Sadly, I'm not very musical but I do listen to plenty of podcasts for inspiration and boxes. Two of the best are @fallofcivilizations.com and Nick Machinski's History of the Inca. fallofcivilizationspodcast.com ahistoryoftheinca.wordpress.com/the-host/ #pretendpanel #writesky

One of my favourite instrumentals to write to and my favourite movie. A masterclass in setting, character and motive. youtu.be/nBADF1LdP3g?... #pretendpanel #writesky

50 words, fence Mora climbed the bone fence with shaking hands, slipping on the blood leaking from the marrow. At the top she slid between the sharpened spikes and tested her weight on the sinew.

More line edits. the baking sun baked the mud to clay. Sigh. #writesky #typos #writing

The House of the Red Balconies is an mm romance set on the fictional island of Tykanos, known for the sophisticated companions who populate its elegant tea houses. Hylas is a socially awkward engineer on a work assignment; Zo is one of the sophisticated companions. sextonscottage.com/products/the...

Gotta love some good typos. Form my current MS. "Her skinned knuckles left bloody smears, but nobody answered. Nobody answered, but nobody answered. " #writing #typos #dammit

I can't write to anything with words! Here's a song I love but can't write to- Frank Turner's 'I Am Disappeared' youtu.be/5Je6YnLNpL0?... And a song that's all vibes that I can-lilypichu's 'Song of Storms' youtu.be/GpVRNZaLuRc?... #pretendpanel

50 words, star As Chaska spread her mat beneath the stars Zoc shook her head. "Don't sleep outside tonight." "But-" Zoc tilted her obsidian mirror at the sky. Every blazing star became a tzitzimimeh's glittering eye. The stardemons' spindly fingers scratched the sky.

Not even my favourite song from the film, but the video captures the sense of wonder and epic, vivid environment I try to add to my work so well. And who doesn't love some peak Elton John? #pretendpanel youtu.be/In2RRit4AhA?...

@tkingfisher.com 's Daggerbound needs no marketing from me but I was very pleasantly surprised by @clpolk.com 's Midnight Bargain. Diverse society, great world building, high stakes and cool characters!

Not sure they understood the brief there...

I don't! I like quiet! Okay, sometimes I do put instrumentals on. #pretendpanel

50 words, Air “We don’t need a new wind god,” Ichan protested. His hands went to his throat. He choked on thin air. Fell. “Fool.” Tzinti Mito tossed a handful of grass in the air. The stalks flew towards the borders of the Empire. “You can’t ignore which way the wind is blowing.” #MicroFiction

'City of Jerusalem' from the Assassin's Creed game soundtrack by Jesper Kyd. I love listening to instrumentals when I write and I love wandering around AC cities. Kyd blended musical traditions from three different faiths to create this atmospheric track. youtu.be/ZU_w0TxKe0I?... #pretendpanel

I only listen to instrumentals while writing and found Lindsey Stirling's music videos through @rykaaoki.bsky.social 's wonderful novel Light from Uncommon Stars. #pretendpanel www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MCj...

Hmm. I prefer to write to instrumental music, which isn't my usual taste. But I do have a soft spot for both the Lottery Winners and Frank Turner. And the video for Dirt and Gold is cracking. www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbow... #pretendpanel

Rehash of an old Q, but I'm sure you'll forgive me. It's time we built a #pretendpanel 2026 playlist (2025 here: youtube.com/playlist?lis... ) May 1st: You're a famous author and it's "An Evening with [You]". What's the song you're entering to? #WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts

50 word fantasy, solid Austra clutches her dowsing rods as she stumbles, wreathed in mist and fairy laughter.

I am late for this but damn that is one fine cover! 'Gods of Atalantis' by Emily Klotz #pretendpanel

Fifty word fantasy: devotee "Offering first." The devotee is pale from ritual bloodletting. A sacred fleam hangs round his neck. "Answers later." Serah slips off one glove. The mosquitoes descend. She rubs her itchy hand. "Why worship a monster?"

Two of my characters from my current WIP as kids. A gift from my alpha reader. #booksky #artsky

I wrote fanfic for 20 years. Nanowrimo wasn't good for my writing in many ways, but participating in 2021 pushed me into finishing my first original novel, which was eventually adapted into a comic at sunbirdcomic.com Three unpublished novels later, I'm still writing. #pretendpanel

Far South NZ generally and Invercargill specifically gets a bad rep for being boring, cold and isolated, but this is one of our local beaches. #invercargill #beach #wildsouth

moby-dick, his eyes enormous: from hell's heart you STAB at moby? for hate's sake you spit your last BREATH at moby? oh! oh! the great shroud of the sea for ahab! the great shroud of the sea rolling on as it rolled five thousand years ago!!!!

A KJ Charles captured in the wild in Invercargill, NZ! (Home of the world's most southerly Starbucks! @kjcharleswriter.com

3sf, affair All right, so I stole the wizard’s shifting potion, but I was after gold. But it’s unfair to blame me for drinking it to drown my sorrows and then I had no choice but to impersonate the queen. As for my affair with the King, if you’d stop assuming guilt you’d realize I’m innocent!

@nomadicwriter.bsky.social 's fantastic story 'For He Can Creep' about the Cat Jeoffry has to be my favourite Love Death and Robots episode. I was elated to find a copy of the story on Reactor. A must of you like cats, poets, or Satan. reactormag.com/for-he-can-c...

My characters are trying to stop a war. They do, eventually. Wars aren't interesting to me unless there are personal stakes, ideally on both sides.

I don't seek out books about war, but plenty of my reading material deals with battles and the threat of war. At the moment I'm reading @aptshadow.bsky.social 's Shadows of the Apt series which deals with world-spanning conflict. Dragonfly dogfights, Spider politics, Fly bombers. Fascinating stuff.

‪My current WIP draws from pre-Columbian cultures, where a sacrifice pays back the gods for granting life. Most people offer gifts-water, food, shells, ceramics, jewelry. My MC, who is a Voice of the god Pachani, sacrifices her blood. Only my villains sacrifice people. #AntagonistApril

#AntagonistApril Today let’s talk about sacrifices. In your story, do your antagonist sacrifice more than your heroes do? Are they willing to go that extra mile even when it cost them everything in order to win? What is the biggest sacrifice any of your characters have to give for their goal?

My coffeeshop AU of my WIP. Ysel is going through some stuff, and the team are trying to make him feel better. With bonus art! #WIPSnips

In Turkey, an elderly man who earns his living by shining shoes is visited every morning at the same time by a cat that asks to have its fur brushed. The man never turns down this little friend.😍👍💙

Religion is much more important in my story than my actual life! My current WIP deals with an epic conflict between gods and the humans who speak on their behalf. #pretendpanel

3sf, honesty A soapy flicker in the air alerted Aelle to the intruder and his fist closed on threadbare robes, barking “You thieves should try honest labour!”

I love the sense of wonder gods provide. In my current WIP, many of my characters are priests of one sort or another. #pretendpanel

Narakal probably wouldn't have framed Chugata for murder. And Chugata would definitely have thought twice before agreeing to be the Voice of the Earth god.

I don't have any non human characters. I do have llamas. They're a bit like death metal alpacas.

Huh. Depends whose side you're on.

My secondary world fantasy draws influence from, among others, the Moche. Ekal, speaking to a trader: "We're a complex civilisation. With highly developed water engineering and a duality of gods …" Trader: "Whatever. ( shouts) HEY GUYS IT'S THE SEX POT PEOPLE." #AprilWorldbuilders

Yep! Narakal is a priest of the Spider God who dislikes the protagonist. He's an antagonist but not a villain.

Chugata's retired from the military to set up a bakery. She wasn't planning to hire a barista, but fate had other ideas... A coffeeshop AU of my own WIP, because why not? #WIPSnips

3sf, Victory Arkan struggled, veins bulging as the judges ripped the victory wreath from his head. "I earned that prize-you have no right!" The judge held up a small, buzzing cage and snapped, "You know the rules- the Games banned hermetic hornet venom twenty years ago!"

My main villain is irredeemable, but Tenan, his military commander, isn't quite desperate enough to risk his family by disobeying orders. Yet. #AntagonistApril

I love Pratchett but could never write his style. My characters use a lot of sly and sarcastic humor. #pretendpanel

3sf, dragons She buried her people's hoard beneath the high hall floor, a trove of bloodstained, bent swords, dented cups and broken arm rings. Following her dead queen's last demand, she tossed in the trinkets and sagged, pressing one hand to her shattered mail.

3sf, physical. “You shot down Wiril’s Mercy?” Nanaka demanded over the furious pounding in her ears. “She was a threat!” Captain Chunin’s stern expression never wavered.

Emotional support spider

50 word fantasy, payment "Welcome! You must be new here. Come in, help yourself. Anything you want." "Thank you! Amazing hospitality. Who called city folk greedy?" "More seaweed?" "Why not?"

see? here's the thing. A lot of people are like, the earth is fucked, it's beyond salvation, it's hit the tipping point, but time and time again we see that if we just fucking fixed the problem, it rebounds so incredibly fast. Imagine what could be done if people actually cared