Daniel Wise
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danielswise.bsky.social
Daniel Wise
@danielswise.bsky.social
510 followers 450 following 440 posts
PhD in Religious Studies from University of Virginia. Dissertation on ghost hunters. Originally from FL, now living in TX. Episcopalian (for better or worse)
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danielswise.bsky.social
Sometimes, these writers are already turning to LLMs to assist in types of writing they themselves can't manage.
Damn, I wish I could get that volume. I just suck at plotting. I can make flowy sentences, and I know my stuff is funny (I write fantasy comedy), but I just can't for the life of me plot. I'm always so worried about what exactly happens next in my book, and even if I have a general idea of what I want to happen eventually, getting there is painstaking. Almost 10k into my novel, and have no idea where to go from here. I dunno how people think of 6-8 fully fleshed out plots per year. Reply: Secret tip: Use ChatGPT or Claude. Brainstorm with it. Tell it where you are and ask for 10 suggestions of where to go next… and mix and match the responses. My plotting speed has 4x’d over the last year lol.
March 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Sometimes, even these authors tire of their niche within iron genre conventions, but have difficulty writing outside of them.
To add to this, the woman I mentioned originally has said she feels tapped out of ideas and wants to start writing more serious/adult novels for older audiences, but is finding it extremely difficult because she doesn't know how to write prose properly and not have a book be 90% dialogue etc in the ways that don't matter with her current niche. So it's cool what she's doing, but it can't last forever.
March 25, 2025 at 7:34 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
If you don't believe me, listen to the editor of one of these authors:
I'm an editor. I have a client who self-publishes YA reverse harem romance novels on Amazon. Her books are around 45k words each, and she releases 6-8 books a year. She invests a lot into her books to make them successful. She has an alpha reader, beta reader, developmental editor, copy editor (me), proofreader, cover artist, formatter, and advertising. The cost to do all of this averages at $6000 per book, but she makes and average of $80k per book. She's found a niche in this fanfiction type of market, but believe me, the books aren't good. They're rushed, everything is predictable, the characters are weak, and everything else about it's plot isn't very believable, and yet people eat it up. I'll admit, from her cover design, it looks beautiful, something that's hard to scroll past, but it ends there. She wasn't rich before and had no following. She just saved up for a long time to be able to release her first book "the right way" (her words, referring to all the aforementioned editors and such).
March 25, 2025 at 7:31 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Still image of 1934 footage of the giant Mickey Mouse balloon at the 1934 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
March 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
In light of the current political moment, I thought we could use a revised translation of the Gospel reading appointed for today (Jesus' temptation by Satan in the wilderness):
Luke 4:5ff Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “You know what, that actually sounds like a great idea. All of this ‘the last will be first’ and ‘Woe to you who are rich’ stuff is pretty inconvenient, not to mention my eventual being tortured to death like a slave. I’d rather be the one doing the torturing, you know what I mean? Satan, you get it. Look, if we are thinking about things rationally, isn’t the core of my message really about prioritizing your own family and your own people, and then maybe thinking about the rest of humanity? The best way to do that is clearly to set up some sort of political regime, not pander to a bunch of people looking for handouts. I mean, everyday, the poor and the sick are crowding around me saying, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And look, Satan, I really don’t appreciate your methods and some of the things you say are iffy, but let’s not lose sight of the big picture here: you get things done.”
March 9, 2025 at 5:24 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Eventually, the OP adds a defensive and sarcastic edit to their comment.
Update Alright well I guess at no point ever again can you have anything but leafy greens and a piece of cheese or you'll shit and vomit for a few hours. Prior to 1mg I could once in a while indulge in a small portion of "cheat" items and get some discomfort. Which is perfectly fine. But have a hamburger put me violently vomiting for 2 hours I guess is on me
March 1, 2025 at 6:04 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
I will also add one more reply that suggests a nutritional knowledge the drug itself seems to hold and enforce on the body. The key phrase being: "Your body will spit out fatty foods in a heartbeat! Kind telling you what you don’t need."
Your body will spit out fatty foods in a heartbeat! Kind telling you what you don’t need. Drink lots of water and eat less fat. I can’t still have a burger, but no mayo I load it with lettuce tomato onions and pickles and ketchup. Fries I don’t crave. I eat rice, beans, salads etc. But not too much meat! Meat will sit in your tummy for hours!! Sometimes I have a vegetable sandwich and I’m fine! Beef is the hardest! Chicken and fish . And too much spicy foods will give you the runs!
March 1, 2025 at 6:03 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
In spite of some commenters' insistence that the OP is to blame for not following the clear rules for healthy diet known to both nutrition professionals and the drug semaglutide, other commenters can't seem to agree on how one needs to eat to avoid the side effects.
Reply 1: I have been on 1mg for 3 weeks, I found lower carbs make the nausea go away completely. If you can, meat, cheese, salads, fruit, but fundamentally, eat less . A burger and fries will make you feel awful. Get bunless burger and salad Soon you wont crave the fries or the bun. Its really working for me, I was a burger monster! Reply 2: My family LOVES burgers at home. Normally now I either skip all together or take a much smaller patty straight, on a plate, with a little ketchup. Slow, well chewed bites have gone well when I was at 1mg. Reply 1: For me, carbs have mostly been all I have been able to eat. I am only 6 weeks in and have been on .5mg the whole time. It has only been the past few days that I have been able to add in a small amount of meat. Reply 2: Yeah other people told me the same, I am the other way round. Cutting out the carbs has made the nausea and lower tummy issues go away completely. I just do low carb fruit and veg (well low fodmap which weirdly seems to help), eg blueberries, apples, bananas, avocado, cabbage, carrots, green beans, peppers, courgette, Lettice, cauliflower, small amounts of onion, leeks, tomatoes, eggs, cheese, cream, high fat Greek yoghurt, meat (all of it chicken, beef, lamb, pork, venison), fish, olive oil, ground nut oil, butter, beef dripping/tallow. Small amounts of spuds. I feel 10000% times better and losing 200-300grams a day. Better concentration, no mid afternoon naps, more energy, better sleep. No nausea or bad tummy. My food tastes netter, I savour it more. I really miss mushrooms, beans, lentils, I'd like to eat more spuds but they fill me up too fast and leave no room for anything else. But maybe when I am at GW I can eat more of these. I don't miss broccoli..
March 1, 2025 at 5:59 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Here a commenter blames the well-recognized and common side effects on users refusing to accept the discipline of the drug. It is not the drug itself, it is the insolent patient.
Ozempic is a tool to help you make changes to what you eat. It doesn't do that for you. 90% of the side effects reported are because of incompatible diets. High protein and fiber are key to a healthy diet, which means lean protein and vegetables. Burger fries and Indian takeout are off the menu unfortunately, there isn't an ounce of fiber in those meals. Try and see a nutritionist, they can really help you understand how to choose combinations of food that are satisfying. Ozempic is a waste without investing an equal part in diet and exercise.
March 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Check out some of the bizarre responses. For these users of the drug, semaglutide is not simply a drug that increases a gut hormone, but a drug that somehow disciplines the body into following guidelines for healthy eating. The drug seems to "know" when you are not eating healthy.
Reply 1: I don’t think your body is rejecting the ozempic, I think it’s telling you to stop eating fatty/greasy foods. Reply 2: Yea this drug needs to be paired with a healthy diet. One half of your plate should be vegetables. One quarter of your plate needs carbs (think rice or fruit) One quarter of your plate needs protein. Don’t expect the drug to do the work for you. It just helps the work be a tad easier Reply 3: It’s the food you are eating - seriously
March 1, 2025 at 5:53 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Here we have someone who has just increased their dose of semaglutide who is experiencing severe symptoms whenever they go out from time to time and try to have an indulgent meal with family
1mg is Killing Me Question Been on Ozempic for about 6 months now and recently made it up to 1mg after stalling at .5 for a while. Can I just never eat food outside the home again? Last weekend I had some Indian food; cut to 3 days of burps, diarrhea and finally vomiting. Tonight I took my son out and I had half a burger and 4 fries. I just finished vomiting into the garbage can after being woken up from stomach pains. I never had these types of symptoms on the lower dosage, is my body just rejecting this amount?
March 1, 2025 at 5:48 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
When the gov't becomes unreliable, institutions like the church become more important than even. Proud of this pastoral letter from Bishop Stevenson of the Diocese of Virginia.
January 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
This is horrible. The Theosophical Society has had a massive influence on spirituality throughout the world. Mahatma Gandhi was deeply influenced by it. Modern astrology was shaped by it. So much that now or has been labeled New Age or metaphysical spirituality has been shaped by it.
Image of the Thesosphical Society in Altadena near Pasadena, along with a post by Wouter J. Hanegraaff: Horrible, deeply dramatic news for anybody who cares about the preservation of Theosophical heritage. I was just told that the entire property of the Theosophical Society in Altadena near Pasadena has been completely destroyed by the fires in Los Angeles. This was the world's largest archive of Theosophical materials, including a library with 40.000 titles, the entire archive of the history of the TS, including ca. 10.000 unpublished letters, pertaining to HPB, the Mahatmas, W.Q. Judge, G.R.S. Mead, Katherine Tingley, and G. de Purucker, membership records since 1875, art objects, and countless other irreplaceable materials. The archives also contained works of Boehme, Gichtel, donations from the king of Siam including rare Buddhist scriptures, and so on. [with thanks to Reinout Spaink for the information] This is obviously just one part of an even much larger drama that is currently unfolding, but one that deals a devasting blow to the modern study of esotericism and of modern Theosophy more in particular. It is hard to fathom but it seems to be true.
January 9, 2025 at 5:39 PM
danielswise.bsky.social
Chart from Ryan Burge
January 4, 2025 at 5:15 AM