#WIPSnips “First”—he turned to Arkhöa—“your cousin said to tell her before you take the copies to the rendezvous, right?” “She did,” said Arkhöa, “but if I don’t tell her, I’m still going to a rendezvous she set up. So either the king’s men will be there anyway, or no one will be there.”

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 21h ago

The #WIPSnips word for October 11th is "cousin" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Ruin a book by adding a word: The Basset Hound of the Baskervilles

D.N. Schmidt, SF author🪐📚@dnschmidt.com · 12h ago

Ruin a book by adding a word: * The Reality Stars My Destination * Vape Cloud Atlas * Slaughterhouse Five Guys * Onion Ringworld * 20,000 Bowling Leagues Under The Sea

#WIPSnips He slithered across the stone and emerged into an air pocket left over from a time some forty thousand years ago (give or take a few millennia—the Barrister’s memory of those times was getting a bit fuzzy) when sea levels had been much lower and this cave had been open to the air.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 2d ago

The #WIPSnips word for October 10th is "fuzzy" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#TimeTravelAuthors Probably either Det. Joyce (basically a fugitive from a noir novel) or Tara. Although Lock himself is pretty cynical.

#OctoberWorldbuilders My MC used to play threeball as a student. Rules: 1. The football may only be kicked or stopped with the feet. 2. The handball may only be thrown or caught with the hands. 3. The staffball may be hit with any body part except the hands and feet, ...

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 4d ago

Hey there, #OctoberWorldbuilders! We're starting a new week, this one dedicated to sports and games within our fictional worlds! Do you have any characters who play a sport or game? Do they play professionally or just as a hobby?

Man of Steel Magnolias

Harry Turtledove @hntdove.bsky.social · 3d ago

The Hunt for Red October Behind the Green Door

#OctoberWorldbuilders A geologist would note the well-developed river valleys centered on arroyos, and work out that Hiddigaha once had a lot more rain. An archeologist would love the Great Bull Temple, built by the conqueror Dushar the Great for his patron deity.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 5d ago

Good morning, #OctoberWorldbuilders! Thanks to all of you who have been patient while I spend some much-needed time off social media. I hope the prompts have been useful for creating your desert! Today: talk about its geology, rocks, or maybe some ruins. Whatcha got in your fantastical desert?👀

#TimeTravelAuthors “I didn’t want to embarrass you by saying anything in front of Gary, but your mother said she doesn’t want you to be by yourself right now — and after what happened last week I can’t blame her. She said she wants ‘responsible adults’ looking after you.” “That’s us,” said Rikki.

#OctoberWorldbuilders Hiddigaha still has enough groundwater for the occasional well, but the soil has been salted by millennia of irrigation, so they herd goats, camels, sheep and horses. Two major sources of income are being bribed not to engage in piracy and working for archeologists.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 6d ago

#OctoberWorldbuilders, hello friends! Alright, it's time for the survival question I promised a few days ago! Tell me how the people who live in your desert actually survive in it. How do they get food and water? What kind of clothes do they wear? How do they stay warm/cool otherwise?

#WIPSnips The food was adequate—barely. The bread was hardtack, and had to be crumbled into the soup to make it edible. Lonotun gave his share of it to prisoners who were sick. The vegetable soup and boiled rice staved off hunger, but didn’t taste of much.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 6d ago

The #WIPSnips word for October 6th is "rice" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#OctoberWorldbuilders In ancient Mantebnea, Khuum was said to be the god of the west and north winds, drought, plague, and crop blight. The collapse of the climate three thousand years ago was taken as a sign of his victory. The highland region west of what is now Hiddigaha is still called Khuum.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 7d ago

Hello, #OctoberWorldbuilders! Tell me about some of the deeper lore of your desert. What myths, legends, religious stories, folklore, etc. do you got? What stories do people tell about this land or about something in it? Or what do they believe in general about their world?

#WIPSnips He would read aloud a single name, rank, and date. And in that way, one of the thousand-plus students seated in the Temple this morning, or perhaps one of the forty-some teachers standing along the walls, would learn that they had lost a father, uncle, brother, or cousin.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 6d ago

I didn’t share an earworm with this but every time a notification pops up all I hear are sound clips from Another Brick in the Wall.

#TimeTravelAuthors Not the events themselves. Lock gets to watch a brief and necessarily incomplete video documentary about the end of the human race.

#OctoberWorldbuilders The deserts of the Vastlands are pretty much like our own. The Dead Heart, on the other hand, has reptiles and birds more dinosaur-like than anything else, along with an assortment of venomous snakes, spiders, and scorpions worthy of Australia.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · last wk.

#OctoberWorldbuilders, hello friends! Tell me about the flora and fauna in your desert. What lives there? Also, it doesn't strictly have to be "flora" or "fauna." If you've got something that defies these terms, but still count as living, by all means talk about them!

#WIPSnips “‘Hey, Mister Criminal, want to do some crime? Take this very expensive little rock, catch a boat to Gramphborough, go find my father, and poison him with it.’ Suppose he just takes it and sells it to the nearest jeweler instead? What am I supposed to do, sue him for breach of contract?”

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · last wk.

The #WIPSnips word for October 4th is "contract" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#OctoberWorldbuilders For their permanent structures, Hiddigahans favor sandstone and a white adobe-like rammed earth that reflects light. Their roofs are built to catch and redirect breezes into the interior.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · last wk.

Good morning, #OctoberWorldbuilders! Let's talk about buildings in our desert societies. What is the architecture like? How do they keep their homes warm/cool as needed?

#TimeTravelAuthors Both of the doors had those old-fashioned glass doorknobs that were kind of diamond-shaped. The whole room might have looked kind of retro and classy during the daylight, but now it just looked spooky. If this place wasn’t haunted, some ghosts somewhere were really missing out.

#OctoberWorldbuilders The Hiddigahans are a desert nation. Their land was a center of civilization before the climate changed and the rains moved north. Their nation is a loose coalition of clans, each one named after a constellation. The clan chiefs meet during the annual eclipse.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · last wk.

Hello there, #OctoberWorldbuilders friends! Let's talk about the societies that live in our fictional desert settings today! What are the lives of these people like? Remember there's a day about survival coming up, so save any answers about clothing or water until then!

#OctoberWorldbuilders The hottest desert beneath the Arch is the Dead Heart, in the middle of Byrex's Land. The land is rust-red. The plants are widely-spaced and look utterly alien, like cycads and araucaria trying to evolve into cacti. The vultures—if that's what they are—have teeth.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 2w ago

Good morning! Welcome to a new month of worldbuilding prompts! Happy to be here and hosting #OctoberWorldbuilders! This first week is about DESERTS (that's the biome, not desserts the sweet treats, but feel free to talk about dessert today, too!) Tell me a little bit about a desert in your world👀

#TimeTravelAuthors What are those things in the dark beyond the treeline? They're too big to be dogs… …and it looks like they've seen us… The Locksmith Trilogy

#TimeTravelAuthors www.amazon.com/dp/B0B3315STN

#SeptemberWorldbuilders Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, because my WIP is basically a heist story Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, because my WIP is also set in a world of morally dubious, conspiratorial authorities The Dresden Files, because The Dresden Files

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 2w ago

Good morning, #SeptemberWorldbuilders, It's the end of the month and we're on our basic/broad questions about you! What fantasy or scifi (or horror!) media have you been engaging with lately? Games, TV, books, anime, whatever ya got, tell me what you're enjoying! Or, perhaps... NOT enjoying?👀

#WIPSnips She tried to picture her face with no yüttüi at all. She mentally edited out the mess and replaced it with plain amber skin. It was tricky, but she’d met enough foreigners in Köthmau that it wasn’t impossible. And it wasn’t bad. Well-shaped cheekbones, limited acne, unbroken nose.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 2w ago

The #WIPSnips word for September 29th is "well" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

#SeptemberWorldbuilders The Aulmish goddess of vengeance, Seda, is called She Who Walks the Arch in Darkness. She represents the shadow of the planet eclipsing the planetary rings at night.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 2w ago

#SeptemberWorldbuilders, how are y'all doing? Tell me about things in your world that represent light or darkness. Do you have any magic, myths, gods, spirits, animals, etc. that embody light or darkness? Either literally or figuratively? Tell me about them!

#WIPSnips “Since when did he ever waste money on quack medicines? Mother could never even get him to visit a real doctor, back when… wait. Has anyone found this quack? Because it sounds like he’s our prime suspect. What’s his name? What does he look like?”

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 2w ago

Welcome to a new week of #WIPSnips! The word for September 28th is "prime" #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts

Guess who got a story in a new #anthology? #horror #halloween #WritingCommunity www.amazon.com/Scary-Storie...

#WIPSnips “I’m so sorry.” Ya’unkta observed a moment of silence. It was one and a half seconds long. “And I… heard what happened to your mother.” Arkhöa just nodded.

✨#WIPSnips✨ A Daily Writing Share Tag@wipsnips.bsky.social · 2w ago

The #WIPSnips word for September 26th is "observe" #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WriteSky

#SeptemberWorldbuilders The darkest, most secret place is probably an underground grotto on the coast of New Zochei. Humans haven't even discovered the entrance yet, much less the assembly that happens there at midsummer every seven years.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 2w ago

Good day, #SeptemberWorldbuilders! How's everyone doing today? We talked about literal light yesterday, so today: tell me about some literal darkness. What are the dark places in your world? The caves, the dark forests, secret places shrouded in mystery~ 👀

#SeptemberWorldbuilders In most cultures, darkness is seen as less scary than in our world, mostly because there's less of it. Archlit nights in the temperate zones are as bright as our full moon even at midnight. Near the poles, night is truly dark—but of course there, cold is more of a concern.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 3w ago

Hello, #SeptemberWorldbuilders! How's everyone doing today? Today's a dark question (ha) so be ready: How is darkness used symbolically in your fictional setting?

#SeptemberWorldbuilders My MC lost his lover, his left arm, and the war, all in the same battle. (I've tortured MCs before, but never like this.) What gave him a reason to live was writing a musical composition based on the stanzas of music his lover used to whistle.

Kira of the Wind (Erika McCorkle)@kiraofthewind.com · 3w ago

Hello, #SeptemberWorldbuilders! I'm taking some time off from the internet, so I may not see your responses. Talk to others make some friends while I'm away! This week's theme is LIGHT AND DARKNESS. Today's Q: Tell me about a time your character was "in the dark" either literally or figuratively