C Alexandra
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nerdcactus.bsky.social
C Alexandra
@nerdcactus.bsky.social
510 followers 310 following 1.1K posts
I'm a #writer of the three Gs: gods, ghosts, and (usually magical) girls.

She/Her. Neurodivergent. Ace. Unapologetically leftist. I even write with my left hand.

Say nice things about Detroit!

#writingcommunity #amwriting #writesky
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nerdcactus.bsky.social
I didn't like any of the options for 'build', so you get 'building'. I feel like everyone has experienced this kind of room at least once in their life. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writesky
The Glaucaster Business Council met in a building that made Brutalism look kind. It had the sort of 1970s office complex charm that had not and would never turn the corner to chic, choosing rather to actively make everyone wish they could pluck out their eyes and marry their own mother. Everyone except Edith Wainwright, who thrived on the flickering fluorescent bulbs and cardboard ceiling tiles. The dredged-up memories of school-aged misery. Everyone was always miserable, their feet stuck to the ancient carpet Beren was pretty sure had once been green but had since committed seppuku out of shame, the beleaguered groaning of the air conditioning setting their teeth on edge. No wonder Edith loved it. She could live out her Nurse Rached dreams on them all, controlling and ominous in the soul sucking environs of Meeting Room C.
November 13, 2025 at 7:24 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
12. I'm of the school that any advice kindly given is of immense use, even if not in the way it was intended. If it gets someone to think critically at all, it's useful. That said, the worst advice is prescriptive while the best encourages critical engagement. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 12 is Good and bad writing advice
November 12, 2025 at 10:20 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
12. I'm going to go with Native American voices. Our local art museum is doing an amazing exibit on Modern Anishinaabe art, so it's been on my mind lately. The anthology Don't Whistle At NIght isn't my usual fare, but it was haunting. #Bookvember #writingcommunity #writesky
The cover of the Indigenous horror anthology Never Whistle At NIght. It has a black background with extremely colorful stylized flora and fauny, including flowers with eyes for centers, floating eyeballs, a death's head moth, and a snake.
November 12, 2025 at 9:56 PM
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11. I write fantasy and fantasy-adjacent stuff, with varying levels of myth and history influence. But what I read is another matter. I used to read TONS of fantasy, but I've been having trouble finding ones I like lately, so now I read a lot of NF and Jane Austen fanfic. #FantasyIndiesNovember
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 11 is What genres do you write and read?
November 12, 2025 at 12:42 AM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
10. Well, this is difficult. My favorite changes depending on my mood. I do enjoy an exchange between friends that reads like a Gilmore girls scene. The one in Killing Mercutio where Mercutio, Romeo, and Benvolio quip about the four humours always amuses me. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 10 is Favorite line you've written.
November 11, 2025 at 1:28 AM
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7. Relaxation? What is this nebulous myth you speak of? I feel like I haven't been able to really relax in months. Travel helps. Places where I don't have to worry about work, day-to-day survival, or anything but satisfying my need for novelty. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 7 is Free Friday or what helps you relax
November 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
6. My favorite writing tool is a Tarot deck. I break it out whenever I have questions. The act of interpreting the cards helps get the gears turning, and focuing on the particulars of the spread provides parameters for my very neurodivergent brain. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 6 Helpful writing tools.
November 7, 2025 at 2:08 AM
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6. My entire life, I've had a copy of Hans Christian Andersen stories from 1920, and they have the most amazing illustrations by Edmund Dulac. My favorites are from The Little Mermaid, but this one from The Snow Queen is also beautiful. #Bookvember #writingcommunity #writesky
A picture from The Snow Queen drawn by Edmund Dulac. It features a snowy scene with evergreens and grasses. In the foreground is a little girl in a blue dress with orange hair kissing the nose of a reindeer. The wind is blowing her hair and dress back, as well as the chest beard of the reindeer.
November 7, 2025 at 1:08 AM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
5. I've been woeful on my reading lately. I think my last read was a Mansfield Park retelling, my current is a cookbook based on Gothic literature, and my next is probably a compendium of folklore monsters from around the world. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 5 is Last, current, and next reads.
November 5, 2025 at 8:21 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
A day off equals a chance to play! Eli would have shanked them Pinks if they'd tried to stop his fight against Abraham Whittaker. #WIPSnips #writingcommunity #writesky
“Whittaker was rich as Croesus because he owned the mining prospects and the land, but instead of using the profit he dug from the soil to improve the place, he tossed it all in his vault and milked us dry.” The bed sprung back up, and Will felt Eli pacing the room, tracing his path in the goosebumps on her skin. “It was a damned outrage! Clara came out here to help people, but everyone besides Abraham’s pet sycophants was too damn poor to afford it. She went without meals some nights to ensure the women got the care they needed. All so that devil incarnate could turn himself into American royalty.”   Will nodded, not sure if she was agreeing or falling asleep. The more she talked with Eli, the heavier her limbs got, her thoughts slowing to a trickle. “It wasn’t uncommon.”   “Didn’t make it right. If Abraham wanted the railroad, he could invest the money he made off the people’s hard work. We had already contributed our part.”   “Power to the people, comrade,” Will said, raising a fist that immediately went to covering a huge yawn. “So you stole the silver. Except there’s the problem of not knowing where the hell it is. And I need to find it, because I sort of told Abraham he could kill me if he found it first.”
November 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
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4. My biggest inspiration turned out to be an abusive dick, so I can no longer acknowledge his influence without breaking out in hives, and as much as I love Austen, I can't say she's a big influence on my writing. So... alas. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 4 is Inspiring authors.
November 5, 2025 at 3:12 AM
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3. Fine. Fine! I'll add "create a playlist" to my list of tasks for this month. Right now, the only thing I've got is Medieval music of the High Middle Ages, which isn't specific enough. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 3 is WIP Playlist
November 4, 2025 at 1:34 AM
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2. I've been writing since before I could physically write things down, but the first one I remember getting on the page was a play about a witch when I was eight. I later developed a much longer sequel, but a hurricane fried the laptop it was on. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for the Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 2 is When did you start writing?
November 3, 2025 at 6:05 AM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
1. I'm C Alexandra, which is my real name, but just the middle bit because the first one is hard to pronounce. My WIP this month is Dreams in Mosaic, book one in the Death Reborn trilogy, set my world of Getaera, which the creator gods abandoned. #FantasyIndiesNovember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies November writing game. Day 1 is Introduce yourself & WIP.
November 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
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Well, at least if I only get to do one #WIPSnips this month, it came on a day I could use my witchy story for the snippet!

Beren, for the record, is best described as a plus-sized, half-Greek Rosie the Riveter. So keep that in mind when thinking of the poor mayor. #writingcommunity #writesky
Beren sighed and carefully smoothed the letter out, scanning it before Cass decided it needed to be lit on fire. “I guess I’ll have to go see Brian tomorrow.” Emma settled into the seat across from Beren, setting her sewing kit on the table and carefully threading a needle. Like any half-decent hearth witch, she was always at work, each stitch, sift, and sweep of her hands weaving into the spell consecrating their house and strengthening the boundaries she had rendered nigh impregnable. If the day ever came she didn't try to stuff someone's stomach with hearth and home, Beren was pretty sure their walls would go the way of Jericho's."I still need to repair your red dress. Do you have anything else to wear?” Beren shrugged. “As long as screams ‘bitch’, it’ll work.” The mayor of Glaucaster existed almost solely to be bossed around by others. Usually, he was at the beck and call of the official powers of the city—those so-called Elders who’d been there from the laying of the first cornerstone of the first building three-hundred years before—but he had a weakness when it came to Beren. Whether he was terrified of her or just used her as an excuse to stick it to the Old Guard was something she hadn’t quite determined. But when something went wrong—or, more usually, when the Grundys overstepped the mark—she was the one who could make him see sense.
October 30, 2025 at 6:40 PM
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20. Human civilization was created by the gods and their Philanaxi. With the gods gone and their bloodlines dull, a combination of religion and civic responsibility have stepped in. Most are a mix. In Kythe, the two are basically the same. So... tithes and taxes. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writesky
October Worldbuilders writing game prompts. Day 20 is Who developed the infrastructure? Government employees? Soldiers? Private business? Are taxes or slaves involved?
October 20, 2025 at 7:34 PM
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15. A lot of trade routes follow the old roads of the Ancients. But as humans spread beyond the ancient borders, new ones have developed. Kythe grew powerful specifically because they can bypass old land routes and go as far as the Kansamere by ship. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 15 is Trade routes.
October 15, 2025 at 6:42 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
9. Kythe has games that are a lot like chess and backgammon, but they prefer dice games, boat races, & balance games based on running along narrow beams over the canals that link some of the smaller islands. That's as far as I've gotten on this one. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 9 is Board games in your book's world?
October 10, 2025 at 3:57 AM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
8. Rei doesn't play a sport in the sense that we might think about it, but she dominates at the gaming tables on Isol Marcira, and that's often how she earns her living. She is also a superb swordsman since her resurrection, so she will occasionally partake in a small tourney. #OctoberWorldbuilders
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 8 is Does your MC play a sport.
October 8, 2025 at 8:15 PM
nerdcactus.bsky.social
7. The Sarqani tell their history in a rhythmic chant, so it sounds like a Speaker is channeling the power of the earth itself when they recite. Their music is also rhythm-based more than melodic, connecting Sarqans to spirit using drums and voice. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 7 is Clothes/dance/music from desert society.
October 8, 2025 at 8:13 PM
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6. The Sarqani have both herding and farming communities, and they also engage in long distance trade with nations as far as the Kansamere to the north. They are known for being brilliant craftspeople, and their goods are extremely valuable as luxury items. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 6 is How do they survive?
October 7, 2025 at 5:54 AM
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5. The Sarqani's whole religion is based on the nature of their landscape. Because there is so little precipitation, they receive a lot of sunshine, contributing to their belief in this world being the Sun's realm, representing life and existence. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 5 is Myth/legend/religion about desert.
October 7, 2025 at 5:52 AM
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3/4. The Sarqani are my least developed people, but there are towns. These are located near water sources and are fortified centers for trade and commingled relationships with their nomadic brethren.

As for plants and animals, this reminds me to figure that out. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 3 is Desert town/architecture and day 4 is Desert animals/plants.
October 5, 2025 at 4:30 AM
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2. The Sarqani are based on the peoples of the Eurasian steppe. Their belief in a duel divinity is a tad Zoroastrian, but neither god is evil. Some are nomadic, others agrarian. They have only a basic alphabet, so their history is contained in oral & woven traditions. #OctoberWorldbuilders #writesky
Prompts for October Worldbuilders writing game. Day 2 is What's your desert society like?
October 3, 2025 at 1:43 AM
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26. My birthday is a week from Sunday, and my husband is taking me antiquing and to the Renaissance Festival. I have already been promised that I may procure treats and goodies, so I am very excited. #FantasyIndiesSeptember #writingcommunity #writesky
Prompts for Fantasy Indies September writing game. Day 26 is Free Friday or share something you're looking forward to
September 27, 2025 at 4:28 AM