Noel Cober
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noelcober.bsky.social
Noel Cober
@noelcober.bsky.social
10 followers 13 following 78 posts
Researcher and academic of disability and the Bible, teacher of religious studies and English, and in my spare time I write books about weird gay people solving and/or committing crimes! They/him
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noelcober.bsky.social
Noel Cober @noelcober.bsky.social · Oct 1
If you like gay erotica, BDSM, and/or demons, I have a new short story: Asher's Cage is about a sexy demon, his sexy master, and the sexy sorcerer he has a crush on (having sex [and plotting to take over the world])

a.co/d/4czJ23X

You can grab parts 1 and 2 here:

a.co/d/a9y4hN1
a.co/d/itRd98m
Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3)
Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3) eBook : Heartstone, Noel: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
a.co
noelcober.bsky.social
He wants food but he hates my nail polish.
A grey and white cat begging for food. The same cat fleeing a smell he doesn't like in a blur.
October 29, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by Noel Cober
stevewestenra.bsky.social
#SFFChat Q4: I didn't have time to hunt too long for one, but here's one from TETK
I stumble back, ready to make for the stairs, but the thing on camera seven is really moving now. A low-frequency generator rumble like the one in the woods stops both me and Tia in our tracks. It’s the sound of a heavy bookcase dragged across the floor, of stone grinding against stone. “It’s not what it looks like,” Gene says. Tia’s clutching her arms round her chest. “Gene.” She looks disappointed. Not frightened, not confused. Hand shaking, I hover my thumb over the view button for camera seven. I press it. The things that might be the creature’s eyes are round as headlights, and the light that beams from them obscures the finer details of its face, indeed, even the details of the eyes themselves. I can’t see its jaws really, but the light from its eyes glances off the curves of its teeth: sharp and stretching back far enough that it must have a very long mouth. I want to run. I want to run downstairs after Tia and pull her back and save her and run. But its eyes are like binary stars burning into my sight, churning a distant flame. I want to go to it. I want to— My palm presses against the screen and static needles my skin. The creature screams, the sound of rutting elks, and it snaps its face away, bowing a long neck draped in a mane of dangling dark fur. Camera seven is blacked out by the creature’s body as it feeds. I never turned the sound on for camera seven.
October 2, 2025 at 11:15 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
#SFFChat
There are many such scenes in my horror WIP Apocrypha, many of them involving bugs being in places they're not supposed to be. Here's one that shows what happens when you lie to (and for) a god!

TW: vomiting up bugs
I nod, surprised he can talk. I try to say something, but my throat hurts a lot and he’s already walking away. He shuts the door behind him this time. I fall to my knees, hands on my chest. The scratching my throat is a crawling now, and there’s something big and thick there, and it’s not the time for a sexual euphemism so I’ll just out and say it’s not a dick like usual. I can’t breathe, and whatever’s in my throat is crawling, crawling, up and up and I throw up, barfing it onto the floor. It’s a beetle bigger than my hand, the black kind that gets stuck upside down and then can’t do anything. It’s stuck upside down. I almost throw up again seeing it, but the nausea passes because looking at it is weirdly calming. It’s not going to hurt me, this little guy. It just wants to get home. I reach out and tip it over, helping it gets back onto its feet.
October 2, 2025 at 11:17 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
#SFFChat Stephen Chbosky's Imaginary Friend did creepy scenes really well. A lot of what happened esp. in the first half wasn't explicitly horrific but even the prologue following a normal boy through his normal life is done in a way that was so creepy I had to pause reading it a few times.
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Oct 2
#SFFChat Q3: What SFF or speculative horror author do you think does creepy scenes esp. well? Maybe there's an author who you don't read because they scared you so much, or a fantasy writer whose prose raises the hair on your arms (because it's creepy, not because it's bad, ahaha).
A spooky person with a sheet over them that's tinted orange.
October 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
#SFFChat I'm a big fan of the old spooky standby "things being where they shouldn't be." Who put that houseplant in the rotting old house? Why are those moths on the shopkeeper's eyes? Why is that boy sitting on the ceiling?

Bonus points if the same object/person shows up in several wrong places!
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Oct 2
#SFFChat Q2: Is there any spooky imagery you're especially fond of?
A spooky person with a sheet over them that's tinted orange.
October 2, 2025 at 10:42 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
If you like gay erotica, BDSM, and/or demons, I have a new short story: Asher's Cage is about a sexy demon, his sexy master, and the sexy sorcerer he has a crush on (having sex [and plotting to take over the world])

a.co/d/4czJ23X

You can grab parts 1 and 2 here:

a.co/d/a9y4hN1
a.co/d/itRd98m
Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3)
Asher's Cage: A Tale of Demons and Dominance (Demons Bound and Chained Book 3) eBook : Heartstone, Noel: Amazon.ca: Kindle Store
a.co
October 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
Writing some people making out

Accidentally misspell "clung" as "clongue"

Time to go make supper probably
September 23, 2025 at 7:27 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
30. Every single one of my books takes place in the winter 😂But here's a peek at my favourite passion project where the summer will happen in the future (in a sequel [the sequel takes place in spring]). #SFFChat

Thanks so much @sffchat.bsky.social for hosting this all month, it was really fun. :)
Kitaya nodded. “We’re the luckiest parents. Which is hardly fair to everyone else, since I also managed to be the luckiest man and convince you to marry me.” Niana laughed. She felt the same way about Kitaya. “Well, some people just get all the blessings. We’ll just have to go on living with everyone else’s jealousy.” Kitaya smiled a moment longer, but it faded eventually into something more serious. “I’m trying to keep a bit of a closer eye on him lately. He’s…not going to be a little boy for much longer.” Niana nodded. “I know. It’ll be fine—we’ll handle it.” Kitaya’s concern wasn’t, Niana didn’t need to be told, motivated by worry about when Fyn’s voice would start to drop. Though that in itself was somewhat alarming. Niana didn’t feel old enough to have son who would be turning ten in the summer. In more ways than one, she wasn’t ready for her boy to start growing up. But there wasn’t much she could do about that, now was there?
July 1, 2025 at 2:14 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
28. Surprisingly Enzo, who despite not being that good at anything, really wants to help. #SFFChat
Enzo was shaking, tears on his face and some blood in his hair. “No,” he said. “Veronica’s right. We can help. Even I can help. Just having another person there will help, even if all I can do is help you lift something or…” he shook his head. “No. I’m going with you.”
June 29, 2025 at 12:00 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
27. To actually do some writing. 😅I've been super busy this year and haven't had much time, but I'm hoping to finally finish revising/preparing Wizards in Space for publication this summer, and then getting back to finishing Apocrypha! #SFFChat
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 27, 2025 at 1:58 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
26. Floyd: Most likely to fail upwards

Enzo: Most likely to reenroll next year

Yancy: Most likely to be catastrophically important to all of history and champion the cause of light across the cosmos in the unending war against the plague of evil (abbreviated as "most likely to be cats")

#SFFChat
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 27, 2025 at 2:01 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
25. For Milo, a utopia would be a world where there are no doors and everyone can go wherever they want and nobody is ever mean and the sun doesn't cast any shadows and everyone is, consequently and also necessarily, happy all the time. :)
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 26, 2025 at 2:48 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
24. The antagonist of the Bone Boy knows exactly what he'd change, which would be to make sure that all four of the spunky kids who decided he was their worst enemy got trapped in the eternal prison behind the invisible door, not just one of them. 🦴
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 25, 2025 at 12:56 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
23. For Envy, Enzo manages to make admiring how hot a woman is extremely gay. #SFFChat
Carlotte sighed, which made the artificial light shine on her hair. She turned around and looked at him, which made Enzo wish he were as well dressed as her. Maybe he should start wearing a uniform or something, to make him look more put together. But then, the scout uniform he’d briefly worn as a child had just made him look like he couldn’t dress himself, so maybe not. “No wonder Floyd likes you,” she said to him. Enzo blinked, taken off-balance by that almost literally. He spilled some of his water. “Floyd likes me?”
June 24, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Reposted by Noel Cober
pjccahill.bsky.social
Some thoughts on genAI I wanted to share more openly #noAI
The crux if the issue isn't tech, though. It's about theft. If the artists were paid and the art licensed properly before being fed into the programs, there'd essentially be no issue. The entire technology is based on theft of intellectual property, and the current hardware is so bad for the environment it makes coal look green. The tech, in some form, will exist going forward, but the specific gen-AI industry is a bubble that's about to collapse over copyright issues (i.e. Disney and such finally putting their foot down, because they never cared about little people like real artists). -- People want to use it for private stuff, I can't stop 'em, but it's inherently predatory in the current form, and until that changes, it's going to keep losing market share rather than gaining it. -- Like, in the author community (which I can speak to directly), being associated with AI will straight-up kill your sales because everyone knows what it's based on, and how little effort it requires to produce 'product.' -- The genuine and helpful functions of what we're calling AI have gotten buried under this mass of corporate theft, so there's really no way to dig it out now. The industry is running at a catastrophic loss, and that's why the investors are all pushing hard via advertising and incorporation to already-established products to desperately recoup their money. -- I personally recommend avoiding use of it, but /shrug just my 2 cents.
June 23, 2025 at 1:17 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
22. When a wizard dies, it can be hell for the investigators, and it was definitely hell for Lieutenant Floyd McCaffery when one died on his ship, the Humbolt. 1/2
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 23, 2025 at 12:56 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
"Too smart for his own good" So very true ahaha.

I love this book!
stevewestenra.bsky.social Steve Hugh Westenra @stevewestenra.bsky.social · Jun 21
Meet the cast of The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle

(very slowly, as I make each of these individually, then immediately post them because I have no self-restraint!).

Here's Tyler, the MC

Itchio: steve-westenra.itch.io
Wide: books2read.com/u/boB9YL

#queerhorror #transhorror #pride #pridereads
A torn piece of paper reads: Tyler Kyle: Reluctant YouTube Cryptid hunter musical theatre performer Bi-sexual ADHD chatterbox mom = basically Elvira Image: Tyler's name is on a ticket stub, there's a full moon overlaid on top of theatre curtains with a bisexual filter over the top (magenta fading to a purple-y blue). There's a microphone with music notes, a pornstar cocktail with a sticker on the glass for something called "Discovery Bang" and a nightingale stamped on the paper. Too smart for his own good vegan kind of an asshole (but not really)
June 21, 2025 at 7:31 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
20. Lust! Everyone in all my (adult) books is horny all the time so I'm spoiled for choice. Here's my favourite moment of Castor being horny in Apocrypha. #SFFChat

Bonus excerpt from my gay demon BDSM erotica novella Asher's Collar, which is available on Amazon 🐈‍⬛
www.amazon.ca/Ashers-Colla...
7. GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGg I had most of a chapter written about my supper with Athra, but fucking Diablo buzzed down and landed on the laptop and erased everything and I don’t want to re-write it, so I’m just going to skip to the part where we fuck. “We’re not permitted to use our magic without the Master’s explicit permission,” Asher told Quentin. Tremblay was one of those humans who believed that if his familiars used their magic on their own, it would drain them for in case he needed them. It had been seventeen dull years since the last time Asher had been allowed to use his powers. “Your bath is ready, sir.” “Good.” Quentin dipped a hand in the tub and let his smile come out into his face. “Perfect. I like it to turn me nice and red.” “I’m glad it’s to your liking, sir,” Asher said, eyes on the ceiling as Quentin started to undress. He dropped his sweater on the bed, exposing pale skin, though he wasn’t as skinny as he looked. Asher really was trying not to look, but he was definitely watching as Quentin sat down to take his heeled boots off, and then undid his pants. Asher half-expected him not to be wearing underwear, but he was, a bright red pair of low-cut briefs that made it impossible not to want to look. Asher managed, barely, until Quentin stood up, still in his briefs, and came over to fill his vision and peer at him up close. “Is something wrong, Asher?” “No, sir.” Aside from the fact that Asher 's stomach was close to cramping as he summoned all the control he didn’t have to avoid getting hard, of course. “It’s just that you’ve been watching me all day, and suddenly you don’t seem to want to look at me.” “I was ordered to be respectful of you, sir.”
June 21, 2025 at 2:29 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
19. The only visual thing that matters to me is accessibility. I'm visually impaired so the covers I like are the ones where there's good colour contrast and the font is clear so I can read the title and the author's name clearly.

That and, you know, it was made by a human being.
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 19, 2025 at 10:59 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
18. In Wizards, the weather forecast for all planets is "Identical to southern California or perhaps Toronto"

In the Bone Boy, the forecast is "cloudy with a chance of the sun turning blue"

In Apocrypha, weather isn't real unless you make the correct offerings to the correct gods.

#SFFChat
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 18, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Noel Cober
bydhiyanah.bsky.social
#SFFChat D17:
For most of my disabled MCs in current WIPs, their antagonists are, collectively, the worlds they come from.

As a dating show this could look like them going out on a self-care day & actually getting the accommodations & support they need (😭)💕 I'd watch that tbh.
bydhiyanah.bsky.social Dhiyanah @bydhiyanah.bsky.social · Jun 15
#SFFChat D15:
Aha. Actually safe spaces for QTBIPOC authors/readers. Let's start w that.

See, I'm part of a lot of communities that keep me on the margins, even among the marginalized. Whether inside or outside, the ignorance spots are all the same. Start w that, let things change.
June 17, 2025 at 12:22 PM
noelcober.bsky.social
17. For a rival (kind of, not really), I'm going to put Floyd and sagacious old wizard Yancy. Floyd didn't read the paperwork and though he was winning the hand of a hot lady (or guy) and didn't realize he was 80 years old and thinks robes are fashion...

Cont. because this matters #SFFChat
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 18, 2025 at 1:53 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
16. Gluttony...honestly food and eating are huge weaknesses of mine because I place basically no value on food and don't understand the appeal of food culture, so, uh, here's Floyd having no taste. #SFFChat
Floyd was sweating a little with how hot the curry was and trying not to drink water like a camel, which he was pretty sure was a strange extinct fish from Earth. “You must love having to answer questions about it every time her name comes up, though,” he offered, because rescuing people was the right thing to do. “So much,” said Jolene with a nod that Floyd thought was meant to be grateful. “It’s my absolute favourite topic of conversation.” “Our apologies,” said Samuel Sunstealer, one of the only people who hadn’t actually talked about it. “This curry is delicious, Shannon. You did very well.” “I’m just glad to have some people to test things out on besides Floyd,” Shannon teased. “He doesn’t like anything.” “Hey, I like everything,” Floyd protested, wondering where this was coming from. One hour with her old friends and suddenly she was throwing Floyd under some heavy means of public transit. “You have no taste whatsoever, dear,” Shannon told him. “You eat everything, it’s not the same thing.”
June 17, 2025 at 2:13 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
15. Children! A lot of SFF that I've read contains little to no children, which I get because it's for adults, but I love adult books with child protagonists. I love children's POVs on complicated situations they shouldn't be in. I love children being places adults don't want them to be.
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 16, 2025 at 3:25 AM
noelcober.bsky.social
14. As a teacher, I would not trust...any of my MCs to teach anything! But!

Castor, the MC of Apocrypha, would probably teach a workshop on how not to get scammed, either by fake temples trying to steal your money, or by real temples trying to steal more of your money than they're entitled to 🐛.
sffchat.bsky.social SFFChat @sffchat.bsky.social · Jun 1
Along with the weekly #SFFChat, I'll be making monthly prompt sheets as well! This one's my first, so please be kind, ahaha.

Interpret as loosely as you need (including exchanging "MC" and "antagonist" with each other or other characters--whichever is the most fun for you! (:

Please use alt-text!
#SFFChat Daily prompts for June Created by Steve Hugh Westenra - @stevewestenra.bsky.social 1 Introduce yourself & share your mc’s ideal vacation spot! 2 Snippet Share: Pride 3 What are you reading for Pride Month? 4 What is your MC’s most cherished dream? OR What do they hope to achieve? 5 How does your antagonist relax? 6 Snippet Share: Wrath 7 What is your MC most likely to protest? 8 Your MC must attend college/university! What’s their major? 9 Snippet Share: Sloth 10 Share an MC’s major flaw(s)! 11 What’s something you consider important to good characterization? 12 What SFF work do you consider a perfect summer read? 13 Snippet Share: Greed 14 Your MC is teaching a free workshop--what’s the subject? 15 What’s something you’d like to see more of in SFF? 16 Snippet Share: Gluttony 17 Your MC & an antagonist (or rival) are on a reality dating show. What happens next? 18 What’s the weather forecast for your wip? 19 What kinds of SFF book covers tend to draw your eye? 20 Snippet Share: Lust 21 Share something visual to do with your wip & tell us about it (either an excerpt, moodboard, cover, etc!) 22 Pitch your book as though it were a different genre (E.G. If it’s romance pitch it as horror! If it’s Sci-Fi pitch it as self-help, etc!). 23 Snippet Share: Envy 24 Your antagonist can alter one thing about the past--what do they choose? 25 What does utopia look like to your MC? 26 What’s written under your characters’ yearbook photos (E.G. Most likely to succeed, etc)? 27 What are your writing goals for the season? 28 Which of your characters is most likely to rush to help during an emergency? 29 If you were struggling, what would your MC say or do to cheer you up? 30 Snippet Share: Summer
June 15, 2025 at 12:45 AM