Sax Brightwell 🇨🇦
@saxbrightwell.neocities.org
(they/them)
Writer of romantic science fiction series "Secrets of Sleipnir."
Buy direct: https://payhip.com/SaxBrightwell
Buy in stores: https://books2read.com/ap/RD62br/Sax-Brightwell
Blog: https://saxbrightwell.dreamwidth.org/
Writer of romantic science fiction series "Secrets of Sleipnir."
Buy direct: https://payhip.com/SaxBrightwell
Buy in stores: https://books2read.com/ap/RD62br/Sax-Brightwell
Blog: https://saxbrightwell.dreamwidth.org/
#WordWeavers 11/11: Describe the mood of your story using colours or sounds.
A roaring orange street festival, but also blue moonlight and two pairs of feet shuffling through a dance alone to distant music.
A roaring orange street festival, but also blue moonlight and two pairs of feet shuffling through a dance alone to distant music.
November 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
#WordWeavers 11/11: Describe the mood of your story using colours or sounds.
A roaring orange street festival, but also blue moonlight and two pairs of feet shuffling through a dance alone to distant music.
A roaring orange street festival, but also blue moonlight and two pairs of feet shuffling through a dance alone to distant music.
#WritersCoffeeClub 11/11: How accessible is your work?
I always aim for my style to be clear and fun to read, and enough readers have said I succeed to satisfy me.
In another sense, accessibility is why I will keep making cleaned-up TTS audio copies of all my books until I can pay human readers.
I always aim for my style to be clear and fun to read, and enough readers have said I succeed to satisfy me.
In another sense, accessibility is why I will keep making cleaned-up TTS audio copies of all my books until I can pay human readers.
November 11, 2025 at 4:18 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 11/11: How accessible is your work?
I always aim for my style to be clear and fun to read, and enough readers have said I succeed to satisfy me.
In another sense, accessibility is why I will keep making cleaned-up TTS audio copies of all my books until I can pay human readers.
I always aim for my style to be clear and fun to read, and enough readers have said I succeed to satisfy me.
In another sense, accessibility is why I will keep making cleaned-up TTS audio copies of all my books until I can pay human readers.
Original post: mastodon.social/@appassionat...
November 10, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Original post: mastodon.social/@appassionat...
Original post: tech.lgbt/@Natasha_Jay...
November 10, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Original post: tech.lgbt/@Natasha_Jay...
Me: I find music that's either instrumental or in a language I don't speak very helpful for writing.
Algorithm: brings me a song in Punjabi (which I don't speak) that absolutely slaps
Me, instead of writing:
Algorithm: brings me a song in Punjabi (which I don't speak) that absolutely slaps
Me, instead of writing:
https://media1.giphy.com/media/3XsniM1pgA5R6ZkCeX/200.gif
Clip of a wedding dance from a bollywood movie
media1.giphy.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Me: I find music that's either instrumental or in a language I don't speak very helpful for writing.
Algorithm: brings me a song in Punjabi (which I don't speak) that absolutely slaps
Me, instead of writing:
Algorithm: brings me a song in Punjabi (which I don't speak) that absolutely slaps
Me, instead of writing:
The irony of this article in particular being paywalled is incredible.
Original post: indieauthors.social/@indieauthor...
Original post: indieauthors.social/@indieauthor...
November 10, 2025 at 5:13 PM
The irony of this article in particular being paywalled is incredible.
Original post: indieauthors.social/@indieauthor...
Original post: indieauthors.social/@indieauthor...
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/11: What have you recently learned which will have a big impact on your work?
Not so much learned as re-learned, by example: how a small goal can make a story just as engaging as a grand one.
Not so much learned as re-learned, by example: how a small goal can make a story just as engaging as a grand one.
November 10, 2025 at 3:43 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 10/11: What have you recently learned which will have a big impact on your work?
Not so much learned as re-learned, by example: how a small goal can make a story just as engaging as a grand one.
Not so much learned as re-learned, by example: how a small goal can make a story just as engaging as a grand one.
#WordWeavers 10/11: MC POV: Name one thing you’ve never done but really want to.
Fiyeli: Hang-gliding. Much of the coastal Nans is more cliff than forest and I've seen people doing it there. But I would need to stick around long enough to learn how.
Fiyeli: Hang-gliding. Much of the coastal Nans is more cliff than forest and I've seen people doing it there. But I would need to stick around long enough to learn how.
November 10, 2025 at 3:37 PM
#WordWeavers 10/11: MC POV: Name one thing you’ve never done but really want to.
Fiyeli: Hang-gliding. Much of the coastal Nans is more cliff than forest and I've seen people doing it there. But I would need to stick around long enough to learn how.
Fiyeli: Hang-gliding. Much of the coastal Nans is more cliff than forest and I've seen people doing it there. But I would need to stick around long enough to learn how.
#WordWeavers 9/11: Which community/group (from questions 5&7) is stronger? Why?
I'll condense my answers about Fiyeli's community/group into "the whole human + caveling population of Sleipnir," I guess. On Sleipnir, that's a stronger group than the Samaws, who are just a historical idea, with- 1/2
I'll condense my answers about Fiyeli's community/group into "the whole human + caveling population of Sleipnir," I guess. On Sleipnir, that's a stronger group than the Samaws, who are just a historical idea, with- 1/2
November 9, 2025 at 2:45 PM
#WordWeavers 9/11: Which community/group (from questions 5&7) is stronger? Why?
I'll condense my answers about Fiyeli's community/group into "the whole human + caveling population of Sleipnir," I guess. On Sleipnir, that's a stronger group than the Samaws, who are just a historical idea, with- 1/2
I'll condense my answers about Fiyeli's community/group into "the whole human + caveling population of Sleipnir," I guess. On Sleipnir, that's a stronger group than the Samaws, who are just a historical idea, with- 1/2
#WritersCoffeeClub 9/11: How does the means of publication change a work? print? digital? audiobook?
Digital allows for self-publishing that is more than vanity press, and gets it in front of more eyes by being by far the most affordable and fastest to access.
Print makes it tangible, more- 1/4
Digital allows for self-publishing that is more than vanity press, and gets it in front of more eyes by being by far the most affordable and fastest to access.
Print makes it tangible, more- 1/4
November 9, 2025 at 2:38 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 9/11: How does the means of publication change a work? print? digital? audiobook?
Digital allows for self-publishing that is more than vanity press, and gets it in front of more eyes by being by far the most affordable and fastest to access.
Print makes it tangible, more- 1/4
Digital allows for self-publishing that is more than vanity press, and gets it in front of more eyes by being by far the most affordable and fastest to access.
Print makes it tangible, more- 1/4
#WritersCoffeeClub 8/11: How do you keep yourself motivated?
I think of my friends who are waiting to read more, and the future books that need this one in their foundations.
I think of my friends who are waiting to read more, and the future books that need this one in their foundations.
November 8, 2025 at 4:34 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 8/11: How do you keep yourself motivated?
I think of my friends who are waiting to read more, and the future books that need this one in their foundations.
I think of my friends who are waiting to read more, and the future books that need this one in their foundations.
#WordWeavers 8/11: How is the MC’s community/group perceived by the people in your world?
Most people barely know the Striped Hills exist, much less that folks live that far east. When pressed, Fiyeli will just say they're farmers; if pressed further he might say they keep to themselves.
1/3
Most people barely know the Striped Hills exist, much less that folks live that far east. When pressed, Fiyeli will just say they're farmers; if pressed further he might say they keep to themselves.
1/3
November 8, 2025 at 4:26 PM
#WordWeavers 8/11: How is the MC’s community/group perceived by the people in your world?
Most people barely know the Striped Hills exist, much less that folks live that far east. When pressed, Fiyeli will just say they're farmers; if pressed further he might say they keep to themselves.
1/3
Most people barely know the Striped Hills exist, much less that folks live that far east. When pressed, Fiyeli will just say they're farmers; if pressed further he might say they keep to themselves.
1/3
#WordWeavers 7/11: What community or group does your MC belong to?
Fiyeli is from the nameless village in the Striped Hills, but he doesn't talk about it. He's one of the most prolific and longest-serving messengers on the continent, informally regarded as a diplomat without a fixed agenda. 1/3
Fiyeli is from the nameless village in the Striped Hills, but he doesn't talk about it. He's one of the most prolific and longest-serving messengers on the continent, informally regarded as a diplomat without a fixed agenda. 1/3
November 7, 2025 at 5:10 PM
#WordWeavers 7/11: What community or group does your MC belong to?
Fiyeli is from the nameless village in the Striped Hills, but he doesn't talk about it. He's one of the most prolific and longest-serving messengers on the continent, informally regarded as a diplomat without a fixed agenda. 1/3
Fiyeli is from the nameless village in the Striped Hills, but he doesn't talk about it. He's one of the most prolific and longest-serving messengers on the continent, informally regarded as a diplomat without a fixed agenda. 1/3
#WritersCoffeeClub 7/11: Talk about a character from another's work who stuck with you.
Sten Duncan, from the Faded Sun trilogy by C.J. Cherryh. The way he gives everything up for justice and then goes farther out of love - and how his new people claim him in turn - was so formative for me.
Sten Duncan, from the Faded Sun trilogy by C.J. Cherryh. The way he gives everything up for justice and then goes farther out of love - and how his new people claim him in turn - was so formative for me.
November 7, 2025 at 4:58 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 7/11: Talk about a character from another's work who stuck with you.
Sten Duncan, from the Faded Sun trilogy by C.J. Cherryh. The way he gives everything up for justice and then goes farther out of love - and how his new people claim him in turn - was so formative for me.
Sten Duncan, from the Faded Sun trilogy by C.J. Cherryh. The way he gives everything up for justice and then goes farther out of love - and how his new people claim him in turn - was so formative for me.
Original post: tech.lgbt/@mxkrane/115...
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Original post: tech.lgbt/@mxkrane/115...
#WritersCoffeeClub 6/11 Do you make use of unconventional punctuation?
I use hyphens and en-dashes but never em-dashes - and I only recently branched out to including en-dashes because I found an Obsidian plugin that creates them automatically for me. Before that it was all hyphens all the time. 1/3
I use hyphens and en-dashes but never em-dashes - and I only recently branched out to including en-dashes because I found an Obsidian plugin that creates them automatically for me. Before that it was all hyphens all the time. 1/3
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 6/11 Do you make use of unconventional punctuation?
I use hyphens and en-dashes but never em-dashes - and I only recently branched out to including en-dashes because I found an Obsidian plugin that creates them automatically for me. Before that it was all hyphens all the time. 1/3
I use hyphens and en-dashes but never em-dashes - and I only recently branched out to including en-dashes because I found an Obsidian plugin that creates them automatically for me. Before that it was all hyphens all the time. 1/3
#WordWeavers 6/11: How is the antagonist’s community/group perceived by the people in your world?
The Samaw Corporation/Kingdom of Heaven is revered everywhere on Sleipnir *except* the Striped Hills, and the people there don't share that fact, much less their reasons.
The Samaw Corporation/Kingdom of Heaven is revered everywhere on Sleipnir *except* the Striped Hills, and the people there don't share that fact, much less their reasons.
November 6, 2025 at 2:27 PM
#WordWeavers 6/11: How is the antagonist’s community/group perceived by the people in your world?
The Samaw Corporation/Kingdom of Heaven is revered everywhere on Sleipnir *except* the Striped Hills, and the people there don't share that fact, much less their reasons.
The Samaw Corporation/Kingdom of Heaven is revered everywhere on Sleipnir *except* the Striped Hills, and the people there don't share that fact, much less their reasons.
#WordWeavers 5/11: What community or group does your antagonist belong to?
Evret's terrible family. She's squarely in the middle of the pack; not as depraved as Evret's brother, old and wise enough to see through the lies the family told themselves, not brave enough to have done anything about it.
Evret's terrible family. She's squarely in the middle of the pack; not as depraved as Evret's brother, old and wise enough to see through the lies the family told themselves, not brave enough to have done anything about it.
November 5, 2025 at 9:17 PM
#WordWeavers 5/11: What community or group does your antagonist belong to?
Evret's terrible family. She's squarely in the middle of the pack; not as depraved as Evret's brother, old and wise enough to see through the lies the family told themselves, not brave enough to have done anything about it.
Evret's terrible family. She's squarely in the middle of the pack; not as depraved as Evret's brother, old and wise enough to see through the lies the family told themselves, not brave enough to have done anything about it.
#WritersCoffeeClub 5/11: Is the idea of a work requiring a takeaway 'moral' old-fashioned?
Works *having* morals is old-fashioned, but that's not the same thing as outdated. None of the reasons we like putting teaching and messages into stories have gone away. 1/2
Works *having* morals is old-fashioned, but that's not the same thing as outdated. None of the reasons we like putting teaching and messages into stories have gone away. 1/2
November 5, 2025 at 9:14 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 5/11: Is the idea of a work requiring a takeaway 'moral' old-fashioned?
Works *having* morals is old-fashioned, but that's not the same thing as outdated. None of the reasons we like putting teaching and messages into stories have gone away. 1/2
Works *having* morals is old-fashioned, but that's not the same thing as outdated. None of the reasons we like putting teaching and messages into stories have gone away. 1/2
#WordWeavers 4/11: Are you working on one or several projects? What’s your preference?
Always one at a time. If I take a break from a longer piece to write a shorter one I will finish the short before going back to the longer work.
Always one at a time. If I take a break from a longer piece to write a shorter one I will finish the short before going back to the longer work.
November 5, 2025 at 12:29 AM
#WordWeavers 4/11: Are you working on one or several projects? What’s your preference?
Always one at a time. If I take a break from a longer piece to write a shorter one I will finish the short before going back to the longer work.
Always one at a time. If I take a break from a longer piece to write a shorter one I will finish the short before going back to the longer work.
#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 4/11: What's the funniest thing you've ever written?
My best 1-liner would out my fandom identity on the spot, so I'll go with a passage of fake scripture, complete with superscript verse markers and multiple religious in-jokes. I still reread it for a chuckle sometimes.
My best 1-liner would out my fandom identity on the spot, so I'll go with a passage of fake scripture, complete with superscript verse markers and multiple religious in-jokes. I still reread it for a chuckle sometimes.
November 5, 2025 at 12:28 AM
#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 4/11: What's the funniest thing you've ever written?
My best 1-liner would out my fandom identity on the spot, so I'll go with a passage of fake scripture, complete with superscript verse markers and multiple religious in-jokes. I still reread it for a chuckle sometimes.
My best 1-liner would out my fandom identity on the spot, so I'll go with a passage of fake scripture, complete with superscript verse markers and multiple religious in-jokes. I still reread it for a chuckle sometimes.
#WritersCoffeeClub 3/11: How much of your writing time is actively spent putting words on the page?
Maybe 80%? My challenge is more increasing the % of free time spent actually sitting down to write instead of a million other tasks and distractions.
Maybe 80%? My challenge is more increasing the % of free time spent actually sitting down to write instead of a million other tasks and distractions.
November 3, 2025 at 8:28 PM
#WritersCoffeeClub 3/11: How much of your writing time is actively spent putting words on the page?
Maybe 80%? My challenge is more increasing the % of free time spent actually sitting down to write instead of a million other tasks and distractions.
Maybe 80%? My challenge is more increasing the % of free time spent actually sitting down to write instead of a million other tasks and distractions.
#WordWeavers 3/11: What was your MC’s childhood like?
Fiyeli was always trying to go farther. Hiking with his father, playing with the other village kids, he always wanted to explore new places. Few were shocked when he took it upon himself to carry a letter to a distant village and just kept going.
Fiyeli was always trying to go farther. Hiking with his father, playing with the other village kids, he always wanted to explore new places. Few were shocked when he took it upon himself to carry a letter to a distant village and just kept going.
November 3, 2025 at 8:25 PM
#WordWeavers 3/11: What was your MC’s childhood like?
Fiyeli was always trying to go farther. Hiking with his father, playing with the other village kids, he always wanted to explore new places. Few were shocked when he took it upon himself to carry a letter to a distant village and just kept going.
Fiyeli was always trying to go farther. Hiking with his father, playing with the other village kids, he always wanted to explore new places. Few were shocked when he took it upon himself to carry a letter to a distant village and just kept going.