#WritersCoffeeClub Feb 27. Do you edit while you write? What are the pros and cons?

Absolutely. Getting it (more or less) right as I go gives me a firmer foundation for what follows. Which is not, of course, to say I don't edit more when the draft is finished.

Imaginary

Miller’s imaginary murderous migrants
are coming to your town;
they’ll eat your dogs and cats, you know,
yes, they’ll wolf them down!
The only protection left now is
the benevolent Mister Trump,
he’ll send his icy minions forth
to give them illegals a thump!
And if a few neighbors get grabbed (or worse),
it’s just the price we must pay;
imagine those murderous migrants mixing
with us — keep them away!

Stephen Brooke ©2026 #poem #satire

#WritersCoffeeClub 2/26 — Does your current WIP have an antagonist? Why or why not?

Antagonists. There are varied spies with different missions and goals, interacting with each other and the protagonist. I suppose the ministries and organizations and nations behind them could be considered the true antagonists, but they remain unseen entities.

Count

I count the shadows scattered by your lights.
Is that one mine? It wavers, fades, to be
replaced by dancing multitudes, each turned
away, each blind, deaf, each alone, each held
in place by faded twins. They move with me,
now growing, shrinking, through our flickering
reality. I guess wrong and again
must count. I count until there are no more.

Stephen Brooke ©2026
#poetry

#WordWeavers 20 Feb—What tropes are in your current project?

No idea. I just write the stories and let the critics analyze them.

#WordWeavers day 18: Can your MCs carry a tune?

Some of them can. Some of them have bard sidekicks to take care of that sort of thing.

#ScribesAndMakers 2/18 Have you ever or would you ever do you own cover?

Every one of them. I was an artist before I ever turned my hand to professional writing. And, some of my books have my own illustrations in the, e.g. the picture book A Mouse is in the House.