HUGE AND TRUE! 🐟

“Stephan, can you help me design my cover but this is what I have in mind.”@svencomics.bsky.social

The Toronto International Festival of Authors was my ideal weekend getaway. (ideal = 1-2 free panels a day and a library nearby for me to work) ✍️

@canconsffh.bsky.social was a movie (one that I would like to own on physical media so I can rewatch it on my USB DvD player over and over again) ✨ thank you again to @augursociety.bsky.social for the reading opportunity with these stars @blooburds.bsky.social and @straith.ca

sights and smells from Can*Con @canconsffh.bsky.social last month

i, along with the rest of the Lore Magazine's team, got educated at Issues Magazine Shop's conference. wise, swaggy panelists talked to us about origin stories, trusting your editorial staff, and grants.

When they ask me what kind of research I have to do for my book.

i'm tired of this, grandpa! 😞 i got sick of working on this god damn novel for years and no one getting to read any of it. so i polished the first chapter and released a preview. 🐉💧 cover design: @svencomics.bsky.social

“I have a rock, speckled and the color of sand. I had found it nestled in a heap of moss and cattails. I fancied it the most precious of my collection until one day a crack like Cygnus appeared on its surface, and it started to hatch.”

i’m gonna absolutely devour this Can*Con haul. @clh2oars.bsky.social @thescreambean.bsky.social @donmiasek.bsky.social @darkerthanvanta.bsky.social @james-downe-author.bsky.social @alexandernewcombe.bsky.social @vincentmackay.bsky.social

big god buried at the bottom of a city. this made me as scared as i was when i watched “bird box” by accident. (i am a baby.) @thatcalamity.bsky.social

i want to pretend i'm in a korean restaurant and play kpop mvs on my second monitor but i can't DO THAT for creative writing because it's distracting :'(

i convinced myself to sit for an hour in front of my laptop tonight by streaming a playlist of Seventeen's MVs on my second monitor

🕯️Lore Mag, a saucy Toronto magazine i editor for, is having their banging launch 🎉Nov 8th at It’s Ok Studios 🎉 ! (i also wrote a funny article in Dear Diary form about how i was in the Duggar family IBLP cult.)

pairing up grant writing with this order of supreme fries I used to get in undergrad. confirming that 9 years later they still make my tummy hurt.

grant writing at goocher bistro on bloor street

a little look back at Word on the Street. 👁️👃👁️ i think i almost died, but i had a great time running the Salaysay (Filipinx-Canadian) booth! (i'm going to start cross-posting here. the unabridged versions will be on instagram. that's where the sauce will stay)

i stopped the August challenge at day 11 bc i got pneumonia but it’s two months later and im 💪💪💪💪 back

#AuthorAugust25 Day 11: ✨MC Monday! Share a fact✨ Daniri, the MC, looks like this. :) pinterest vs. final drawing by talented quebec friend. #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 10: ✨What are your overused words?✨ "look", "see", "gaze" i need more tools to describe when a character is perceiving something. tips welcome. #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 9: ✨word count / status check in✨ 30% through first revisions of the 18 chapter book. 109,973 words left to edit. (I HATE editing.) #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 8: ✨drafting or editing?✨ DRAFTING. DRAFTING. DRAFTING. i despise editing, not bc i can't kill my darlings, but bc it's WORK. I usually PAY people to edit my stuff, i <3 editors GRAAAAAHGHGH #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 7: ✨Show us an aesthetic from one of your books✨ ripped right from Amihan's (supporting character) Pinterest board. final drawing by a talented friend in quebec. #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 6: ✨What's the biggest word count in a day you've ever had?✨ Probably like 7k tbh. i tend to write 20 words per minute, so i was most likely unemployed when i hit that record. #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 5: ✨Tuesday Teaser✨ From "Chapter 1 : The Aspin" #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 4: ✨MC Monday! Share a fact✨ Daniri, the MC, doesn't like fish as much as me. hmm i wonder why (this is genuinely important to the plot) #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 3: ✨favorite trope to write?✨ bickering siblings - i feel like that's my strong point. what would i kno tho i don't have any siblings. 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤷‍♀️ 🤞 #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 2: ✨ your latest release✨ two hot aforementioned twins hunt for a giant sea-serpent god. published with @augursociety.bsky.social 😍 i'm doing a reading aug 21st @ Society Clubhouse! #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

#AuthorAugust25 Day 1: ✨ Introduce yourself & what you write ✨ i'm rachel and i just had popcorn for dinner. i'm writing about two hot twins who have a complicated relationship with their childhood friend. #writingcommunity #torontowriter #canadianwriter source: @mariahankenman.bsky.social

Writing hehe

I haven’t touched my manuscript in two months, and the first time I did was today and muscling through the first 1k words felt like wading in cornstarch and water.

Is it okay to accept that the only time I can work on my draft might be late late late at night when I’m drained from everything else I’ve done during a full day?

Is it inspiration that I’m thinking of new stories or is it my brain procrastinating my current book.

At the sunset ⛅️ of this first draft, I can’t believe I was clocking in 7k words a day when my max used to be 3k in a blue moon. I’m astounded.

Just got a chapter from 22k words to 11k words. This semi-draft writing monstrosity is like working with a patch quilt that turns into a pocket square.

3,000 words in one sitting tonight but at the cost of eating Future’s chili cheese fries. L or W

Should I just do it? Make my book a “chosen one” book? Will that make the plot simpler???

this butter chicken was bland, but the 3 hours at Future’s to revise my chapter of a pit viper farm was the opposite.