JustPlainDan 🇨🇦
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justplaindan.croutch.ca
JustPlainDan 🇨🇦
@justplaindan.croutch.ca
IT by day, freelance writer by night, husband and father always. Golf fanatic, watcher of F1. Proud Canadian 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
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THE BLACKSMITH’S REBELLION, a high fantasy where apprentice blacksmith Ari discovers he is one of the six Misigothian Chosen destined to rule Carnin, setting up a showdown against the five kings already in power, who’ve corrupted Ari’s friend as their pawn. #questpit #q #a #f
So excited to start a new role on the Africa Mercy. Earlier than I expected, I have stepped into the Operations Director role on board overseeing the IT, Finance, Transportation, Supply, Hospitality, Hotel, and Dining room/Galley teams on board. Another two years on board!
November 13, 2025 at 2:03 PM
This is why we can't have good discourse, and why echo chambers exist. We should block and move on from *anyone* who spews hate, bigotry, and lies, not just “the right”. There needs to be room for healthy cross-ideological debate without the vileness of those things polluting it.
October 18, 2025 at 6:41 AM
Are the days of successful authors, however one chooses to define that, who take on mentees still a thing? Was that ever a thing? Or has social media changed that entire dynamic? #writingcommunity
October 16, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reading through one of the comps that my beta readers provided, and staring at the reply ratio in QT, has me feeling all of the self-conscious feels about my story today. There's so much good writing in this genre! #amwriting #amquerying
October 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Boosting this for the daytime crowd.
Hello, #pcgaming #gamingpc #gaming communities. I'm running a case study for a mini-MBA course I'm taking about a business concept. I'm looking for anyone who might want a gaming PC to fill it out. Please take some time and lend your answers! t.co/RcyVvD9VRr #mba #businessworld
https://forms.microsoft.com/r/XMiWPjpaGt
t.co
October 14, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Hello, #pcgaming #gamingpc #gaming communities. I'm running a case study for a mini-MBA course I'm taking about a business concept. I'm looking for anyone who might want a gaming PC to fill it out. Please take some time and lend your answers! t.co/RcyVvD9VRr #mba #businessworld
https://forms.microsoft.com/r/XMiWPjpaGt
t.co
October 13, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Ever since I put time limits on my phone, it's a lot harder to get onto and post social media.
October 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Published authors of the interwebs, did any of you set up Discord servers for your book/books readers? If so, did it help or hurt? Were you indie or trad published? #AmWriting #WritingCommunity
October 3, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Things like water, electricity, healthcare, and basic human rights are things we take for granted in the West. We forget what we have until we're confronted by those fighting to get it. Watching this unfold in front of us is heartbreaking. apnews.com/article/mada...
Madagascar imposes nighttime curfew after violent protests over water and power cuts
The government of Madagascar has imposed a nighttime curfew following protests over ongoing water and power cuts.
apnews.com
September 26, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Sometimes, when it seems everything is going wrong, it's nice to stand in awe of God’s creation beauty. These Malagasy sunsets bring me such peace.
September 25, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I keep forgetting about my social media accounts. I'm still struggling to find a purpose for them in my life. Honestly, outside of the requisite networking as an aspiring author, there's very little else I post about. There's much more to me than writing, however.
September 22, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Another rotation around the sun successfully completed. I've never felt so unsure yet so sure about the year ahead.
September 21, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by JustPlainDan 🇨🇦
I’ve opened back up to queries! Please *only* use my Query Manager form or my query email.

Anything sent to my main email will be deleted.

I’m excited to dive into new work!!

MSWL: www.publishersmarketplace.com/members/alev...
Alexandra Levick | Member | Publishers Marketplace
www.publishersmarketplace.com
September 15, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Our latest update from the Africa Mercy, where surgeries continue, and we look to reconnect with our place in the mission after some rest. Check out our blog for the latest! Back on board, back to school, and back to mission. croutch.ca/back-on-boar...
Back on board, back to school, and back to mission – The Croutch Family Mercy Ships Adventure
croutch.ca
September 14, 2025 at 11:05 AM
The thing about instant gratification is that its only gratifying for an instant. You have to keep chasing it to stay gratified. That's not freedom, that's enslavement. Look out yourself and love your fellow humans deeply from the heart, and you'll find lasting gratification.
September 14, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Hello, #litagents and #writingcommunity. It goes against all convention, but a growing (louder) number of beta readers are demanding the follow up to THE BLACKSMITH’S REBELLION. Should I write it to appease them or keep holding them off while it languishes in the query trenches?
September 7, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Looking back through my email history at that one time, in 2011, an agency campaigning for a senator at the time offered to help me illegally vote.
September 7, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Man cold coming on. Prepare for mild sniffles and incessant moaning.
September 4, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Hello #amwriting and #writingcommunity friends, I’m still looking for volunteer beta readers for my manuscript. You don't have to be an epic fantasy fan to join. I enjoy getting feedback from genre fans and reading fans. Shoot me a DM if you want to join, or share the word!
THE BLACKSMITH’S REBELLION, a high fantasy where apprentice blacksmith Ari discovers he is one of the six Misigothian Chosen destined to rule Carnin, setting up a showdown against the five kings already in power, who’ve corrupted Ari’s friend as their pawn. #questpit #q #a #f
September 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
#amwriting friends, this person uses Grok to generate her chapter feedback. Unless you're okay with your unpublished work getting fed into a Gen AI and paying someone to do it, you'll want to avoid working with this person. (Verified by prompting Grok myself, ugh)
August 29, 2025 at 10:24 AM
One of the best things you can do as an author in the #amquerying trenches is to read your manuscript. Not just for the obvious reasons, but read it like a reader. Honestly ask: Do you like your book? I couldn't put mine down. I love my book. #writingcommunity
August 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by JustPlainDan 🇨🇦
If you're repping a epic fantasy/secondary world fantasy with either zero romance or a B-plot romance, could you send it my way PLEASE? #mswl
February 26, 2025 at 7:28 PM
I rewrote the ending for THE BLACKSMITHS REBELLION again yesterday and sent it off to beta readers. Then sat staring at a cricket-filled inbox. Silence is worse than form rejections, folks. Toying with the idea of pulling out of the #amquerying trenches again. #writingcommunity
August 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by JustPlainDan 🇨🇦
Every quest needs a hero.

This one gets Glimm: a bonsai frost dragon stuck managing a band of blowhards on a doomed diplomatic mission.

ARC now available 🐉

www.septimusbrown.com/arc
Novel Preview: We've Come for Your Eggs | SeptimusBrown
Get a sneak peek at my forthcoming novel: WE'VE COME FOR YOUR EGGS
www.septimusbrown.com
August 19, 2025 at 2:51 AM
POV: querying a high fantasy epic without romance in an environment where agents are desperately seeking romantasy, horror, and K-pop demon hunters style books. #amquerying #writingcommunity
a man in a suit and tie stands in a muddy field
Alt: a man in a suit and tie stands in a muddy field
media.tenor.com
August 18, 2025 at 2:11 PM