#plus i've never dabbled with the action genre

[sketchguk]

so excited for part time lover! 🌻

i'm excited you're excited 💛 all of these reactions give me so much life !!

[esta-elavaris]

Just wondering if you’d be able to share some tips on writing? Your fics are legitimately some of my all time faves, and when I was a teen a dabbled in fanfic writing but I’ve never been a strong writer if I’m being honest. But I have a fic idea that I really wanna try and write since I can’t find anything else with this specific trope 😅 would be amazing if you could give some advice on how to improve!

Thank you so much!! 💜 A lot of this is just off the top of my head but I hope some of it is useful -- good luck with your fic!

Okay so first of all one of my favourite pieces of advice is something you're literally already following by taking on an idea without being totally sure how to go about it. That's when a project always ends up being a good one, and that's what makes you improve ten times faster than like, "easy" ideas that don't have any intimidation factor to them. I'm always happiest with the fics I didn't know I'd be able to pull off in the beginning, and my crap ones are always the ones where I go in confident.

Read a lot and read broadly - books, not just fanfic. You'll end up reading a lot of stuff you didn't like, but you'll know WHY you didn't like it and it'll inform the kind of decisions you make with your own writing. And, better than that, you'll also find a lot of stuff that you didn't expect to like but actually did. Plus it opens up so many avenues for ideas to flow in from unexpected sources, even from stuff like autobiographies. And like, I think a lot of people underestimate that kind of thing because they'd go "well I'm writing romantasy, why would I need to read horror books?" but then they have no idea how to handle tense, spooky, or even angsty scenes when they do crop up - and those little moments of genre-hopping make a story feel real, anyway, because it's more true to life. Real life isn't permanently fluffy, or comedic, or even depressing all of the time without any let up, and like? That's why the best pieces of media are so good? LOTR has strong elements of fantasy (duh) but also comedy, romance, action, drama, and even bits of horror all at once and that's why it's so vivid because so does life (although in a far less dramatic way, for me at least 💀 idk what other folk get up to).

If you read consciously (critically?), too, you can go and seek out how your favourite writers handle things like exposition, or the bits that serve just to get the characters from point A to point B, or even more minor details like dialogue tags. I find that really helpful because it reminds you that not every sentence has to be like? Groundbreaking or even particularly good? "She walked over to the chair and sat down" is fine, it's golden, it serves a purpose, but when you get too in your head about wanting something to be great, it's easy to forget that and get too hung up on little throwaway lines.

Also people are gonna be sick of me saying this but the best thing I've ever done for my writing is writing every day, as a rule. If I could only ever give one piece of writing advice ever again, it'd be that. I do think folk lean too much towards the "any time the vibe is slightly off don't write a word! self care!!!" thing and uhhh not writing every single time you can find a minor excuse not to is going to be way worse for you than forcing a page down when you don't particularly want to and the real self care is the fic we forced ourselves to write along the way. I started Little By Little juuuuust before I started daily writing, I think, and comparing that to stuff I was even writing just one year later shows how quickly it forced me to improve. It's like a muscle, the more you work it, the stronger it gets - and if you show up every day, the ideas will too.

I know there's not much like? Technical advice here but honestly I don't have any of that to give? I don't approach chapters like "ah, yes, this one shall begin with dialogue because that provides an element of (literary term that I'm too tired to use as an example) which sets things up nicely for (other literary term I don't have enough brain cells to conjure)", I'm not that technical or that smart about it, if I do try to approach things that way it doesn't feel organic, I'm just out here vibing and feeling my way through it. But like I said, if you read enough and write enough, you get used to that and your gut will tell you which way to take things.

[cisthehuman]

CisLunar DevLog #4: Ginga

Aiyetoro Madzimoyo III

Another instalment of development posts is here! Today we are going to be discussion the last side character of the group--Prince Ginga Aiyetoro Madzimoyo III. Out of all of the characters, his design had the least amount of drastic changes. I refined some of the details of his character and his style.

His design stems from a doodle session I had on 4/1/22--I only know the date because I actually dated these doodles lol. As you can see, he was always thought of to be princely, but was originally just going to be a subject for a painting and never used again. It was when I decided to make CisLunar a bigger story that I thought of including him in. The idea of three shady individuals (Lunar, BonBon, and Champs) happily socializing with an extremely high ranking person intrigued me so Ginga was added along with his status.

Even at this stage, I had already given him the name Ginga. I off and on study Japanese and one of my favorite words is ginga, which means galaxy (and I believe it is used for the Milky Way as well but don't quote me on that). I just like the phonetic sounds of it. However, I wanted a strong African influence to him as well. To make a long story short, in my younger years of creating I've been embarrassed and made fun of writing things about my race. It's only in my 20s that I started finally reclaiming that part of me and embracing writing/drawing black characters. With that being said, I wanted his middle and last name to be African to tie him to the culture. Plus like afrofuturism is really cool and I wanted to dabble in creating in that genre. This is where we get his middle and last name: Aiyetoro (Nigerian meaning peace of earth) and Madzimoyo (meaning nourished by water; unfortunately I couldn't find specifically where this name originates within Africa).

He's also the 3rd because I like giving my royalty character suffixes like that.

Another thing Ginga always has is his horn. I've always found horns very magical and mystical and as the Prince of the Cosmos, I imagine Ginga to be a very magical guy lol

Ginga also has human ears. When I set him in this animal appendaged world, I didn't realize that he is the only one in the cast (outside of Cis the Parasite) that has human ears. So I came with an answer as to why: cause he's magical.

At this point, I made him BonBon's boyfriend because I thought it would be cute to have 2 couples in the story. Plus there's an opposites attract thing and I like that trope. It's my story and I get to do whatever I want lolol

Another thing was him being a run away from home for very dire reasons. I'm very poor at writing action stories, so I scratched that out. He still leaves home a lot, but now its because he won't be ruling for a long time so he's just living his life lol. I also went back and forth on his eye color. I finally settled on blue as I liked the contrast against his skin.

As I continued drawing him, a new thing started happening--I began giving him what I can only call a lizard like smile. I did it once for some reason, but I just thought he looked cute with it. So Ginga also has a little reptilian in him as well because, you know, magic. I like to think his birth is peculiar because he's ruling over the stars you know? You kinda have to have a lot things happening to rule over several planets and galaxies. At this stage in his design however, I was already ready to change some things about him. His color scheme matched with Champs, and while they are foils, I didn't want them to wear the same exact colors. I also didn't like that I didn't really try to make his royal attire look regal. So when I started redesigning everyone, I jumped at the chance to make my prince look princely.

Which brings us to our first final sketch! I based his attire based on traditional Nigerian clothing. I made the sleeves a bit puffier to add the grandeur along with a flowy sash. As you can tell, I switch colors around. It was originally orange! I'm very aware that I like using cool colors with a lot of my drawings because I favor them, and I was going to use warmer tones to add some more brightness to the group. However, the orange didn't feel like Ginga to me so I changed it to this really lovely turquoise. in this sketch I loosely mapped out where all of his embroidery and detailing is, but when I do more detailed art I'll add it in. I'm very happy with this! I wanted it to be very special but also easy enough for me to do over and over again. But we don't stop there with Ginga. He wouldn't always hang out with his underworld pals in his robes, plus he needs to blend in or else crowds will follow him. So he has two designs!

Yaaaay!

And surprise! The pearls are a headdress he wears! I made this decision before writing this post actually! For the longest time, the pearls were actually his hair, because magic, but when I sketching out his casual outfit, I really liked him without the pearls. So headdress it is!

Speaking of his outfit, I decided to base it off of some Japanese street styles I saw pics of on pinterest. Ginga is an aquatic type of alien, and I like to think his kinds needs to have some coverage to keep from drying out. I also see him as the type of guy who dresses the complete opposite of how he has to dress while attending royal things. The color scheme came about because we were missing some pastel colors in the lineup, and I think pastels show a sense of peace, calm, and naive cuteness to a character which describes Ginga to a tee. His headphones are from his magic, by the way!

Whoo! We did it! The characters for this part of the stream lore (yes there are more parts planned) are complete!

It may be a little while until the next dev log as I need to make things for it, but it will probably be about some of the artists I created that plays on Cosmic Canary radio! I'm going to actually spend some time working on one now. Here's a preliminary sketch as a teaser~

Thank you so much for reading~

Seeee youuuuu next time!

[anxious-toast]

Forgot this blog was intended to be a venting space.

Well, my anxiety and depression are not so great at the moment. I'm still getting things done, but that's about it. I'm trying to find things to enjoy and distract me, but lots of things tend to remind me of my inadequacies. My husband has been helpful, just saying it be like that sometimes and he understands.

And I've tried to get my physical health under control, but between the only option for getting my libido back and losing weight to be going off my meds and there being nothing to do for my pelvic issues, I'm feeling like my doctors have given up on me. And I'm not even that sick! So I was surprised when the otolaryngologist (re)diagnosed my deviated septum right away and recommended septoplasty.

Then comes the option of simultaneous rhinoplasty, and my mom feels the need to keep me up on a work night to talk (i.e., text) me out of a nose job. She's down for me breathing better, but she doesn't want me to feel like my nose is bad and is going about it the wrong way. I'm proud of myself for saying we needed sleep and not texting her more. But she doesn't know how to control my thoughts (i.e., self-esteem), so she tries to control my actions. I try not to take it personally, but jeez.

And I keep thinking about my ex. I broke up with them in July because of communication issues. But I keep wanting to try to work it out. I haven't said anything like this to them. I've asked them to help work on these issues and nothing changed before. They doesn't stop me from missing them soooo much. And wondering why they couldn't fight for me. It makes sense, because I can barely talk to anyone much less fight for them right now. I don't want to fight for people anymore. I want someone to fight for me.

And aside from that, I don't feel like I fit anywhere. I dabble in things like certain book genres, movies, and games, but everyone's interest seems much more intense than mine. Plus the whole... not liking role-playing thing I have, so DND is off the table. Which everyone seems obsessed with now. And maybe it's a little bit of friend trauma (after a former friend got super mad over how we played his homebrew TTG).

All that is to say, I'm too tired to be more interesting for other people. And I'm never going to be more interesting. It used to be so easy. A former friend reconnected with me on Facebook, and I remember how at home I felt with her. But she's moved on in life, and I have no idea why she even added me as a friend. I haven't asked. Idk how to ask. But she's in a different state, with a new best friend and a baby. I've progressed, especially emotionally, but I'm still not sure how to approach her.

And I'm wondering if I'm ever going to get back the feeling I had with that former best friend or my ex. And I crave more of the connection I have with my husband and his acceptance. I just don't know how to introduce myself to people to begin with, much less build a deeper connection with them.

Aaaaand I don't have therapy for another week. Right after my last appointment, my mood just dropped. Ugh, ya know?

So I'm going through life and work, but I kind of just want to sink into the depression this weekend. My poor puppy needs her walks though. I'm just so tired of trying to do everything right all the time and feeling the pressure of it.

I better try to sleep some more. Hopefully that Read More works! (It did not.)

[bookloversreviewer]

THE LOCKER ROOM (Getting Lucky #1) by Meghan Quinn

Release Date: June 20th

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Add to Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44010609-the-locker-room

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FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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Blurb:

Have you heard the rumor around campus about the locker room?

If you haven't, let me enlighten you: Legend has it if you bring a girl into the sacred after-game domain of the baseball locker room, it will end with a walk down the aisle. One rowdy and naked encounter against the lockers with the girl of your dreams will make her your wife.

Translation: baseball players are stupidly superstitious and believe the locker room has magical powers.

But not all baseball players are superstitious, me included.

So when the girl I've fallen for brushes me off, I start to question if I need to switch my way of thinking. Maybe it's time I finally hand out a coveted invitation to the locker room.

The only question is, will she accept?

Excerpt:

This map is useless.

Easy to read, my ass. I need a magnifying glass to make out any of the color-coded buildings on this thing and unfortunately, I left my magnifying glass in my other skirt. That was sarcasm, if you didn’t catch it.

Standing next to a wonky-looking tree, I try to act as casual as possible—hip popped out, interested glances, the usual—as I hide a school map beneath the pages of Pride and Prejudice , while off-handedly looking for the MacMillan building. But the wind—though subtle—isn’t making things easy.

Recently transferred from Cal State, Fullerton, I’m attempting to avoid making a fool of myself on the first day of fall classes at my new school, Brentwood University.

Unfortunately, I’m way out of my element.

For one, I know nothing about this school other than they have the best library sciences program in the country. Making the transfer a no-brainer for me the minute I realized I wanted to be a librarian. I dabbled in business at Cal State, but who was I kidding? I had no right trying to figure out micro-and macroeconomics.

A California girl through and through, Illinois is nothing like the palm trees and beaches I’ve grown up with. Don’t get me wrong, there are trees here, huge, plush, green trees everywhere, the kind of trees Bob Ross made dance on his canvas. But the smog . . . I have no idea where that is. Breathing fresh air almost feels wrong. And apparently pizza is a big deal here. I’ve heard at least three separate arguments since I’ve moved about which pizza in town is best. Let’s all be friends and be grateful there is good pizza here.

And even though this is a “small” school town outside Chicago, it’s larger than life with boisterous personalities and ivy-covered buildings that cause me to believe I’m walking on the hallowed grounds where the prosperous were educated.

Plus, I had to buy leggings for all my skirts, because the temperature doesn’t call for bare legs out here.

The wind picks up again, lifting my skirt and map at the same time. Not wanting to be known as the resident flasher on campus, I save the skirt—because even though I have leggings, I chose not to wear them today—and tamp it back down on my legs as the map lifts from my book, floats into the air, twirling and swirling only to smack a passing guy right in the face.

Whap .

“What the—?” He startles and I jump into action.

“I’m so sorry,” I say, scrambling to hold my skirt down while clutching my parted book at my chest.

The map is slowly peeled away and a pair of beautiful light blue eyes peek past the paper first, followed by the sharpest jawline I’ve ever seen, defined and tense. Light scruff matches his dirty-blond hair that is swept to the left and cut short on the sides. Dressed in a green Brentwood baseball sweatshirt and wearing a jaw-dropping smile, he chuckles and hands me the map while eyeing me up and down.

Why is he so familiar?

Those eyes.

“Not a problem, but you could have asked for help if you were lost. Slapping me with a map is an aggressive tactic, effective, but aggressive.”

That voice, that smirk. I know it from somewhere.

Feeling a light blush creep up my cheeks, I say, “Not used to the wind.”

He nods and thumbs behind him. “Lake Michigan. It’s a bitch in the winter.” He studies me for a second and then nods at my map. “Where you headed? I can help.” There is the smallest southern drawl in his voice, nothing strong, but enough to tell me he’s not from Illinois.

I know that voice. I remember specifically thinking it was hot.

Tamping down my map and folding it in my book that I snap shut quickly, I say, “I promised I’d figure this all out on my own, but looks like I might need a little help after all.”

“Don’t blame yourself; this campus is a maze with no rhyme or reason. I was lost my entire first semester. Can’t tell you how many times I was late to class.”

“That’s reassuring.”

He tilts his head to the side and gives me a small once-over. “I know you.” I don’t say anything and just as his eyes land on my chest, a smile creeps over his face, a light bulb lighting in his head. “You’re the girl who helped me find my room on Saturday.”

Oh.

Shit.

It’s the yellow-door baseball guy.

He leans forward, hands stuffed in his pockets and says, “I never forget a good pair of tits.”

As if I wasn’t blushing enough already.

About the Author:

USA Today Bestselling Author, wife, adoptive mother, and peanut butter lover. Author of romantic comedies and contemporary romance, Meghan Quinn brings readers the perfect combination of heart, humor, and heat in every book.

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meghanquinnauthor

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorMegQuinn

Website: http://authormeghanquinn.com

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/meghan-quinn

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2LitE4x