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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4h

#WIPSnips
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'steel’, and just two of ‘iron’.
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It took a little while before the shifts and eddies of the crowd of Dawnsingers and Sojourners allowed Torvyn to get close enough to study the engine in more detail. She pulled her sketchbook from her satchel and sat on a handy bollard. She realised at once that it was cold iron, not warm stone, but a few minutes’ mild discomfort was a small price to pay.
As she began studying the engine and making the first marks, she was also watching the lad—about her own age, she thought—who was tending the engine, wiping here, adding a drop of oil there. He looked up. “I hope you’re not plannin’ on buildin’ a copy from that.”

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4h

…that’s a bit unusual. Although they’re also in a wider sense part of the same project anyway.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4h

#WordWeavers 4/11: Are you working on one or several projects? What’s your preference?
Right now, Book 7 is in the hands of my partner so I’m not touching it and instead l’m 100% focused on Book 8. But…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4h

#WritersCoffeeClub Nov 4/11: What's the funniest thing you've ever written?
Well, I left a note for the milkman once that was pretty witty…
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 18h

Latest instalment of this serialised novel of murky goings-on in the great outdoors.

The Kanchenjunga Manifesto—Chapter Nine

Continuing this serialised novel of murky goings-on in the great outdoors.

theshatteredmoon.substack.com

Reposted by Jon Sparks

Good Times @g00dt1m3s.bsky.social · 1d

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WIPSnips
No more ‘spooky week’, which may make it easier for me.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has four instances of 'nice’, which doesn’t feel like too many
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Fièdra held Tor's arm as they walked down to the lake, but nothing much was said until they had settled on a bench near the Western end. Across the water, a swan sitting on the humped mass of its nest gave them a look of lofty suspicion.
"You heard from your parents…?" said Tor tentatively.
"Yes. My sister's set a date for the wedding… in Fructander."
"Ah… Well, I suppose that's a nicer reason for missing the trip than some."
Fièdra shrugged. "We're not even close. She's six years older than me, and of course I've been here, term and summer-schools, for seven years now. But she wants me as a bridesmaid—or Mamma does, I don't know which."

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

…of the time spent thinking/daydreaming. (“I hallucinate gently for a living.” ― Terry Pratchett)

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WritersCoffeeClub 3/11: How much of your writing time is actively spent putting words on the page?
Define ‘writing time’. If you mean time actually sitting with pen and notebook or laptop or iPad, then most of it. But that takes no account…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

…looking at nature, looking at the sky, and trying to figure things out for herself.
Deprived? She would never use the word.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 1d

#WordWeavers 3/11: What was your MC’s childhood like?
Jerya grew up as an orphan in a remote village carved out of sandstone. She taught herself to read and had read all of the community’s 23 books at an early age. She spent a lot of time on her own…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WIPSnips
'Spooky week’ may be tricky for me, not my thing, but we’ll see how we go.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'cobweb’, but 7 of ‘dust’.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Holding the spade inverted, gripping by the metal collar, she tapped the floor with the handle. "It still sounds solid," she reported. "Perfectly level, too. Delven’s masons were pretty skilled, but they never made a floor as level and as smooth as this."
She stopped, kneeling to examine the floor more closely. "There’s only a thin film of dust, a millimetre or two. That seems remarkable after so long."
"Seems to have been a very clean environment in here?" said Evisyn behind her, voice reverberating off the walls.
"Possibly… I’m just brushing the dust away here. The surface looks just like the rock outside, but we’d have to look with a lens to be sure. But the rock’s grainy, crystalline; there’s no natural smooth cleavage, like slate. I can’t conceive this being natural—but how did they do it?”

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WordWeavers 2/11: Share something unusual about one of your characters’ lives.
Jerya didn’t know who her parents were until she was 20. Now, around 30 years later, her 18 year old daughter is meeting her grandmother for the first time.
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

…have a formula for character growth, and I wouldn’t want one.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 2d

#WritersCoffeeClub 2/11: What makes character growth believable to you?
Characters and their growth are central to my writing; I often feel like they’re telling me their stories and I just have to write them down. But I don’t…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

#WIPSnips
'Spooky week’ is tricky for me, not my thing.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'ancestor’, but 6 of ‘grandmother’—and MC meeting hers for first time at age 18 is a big moment.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

"I presume you know the story of Jerya’s Choosing? How irregular it was?"
"I do, Master Prime. And I’ve—" She caught herself.
But Analind only smiled. "You’ve met Sharess; were you wondering if I knew the whole story? Yes, Torvyn, I know Sharess is Jerya’s mother—your grandmother, indeed. Master Evisyn told me first, but Jerya also spoke of it, one time when I was at Skilthorn. In fact I think you were there, but you were only about six or seven, and preoccupied with pencils or crayons… Well, most of these things, Jerya’s Vow-breaking, and mine and Evisyn’s, are part of the history of the Guild now; and though Selton’s book says something about those events, up above Blawith, still much of the story isn’t widely known. But now there’s a biography in the offing; and Vireddi’s writing it…"

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

…fiction, I’m writing the stories I find in myself. I don’t know how I’d maintain my authentic voice any other way. And perhaps this helps explain why handing over any part of the process to AI is complete anathema.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

#WordWeavers 1/11: Describe a perfect reader for your story (i.e. who is the story for?)
I’ve had wide experience of writing with a set of readers in mind, e.g. photography enthusiasts without a vast amount of technical knowledge. But when it comes to…
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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

…that’s a time when it’s particularly useful to have a few bits to break up the pages of people talking.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 3d

#WritersCoffeeClub 1/11: What do you need to amplify in your work?
Probably circumstantial details, the little observations that ground a scene in a particular reality. I tend to forget this especially when I’m writing intense dialogue, but…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

www.badgertrust.org.uk/post/hope-fo...

Hope for badgers as Lords vote for amendment in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill

Lords voted on amendments yesterday to prevent badgers being eligible for environmental delivery plans (EDPs) in the new planning bill.

www.badgertrust.org.uk

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

In fact, correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember there’s no mention of a monster in the original ‘Frankenstein’: the word Mary Shelley uses is ‘creature’.
May as well show off having actually read it.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

#WIPSnips
'Spooky week’ may be tricky for me, not my thing, but we’ll see how we go.
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'monster’, but we do have ‘creature’—and a Halloween bonus mention of bats.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

Jerya took the news stoically, though Evisyn knew her well enough to see deep disappointment underneath. Harran was more vocal in bemoaning the situation, lamenting particularly that they’d have no chance to implement the plans he’d drawn up for a construction of laths and sailcloth to close up the doors at the opening of the passage. With no purchase for a lever, there was no chance of closing the doors themselves, and already, even in a week, the last storm had left puddles and drifts of leaves in the first few metres of the tunnel. Over time it would accumulate, birds and animals would find their way in. She could only hope no incautious creature would stumble into the shaft.
It would be a fine roost for the bats, though, and she chose to see that as a small consolation. And at least the door to the laboratory itself was firmly closed.

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Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

…loudly demanding I write their story, and that’s advanced by leaps and bounds.

Jon Sparks @jonsparksauthor.bsky.social · 4d

#WritersCoffeeClub 31/10: In terms of writing, how did this month go for you?
Well, I’m not quite as far along as I had hoped with final tweaks to Book 7… but there’s a good reason for that, as the main characters from Book 8 have been…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity

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