Welcome to the community!

#1

This is a community site for fiction writers. It’s designed for readers of Daniel David Wallace’s newsletter and students of his live classes / courses.

Introduce yourself here:

  • What do you like to read?
  • If you owned a food truck, what kind of food would it sell?
  • The best hour for writing is ___, because __.

PS Once you have introduced yourself, you are welcome to just look around and explore. But I’ve created an optional tour to help you get to know the community. This tour will explain how you get badges, how to get promoted in this tiny society of writers, and some of the values that we think are important here.

Ready?

First part of the tour: How YOU can help improve this community and get help with your writing at the same time.

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#2
  • My favorite author is the British mystery writer Ruth Rendell who wrote 60+ novels and countless short stories before passing away in 2015. During lock-down I completed my collection of all of her books. I read mystery, mainstream fiction, Stephen King, Roddy Doyle, Elmore Leonard, and I also read a lot of non-fiction, which I feel is crucial to my fiction (both in research and in the type of realistic voice I want for my stories).
  • I would either sell Mexican food because I love it, or cupcakes, because wouldn’t it be great to sell cupcakes all over town?
    *The best hour for writing is whenever you are most alert, because it’s bad trying to fight against your body and still be creative. So for me, I write in the evenings.
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#3

Interesting. I am most alert in the mornings — immediately after waking.

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#4

  1. Books with a character or characters I can root for; books with a heart and a satisfying ending - especially if it’s one in a series. ‘How to’ books on a range of subjects. Books of poetry. Reference books: everything from dictionaries to books containing place names. Books that are open or bookmarked right now: Killing Floor - Lee Child; The Wild Swans - Hans Christian Andersen; The Man in the Queue - Josephine Tey.

  2. If I owned a food truck, it would be stuck outside the house because I don’t drive. So that means I could cook a whole range of (what I believe to be) delicious meals in my own kitchen. First up would be chicken and avocado salad with Scandinavian beetroot and half a baked potato piping hot and smothered in butter.

  3. The best hour for writing is an hour when I’m alone because only then can I talk an editing/revision/writing/character/plot idea or problem out loud with no inhibitions.

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#5

Interesting prompts.

  • I read whatever piques my curiosity, however, I tend to steer clear of horror, mystery, and romance. Fantasy and Sci-Fi hold a special place in my heart, but I won’t discount a good historical fiction, biography, technical manual, or scientific review.

  • I need a fleet of food trucks to hit all my favorites. The Bacon Mobile, with bacon-wrapped everything. The Ooo La La Crêperie, serving both sweet and savory crepes. On the Road Tamales, would serve a never-ending selection of tamal wrapped in corn husks or banana leaves served with an impressive array of sauces and toppings based on country/region of origin. The Sweet Greek would stock all my favorite Greek desserts and Greek coffee. Fire in the Hole would offer traditional spicy Chinese fare. S Car Go, features duh, Escargot along with muscles, clams, crabs, and yummy bread for dipping. The Spiced Roadie would be all things curry. I could go on… but you get the idea.

  • Best hours for writing - after my daily caffeine infusion treatment and whenever I have a stray 5 minutes because otherwise, I would never get anything done.

Thanks for the invite. I look forward to meeting everyone.

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#6

Hi, I’m Johne with the silent vanity ‘e.’

  • I read F/SF and some mysteries. My favorite books are a mashup of those things, like The Automatic Detective by A. Lee Martinez, Steven Brust’s Vlad Taltos books, and The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells.

  • Deli sandwiches with the best fresh ingredients

  • Between 8 pm and Midnight. My wife works very early and goes to bed around then, and I have the house to myself. It’s quiet, it’s dark, and I can really fall into what I’m working on (which is currently a Fantasy / Noir about a golem detective).

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#7

  1. Lately I’ve been reading books on writing. I love Story Grid by Shawn Coyne, Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk, and Story by Robert McKee. In the fiction arena last I read was Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, and I plan to soon start reading One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

  2. I would sell Mexican food because it’s delicious, and I’m from Mexico. It’s what I cook at home.

  3. I write at all hours of the day, usually after the gym and in-between house chores (i.e. laundry, cooking).

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#8

Hi all, I’m Gwenette. I write short stories, flash fiction, and novels. I have about 2/3 of my first novel completed, and I’m always trying to get motivated to finish it.

I mostly read mystery novels, preferably cozy mysteries. LOVED the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley.

If I owned a food truck, it would be called GG’s Sweetery and would serve only desserts. I love chocolate, and I love to bake. One of my characters has a bakery called The Sweetery. :slight_smile:

The best hour for writing is when I’m driving. I get my best ideas then. Maybe my head is clear then; I don’t know. I have actually written things down while driving, which is so ridiculously dangerous. I haven’t done that in years though.

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#9
  • I primarily like to read non-fiction, but during various phases of my life I’ve enjoyed some fiction as well. As a kid, I loved mysteries, and I still enjoy one on occasion. Most fiction I read these days is historical fiction.
  • If I owned a food truck, I’d sell tacos!
  • My best hour for writing is first thing in the morning, because that’s when I am most alert. Unfortunately, that’s also when I go to work, so I usually write just before bedtime. Of course that makes it hard to sleep, because my mind keeps writing long after my fingers stop hitting the keyboard.
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#10

Welcome! And I know the feeling of needing to work when you most feel like writing.

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#11
  • I like to read - everything. When I find an author I like, I will read all of their titles one after another. I think it’s some kind of weird reader OCD.
  • If I owned a food truck, I would like to sell candy that was popular in different decades. I would also stock candy from around the world.
  • The best hour for writing is when my cats are asleep in another room and haven’t realized that I’m not paying attention to them.
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#12

People who don’t have cats think you are exaggerating.

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#13

Ruth Rendell is one of my favorites as well. I am so sad I have no more Inspector Wexford books to read!

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#14

She’s just fantastic.

#15

I like to read mysteries, and have been reading a lot of Jane Casey during the lockdown. But for some reason I went back and started rereading all my James Herriot books. Then I borrowed the ones I didn’t have from the library. I love his stories.

My food truck would be a taco truck (yum).

My best time for writing is when I manage to “get into” the energy of the thing I’m trying to write.

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#16

My cat developed the habit of lying on her back next to my chair (feet up in the air and looking sweet). I couldn’t help but stop writing and play with her. :grinning:

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#17

Let’ see.

  1. I love reading high fantasy, both secular and inspirational, as well as some supernatural and the occasional thriller/suspense novel, and I’m a sucker for well-written middle grade or young adult fiction. The Oath by Frank Peretti, Patrick Carr’s The Staff and the Sword trilogy, Brandon Sanderson’s Elantris, and Jude Watson’s three middle grade Star Wars series are just a few of my favorites.

  2. I’m not much for driving–in fact, I avoid it when I can because I find it boring. But if I had a food truck and someone else to drive it for me, it would be a pizza truck, all the way.

  3. My best writing hours are early morning (4AM-8AM) because I’m fresh, the house is quiet, and I can concentrate better.

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#18

Good day to you, everyone!

  1. I started with the Greek Mythology when I was three.
    In my adolesence, I proceeded with all kinds of fairy tales.
    Now I am reading mainly romance and non-fiction on all kinds of subjects.

  2. Best muffins in the forest along with an exceptional cup of tea: slices of orange, Hibiscus blossom, brier fruit, pieces of apple, slices of almond, cinnamon, vanilla.

  3. The best hour of writing is when you are so excited about something that words flow effortlessly…

I love learning new names!

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#19

Hello, I am Lisa.

  • I read:
  1. Nonfiction
  2. fiction
  3. very select poetry
  • If I had a food truck, I would sell food based in the Star Trek universe. Why? Because I could and I’m not afraid to.
  • My best hour for writing is centered around 2 PM because my caregivers are almost always done with me by then and I can fall into that computer – a.k.a. the world where I DO stuff.
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#20

I watch the Ruth Rendell Mysteries on Amazon Prime and YouTube. So far I haven’t recognized any of the stories I read from the library in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Do you have everything she’s written, or just the Inspector Wexford series?

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