Now that I've queried The Messenger to approximately 49,058,292 literary agents, OF COURSE I think of the perfect sentence to add to the end of the blurb to tie the FMC's past to her present predicament, the one thing that everyone said was slightly off with the query in the first place.

"Why's everything gotta be so political??" Because politics affects every aspect of your life that's why ya dingus

reworking my query and requerying my manuscript and waiting and waiting and waiting and a little more waiting just for the heck of it

I know it's Saturday already. I don't care. "She tried to say, 'I’m fine,' but what came out was a mouthful of noodle vomit."

I was talking to someone at work about books they've read lately. They said they read some Sylvia Plath. I responded with, "Oh, I really wanted to read The Bell End." There was a long pause. Then I said, "Jar. I meant jar." Thankfully we're American so the joke didn't ruin my life. But it could have

Is greed technically an emotion? Because it's already bankrupting humanity pretty quickly

I remember suddenly becoming fully conscious while playing outside at daycare. I think I was 5. I thought to myself, "Wow, I can think! Neat!"

We’re so fucked

#SFFChat A4 I'd probably watch angels and demons going to war, but like, at a safe distance with a lawn chair and lemonade and some of those eclipse sunglasses so I don't get blinded. #writersky #writingcommunity #booksky #authorsky

Gabriel (an angel) doesn't get to experience much leisure, but he does get a chance to sing. He would sing all the time if he were allowed to. Miranda (human) likes dancing around her kitchen when nobody is watching. #SFFChat #authorsky #writingcommunity #writersky #booksky

Well, The Messenger is low fantasy set in the real world, so people do what they normally would to relax. Angels, however, are always on guard. #SFFChat #booksky #writingcommunity #authorsky

Yes, some people skip descriptions to only read the dialogue. No, I don't take them seriously when they say they read 200 books a year. Fight me. #booksky

I used to think I only had one story inside of me I had to tell. Lol. Lmfao, even.

I want the world to start using "American" as an idiom to describe stuff that is completely fucked up. "It's been a real American winter, hasn't it?" "That's an American hackjob right there."

Hot dog 🌭

we have ALWAYS had the ability to NOT make something and pretend that we did. the difference now is theres an algorithm built for convincing people whove never stepped outside the theater door for a smoke break on opening night that they actually have. they have not. there is no ai for that.

in other words IT IS NOT THE PRODUCT. yes, it is cool to see your name on a marquee or your book in a store or your face on a poster, but the REASON this is cool is because it tethers you to the BETWEEN TIMES. the between times are everything. the PROCESS of creation is a gift to yourself

Instead of solving all of Miriam’s problems, fulfilling the prophecy has saddled her with guilt, a town swimming in debt, and an elf she can neither keep nor free.

Well since nobody seems to know about any upcoming pitch events, everyone go ahead and give me the logline to the thing you're working on right now and I will judge them like a diving competition. #authorsky #writersky #writingcommunity #amwriting

Hey yo, does anyone know when somebody's doing another pitch event? I always tend to miss them. #writingcommunity #writing #authorsky #booksky #writersky

My antagonist (one of them) is basically, what if Ryan Gosling was secretly a huge asshole.

no, babe. you’re not “defending western civilization.” you are a dip shit

I just solidified my subplot and I am zooominnng it works so nice and fits into the main message so welll

I have the irresistible urge to give all my protagonists animal companions. I don't know if it's from being raised on Disney princess movies or what, but I've found the MCs reactions to animals reveals a lot about their character.

I decided to use the meekest character as the only POV in my new novel. It's making it so tantalizingly interesting (and necessary) to find ways for her to use her voice and gain her confidence. #authorsky #writersky #booksky

#writersky #authorsky A small tip for combating the existential threat of writer's block: things don't have to lead to the key moment you've come up with. Maybe it's the key moments that need to change. Maybe it's the journey that's right, not the destination.

When ur soft but done with everyone's shit

Kenn is so *thrilled* that people are ordering his book. Trust me, you're not going to read anything else like this. And it's fascinating. Either way, you support an Indigenous Elder. Give it a look? (And there's an awesome blurb by the talented and gorgeous @christianek.bsky.social!)

Happy Monday! Today we launch a fundraiser to help defray the costs of our forthcoming anthology SIDE HUSTLE: HORROR STORIES FOR LATE CAPITALISM. Oodles of great rewards including signed books by our invited authors Lauren Bolger, Poppy Z. Brite, and Mae Murray. Open call for subs coming in 10 days.

Insomnia Orange Sounds more like a lipstick color (Can never beat Low Libido Beef Burrito though)

All I want is to make predictions about the far future and have them all be 100% correct so the generation that finds my writing will think I'm Nostradamus

I'm going to my first writers conference in June and I'm super nervous! Have a manuscript to pitch to literally the perfect agent. May lead nowhere but the experience will be worth it!

I'm somewhere between making the antagonist become irredeemable or having him have a twist at the end so you feel a little sympathy for him. I think I just have to write it and see where the character takes me.

Repost with your first crush

I am very against using generative AI, at least I am now that I understand how it affects creativity and artists. I realized though that I still had AI images on some of my older stories. I replaced them with stock photos. Here's one of my favorites: nicolewinchester.substack.com/p/s-white-pa...

Guess people don’t like not knowing whether the stuff they’re looking at is made by humans or churned out by a machine, who could have predicted this very predictable thing

Anyone know of any writers on Bluesky that don't write genre fiction? Not that I don't love the genre fiction writers on my feed already, just wondering if there are any around. If I'm already friends with you and you fit then let me know.

Everyone seems to like listening to music when they write, or having some white noise going, while I have to have PERFECT SILENCE or I'll go crazy. Good thing I don't have any kids or noisy pets.

A couple days ago, I was upset that a celebrity I liked turned out to be an asshole. Today, I'm using that in my new book. Art imitates life imitates art.

Trying to figure out why we keep creating while the world is burning down around us. When everything is crumbling, does our art still matter?

Averaged about 1k words per day since I started my new project 5 days ago. Small potatoes for some people, but more than double my target goal. Don't think I can keep it up forever but I can try 👍

What books are selling right now? Doesn't matter as you won't be able to write it fast enough to keep up with the trends. Unless you're a freak who can pump out a book every two months. Total news to me that contemporary romance is apparently dead. I thought it was romantasy that was oversaturated.

He wants kids and a puppy. She wants privacy and a goldfish.

Wrote down the first few real pages of my new distraction--I mean, novel :)--after having not written for months. Feels good, man.

Now that my beloved pet rabbit Pheobe has been gone for a few months, this older piece really has a new sting to it 😢 open.substack.com/pub/nicolewi...

When I eat too much chocolate and I'm like, "hell yeah, HELL YEAH, I'm staying awake forever baby, no middle aged midday nap for me!" and then this happens

9/10ths of what I write on the internet becomes lost to the aether, only to be seen by like a dozen people, if that. The other 1/10th causes So Much Discourse that it gives me anxiety and I have to delete it.

My boyfriend says I go "meep"

Depluralize a movie Goodfella

I wrote my first page of a screenplay that is a neat hybrid project distracting me from my other creative blockages :)