Yeah, I just wish they would stop pooping in our kitchen drawers. They’re cute and they could stay and keep eating our bird food if they didn’t poop on everything and shred our napkins.

25 years of Total War, leading up to this…

Yeah!! How do I get the rights to sell my own information to these fuckers before they steal it and sell it without asking?

Read the whole thing at the Poetry Foundation:

www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...

3/2

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question ...

Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

2/2

I mean, I’d watch that movie for sure

Apparently that’s not who I am in my 40s 😭

I’m inclined towards number 2, but I think there is some back and forth between the two. Specifically, once the characters emerge sometimes the original plot changes to better suit the characters.

Ah I hate this feeling. Consolation picture of Zelda looking so cute in her coat?

It’s really interesting but I think it ties to genre. It’s basically required in cyberpunk to focus on the little guy, but fantasy and historical fiction seem to be usually princes and knights. Space opera is often generals and monarchs as well.

Haha, yeah that’s a fear all right, but really I feel like a focus on one thing is necessary to get stuff finished. I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes!

Yeah, I know we’ve talked about this before but I’m constantly surprised we don’t focus more storytelling on the everyday folks who stood up to powerful, well armed, landed nobles.

An Okinawan farmer using a crank handle to fight off samurai sounds like a good story to me!!

Yeah it’s a challenge. Long poetry isn’t really a thing many places. I try submitting it as a novella but that flies weird. Agents definitely don’t want to touch it, too weird. It’ll find a home one day - your kind words are keeping me motivated!

Great stuff. Weapons and combat are fun and cool, but if they can lend character to a world or texture to a society, it’s a great way to enrich a novel.

Best part about scifi weapons is that we get to make that stuff up, imagining how society will evolve from our current point.

I remember weapons classes training in tonfa and learning that these were basically mill crank handles used by peasants to defend themselves in a society where they weren’t allowed to have weapons. Really fascinating.

I accidentally deleted a 50 word Goodreads review and almost gave up on the day. Much respect for your fortitude. I will now read this thread instead of writing.

Haha, amazing. A 200,000 word monstrosity that will win all the awards.

On the other hand, I’m still trying to find a home for Kolga City Blues. I think going more experimental is a recipe for sorrow.