#WritersCoffeeClub 12.1 — From where did the inspiration for your current WIP come?

#WritersCoffeeClub 1.10 — How do you steer a reader’s emotional journey?

That isn't my job, not necessarily. The readers take what they want from the story. Everyone has a different "emotional journey" while reading a book, and I'm helpless to steer something like that for so many different readers. The story will tell itself, and that's that.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.11 — Name a poet who has influenced you.

Hands down, it's Michael Faudet. He's one of my favorite poets. He can be downright filthy (in reference to love) one moment and then heartbreakingly romantic the next. He weaves words so elegantly.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.12 — How do you get to know your characters before you start writing?

By doing the writing prompt tags, of course! They honestly help so much with fleshing characters out and truly getting to know them.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.13 — Are you actively building your working vocabulary?

Always. I recently spoke about "vivid verbs" how in love with them I am, so I'm always finding things to add to my arsenal. We continue to learn. It's never ends, and it's a tough but worthwhile journey. I'm enjoying the ride.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.14 — What’s a service or skill you’d like to offer your fellow writers?

Random: I used to be a beta reader. I did it regularly. I'm always open for just reading something and giving my opinions as well. Sometimes we just need a friend to tell us if something stinks or not, you know? It helps. And I'll be honest, whatever you THINK sucks is actually usually fantastic. Imposter syndrome is tough.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.15 — How human are your protagonists? What about your antagonists?

Let me just talk about the story I'm currently working on. This is funny but the only humans/mortals are the servants and residents in the town. The majority of the main cast are vampires and werewolves. As for human characteristics, they're all very similar to mortals. The feelings or emotions, cognitive and emotional traits, social and behavioral traits, most physical traits, and personalities are all very "human," if you know what I mean.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.17 — What’s frustrating you, writing-wise?

At the moment, it's just not having the right amount of time to do it. I'm playing catch-up with doctor's appointments and so is my nana after she broke her foot. It's 90% healed, so that's good news. But for the moment, we're just very busy. I'm still finding time to write, but things will get better as the month goes on, I'm sure.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.19 — Talk about something (even if very small!) from your own life which made it onto the page.

It's not very small but Alistair (in #WingsOfQuietLonging) is also an author, so I guess there's that. I can't think of anything else at the moment, but I'm sure there's loads of stuff I could talk about from other stories, even silly things like a certain type of coffee (meaning a random iced macchiato or latte) or a flavor of coffee syrup used, things like that. I like writing in tiny details that I either fancy or know a good deal about.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.21 — When writing about unpleasant feelings, how do you avoid alienating the reader entirely?

To be fair, if readers are looking for cozy, carefree stories without ever having *any* unpleasant feelings they won't be picking up my stories from the start. Every synopsis or blurb warns of this. My work features emotion of all kinds, the good *and* the bad. The stories have a range of emotion in them, scenes that won't always be happy-go-lucky and carefree, and that's okay because it's just life. Things can't always be perfect and good, you know? Regardless of all that, this isn't a problem for me. My readers are generally looking for (emotionally) tortured characters who have good recovery journeys after the fact.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.25 — What comes first: setting, character, plot? What comes next?

Sometimes it's the plot. More often than not, it's the characters. They'll come to me first. A lot of my characters were created for either the purpose of TTRPG stuff (tabletop roleplaying games) or roleplay stories (which is just collaborative writing that I do with friends or my girlfriend), so I've already written a plethora of stories with these characters. The plots come to me later if I finally decide to knuckle down and write a long serial or just a novel with them. C'est la vie.

Edit: I should add this... It's usually a scene between characters that I've already created, and then I have to write an entire story around said scene. It's funny how that works out sometimes, isn't it?

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.26 — Do you include things you personally find repellent in your work?

I do, only because the story isn't about me, it's about the characters. Sometimes a story calls for something that I might strongly dislike. It isn't a perfect world, after all. As much as I love *reading* cozy fantasy, it isn't actually the genre that I'm writing within.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.27 — What’s a technical skill you think should be more widespread?

As a game or dungeon master for many TTRPGs (including DnD), I'll say this... It's drawing your own maps and things. Not enough people do it anymore. Draw stuff! Even if it's bad, *especially* if it's bad, do the thing! It's more fun that way, I promise. It's become a lost art these days, no pun intended.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.28 — What resource (book, podcast, tool, conversation) unexpectedly helped your writing this month?

I read a (big) handful of books this month, too many to list, and they've all helped me in some way. If you're ever feeling unmotivated or your muse is low, read. Just READ. It always inspires me, and it does the same for so many other writers.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.29 — Which phrase, paragraph, or page are you most proud of writing this month?

I'll share a snippet with everyone. 🤍

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#WritersCoffeeClub 1.30 — This month, how did you successfully navigate a challenge or a sticky point in your writing?

Patience. Patience is honestly the key, and that's what helps me through the sticky stuff. If I'm stuck, the issue always resolves itself. I just need to take my time and be patient with myself. The muse always returns if it's disappeared for a while.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 2.1 — How satisfied are you with your current writerly 'voice'?

I rather think I *should* be satisfied with things by now. But I'm happy with the way I write, though. We all do our best as writers.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 2.2 — How satisfied are you with the rhythm of your works?

We have a tendency never to be satisfied by *anything* of ours as writers. I'm trying to change that. I'm happy with my work. I'm trying to *enjoy* the process of writing, of creating something, and not to stress over it. So, yes, I'm satisfied.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 2.4 — How much detail do you use to describe your settings?

As much as I possibly can without overdoing things. I never used to describe things to the level that I wanted, for imagination, and I'm trying to change that. I'm trying to go into detail about the surroundings and settings that my characters are dropped into, but by being subtle about it. There's nothing pushy about my descriptions. I hope so, anyway. That was the old me, years and years ago, but writing is always a work-in-progress journey.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 2.5 — What's a trait of other written works you admire, but don't seek to incorporate in your own works?

I've been stewing about this one, and I really don't think I have an answer for it. If one comes to me later on, I'll edit my post. There are so many things I admire about other writers, genres, or stories. I've written a little bit of everything, so this is tough for me to answer.

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#WritersCoffeeClub 2.6 — From start to finish, how much time elapses in your current WIP?

Well, I can't give away any spoilers to my readers here. I suppose you'll just have to wait and see. But I will say this, that it's a sizable chunk of time, at least.

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