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#fiction

64 posts58 participants0 posts today
Public
Lucas Kozak

Je suis tombé sur Prompt, une mini fiction de dix épisodes sur Arte, réalisé par l'artiste Jocelyn Collages. Il utilise des modèles intelligences artificielles pour illustrer les problèmes que pose cette technologie entre les droits d'auteur et la création en elle même.

Certains épisodes sont très drôles !

#IA #fiction

arte.tv/fr/videos/RC-025909/pr

ARTEPrompt - Culture et pop | ARTEEn posant des questions d’apparence banale à son agent conversationnel imaginaire, Jocelyn Collages, illustrateur animé par la “concurrence déloyale” des IA génératives, fait surgir des échanges délirants et loufoques qui invitent à réfléchir aux absurdités, dangerosités mais aussi infinies possibilités de l’IA en matière de récit.
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#PennedPossibilities 613 — How do you feel about the world or universe you’ve created within your WIP? Are you satisfied with it thus far?

Remember. You asked...

How do I feel about the world itself? Like I stepped in a cesspool up to my knees!

Most nations are theocracies, with oligarchs ascendant fighting one another. It's a full extrapolation of post Jan 20th 2025, stabilized with the needle at religio-fascist, by those who preferred stable to bat-shit crazy, and taken 50 to 150 years into the future. (I haven't decided the timeline, yet.) The initials E.M. in EM Mars Colonizations Corp stand for what you think it does, complete with very cute silvery Heinlein spaceships misnomered as Starships. The main character is shanghaied to Mars as a colonist (one added to a population of 10,000) on the last ship making the passage as EM goes bankrupt. All her life, May Ri struggled not to be completely nothing, destined by her gender to barely have agency, valued mostly because she could bare sons. Now she must master living on Mars, with its corporate frontier rules.

There's a reason Mars Needed Women (the title), but the story I'm telling has "Need" in the past tense. Men die disproportionately more often than the women in Mars Space, and when the corporate power structure begins to crumble, May Ri has to fight harder for survival. She, however, isn't interested in keeping the status quo. Neither is all her sister colonists, nor all the first generation (nisei) Martians who have all been raised by only their mothers.

I'm really satisfied with how the story I'm writing works within this universe. It's feminist to the core. It questions gender roles. It tars patriarchy as ruining the lives of women AND men.

It's coming together, gonzo pantser style. Just wrote the 14th installment of 31. I've 8 of the remaining 17 planned. The reader should be starting to see that May Ri is as ruthless as those in power (the men, of course), but with a female twist. She hates being used, but she likes men (finds them fun) and wishes they'd quit with the power-dominance-shit. She hates seeing other women being hurt, and she's the type of person, given the chance, ceases opportunities and makes solutions. When she has four daughters to protect against the Earthers, it becomes very real.

I'm posting all installments on Mastodon thru the month of March on a single thread. To keep up with the story, follow this hashtag: #RSMarsNeededWomen.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory

The cover art for Mars Needed Women. The background is of the Mars surface with rover tracks, big rocks, sand, and a greenish sky. There is a triskelion image of Mars, which is a tattoo in the story. The back cover reads as follows: Shanghaied May Ri struggled when the EM goon clamped an aromatic wet rag over her nose and mouth... Waking weightless and nauseated—stuffy head pounding, being floated somewhere—despite grogginess, she eyes-closed punched someone, spinning away to bounce off a wall. The click of cartilage, the thump off a bulkhead, the blare of a warning horn, and "Rig for ring spin!" rang in her ears. A tech clapped a bag over her mouth before she vomited up her last putrified meal, while enduring the blonde's glare as blood beaded around her nose. May Ri glowered back. Sitting on the wall, dragged on her butt, her inner ear then her innards soon informed her the wall was becoming the floor. From the author: “A hopeful deeply-dystopian feminist SF story, with thinly veiled jabs at our current world's bad actors making for a bad future. Please note the past tense in the title: Mars Needed Women. The story's women are going to work to bring down the system, at least that part that's oppressing them, in a massive unscheduled disassembly.”
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Supergeante

NovFut #32 • Seconde Guerre Civile Américaine
Les américains vivent en pleine dystopie en ayant élu un président fasciste qui transforme peu à peu le pays en état totalitaire. Cet épisode de NovFut vous raconte une suite possible, hélas probable. nouvellesdufutur.substack.com/ #superbe #panorama #fiction #cartographie

NovFut, les Nouvelles du Futur · NovFut #32 • Seconde Guerre Civile AméricaineBy Cyroul
Public
David W. Jones

#ScribesAndMakers 13 March: Shameless self promotion day. Boost away.

My local writers group, Hawaii Fiction Writers, has its newest anthology out. It's a fundraiser for the Aina Haina Public Library on Oahu, Hawaii. I have three stories in it. So please help support our library!

amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DVY3FTDR/

Sorry it's on The Bozo's platform, but that's what the publisher uses.

www.amazon.comLost in the Stacks: An Anthology of Library Stories by Hawai'i Fiction Writers: Little, Michael M, Baugniet, Gail M, Simonds, John: 9798986386492: Amazon.com: BooksLost in the Stacks: An Anthology of Library Stories by Hawai'i Fiction Writers [Little, Michael M, Baugniet, Gail M, Simonds, John] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Lost in the Stacks: An Anthology of Library Stories by Hawai'i Fiction Writers
#AinaHainaLibrary#fundraiser#HawaiiFictionWriters
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#ScribesAndMakers 2503.13 — Shameless Self-Promotion Day. Let's boost away.

Here's the newly minted cover art† for Mars Need Women. Check it out!

It's a web-novel, described in the blurb below. I have been posting it in a single free-to-read Mastodon thread. Here is the story link: eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/11408894

“A hopeful deeply-dystopian feminist SF story, with thinly veiled jabs at our current world's bad actors making for a bad future. Please note the past tense in the title: Mars Needed Women. The story's women are going to work to bring down the system, at least that part that's oppressing them, in a massive unscheduled disassembly.”

So far I've posted 12 chapters of 31, which I will do more or less daily through the end of this month. The first installment is an inside jacket blurb. The main story starts with a clang in the second installment. Chapter 11 may leave you in tears. #RSMarsNeededWomen

More in the #altText

#BoostingIsSharing

=-=-=-=
† I designed and created the cover, wrote the blurbs, and did the titles. The images are courtesy of ESA and NASA. The spine is a strip of a Mariner 7 image. This is becoming a hobby of mine, and I am open to requests.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#CommentingIsCool

#gender #fiction #writer #author #coverArt #art #artwork
#sf #sff #sciencefiction
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion
#RSstory

The cover art for Mars Needed Women. The background is of the Mars surface with rover tracks, big rocks, sand, and a greenish sky. There is a triskelion image of Mars, which is a tattoo in the story. The back cover reads as follows: Shanghaied May Ri struggled when the EM goon clamped an aromatic wet rag over her nose and mouth... Waking weightless and nauseated—stuffy head pounding, being floated somewhere—despite grogginess, she eyes-closed punched someone, spinning away to bounce off a wall. The click of cartilage, the thump off a bulkhead, the blare of a warning horn, and "Rig for ring spin!" rang in her ears. A tech clapped a bag over her mouth before she vomited up her last putrified meal, while enduring the blonde's glare as blood beaded around her nose. May Ri glowered back. Sitting on the wall, dragged on her butt, her inner ear then her innards soon informed her the wall was becoming the floor. From the author: “A hopeful deeply-dystopian feminist SF story, with thinly veiled jabs at our current world's bad actors making for a bad future. Please note the past tense in the title: Mars Needed Women. The story's women are going to work to bring down the system, at least that part that's oppressing them, in a massive unscheduled disassembly.”
Replied in thread
Public
Maria Langer | 📝 🎬 ⚒️🛥️

Anyway, the point is that it's the author's job to make the protagonist likable, or at least someone you want to root for. This "dog-sitter detective" doesn't pass that test, at least not for me. While I'm curious to know whodunit, I'm not sure if I want to wade through the other half of the book to find out.

#reading #writing #mystery #fiction (4/4)

Public
Christina Anne Hawthorne

#ScribesAndMakers 13
Self-Promotion

Kovenlore Chronicles is a 7-novel #adventure #romantasy series, Riparia Dellbane the unlikely heroine pulled into helping save dystopian Carrdia. There’s elaborate worldbuilding & a diverse cast.

All 7 novels (plus 2 novellas) are already written.

The 1st book in the series, Trust in the Forgotten, is published, the sequel coming in late spring. Currently on Amazon, it’ll eventually go wide.

The image is a color map of the continent of Tremjara on the world of Ontyre. The continent is roughly oval with notable exceptions, the oval tilted southwest to northeast. In the far north are the Frozen Lands, but otherwise the continent is surrounded by three oceans, the Para-Equa in the west, Terminus in the south, and Titania to the east. A long, slim peninsula, along with multiple islands, exists in the northwest. In the west and south are multiple, large islands. The southeastern peninsula is a barren wasteland with some volcanic islands off its coast. There are scattered islands up the eastern coast, most notably Pannulus, a roughly circular archipelago. The continent is roughly divided in half by mountain chains, some more extensive than others. Mountains also exist in other locations, especially the southwest. The west is heavily forested, the east a mix of forests and grasslands. The south desert. Some notable locations follow. Mythwyll in the southwest was the elfin homeland. In the west, Forstava is still the ora’ean homeland. In the east, Emprensa was once the home province of an empire. In the northeast, Draskrith is the realm of the shadow lords. Below that, and as noted, is Pannulus. At the continent’s center is nation of Carrdia. It’s surrounded by mountains, except in the west along its border with Forstava, and in the northeast. The continent’s biggest lake is located there, as is the mighty Key River.
On the right is the book’s cover, the negative image a golden, hand drawn map showing mountains and rivers. On top of that is the title, Trust in the Forgotten, written in a stylish text that’s turquoise with black outlining. Between the first three words and the last below them are eyes that are the same color. Below that, in the same font and color, but without shadowing, it reads Book 1 of the Kovenlore Chronicles. Near the bottom, and written in a more plain text, the color a dark yellow with a black outline, is the author’s name, Christina Anne Hawthorne. The left, beside the cover, is the following text: On the world of Ontyre… Riparia Dellbane, a reclusive Keeper courier with a fractured past, blends into Carrdia’s dystopian landscape, yet dreams of a better future. It’s about vision. Then, over one grim night, routine becomes ruin as opposing fractions seek to exploit or capture her. To survive, she must discover why. She must also discover why the handsome seer reawakening her heart is aiding her. Is he leading her to safety or to those wanting her life? Is she brave enough to untangle the conspiracy wanting to consume, not just her, but an entire nation? As a child, tragedy stole her trust. Now, her heart is begging her to trust again.
#AmWriting#WritingCommunity#Fantasy
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RS, Author, Novelist, Prosaist

#PennedPossibilities 612 — Has your SC ever snooped in a friend or partner’s house?

For the current crop of SCs, either there isn't enough depth of character revealed to know, or they've never had the opportunity—that is, either a friend or partner they'd want to know more about.

This question for the MCs would be far more interesting.

[Author retains copyright (c)2025 R.S.]

#BoostingIsSharing

#gender #fiction #writer #author
#writing #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #writers
#RSdiscussion

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Dr. Anna Latour

Sir Terry Pratchett was one of two people who I quoted directly in my dissertation. This line from Feet of Clay was the motto for my introductory chapter:

"This is where we’ve filled ourselves up with so many questions that they’re starting to overflow and become answers."

It resonated with me, because this is what doing research often feels like for me.

#GNUTerryPratchett#AcademicChatter#PhDLife
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