Welcome to the community!

#21

Hello folks. Please to meet you. My name is David Barry, and I read most anything that will further my growth as a human and a writer.

Lately, I have been reading about systemic racism and my white privilege. I highly recommend “Stamped From The Beginning” by Ibram X. Kendi. I read (and write) mostly genre fiction: SF/F/H, magical realism, slipstream, urban fantasy. Here are some of my favorite authors: Pullman, Gaiman, DeLint, King, Tolkien, Bradbury. I plan on expanding that list to include a broader diversity of authors such as Octavia Butler, Margaret Atwood and Toni Adeyemi.

If I were to run a food truck I would sell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and glasses of cold milk.

The best hour for writing is 7am because my mind is still close to dream state, and my dog is relaxed from her morning walk, and my SO is still asleep, and the coffee is ready.

I hope to give as much as I receive from this community.

Be well. Be safe.

5 Likes
#22

I’m due to read / finish that book for a work book club — looking forward to it.

2 Likes
#23

It’s mind blowing, horrifying, and inspiring.

1 Like
#24

  • My favorite stories to read when I was younger up until a few years ago has been horror and thrillers. “Goosebumps” when I was younger, and then moving on to Stephen King everything. These days, while I’m waiting for the next Stephen King story, I enjoy Neil Gaiman-esque fantasy as well as speculative fiction and dystopian. I enjoy reading comics when I find a great author/illustrator pairing. For comics, I enjoy Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Brian Michael Bendis, and Warren Ellis.

  • If I had a food truck it would sell either Mexican food, Mediterranean food, or a little bit of both.

  • My ideal writing time falls in those hours when it’s only me awake in the house, so either super early or super late, but because of my current job I have to leave for work early in the morning, so I will do my writing as soon as I get home while my girlfriend finishing her grad school responsibilities. Other than that, and if I can find time, I’ll do writing or editing later in the evening.

4 Likes
#25

Not sure how I missed this, but I haven’t introduced myself yet. Hi, I’m Kelly Gunter Atlas and I’m one of the moderators here.

I grew up reading Gothic romance, Grimm’s fairy tales, and classic horror stories, which tends to skew my own writing in those directions. Whether I’m writing horror, mystery, romance, or magical realism for adults or mystery, suspense, or humor for the middle grade and YA market, my work usually contains elements of folklore, magic, and the supernatural. Nowadays, I read in a variety of genres, from romance to mystery, horror to humor, fantasy to classic literature. It depends on what mood I’m in or what mood I want to be in.

If I owned a food truck, it would specialize in Gyros, Souvlaki, Greek Potatoes, Spanakopita, etc.

The best hours for writing is between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., because I’m cognizantly useless until at least 4 or 5 hours after waking. I’m not a morning person. Never have been, never will be.

7 Likes
#26

  • There is so much that I enjoy reading and so much I have read over the years that it is difficult to try to summarize it in a short introduction. It would be inaccurate to say I read anything because I know I have strong preferences and dislikes. The amount of SFF I’ve read would overwhelm all other categories and yet that feels so broad. I believe I have utterly failed to convey my likes on the subject of reading. I’m complicated like that and it will just take time to really get to know me.

  • Another prompt with a complicated answer! First complication, owning a food truck is not something I would relish. Second, what it would sell would not necessarily say much about me; unless, explaining that I would do market research and research on how to keep the running of a food truck as simple as possible conveys something about me. If it came down to just what I like to eat myself, well then the answer is simple: tacos!

  • For me, the best hour of writing is at least 3 or 4 hours after I have woken up, because that is when I feel most energetic and alert. This has nothing to do with waking to alarms or how much sleep I have had. I just come to life slowly upon awakening. Rising early to get more done has never worked for me but I have always been able to stay up later.

7 Likes
#27

I read a lot of urban and contemporary fantasy (like Patricia Briggs, Jim Butcher, Ben Aaronovitch) but I try not to limit myself. I’ve been known to read historical fiction as well as nonfiction, some action books and thrillers. I’ve read horror, romance and nonfiction science books but not for a while. I guess it depends on my mood.

If I had a food truck it would be a dessert truck. I’d sell cupcakes, brownies, cheese cakes and all sorts of cookies. I love baking.

I actually get a lot of writing done if I start in the morning before I do anything else which is odd because I wouldn’t call myself a morning person. I think it’s just better for me to get writing work done before all the other things that happen in a normal day intrude on my thoughts.

7 Likes
#28

Hi there – my name is Tannis Laidlaw and I write psychological thrillers and, recently, 4 books in a traditional English village mystery series (and working on the fifth). I read a lot. Right now, I am almost finished one of Peter May’s books (he’s great – read loads of his!) called ‘Extraordinary People’, finished but re-reading an explosive non-fiction book about an ancient manuscript found in the British Library by Simcha Jacobovici and Barrie Wilson called ‘The Lost Gospel’, half way through a Jonathan Kellerman (also read tons of his) mystery called ‘Time Bomb’ and just starting ‘A Double Life’ by Charlotte Philby. Yes, all at once. The May book is audio; The Lost Gospel is a hardback from the library; the Kellerman is a paperback from the 2nd hand store and ‘A Double Life’ is on my Kindle.

A food truck? I do cook but out of duty. My daughter actually owns one and serves high-end coffee and delicious scones and other delicacies so she doesn’t get her cooking abilities from me! I think I could do the fancy coffee thing. Maybe some keto snacks? Dunno. I’d rather be writing.

Like so many others, I’m a morning person. My routine is to get up and walk for about 4-5,000 paces, have a big low-carb, hi-fat breakfast, then settle down to write and market my books. Although I take a few breaks, I don’t eat again until after five. That routine means my productive mornings extend into the afternoons. If I break for lunch, I’m done.

6 Likes
#29

Hello everyone. Thanks for creating this group, Daniel. Looks great!

I like to read either fictional tales of adventure or contemporary reads as well as memiors. But I’ll read anything really.

Hot dogs plus Mac and cheese!

I find I write best either early in the morning or late in the day or evening. Less distractions etc.

4 Likes
#30

I like to read just about anything! Most recently I have read: I’m Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, Disoriental by Negar Djavadi, The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott, Crescent City by Sarah J Maas, Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson, Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, and Pride & Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame Smith

If I had a food truck I would want to grill everything. Of course meat but also zucchini and corn on the cob and pineapple rounds and…

It has taken me far too long to learn that I need to go to bed with a journal on my nightstand so that I can record notes and ideas and snippets of stories and conversation as I drift to sleep. I sit down to write, however, in the morning, after my dog has been walked and I have my coffee. It’s when I am the least distracted.

4 Likes
#31

I live near Richmond, VA. I am currently writing a women’s fiction story centering around love and medicine.

I recently just finished, The Sound of Glass, by Karen White. It was well layered and the plot kept rolling. I look forward to reading more from her.

I love to cook. Bake. Eat. I love to make desert trifles with homemade ingredients like pound cake and custard. Those are only made once or twice a year for weight management. :slightly_smiling_face:

Growing up on Long Island, NY, I used to cut class my senior year and take the train into Manhattan. I first began my love of writing while scribbling in a notebook while sitting on the side, white steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

7 Likes
#33

Saragflee, I love Karen White’s books, especially her Tradd Street series.

2 Likes
#34

I always talk out plot dilemmas when I’m in the car by myself! Glad to have you here in the community.

4 Likes
#35

Thank you. Good to be here. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#36

My name is Wendy.
I like to read almost anything and prefer things that teach or have a moral lesson… Writing that doesn’t have connection from the reader to the characters, an impact or feeling of being called to action, I consider pretty dry (but I read those too!) :slight_smile:
If I owned a food truck, I would sell a mix of food catered to people who have health conditions. I have spent a lot of time curating recipes for diabetes, heart conditions and detoxification through natural eating and the like. I would like to showcase some personal favorite recipes as menu items.
I find that the best time(s) to write for me are a bit in the morning, usually just to jot down the ideas from sleeping or “before I forget” thoughts… Then I like to write with more focus in the evening, before bed, after I’ve turned off the electronics and as I am winding down, this is the most creative time for me.

5 Likes
#37
  • I love read so many things: fiction like The Ava Lee Series and books by Elizabeth Moon, nonfiction like science news…
  • I’d sell fresh tapas. Why not?
  • The best hour for writing is midday, because that’s usually when I have my best energy.
5 Likes
#38

Hi all! My name is Chelsea.

  1. I gravitate toward psychological suspense and mystery. That said, I love all sorts of books. Gothic, country noir, science fiction, thrillers, literary fiction, romance, historical fiction, quick commercial reads–I’m open to different things at different times, depending on my mood.

  2. If I ran a food truck, it would serve vegan ice cream. All sorts of delicious, rich flavors for the non-dairy folks! And with different base options (soy, almond, cashew, coconut, and oat milks would all have a chance to shine).

  3. The best time for me to write is when I can find a bit of uninterrupted time. I try to seize the moment when the opportunity arises.

7 Likes
#39

Hi everyone! I’m LizW. I live in the Palouse of eastern Washington State.

  1. I’ve been reading mysteries, fantasy and the occasional non-fiction book in the last several months. Faves include Ben Aaronovitch’s Midnight Riot series, the Flavia DeLuce mysteries by Alan Bradley. I just started Jane Healey’s The Animals of Lockwood Manor (a WWII Britain gothic mystery). Non-fiction: The Biggest Bluff by Maria Konnikova and Ibram X. Kendi’s How to Be an Anti-Racist.
  2. Food Truck… hmm. I like Chelsea’s idea of a vegan ice cream specialist. I recently became dairy intolerant and have been exploring non-dairy options.
  3. Best time to write is when I’m not distracted by something else :kissing_heart: This tends to be late morning or early afternoon.
5 Likes
#40

Hi all! I’m Alasdair. I currently live in Wiltshire, UK, but I’ve lived in Japan these last 7 years as an English Instructor.

  1. Big fan of all kinds of genres! I’ve tended towards speculative/fantasy when it comes to writing, so I’m trying to read up more on that to get more familiar with the genre. I love literary writing as well, not necessarily high flung passages but things such as Scott Fitzgerald describing party atmosphere, or Hilary Mantel making a really astute or cutting observation about someone. When it feels like you’re shown the world through a specially tuned or heightened sense of vision, ahh, love it.

  2. Probably sushi, or takoyaki with various fillings (not a big fan of octopus)

  3. I think I write better when it’s late, but I’m trying to be more responsible with my sleeping hours at the moment, so I’m working on mornings!

7 Likes
#41

The Animals of Lockwood Manor is on my “to read” list - it sounds fantastic!

2 Likes