Gail Schilke-Connor
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gsc1953.bsky.social
Gail Schilke-Connor
@gsc1953.bsky.social
15 followers 25 following 20 posts
I am a novelist, working hard to weave together an intricate story about an ancestral line. 've launched a serialized version of the 1st book on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/story/394964373-the-book-of-xun #sciencefiction #adventure #mystery #survival
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gsc1953.bsky.social
www.wattpad.com/story/394964...
#thebookofXun #mystery #adventure #survival.
The image shows layers of a frozen waterfall with: Chapter 17 in the Book of Xun, and the text: Panicked, Xun leaped out of bed looking for the threat that had awakened her and realized it was the roar outside that made her heart stop. “No!” She ran out of the shelter. Stunned by the immense flow of water carrying massive chunks of ice, her hands flew to her head. “How did this happen so fast? I need to get out of here and where’s Chuff?” She screeched his name as she ran back inside the shelter, hurried to get dressed and began collecting what she could
July 28, 2025 at 6:52 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
A scene from Chapter 16 in The Book of Xun–a science fiction/mystery/adventure/survival story of a woman separated from her tribe by a devastating earthquake, determined to find her way back to her origins.

www.wattpad.com/story/394964...
#sciencefiction #mystery #adventure #survival
The image is for Chapter 16, in The Book of Xun, of a snow covered scene with a flock of birds. https://www.wattpad.com/story/394964373-the-book-of-xun
July 24, 2025 at 10:35 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
Image of three geese and several gulls including one coming in for a landing, on an ice island. Myth as the Foundation of a Story Even as I child, I wondered about the inexplicable inherent in ancient beliefs and myths. Coming from a family that took the Bible very seriously, many of these thoughts involved Ezekiel or Revelation-type things. For instance, ‘wheels within wheels.’ What could that mean? As I got older, I thought, clearly it was something fantastic to those people, but what was it? As I got even older, I started thinking of it as technology that was far beyond a people’s understanding. Could it be better understood if we looked at all beliefs and myths that come to us from the distant past from that perspective? Certainly, these thoughts are not original, but they were mine. Fast forward to the initiation of the book series I took to writing in 2013, inspired by a scene that dropped into my head and subsequent intense research. In this case, originally set in China, it involved ancient Chinese myth, though it’s now on a different planet, in a different solar system in the southern hemisphere. It’s science fiction, after all. I have let my brain roam free, asking these questions, and The Book of Xun contains the answers I’ve concocted. Chapter 15 gets deep into the weeds. Technically, it is called ‘hard’ science fiction because I strive for the science to be feasible, though I may stretch that a little bit to make the story work. But none of it involves deep levels of understanding. It is all accessible, I hope. The image is from my photographic portfolio and is a scene in Chapter 15.
July 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
#TheBookofXun #sciencefiction #mystery #adventure #survival
July 19, 2025 at 7:26 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
ProWritingAid critique. I am 2/3 of the way through Chapter 15 and this one is in the thick of it! Whew. Very hard writing. How to write backstory without provoking the dreaded 'E' word: 'exposition'. So far so good.

www.wattpad.com/story/394964...
#sciencefiction #mystery #adventure #survival
July 18, 2025 at 2:47 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
Check out Chapter 2 in the Book of Xun on Wattpad.
Injured and alone, cut off from the path back to her origins...

www.wattpad.com/story/394964...
#TheBookofXun #sciencefiction #adventure #mystery #survival #gailconnor #gailschilkeconnor
Image of Goatbeard seeds with the title: Chapter 2–The Book of Xun by Gail Schilke-Connor
July 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
Scenario for The Book of Xun

www.wattpad.com/story/394964...

#TheBookofXun #sciencefiction #adventure #mystery #survival #gailconnor #gailschilkeconnor
July 14, 2025 at 6:59 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
Image is a graph paper page with a mechanical pencil and the title Chapter 12 and a paragraph: Xun had been in a deep sleep, but now struggled against some unknown force until she realized she had a handful of fur. That was even more terrifying. "What?" She heard, "Chuff". Struggling to sit up, she found the tiger lying on her in the little cave. When she reached up to his head, she felt something wet and sticky.
July 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
gsc1953.bsky.social
I am producing a serialized book: The Book of Xun on Wattpad: www.wattpad.com/story/394964... It is very true that this is a book that simmered in the back of my mind since childhood. It started to take shape into a real book in 2013. The history: substack.com/home/post/p-...
June 16, 2025 at 8:01 PM