Herald Petrel

564 👁, 231 🖼, 2 🔉, 3 🎬

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Medium-sized, lightly built petrel of offshore tropical waters across the Pacific; not seen from mainland. Plumage is highly variable (from white-bodied and dark-headed to wholly dark) and often very similar to larger and broader-winged Kermadec Petrel, which has a shorter and broader tail than Herald. Herald has white flashes on underside of wingtips, but lacks white shafts on upperside, which are diagnostic of Kermadec. Both species visit colonies in daytime, when pairs chase around high overhead.

Photographer: Pio Marshall

#HeraldPetrel #PterodromaHeraldica #Daily_eBird #Bird #Birds #DailyBird

#PennedPossibilities 707 — Do you have any characters that you can relate to on a personal level?

Most of them, really. When put on the spot I place them and considering the information they have and their mental condition and their personality I wouldn't act much differently. Of course I am, luckily, not as unhinged and blinded by the Company as Sinclair and not as burdened down by his PTSD as Galahad, but in a way, they are all relatable in some traits.

#HeraldPetrel

#PennedPossibilities 704 - share a scene or two you're proud of writing.

Proud of...is a difficult thing. But I like the passages that show the deep friendship that developed between Harry Galahad and Raffi. There is a deep trust underneath their bantering and I, personally, think you can feel that in this scene, especially.

It's a bit spoilery, so, only read if you don't mind that or have read #HeraldPetrel already.

#MarkethingMonday
Five things your readers would hate about your MC.

- Taking to Harry Galahad will give you instant depression.
- He moans about the loss of his wife, mostly in silence to himself, but still, he does. And you have to read that!
- He is incapable of being a captain - he knows, you know, EVERYBODY knows. But still, this is a whole book about it.
- Knight in shining armour he isn't. Everybody else saves the day. Shouldn't it be the MC who does that? Lazy brat!
- He is useless at romance. Which gets even worse when he falls in love. Honestly, it is like watching a very slow trainwreck with nothing you can do against it.

If you want to suffer with him, anyway:
https://books2read.com/HeraldPetrel

#HeraldPetrel

#PennedPossibilities 692 — Share a song that either describes your current feelings about your story or your MC in general.

How timely, because I was just saying to @paulk @Firlefanz and @QuokkaMocha that I wish Galahad and Singh at the end of this story are having what they are having:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRBIMTK73wY

It is not the only story arc but a strong arc, I'd say, how a slightly awkward Earthling who wants to become a captain and a pranking rebel and non-comformist who couldn't care less (or actuively avoids) becoming a captain end up as best friends. So, yeah, that's the vibe.

#HeraldPetrel #Galahad

#PennedPossibilities 688 — What does your MC do for a living?

At the point of the prequel, Galahad is a student of Space Navigation and Intergalactic Law. Pretty classic combination if you want to become a captain.

Universities are subsidised by the government and companies (they can then pick the best candidates for their jobs from the graduates) which means he doesn't have to work on the side if he is okay with what the university provides in terms of food and accommodation.

He also has a bit of money on the side from his 2 years of civil service duty mandatory if you want to join a university. Galahad isn't into much of the classical "fun" so he seldom digs into that.

#HeraldPetrel #Galahad

#WordWeavers 3: Is your MC a good cook? Any special dishes?

Galahad is an okayish cook. Nothing fancy, but his mom has taught him all the necessary things about housekeeping (love that I could make that canon in the prequel), including basic cooking skills and knowlege about a balanced diet. No special dishes but he can cook a good stew with nearly everything.
In fact, the only thing that horrifies him if he thinks about his future career as a captain is that he has to eat the bland processed food that is standard on spaceships. In fact, one reason why he studies at Charkovaya University and not on Earth is that they have a decent cafeteria.

#HeraldPetrel #Galahad

#MarkethingMonday What are 5 things to hate about #HeraldPetrel ?

* You call the main character "Galahad" and then he is like...never actually saving the day? He's like...dunno... a Non-Action Hero? That's false advertising!

* It says #SciFi but there aren't any robots? And no sentient ship AI?? WTF?

* TOO WOKE!!!! Shoves a queer character into your face every few chapters. Some of them are even couples *yuck* And all that tolerance for all species and cultures is just nauseating!

* Too straight!!! There is a romance between the male MC and a female really-also-the-MC and I don't care if you say he's #demisexual and his best friend is #aromantic, you have no rights to file it in the #LGBTIAQ+ category!

* But we need capitalism! It isn't the dystopian scenario you are describing as its logical endpoint. Capitalism good. How dare you challenging my belief in capitalism!

https://mindly.social/@strangeseawolf/112744652647377583

#WordWeavers Jun1. Share your favorite fact about your story.

I actually became stuck on the sequel of #HeraldPetrel in a way that really put me down and in a bad place.

One evening about a week ago, when I was moping about all my concerns @QuokkaMocha suggested I could just try and tell another story in that universe, for example how Galahad was twenty years earlier, when he was studying at university. Only to come back into writing that universe, only for myself, just to find the joy in my own universe again. @floofpaldi chimed in on the conversation and after a late-night session we could see so many worthwhile story arcs, like Galahad coming to terms with his #greysexuality and how the friendship with Singh Khan developed, but also how much action-packed stuff could happen, that the next day I actually sat down and wrote the first chapter which includes an epic pilot ship crash and a gay kiss.

So, I decided to shelf #HeraldPetrel2 for a moment and write this story, first. I must admit feel much better about writing than I did in months. The story is now at just about 10K and at chapter 7, for now it is called "Galahad" and I will use it for this months WordWeavers. This post also answers tomorrow's prompt.

In other news, Herald Petrel is now available on Bookshare for those who are members of the service.
Thank you to @Fragglemuppet for pointing me to it! I think @WeirdWriter you were interested as well?

https://www.bookshare.org/browse/book/6527411

#WritingCommunity #Accessibility #HeraldPetrel #Books #bookstodon #Bookshare #bookshareUsers