This was useful, refining what I'd been noodling about for a while. Seeing where things fit in a 3-act structure, & where they didn't. It never hurts to look at something familiar from a new angle, and this helped.
Was fun seeing how others answered, or interpreted, prompts!
1/2
This was useful, refining what I'd been noodling about for a while. Seeing where things fit in a 3-act structure, & where they didn't. It never hurts to look at something familiar from a new angle, and this helped.
Was fun seeing how others answered, or interpreted, prompts!
1/2
#WIPSnips 31: monster
How a culture perceives what's 'normal' informs what they consider 'monstrous.'
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #SFF
How a culture perceives what's 'normal' informs what they consider 'monstrous.'
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #SFF
!["She was never more than a tahweesay."[1]
[1] A word for those few animals in nature that pose a genuine threat to a woman. Divided into two classes: the 'venomous ones,' 'gauvahkeh,' and the large carnivores ('doinahgookeh,' lit. 'overgrown ones'). Philosophically, they are considered... unfair. A rebellious portion of [nature] that's broken some restriction or another for undeserved advantage.
Venomous things are regarded as clever tricksters, gaming the rules. Technically allowed, but squarely against the plain intent of Goddess.
Large carnivores like bears, lions, and (effectively, sometimes) a pack of wolves/hyenas... they're considered overgrown. So big and strong they can just muscle past the natural order of things.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bu5ob3emr4yddctx53uitqhl/bafkreieo5geetzh4v3fbbhmdb7bpz3u2mx2soiepg5uaev5ue4sepnfm2u@jpeg)
October 31, 2025 at 11:14 AM
#WIPSnips 31: monster
How a culture perceives what's 'normal' informs what they consider 'monstrous.'
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #SFF
How a culture perceives what's 'normal' informs what they consider 'monstrous.'
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #SFF
Reposted by Ray Ingles
#WIPSnips 30: spell
English's history works against Jim. And even his allies. 😀
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
English's history works against Jim. And even his allies. 😀
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
October 30, 2025 at 11:17 AM
#WIPSnips 30: spell
English's history works against Jim. And even his allies. 😀
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
English's history works against Jim. And even his allies. 😀
#SciFi #ScienceFiction
#TimeTravelAuthors 29: 'now' snippet
I locked eyes with ‘Atosho’ for a second. She had “asked to care for me.” Was she my guardian #now? Parent?
Owner?
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #TimeTravel
I locked eyes with ‘Atosho’ for a second. She had “asked to care for me.” Was she my guardian #now? Parent?
Owner?
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #TimeTravel
October 30, 2025 at 12:39 AM
#TimeTravelAuthors 29: 'now' snippet
I locked eyes with ‘Atosho’ for a second. She had “asked to care for me.” Was she my guardian #now? Parent?
Owner?
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #TimeTravel
I locked eyes with ‘Atosho’ for a second. She had “asked to care for me.” Was she my guardian #now? Parent?
Owner?
#ScienceFiction #SciFi #TimeTravel