No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories by Premee Mohamad. S-F and fantasy writer who is currently social media manager and associate editor for the Escape Pod podcast (which does audio s-f short stories). Very good, often kind of dark and haunting s-f/fantasy.

Hey, Gil, glad to hear you're home and things are a bit more stable. Take care of yourself, eh.

For the rest of you, how about some dark roast Jamaican Blue Mountain? Or Irish Breakfast and Buddha's Blend if you're into tea. And the hot water is there if you want some other tea or a nice steaming mug of hot chocolate.

Quite chilly here now, but still no real signs of winter yet, for which I am grateful. Had a guy out to inspect and clean the furnace yesterday so we are ready when it arrives.

Later, alligators.

Liking Tom Petty is something to be supported for sure. I met someone who didn't like Petty and told them, "Don't come around here no more." 😉🤣

Starting a literary career is never easy, and part of that battle is finding a publisher. This list, according to the writer at Authors Publish, cover publishers with a history of publishing debut works. They range from specialty presses that focus on one genre or type or writing, to more general ones. From small, relatively unknown presses to one with varying degrees of public image (e.g. Annick, the Canadian imprint that launched the career of famed children's author Robert Munsch). Got a book burning a hole in your hard drive? Have a look. Maybe your future publisher will be on here.

» The Top 44 Publishers for New Authors

Quote by AnnaMayZing
However, all that said, I would never own a dog.

I am largely the same but maybe the right dog at the right time could change my mind.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

Thanks, y'all.

Funny thing is, he spent about ten days sliding into my DM's before I was ready to say anything to him...and now we're two months strong and still going.

Never know about those guys who slide into your DMs, eh. Sound like you got one of the good ones, though. We didn't have DMs to slide into in my day. 😉

Good morning and Happy New Week!! Hope you're all doing well. I have been better but I'll get there. 😊

For coffee, I'll put on a pot of Nicaraguan dark roast. Teas are Yorkshire Tea and Peach White. Soda stock looks good. Hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic
He's down in SoCal (I'm in NorCal) but that's okay.

Better than a pair I know who met on a music site they and I are all on. One is in Virginia and the other is in Finland.

Good morning. There's some Ethiopian Yirgacheffe in the coffee pot. Sunday Tea and White Coconut teas are steeped and ready for the tea crowd.

I am actually in a hotel but heading home today. Company party last night, our first in five years, and they had it in another city that's a bit more central given we now cover the entire province of Ontario. Company footed the hotel bill.

Quote by verbal

Normally I listen to the news in the morning, but I can’t bring myself to do that today. So here’s my favorite bluegrass girl, bringing us Appalachia by way of China.

Very cool. Interesting how she's worked her time in China into her bluegrass career. Looked her up and her ties to my wife's homeland seem to run pretty deep. She lived there for a time and has both performed and taught there on multiple occasions. And she's married to Bela Fleck, which makes for one hell of a musical power couple.

Quote by verbal
Maybe try finishing it, even if you feel it sucks, and then work on a second draft? Most first drafts of anything suck.

I like what I have. Just having trouble working out where it goes. It's the one I've mentioned with the mystery woman who is a mystery even to me, apparently. I have ideas for her but none that seem to work when I try to follow them through.

Given that publishers probably invest more in marketing than in actual content, it somehow does not surprise me that there are people making money off helping people market self-published material. I keep nudging towards experimenting with the field a bit (expanding Tana's story into a novella, for instance) but then I get kind of daunted and realize I would rather be filling my writing time trying to get new material out.

My current project has stalled. My writing in general has stalled. I try but the energy just is not there. Last two nights, I have barely even touched my computer, just watched YouTube on my TV. And I am away for a chunk of the weekend, too.

Anyhow, since we got yummy peanut butter cookies, how about something to wash them down. Some Tobermory Grotto coffee is brewing. For teas, we have Scottish Breakfast and Peach White. Soda stock looks good. Hot water is on standby if you're hankering some other variety of tea or hot chocolate (mini marshmallows are in stock).

Later alligators...

Quote by Cora
There is the added bonus of my birthday being in Winter--December 23.

Wow, almost a Christmas baby, eh. My late mother was born New Year's Eve. Yep, one day later and she would have been a year younger. 😊

Quote by Cora
Autumn is definitely my favorite season

Likewise, though this Fall has been so variable around here. Still a bit warmer than it should be right now though less so than earlier in the week.

Quote by verbal
Colorado is closed today folks. Snowed yesterday, snowing now, and will snow most of the day. Fits my mood. At least I enjoy shoveling the drive and sidewalk, for some odd reason.

😲 You can keep it. Western Canada has snow, too, but it's been rather mild for November so far here. Waiting less than eagerly for the other shoe to drop.

scarfs another butter pecan cookie

Quote by Cora
Ironically I worked in a bakery as a teenager for a pastry chef from Switzerland.

LOL. My uncle is a retired Swiss pastry chef but I don't think he ever worked as one in his own country. He apprenticed in Vienna and then immigrated to Canada where he met my aunt. Worked in a hotel then at a private cricket and curling club. Grandad was a member so I suspect some mild nepotism.😉 We have been beneficiaries of his training many times.

Quote by Cora
Butter Pecan Cookies

Ape pounces "Butter Pecan" is like a magnet for me. And I shall have an organic chai with that, too.

Debating some possible thread topics to see what I can inject here. Writing and reading stuff would be ideal but, oddly for a writing site, those rarely get much attention. Oh well, I can try.

Lots of interesting themes as usual. Solarpunk conflicts, various horror riffs including reproductive horror, pagan songs and tales about "Fortune and Luck", high seas horror, and so much more. Lots are looking for particular minority or marginalized groups so do read carefully.

https://authorspublish.com/31-themed-submission-calls-and-contests-for-november-2024/

Quote by Cora

Weirdly, I can hear that perfectly in her voice.

Speaking from the Land of the Maple Leaf, I love those maple leaf shortbreads. scarfs a couple

And coconut white tea? Hm. I'll try that.

Yeah, the US situation is not exactly the best we could hope for but vibes to the Americans. You'll need them, and probably would regardless of who won.

Too too many yummies around here. To go with them, I'll put on a pot of Kicking Horse Kick Ass coffee. For teas, how about some Red Rose and English Breakfast. Hot water is waiting if you want other teas or some hot chocolate.

One thing I will say positive is that Molly does an excellent job. Not sure if there are actually any other staff active right now. Meet the Team page shows Sherzahd as an admin and Gil and Rump as mods. But Rump is no longer active as far as I know and we have heard how Gil's life has been keeping her away. Not sure about Sherzahd.

And the second generation software is improving. There's more quirks than in other social software I have experience with and still some gaps, but has definitely improved of late.

Comps are a great promo and I look forward to them but for developing the site, they don't seem to be working. We get lots of drive by entries who are not otherwise active on the site, or at least drop by rarely outside comps. But, yes, keeping them going is a must for livening up the site for sure. Comps are one of the things about the site that I promote.

One of my songs of the year is probably going to be "Heavy Is The Crown", part of the surprise return of American rock greats Linkin Park. The band has always been hard to classify, with elements of alt-rock, metal, rap, and more, but their music is often powerful and dramatic.

New lead singer Emily Armstrong has been a bit of a surprise. Her previous band Dead Sara never came on my radar so my first experience of her was "The Emptiness Machine", the first new single. But it was the massive scream at around the 2 minute mark in "Heavy Is The Crown" that really sold me on Emily (it's at about 2:09 in this performance).

She's not a replacement for the late Chester Bennington, who was f-ing amazing in the band's noughties heyday, but kicks off a new era in the band's sound with rapper/vocalist Mike Shinoda and a couple other returning members providing continuity with the old era.

This is the song's live debut.

Good morning! Nice frosty, sunny Fall morning here in my world.

Putting on some Costa Rican medium roast coffee. Teas du jour are English Breakfast and Sunday Tea (black tea w. Bourbon vanilla). Hot water is ready for other teas or hot chocolate. Mini marshmallows are available for the latter, as always.

Continuing to plug away at a story. My mystery female character is, unfortunately, something of a mystery to the writer, too. Which is making it hard to get much further than I am. But I shall soldier in hopes that her secrets eventually come out.

Quote by JamesPBear
Writing and sites like this were a Godsend for me during the pandemic.

Me, too, really, though I had already been active here and there prior. I was probably at my most productive through 2020 and 2021 just because there wasn't much else going on so I had gaps to fill. Nowadays, life is back and it's harder to find the stretches of downtime I need for writing. Retirement will, of course, fix that but I am still not committed to a date.

Quote by JamesPBear
It may be that sites have a natural lifespan.

It depends on the subject matter, but as someone who has been frequenting non-writing forums for nearly 20 years (joined my first web forum in 2005, I think, and was somewhat active on a BBS or two in the 90s), most definitely wax and wane. Just feels like this wane is a rather prolonged and severe one.

On a more cheerful note, there's some Tobermory Grotto coffee brewing. Teapots are filled to the tippy top with Yorkshire Gold and Peach White. Hot water is on standby if you're craving other teas or a hot chocolate.

Bit chilly where I am but at least the sun is out and there's only a slight chance of showers in the forecast. Raking is likely on the agenda this weekend, along with some housework. Next week I am off to the GTA (not Toronto proper, but surrounding communities) for a party and to visit some folks we haven't seen since before the pandemic.

Quote by Cora
I will continue being an active member.

I will, too, but likely only for shorter pieces and comp entries. If I am putting in the effort to write a longer work, as I increasingly seem to be doing, I want it to be read and SS readers just don't seem that interested in longer, more complex writing anymore.

Quote by verbal
Sorry about your disappointment, Ape. I’ve tried to be good about commenting on stories here but have probably been lax. I will strive to do better.

It's not the lack of comments on my story, though, it's how it reflects the general lack of life on this site. I mean, on the forums right now, there's me, you, Cora, and the odd visit from Da Bear and Gil (who has good reasons for being scarce but still pops up from time to time). Even Anna seems to be scarce anymore and she was a staple on here for the past few years. Red is MIA, too, but given his age and health that surprises me less. Maybe one or two who only post in one or two threads from time to time. There's some people posting stories who aren't active on the forums, but that still does not add too many more active bodies.

Oo, Cinnamon Cupcakes sounds delish. takes a cupcake and an Organic Chai

I made Top Authors again but I can't say I am overly happy. Top author had 2 likes (it appears). I had one in second. Third was for an author who last posted a story back in January. Short version: activity here is low, perhaps the lowest I have seen. In terms of comments, I got probably 6-8 in threads on my other sites (and no, not that one) where I posted links to the story, even had some discussion about it. Here, I have one. I could have posted it on a blog site and got the same result, maybe better.

Sorry for the downer but I am a bit bummed about this place and not sure what more I can do to help. I have links all over the place, I promote the comps on other sites where I know there are writers, I have been poking a couple poets I know on one of my social sites to consider posting here (the forum where they are posting it on that site isn't publicly accessible without joining). One of them put out a couple fantastic pieces in October and she's just a teen.

Anyhow, I have a new story on the go. I would need to tone it down for here (it's a clear X right now but could be toned down to an R without breaking the story) so I am not yet sure where it will go if I finish it. It is also going to be long, coming up on 8K words and still in the early phase of the story. I plan to just keep going until it is done, then look at breaking it down into chapters. When I tried writing in chapters from the start, it tended to lose momentum. Genre-wise, it is basically a romance but I am wrestling with whether it is a straightforward romance or whether there will be a fantasy element, pushing into the paranormal romance or even romantasy world. Mysterious woman with mysterious background and how I fill in that mystery kind of decides where this lands in terms of genre.

Something for Halloween. "The Ghost in Me" is by Dutch symphonic metal Epica based on Camile Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre, an 1874 orchestral work.

Wow, what a heap of Halloween goodies. I shall get a pot of dark roast coffee going to go with those. Some Orange Pekoe and English Breakfast tea as well. If you need something cold, sodas are stocked. And there's hot water ready if you prefer other teas or hot chocolate.

My Halloween mood is not happening this year. Not sure why. I could probably let the day just slip by were it not for work having a Halloween luncheon.

Cupcakes, cookies, the yummies just keep coming. 😊

Yay, cupcakes!!! scarfs one

To go with those, I will put on some Coffee Shop of Horrors Black Dog (Costa Rican). For teas, there's a Pumpkin Spice Chai and Organic Darjeeling. Hot water is boiled for other teas or hot chocolate.

Quote by JaxRhapsody

I've got a sci-fi romance, that's rather soft on the sci-fi, and based in my city, so world building is rather simple and it takes place about thirty to forty years in the future, and not too far off from what it's like today, with things they're trying to do today, like androids and electric cars.

Yeah, my default city for contemporary stories is basically an amalgam of two of the three cities I have lived in, heavy on the current one.

There is a near future s-f version of the city in a story on another site but it's dystopic and the story ends with the characters fleeing as a revolution sets the city ablaze.