Sometimes continuing to write when it feels like no one is reading can be hard. Thinking our writing may not be that great or no one will ever read it really sucks. Just remember that putting words on paper already makes you more successful than those who don't even try. #writing

Chapter 10 is up! How does James handle an uncomfortable situation? 🐻 🏕️ 💐 NicholasBallou.com/chapter-ten-claws

I've had this one little USB stick for 20 years, and was trying to do something so I checked its capacity. 120MB Sooo I don't think this little guy will work.

The MC of The Escape is Christian. This makes sense, considering where he was raised. It's not the plot of the story, but an aspect of his character. I was concerned I would lose readers, but 🤷‍♂️ I imagine the Christianity of 2514 is very interesting. #writing

The Escape is now on Royal Road! Read wherever you like, but please drop a comment to tell me what you think #writing #scifi 👽🛰️ www.royalroad.com/fiction/1564...

The Escape is written in first person past tense. It is actually my first time writing first person. Everything else I have planned for Nexus of Worlds is third person past. That's not set in stone, but 3rd is where I write most often. #writing #TheEscape

Now, I think daylight savings is absurd but... do yall not go to sleep an hour earlier the night before? I (usually) go to sleep at about 8 or 9PM, but 7 or 8PM the night before we spring forward. Got me twisted if you think I'm losing an hour of sleep. I wake up at 3:30AM.

Chapter 10 is up! How does James handle an uncomfortable situation? 🐻 🏕️ 💐 NicholasBallou.com/chapter-ten-claws

Good morning, #booksky! For a limited time, the posted chapters of The Escape are free to all (my site only) Please give it a read and let me know what you think. I’d love to hear your thoughts! I’ll convert the next 3 free subscribers to paid at no charge #scifi 👽🛸 NicholasBallou.com/contents

Seriously the only thing I miss about Arizona. No changing the freaking clocks. It’s time to end it.

Hey there, #booksky What book do you think is super under appreciated? Something you read that you can’t believe people aren’t talking about.

Someone asked if THE ESCAPE is sci-fi. It is definitely sci-fi! It takes place in 2514 CE, and New Covenant is a “stronghold against aliens,“ teaching that they are the antithesis of angels, created by Satan to destroy humans. Read on to find out more! 👽🛸🙏🏻 #scifi #writing NicholasBallou.com

Hey #writing friends, what do you think of Royal Road? Is it a good place to post sci-fi?

James Moore’s father raised him to be xenophobic, misogynistic, capitalistic, and cruel. He doesn’t want any part of that. Read his story: NicholasBallou.com/table-of-contents

Anyone have any recommendations for meal replacement drinks? Soylent seems to constantly be out of stock. Wish Oats Overnight had way less sugar.

My voicemail message asks people to leave their name and number. Almost no one leaves their number. Such simple directions. Why.

Yall somehow it’s even more of a mistake today. But today was cardio so at least I didn’t have to use my arms. Driving, however…

#selfpublishing #indieauthor #writingcommunity #amwriting #writerscommunity inventingrealityediting.com/2...

In the last installment, James got the scare of his life. Curious what happens from there? Keep an eye out for chapter 10 tomorrow! NicholasBallou.com/table-of-contents Would love to hear your thoughts, especially on the first three chapters. I'm submitting to a writing contest! #scifi #writing

Missed arm/shoulder/back day yesterday so I said 🤷‍♂️and just did it after hot Pilates today and BOY was that a mistake.

I feel like calling it a war legitimizes it in a way it should not be legitimized. I'm not sure what the proper term is, but not that.

Canceled my Progressive policy and when I hung up the agent said, “Your refund will be $525 haveagoodday!” and I was baffled. They sent me $525? I looked it up and Progressive lost a lawsuit and had to refund FL policyholders a bunch of money but never told me. It just sat as a statement credit…

Personally, I don't think dating is supposed to be monogamous. Dating is non-committed and casual. Going steady is when you commit to one partner. Then engagement. Then marriage. My wife was dating two other guys when we met. She then chose me out of the three and we married 🤷‍♂️

If nothing else, Bluesky has caused me to be fascinated by British meal names. There's so many. Just read an article and it's wild because in the US we just call half of those a snack.

Instead of spraying for mosquitos this summer, try the Mosquito Murder Bucket! It's cheaper than paying a company and doesn't kill all of the beneficial insects in the area. #garden #gardening

I'm writing a serial in a massive universe where I have a bunch of stories planned. Should I break them up into different "books," or just keep writing this continually? I feel separate books, which would be separate newsletters, makes the most sense? #writing

If your post settings don't allow for comments OR quote posts... why post at all? Discussion is the fun part of all this. Otherwise you're just shouting into the void.

I'm in college in addition to working and writing full time. Discussion posts are huge in online learning Guy copied one of my posts from this week word for word I'm almost positive he meant to paste it into a chatbot and have it regurgitate a reply. As that's what at least 40% of my classmates do

I see your electric car and raise you electric public transportation.

I genuinely do not understand the hatred of people over their religion. When I founds out Muslims, Jews, and Christians all worship the same god in slightly different was... yall Why would Christians HATE Jewish people? Because they have a differing opinion on Jesus? What There are real problems

What sort of background reading do you do if you write? Do you focus on your genre or read widely? Any specific books you would recommend to writers, fiction or craft? I tend to stick to my genre, scifi, but I read outside that occasionally. #booksky

I think it's so fun that we have specific animals that we choose to let into our homes. My three cats? Love them. They just walk around and sometimes cuddle me. Wild. Their ancestors would have eaten me I'd have a very different opinion if a random animal walked in. Cats? Yes. Squirrels? No #cats

New bonus chapter is out today at 3PM across my platforms! 🥳🎉🍾 What is Hunter's side of the story? How does he feel about his favorite brother's escape? Catch up on the story before the new drop here: www.nicholasballou.com/table-of-con... #Booksky #serialfiction #writing #sciencefiction

Do you enjoy escapist sci-fi? The Escape is for you. Follow the MC as he navigates leaving the "safety" of his colony for the unknown universe outside the gates I would love you hear what you think! Give it a read and leave a comment #booksky #fiction #scifi www.nicholasballou.com/table-of-con...

I am working toward reducing Windows and cloud services from my digital life. Microsoft really likes their cloud. Got everything out of OneDrive, downloaded LibreOffice and Obsidian. Next step is researching Linux. I did a Linux class a few years ago and it convinced me to change majors.

The Escape follows a young family as they flee their isolationist fascist theocracy. The colony taught them Satan's aliens killed all the other humans centuries ago. But staying might be more dangerous. What would you risk for freedom? www.nicholasballou.com/table-of-con...

Just discovered my library does 3D printing for $0.10/gram. I have never wanted to 3D print something more in my life, but can't think of anything 😂 I think my phone case is printable, but they want a URL to the template. Dang.

Even better! Standard Access is currently 50% off for the first six months! 🎉🎊🥳🎊🎉

Hey there! Big update: I have a website! I will continue to post on Ream, but the new home for Nexus of Worlds is: NicholasBallou.com Feel free to browse the current chapters and leave a comment. I look forward to hearing from you! #booksky #sciencefiction #writing

Just thought of another. Not leaving a callback number in a voicemail. My phone doesn’t have visual voicemail or anything where I can connect a message to a specific missed call number. I dial my phone number to get to my VM. If anyone contacts me, leave your number like it’s 1999.

The Escape deals largely with escaping fascism and theocracy while embracing the ideas of compassion and diversity. Read now to follow James as he discovers life beyond the colony walls. Check out the discounted Celebration price! #booksky #sci-fi #writing reamstories.com/page/mkyh5g9...

My newest pet peeve is one time passcodes, especially in place of a password. Just let me use a password.

Got an AncestryDNA kit last year and just got the results. I am 1% Mexican on my father's side. This makes me happy because my father was super racist and would hate to know he had any Mexican ancestry, even just a 3rd great grandmother.

Hey there, #booksky I'm publishing a serial sci-fi story over on Ream. I'd love if you gave it a read and let me know what you think so far. The first five chapters are free to everyone🎉 I think you'll enjoy it, and can't wait to hear your thoughts reamstories.com/page/mkyh5g9...

Big issue we had when trying to switch to biking was popped tires. We had >5 in three months. So many nails all over the place. If you bike regularly, is there a way to prevent this? We tried slime, but not much help against 4in nails.

Doing some deep dive research on #UBI for… reasons. Anyone have any opinions or input? Positive or negative, I’d love to hear it.

Did you know that The Escape has bonus content? Most of it is available free right now. Side stories to the main narrative, but mostly standalone as well. #writing #booksky #serial reamstories.com/page/mkyh5g9...

I knew a guy who had the issue of people exempting him from male issues. Women would be, “I hate all men. Except trans men. Trans men are soft and cuddly men. Not at all like other [real] men.” Sounds like a lot of bullshit either way. If you meet a trans man, just be fucking normal, yall.

I really want my writing to be accessible to people. I edit for overly complicated sentences and uncommon words as much as I can. Typically, I aim for a 7th-8th grade reading level, even though I write adult sci-fi. Anyone else do something similar? #writing #booksky

Grand General Marcus Moore is a ruthless despot who would kill anyone who threatens his power. He enforces a crushing theocratic and hyper-capitalist system of government that grinds people down until they’re too tired and afraid to do anything about it. #FebruaryWorldbuilders #scifi