Recent content by JessMahler

Historically, arcane languages have either been /old/ (Latin, Sumerian, Biblical Hebrew (for Jews)) and those assumed to be 'purer' or 'truer' or /borrowed/ from a culture with a reputation for magic and/or mysticism (Hebrew (for Christians), Hindu) and assumed on that basis to be inherently...

Matches my understanding. As I understand it, galleys did retain a significant advantage in boarding operations until the advent of Tall Ships, but it was a lucky galley that could survive /to/ boarding range of a carvel with full cannon.

I am Jewish, and reading this, I can't help remembering the reactions of many to the Shoah. "If there is a God, he will need to beg my forgiveness" one said. But others found ways to hold Passover Seders in concentration camps and recited prayers each morning they were able. So the first thing...

Blogger I knew for a while, not any kind of big name. Think she writes under a pseudonym. It's possible she got it frm Faulkner.

Hemingway is on my 'maybe one day' list. I suspect he's too literary for my taste, but I'll take a look if I get the chance. As for writing advice--- 1) Kill your darlings (Kristen Stewart) - I had a tendency to get too attached to certain scenes/lines/characters Learning to let go of things...

The possible choppiness is one thing I worry about sometimes. I haven't noticed any, but then I'm not sure I would, with being too close to the story and all. No complaints yet, though.

Thanks! I've done some solo work, but now that I have a good collab going I'm not sure I could go back to it. To be honest, I'm not sure why collabing has such a bad rep in fiction writing? It's taken as a given in so many arts -- song writing and script writing come immediately to mind. Yes...

LOL! Okay. So, I'm not asking for advice. Just wanted to hear experiences from other folks who'd done collabs. As I said, we work very well together, literally the only problem is we disagreed on 'do we use spread sheets or a fancy app like Asana or Trello'. We started working together in...

I didn't realize it before, but I almost never use food in my stories. Gonna need to correct that, bc food makes for some great scene setting and world building.

Hey all, I do most of m y writing these days with a partner, Raidon. Rai and I sync very well in terms of ideas for stories, how we approach characters, etc. But we have very different processes. We spent a good chunk of last week setting up an online project organizer, trying out different...

I'll second this. I mostly write in order, but if I get a clear idea for a scene early, I write it down immediately. Figuring out how I get to that scene is a big part of the fun, and that ensures I don't forget anything I want to include.

I'm amused by the comments about 'fuck' feeling modern, given it's at least 500 years old. I do prefer to create my own profanity, because of what it can tell the reader about a culture. In one of my stories, stillness/lack of movement is equated with death and evil, so "Stagnation!" (water...

I admit, I'm a bit confused. If you don't like fantasy words, why are you trying to use them? I second (or is it third?) the suggestion of compound words, a wonderful tradition in Germanic languages sadly lost in English. They can give a nice 'not from around here' sound without the need for...

Hey, so, I apparently made an account here ten years ago and then completely forgot about it? I'm fed up with social media and decided to try getting back into forums, which brought me back here. So... Hi, I'm Jess. I write growth-centered queer fiction, usually sff. I like to weave, take...