#WritersCoffeeClub 1/20. Figuratively speaking, do you travel with the caravan or solo over the hills?

I have a few fellow folklorists I talk with. But ultimately, "translating old German folk tales into English" is an _extreme_ niche. In fact, I don't think anyone else is doing that right now.

Though I'd love to connect with other #folklore translators from other countries and cultures, if they are out there.

#WritersCoffeeClub January 20th

Figuratively speaking, do you travel with the caravan or solo over the hills?

I'm breaking a trail through the wabe, trying not to run over any slithy toves in my Amphicar (and hoping I don't meet a Jabberwock).

Following the caravan is for folks who aren't into exploration.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 19: Talk about something (even if very small!) from your own life which made it onto the page.

Lots of little details? Aspects of real people that get mashed up together to produce characters? Anecdotes? (The bit early in Jennifer Morgue when Bob is driving on the autobahn and being aggressively overtaken repeatedly happened to a boss of mine once—turned up in Frankfurt and was handed the keys to a rental SMART ForTwo, had to go on the autobahn to get to his meeting ...)

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 18
Are you comfortable making a reader uncomfortable? How far will you go?

Read this blog article about changeling stories fro German folklore, and tell me.

But take the CW at the beginning seriously.

https://sunkencastles.com/2025/10/27/a-long-history-of-ableism-the-changeling-narrative/

#writerscoffeeclub 18th of January: Are you comfortable making your readers uncomfortable? How far will you go?

Yes, but not too far.

With one blatant exception, the main goal of my stories is to bring readers a bit of joy and pleasure in this fucked up world. I don't mind making them uncomfortable to do so, because a secondary goal is making the world a bit less fucked up. That means challenging readers assumptions and expectations, as in Planting Life, where all the characters are agender and the family set up is... unusual, to say the least.

The exception is The Price of Survival Series, which is very much an angst with little/no comfort series, read at your own risk.

#WritersCoffeeClub 18th of January: Are you comfortable making your readers uncomfortable? How far will you go?

Not really. Granted, some of my work talks about systems and systemic issues and doesn't shy away from difficult topics, but the world is too rough right now and my goal is to write stories that people want to escape into and that means for me being cozy-adjacent if not cozy-vibes. So I won't go very far because my writing is part of my mental health care.

#WritersCoffeeClub 1/18: Are you comfortable making a reader uncomfortable?

Maybe too comfortable.

Something I learned early with my creativity (mostly for stage but it applies to writing) is that its fine to go outside your own comfort zone. And as theater and most art is a transaction between artist and audience, that means your audience will be outside their comfort zone.

I think that's usually a good thing. It gives us the slightly unnerving, creepy character in horror, it's the root of comedy and tension.

It can absolutely be taken too far, though.

#WritersCoffeeClub 18th of January: Are you comfortable making your readers uncomfortable? How far will you go?

Not really. Granted, some of my work talks about systems and systemic issues and doesn't shy away from difficult topics, but the world is too rough right now and my goal is to write stories that people want to escape into and that means for me being cozy-adjacent if not cozy-vibes. So I won't go very far because my writing is part of my mental health care.

#WritersCoffeeClub 1/18: Are you comfortable making a reader uncomfortable?

Maybe too comfortable.

Something I learned early with my creativity (mostly for stage but it applies to writing) is that its fine to go outside your own comfort zone. And as theater and most art is a transaction between artist and audience, that means your audience will be outside their comfort zone.

I think that's usually a good thing. It gives us the slightly unnerving, creepy character in horror, it's the root of comedy and tension.

It can absolutely be taken too far, though.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 18
Are you comfortable making a reader uncomfortable? How far will you go?

See "Equoid" (a novella about unicorns which, I am told, ruined "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" *forever*).

I don't write cozies: I'm pretty sure anyone picking up a Charlie Stross story knows this by now.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 17: I have been beating myself up over trying figure out the best way to tie two theses in my WIP together. It finally came to me last night at about 00:30, and I had to send myself an email from my phone so I wouldn't forget.

#WritersCoffeeClub day 17: What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

Nothing at the moment, but I'm sure I'll hit burnout again soon enough and be plenty frustrated with that!

#WritersCoffeeClub day 17: What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

I just don't want to.

Hopefully at some point my life will be less full of grief and chores and I will muster energy for writing again. But now. I don't want to.

#WritersCoffeeClub January 17: What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

I started writing a near-future dystopia a decade ago and now, by book 3, the real world has basically caught up to the world I'm depicting, minus the magic. It's very hard writing things that are worse than what I can see on the news.

#WritersCoffeeClub Jan 17: I have been beating myself up over trying figure out the best way to tie two theses in my WIP together. It finally came to me last night at about 00:30, and I had to send myself an email from my phone so I wouldn't forget.

#WritersCoffeeClub January 17: What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

I started writing a near-future dystopia a decade ago and now, by book 3, the real world has basically caught up to the world I'm depicting, minus the magic. It's very hard writing things that are worse than what I can see on the news.

#WritersCoffeeClub 17 Jan
What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

Cataracts. Eye 1 was operated on, but has a retinal occlusion. Eye 2 … they're waiting for the cataract to ripen, but that's the one I rely on for reading/writing. So screen work is currently extra-fatiguing! And I have two books to finish editing/rewriting ASAP!!

#WritersCoffeeClub day 16: Name a non-anglophone writer who has really lit you up.

BK_Moon wrote The Greatest Estate Developer; I read it as a manwha adapted by Lee Hyun Min (https://www.webtoons.com/en/fantasy/the-greatest-estate-developer/list?title_no=3596). The story has a mix of action, heart, and humor. I love the way many problems are solved by civil engineering. The main character, Lloyd Frontera, personifies the tumblr alignment of Evil Good (full text here: https://avithenaftali.tumblr.com/post/185704522059/invalid-dd-alignments). Highly recommended.

#WritersCoffeeClub 15 How human are your protagonists? What about your antagonists?

Most of my characters are human-like in behavior. I have some nonhuman characters (dragons, elves, goblins, centaurs, etc.) and many more shapeshifters, but they're sapient and generally relatable.

My most inhuman characters are the demons from The Demon's Series. They're sapient but not social, and their natural drives aren't the same as animal ones, leading to pretty alien behavior.

@cstross #WritersCoffeeClub stanislaw lem , ove knaussgard, Dostoyevsky of course