Ray Ingles
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ringles.bsky.social
Ray Ingles
@ringles.bsky.social
930 followers 220 following 2.1K posts
I’m a software developer with a lifelong taste for science fiction.

My first novel, SECONDARY, is now available! Andy Weir's THE MARTIAN meets Naomi Alderman's THE POWER.

https://secondary.blog
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ringles.bsky.social
The same way Hollywood set designers don't build stuff that won't be shown on camera, you don't *have* to build more than what the reader encounters. 😁

Working a little further out helps keep things consistent, but isn't technically necessary in my experience. 🤷
November 30, 2025 at 2:31 AM
Reposted by Ray Ingles
rockwlrs.bsky.social
Here's a #WIPSnips and #TimeTravelAuthors two-for-one: a sentence about a skill that's part of not being disorganized that's on page 11 of my manuscript. Time travelers have some unique challenges.
You'd be surprised how often teachers tell me I need to work on my time management skills. I just say “You have no idea what that's like for me.”
November 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM
ringles.bsky.social
#WIPSnps 28: zigzag

Only one instance, in a snip I've posted before. The MC surveys a city in a divergent timeline.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Some buildings clustered around the skyscrapers, “only” maybe half as tall. Outside those central areas, buildings were more of the height I was used to. But way more colorful. And some of the colors were moving? I had no idea which were businesses, government, apartments. Many of them had holes or gaps; one or two were in a zig-zag shape. I was about sixty percent sure that the round domed one was a stadium or concert hall. But maybe it was a megachurch?
November 28, 2025 at 2:54 PM
ringles.bsky.social
Wait until the sequel, when he has to work with a fashion designer. 😈
November 25, 2025 at 7:23 PM
ringles.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 23: global

Vibes. Look, #TimeTravel is just *insanely* dangerous.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction #TimeTravelAuthors
A lot of time on that walk was spent thinking about what the wolves had done… and exactly how much I had helped. Marilyn had said I helped her–that joking question about going back in time myself. I decided to ignore for the moment the possibility that I was partly responsible for the obliteration of all world cultures, etc. etc. Or at least when I stopped thinking about it, I stopped wanting to throw up.
November 23, 2025 at 2:54 PM
ringles.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 22: crystal

Jim can't explain how the RFID chips in his wallet work. But the engineers in the alternate timeline are quite competent.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Saloro spoke, slowly. “Those ‘[chips]’… I think I understand how they were made.” A snort. “Not all of it. But they are built with many microscopic layers of silicon, with various impurities. In extremely small, precise concentrations.” A flick of her hand, a tiny spark. “I believe they start with a completely pure crystal. They build on it, layer by layer. With chemical baths… and patterns of light.” She got technical, but the others seemed to follow.
November 22, 2025 at 2:22 PM
ringles.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 21: direction

First morning in the sanitarium. Hard to receive 'orientation' when you don't know the language.

#SciFi #ScienceFiction
Once all the–patients? inmates?–were out and standing, the guard barked something and I followed the group of a dozen or so. We went around a corner, and down a short hallway. Along the way, Dovee pointed back with his thumb, indicating the guard, and muttered, “Toromu.” Her name? Her title? I couldn’t be sure. We came to a dining room. From the other direction, another dozen men were being herded by another guard. “Joku,” Dovee indicated under his breath. So, probably those were names.
November 21, 2025 at 12:20 PM