Thorn Wilde

My landlords/neighbours' flat looks like pictures out of an IKEA catalog, lol! Only way messier, cause they have kids.

Walking around IKEA is like being in a small museum, almost, with all those little living space demonstrations. Or a film set. You could film a sitcom or something in those things. I think that would be hilarious.

So this guy is gay and trans, half Finnish, half Scottish and, as he says himself, all Canadian. I kind of feel like we'd get along, so I'm gonna leave this here. I found it hilarious, though some of it is ... a bit Finnish.

'They're doing a premium short story collection at GA,' I said, 'for Pride. Coming out stories. Thought I might submit something, got a couple of ideas. I'd get paid, even.' 'That's nice,' she said vaguely. 'I think you should try to write some more . . . accessible stories, though. You know, stories you could sell.' Did you not hear that I may in fact get paid? I sighed. 'I can only write the stories that come to me.' She pursed her lips. 'Of course. But you could write something that more people will want to read.' Have you ever even read one of my stories? I wanted to ask, but I didn't. 'The stories I write are important, though. Queer representation is important. Queer voices are important. Queer writers writing queer stories is important.' 'Well, yes . . . I'm just saying . . . If you'd like to get published, then—' 'I can self-publish. Thought I might put out my short stories.' 'Do people make money off that?' 'Some do. It's hard to find bigger publishing houses who'll publish the stuff I write. And this stuff is important, Mum. How many mainstream novels with queer protagonists written by queer writers can you name off the top of your head? Ones that have reached any real amount of critical acclaim?' I knew I was getting worked up. 'Queer representation in the media is really, really important. Did you know that the only queer actor to ever win an Oscar playing a queer role is Ian McKellan?' 'Really?' She fell silent, and I sighed. 'I have to write my stories,' I said softly, 'or there's no point.' She let it drop. 'Oh, we're here. If you don't want Vietnamese we could go for something else.' 'No, Vietnamese is good,' I said. 'I feel like Pho.' EDIT: Fun fact about self-publishing: The Martian, the book that got turned into a big movie with Matt Damon, that The Martian, started out being sold for Kindle for $0.20 or something like that. Guy who wrote it just wanted to give it away for free to his friends and they kept insisting on wanting to pay for it. So, yeah. Self-publishing can work.

Sorry you didn't sleep well. Take it easy.

Yay! The awesomeness is here!

Yeah, I know the feeling. Sitting down and doing it is the hard part.

Good luck with the writing!

I lived near Brum (Birmingham) for a year (it's why it features so heavily in the Nemesis books). This seems accurate. Morning, DiC! Hope you all have an excellent day! Yesterday was a bit emotionally draining for me after a conversation with my mother, so I have given myself leave to be lazy and do fuck-all today, lol!

Time for bed. Night, DiC! Hope you enjoyed your birthdays, molly and Reader!

Oh wow, those would be hard for me to eat... So pretty!

@Reader1810

Well, they're your boys...

@mollyhousemouse And good morning to the rest of you, too! Hope you all have a good day.

Road-tripping with my ex once, we got just a tiny pebble, made a fairly big crack in the windshield. Can only imagine what something bigger would do... Again, very happy you're okay.

Enjoy!

Holy shit! Glad you're okay. Any idea what it was?

Hey everyone. Went to choir today. Didn't want to, but kind of had to as we've got a gig on Saturday, singing at someone's 50th birthday party. Just a few of us, so it's kind of vital everyone's there. The choir makes money like that sometimes. Dress code was gonna be white or blue dresses again, but I asked if I could wear a shirt and slacks instead and they said yes. So, yay! Hope you're all having a good day! I'm gonna do some writing and then probably start getting ready for bed in a couple of hours. Damn timezones.

So many good questions, and so many excellent answers!

That's really cool. Thanks!

Morning, DiC! Hope you all have a good day. Know the feeling. It's a good word.

On my way to bed. Night, DiC!

That's a sweet story, but the title gave me serious pause, lol!

Well, I'll always be a little bit dorky, don't you worry, lol!

*flailing and incoherent whimpering*