em writing queer myth ⛲️

Just a handful of quick #WritingWonders answers for this month to get caught up! (Hi, gang! 👋 I missed y'all and hope y'all are well. I'll probably participate only sporadically till this #WIP is finished.)

My new WIP is a #queer supernatural mystery #romance codenamed #SeymourAndMilo (because I haven't made an official title announcement yet). The image is a crop of the in-progress book cover I've been working on, just so you can see what the protagonists look like (left: Seymour, right: Milo).

Day 1: If one of the protags showed up on my doorstep? I'd squint warily through my peephole like a true Millennial, then think to myself: "Oh my God, what is this [hot goth guy/hot priest (depending which one it is)] doing at my door???"

Day 2: Most readers will probably adore Milo from the start. Seymour's a prickly burr, but if folks stick with him they'll quickly learn he's all squish underneath.

Day 5: Seymour has been involved in a pretty significant (meta)physical altercation in the past. (We don't talk about it.)

Day 6: MILO: [can't think of anything that makes him /angry/-angry...maybe the U.S. mental health care system?] SEYMOUR: "Are you looking for a fucking monologue?"

Day 10: Weapon of choice? SEYMOUR: "My hands. But...not in the way you think." MILO: "My height and extraordinary chill. And, of course, the power of luv 🥺"

Day 15: Intimacy scenes? It's a romance. In a word: Yes.

Day 16: I'm good at and enjoy writing intimacy scenes. They can be a little awkward to share, of course, depending on the audience.

Day 17: SEYMOUR: "My ex-girlfriend, Lottie." MILO: "I give a lot of hugs, so I'm really not sure who the last person I hugged was...but I've never kissed anyone."

Day 19: Support the status quo? Hell, no. Seymour and Milo are both rebels in their own ways. (Seymour go smash; Milo gently expose the uncomfortable emotional truth that make you That Way.)

Day 21: Seymour's only a few months sober and drinks way too much coffee. Milo favors chamomile tea.

Day 22: Seymour doesn't have a friend group. Milo...doesn't either? Milo has a parish (and maintains good relationships with others in helping professions in Beacon Bay Isle and the surrounding townships). And no, Milo never causes drama in his parish...aside from pissing off the senior rector, usually by "going off script" when it's his day to give the homily.

#writing #WritingCommunity #GayRomance #mm #mmr #nonbinary #NonbinaryWriters #NonbinaryRomance #QueerRomance #LGBTQromance #LGBTQbooks #LGBTQwriters #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #UrbanFantasy #AmWriting #plural #CPTSD #TakeOnMe #QueerJoy @lgbtqbookstodon

Jul 23, 2023 at 12:13amWeb
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 23, 2023

#WritingWonders Day 23!

The two most prominent secondary characters in #TakeOnMe (fuggit, going ahead and dropping the title just for y'all here on Mastodon 💛) are Seymour's stepsister Claire and God. (Yes, THE God...or I should say Milo's personal version of them.)

CLAIRE: Have I ever wanted to smack Seymour or Milo...? No! Jeez. What kind of friggin' question is that? You'd have to be a stone-cold sociopath to want to smack Milo. And Seymour—dude. No. I've never wanted to smack him either. ...Well. I mean. Okay...maybe just a /teensy/ bit that time he said he didn't like my baby. And also that one time when he...you know what, fine. Maybe there have been more than a few times I would've kinda liked to pop him one. But, jeez...he's such a friggin' sad boi. His dad dropped dead in front of him when he was just a kid, his mom abandoned him right after that...and then his grandma got cancer and he ended up out in the world on his own as a teenager. He's seriously been through a lot. I dunno...I just think he's actually a secret sweetie beneath those lil' hedgehog quills of his, you know what I mean? I'm gonna get him to roll over and show that soft underbelly someday...

GOD: Have I ever wanted to smack Milo or Seymour? [laughter that chimes like a zephyr and tickles like birdsong] Not at all. Have you ever seen them? They're just little human beans. So cute!

As for Milo and Seymour themselves, any smacking that may occur between them will be purely recreational, and likely confined to the posterior region. 😇

#writing #WritingCommunity #GayRomance #mm #mmr #nonbinary #NonbinaryWriters #NonbinaryRomance #QueerRomance #LGBTQromance #LGBTQbooks #LGBTQwriters #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #UrbanFantasy #AmWriting #plural #CPTSD #queer #WIP #romance #QueerJoy #mlm @lgbtqbookstodon

Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 23, 2023

#PennedPossibilities 18 (Hi! I'm seeing this hashtag floating around...could someone please tell me where the prompts are coming from? 🙏 )

SEYMOUR: That's a personal fucking question. I...guess you could say I've let go of everything I ever loved or wanted. Not because I had to. Because I just don't have it in me to hold on. Good things never stay, right? So I get out ahead of the bullshit. As soon as they go hot, I go cold. (That's right, I'm a serial ghoster. And yes, as a professional ghost-whisperer, I get the irony.)

MILO: Something I had to let go of was the Catholic Church...and with it, all the moral high ground I had with my parents. They used to be so proud of me for following my calling to become a priest. Now I'm finally ordained, but because it's in the Episcopal Church and not the Catholic Church, to them I'm just a "lapsed Catholic." But for me it wasn't a choice. I wasn't going to stay part of any institution that wouldn't be welcoming to my trans sister.

#TakeOnMe

#writing #WritingCommunity #GayRomance #mm #mmr #nonbinary #NonbinaryWriters #NonbinaryRomance #QueerRomance #LGBTQromance #LGBTQbooks #LGBTQwriters #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #UrbanFantasy #AmWriting #plural #CPTSD #queer #WIP #romance #QueerJoy #mlm @lgbtqbookstodon

Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 24, 2023

(Might do one extra #PennedPossibilities each day till I've caught up on the ones I find most inspiring—because some of these are really good!)

I think when his story begins Seymour has a latent conviction that he's going to kill himself one day. It's his worst fear and the reason he keeps his life so closed off—so many things trigger him, and suicide's a very real possible consequence whenever he gets triggered. His best hope if he avoids that fate—so he believes—is growing old alone with the stray cats he feeds and his ghost pals who live in his house with him (between intermittent forays into toxic relationships).

Milo doesn't put a lot of stock in destiny; he's a mystic, and to him God represents a timeless present moment in which all things are possible, so in his mind the future's never fixed. That said, his belief in big dreams and fresh starts usually finds its application sparking hope in others who need it, and Milo's never imagined much for himself beyond a life of contemplation and social service.

#TakeOnMe

#writing #WritingCommunity #GayRomance #mm #mmr #nonbinary #NonbinaryWriters #NonbinaryRomance #QueerRomance #LGBTQromance #LGBTQbooks #LGBTQwriters #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #UrbanFantasy #AmWriting #plural #CPTSD #queer #WIP #romance #QueerJoy #mlm @lgbtqbookstodon

Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 24, 2023

The answer to 19 is short, so throwing 2 in there also, on my quest to get caught up!

19. Fun fact: Milo played center for his Catholic high school boys' varsity hockey team. (Probably the whole extent of the physical violence he's committed in his life.) Seymour has never played sports but is addicted to video games, especially CRPGs.

2. Seymour hasn't done much in the way of taking meaningful risks yet in his life. He has a history of taking certain habitual risks to distract himself: excessive alcohol consumption, risky sex...taunting angry ghosts. (The latter's actually a bit more on the meaningful side, since he's doing it to help the ghosts, but still not a deeply radical risk for someone who habitually disregards his own physical safety as a way of dissociating.)

Milo is intimate with the reality of impermanence and takes meaningful risks as a way of life, including being radically emotionally honest, connecting empathically to traumatized people, and trying to rehabilitate demons instead of sending them to hell. That said, there are risks he hasn't yet considered taking—such as seeking fulfillment for personal desires he pushed out of mind a long time ago.

#TakeOnMe

#PennedPossibilities #writing #WritingCommunity #GayRomance #mm #mmr #nonbinary #NonbinaryWriters #NonbinaryRomance #QueerRomance #LGBTQromance #LGBTQbooks #LGBTQwriters #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #UrbanFantasy #AmWriting #plural #CPTSD #queer #WIP #romance #QueerJoy #mlm @lgbtqbookstodon

Show threadAnna Saultron Jul 23, 2023
@emrys @lgbtqbookstodon as far as I am aware @floofpaldi was the one who initially started this. And if I remember correctly there is a pinned thread with the prompt for each day.
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 23, 2023
@AnnaSaultron @floofpaldi Aha, I see it. Thank you!!
Show threadSpooky Panda 🏳️‍🌈Jul 24, 2023
@emrys @AnnaSaultron Hello there! Yes, it's my hashtag. I started it for all the writers on here to take part in, if they want. There's a pinned toot on my page with all of the questions. There's about 300 of them so I post them at night for me (because a lot of people are in different countries and it might be morning for them, so it's easier.) If you want to catch up, check out my profile and pinned stuff. <3
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 24, 2023
@floofpaldi @AnnaSaultron Awesome, thank you! 🙏 I love how character-focused these are.
Show threadSpooky Panda 🏳️‍🌈Jul 24, 2023
@emrys @AnnaSaultron I'm glad you like them. Every bit of inspiration helps. Character driven questions are really good, sometimes. POV ones as well. It might spark something, even an idea for a bit of dialogue between characters or their inner thoughts. Their backstory, too. Or perhaps just a bit of reflection on your characters after a story has already been written. It's all helpful.
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 24, 2023
@floofpaldi @AnnaSaultron Yeah, absolutely. They're the lifeblood of the story to me, so the more I know about them the better 🙂
Show threadSpooky Panda 🏳️‍🌈Jul 24, 2023
@emrys @AnnaSaultron In that case, I'm very glad some of these prompts and questions can help. That's all I wanted when I started this. Every little bit helps. 😊
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 24, 2023
@floofpaldi It does! Thanks for what you do! 😊 🙌
Show threadAuthor-ized L.J.Jul 23, 2023
@emrys @lgbtqbookstodon welcome back! So is this the new WIP that's been so good for you? :D That cover is so cute and the couple sound cute to match!
Show thread🌛🦋Amelia Kayne (hiatus)🦋🌜Jul 23, 2023

@emrys @lgbtqbookstodon

I love the art!! And welcome back. 😊

Hope you're feeling better. 💙

Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 23, 2023
@AmeliaKayne Thank you, Amelia! Glad to be here. 🙏 😊
Show threadWalter ThinmanJul 23, 2023
@emrys glad to see you back!
Show threadem writing queer myth ⛲️Jul 23, 2023
@Saposcat Thanks, Walter! 🙏