@esraye
๐จ๐ฆ Writer of scifi and horror short stories, novels & screenplays. Editor in Chief of @perseidprophecies.bsky.social ๐๐ข๐ด ๐๐ช๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต: ๐ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐บ๐จ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ง๐ต available now! esraye.com
After years of risking injury because of reckless, indifferent players, I finally quit my weekly, Thursday night pick up hockey game last night.
The response I got is everything wrong with hockey culture, and proved to me it was the right time to leave.
#fuckem
A magazine that offered me a "revise and resubmit" late last year on a horror short story--and then ghosted me when I asked about the process for doing so--has suddenly resurfaced and wants to see the story again.
Unfortunately, I never did the "revise" part...
Guess my weekend has planned itself!
Really deep in the "trust the process" of it all right now.
It has come to my attention that in order to sell my book, I need to market not only the book, but myself.
Who thought *THAT* was a good idea?
Anyway, I have a 1st-Friday-of-the-month newsletter that you should subscribe to for news, WIP updates, and anything else I feel like chatting about!
๐โคต๏ธ
What would you do if the death of certain people added to your own lifespan? Would you honor those who have made you functionally immortal, or would you feel entitled to your years?
Read "How Not to Live Forever" by Douglas Kolacki free in out Winter 2026 issue.
๐โฌ
#shortstory #indiezine
Leaning back from the keyboard to daydream different ways of getting your characters out of the impossible situations you've put them in may not add words to the page, but it still counts as writing.
#amwriting
Got a surprise writing day today, and I'm muddling through an intense WWI battle scene with alien, starfish-shaped walking tanks and heat-rays a la H.G. Wells.
I know the outcome of this battle, just not how to get there.
#amwriting #writer #scifi #sciencefiction
With so much to choose from in traditional, indie, and self-publishing, choosing your next read can be tough.
Here's what I fall back on for that decision.
๐โคต๏ธ
#reading #readersky
Reading slump official broken, thanks to From a Certain Point of View: Return of the Jedi!
Gonna build some momentum with few short stories from my favorite galaxy far, far away, then switch over to the horror novel (Meat Bees by @browntrowsers.bsky.social) I've had waiting for me!
I've be struggling with my characters in this manuscript. They don't feel unique enough, nor going through enough development.
But I had some epiphanies about each of them today that will really flesh them all out in a second draft! Just gotta muddle my way through the first one, first.
#amwriting
The word of the day is "lepidopterist."
And I'm using it to describe how a walking tank is pinned to the ground with a gravity spike.
Ain't sci-fi fun?
#amwriting #scifi
Agreed on all points! I go through several versions of an outline, sometimes scrapping the whole thing and starting over. I can't imagine doing that after I've already written!
If you've seen my outlines, you know they're highly detailed, but as I'm writing a small, emotional character scene, it unexpectedly set up something massive I hadn't thought of for later.
Believe me, there's still plenty of room for surprises!
๐งต2/2
I've seen some people say they don't like outlines because it feels like it takes all the fun and surprise out of the actual writing.
But I disagree.
๐งต1/2
#writing #plotter #amwriting
The notes for what I'm supposed to write today basically amount to "WWI style battle." No mention of tactics or details, nor the fact that I have set up a 2-front battle.
Why do I do this to myself?
#amwriting #scifi
Agreed!
I had hoped to reach 65k words last week, but with the Olympics on, I fell a tad short at 63k-ish.
Freelance work for the week is done, so it's time to do a little catching up!
#amwriting
It does drag a bit through the first couple of seasons.
It's been so long since I watched #Babylon5, I barely remember it. And to be honest, the first 1.5 seasons have dragged a bit for me.
But I just finished to S02E16 "In the Shadow of Z'ha'dum," and holy shit, things just got interesting!
They say a good deed is its own reward.
But who could guess that simply giving a stranger a lift to the bus terminal could take you--and your beat up old car--to the most amazing places?
Read "The Good Stuff" by @dennismpowers.bsky.social for free, now!
๐โฌ
I currently find myself in the midst of a reading slump.
Full transparency: I've not yet finished a single book in 2026.
So, in an effort to help MYSELF, I'm sharing my tactics for breaking the reading yips with YOU.
That makes sense, right?
๐โคต๏ธ
#reading #books #read #TBR
Another day of Olympic hockey, and I'm not even going to try to write (that 5k/week goal is slipping away this week, but I *do* still have the weekend).
More book marketing research instead!
It went surprisingly well! It's only pick-up, so we don't really keep score, but I clearly won (๐คฃ) with a few highlight saves!
I've got one more hockey game to play tonight, and then my marathon week of 5 games in 5 days will be over. I haven't done that in 20 years.
Thank the Maker tonight's is just pick-up. I can suck and it won't matter. All pick-up players care about is a body in the net.
I can't watch Olympic hockey and write at the same time, so I've decided to not even try.
I CAN research book marketing and watch, so im going to do that instead.
Authors: what's your best bit o' book marketing advice?
With so much love for the "color on color" jersey games in the NHL, this Canada v USA women's ice hockey hol medal game would have been a great opportunity to bring that to the Olympics.
Red v Blue jerseys would have been *amazing.*
Day 2 of trying to write while Canada and USA play Olympic hockey. This time the women go for gold!
I wrote about 800 words yesterday. I anticipate fewer today...
