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Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> April 21. Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?I'm writing <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>, and I hope to have a broad appeal. However, because I *don't* include magic, fantasy, and dragons in my writing, I may be mistaken. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> 20 April: What role does religion play in your writing?I'm currently <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> set in the 14th century, when religion was at the centre of *everything*, so it plays quite a significant role. That said, human nature being what it is, people then were still people, and neither angels nor devils.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard AikenOne of the benefits of being a "planner" in <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> is that the task of actually getting words onto paper presents itself in manageable portions. I never have an endless void to fill. So today, I am writing the final chapter of my prequel (W/T "The Blood Cross"), which will link the reader to Chapter 1 of "The Plague Angel." That way, I have a known end point to work toward in the chapters I still have to write. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> Have you ever learned something about yourself from your characters?Not from my characters exactly, but from the act of creating them, from the process of writing, I have learned (for example) that I've been trying out dialogue in my head since childhood. Now I realise what it is, and I get to write it down. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 4/18 What would it take for your MC to become violent?In Chapter 1 of The Plague Angel, my MC stabs a violent drunk who was attacking a girl. But it wasn't an act of heroism. It was the act of a trained soldier carrying out a mission. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard AikenWriting the prequel to The Plague Angel is proving an eye-opening exercise in character development. Setting out the background to the hero's interesting mix of skills learned and places visited has created a personality with harder edges. It has also bled into Chapter 1 of The Plague Angel, which now includes an incident of casual violence which wasn't in the original, and which changes the tone of the opening. Characters eh...? You never quite know what they're going to do<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> 17. Do your real-world tastes show up in your writing?Not much. In <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>, it's best to stick to historical context, so apart from sex, almost everything else is different.My taste shows mainly in the language and <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> style I choose. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> Apr16. If your MC wasn’t involved with the story, what would they do with their life?He would still be a member of the Order of Santiago on secondment to The Entity, but probably investigating embezzlement of Church funds by corrupt clergy.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> 4/14 Would you enjoy living in a creative village/house/shared accommodation?I'd want to test it first to see if it worked / if I could work in that environment. For me, writing is solitary, not a group activity. And I'm not sure how I'd contribute to anyone else's creativity.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> 2025-04-13 Who are the masters of your art or craft to you? Why?The masters of <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> (in the English language) are in my view Hilary Mantel and Robert Harris. Of the two, Mantel was perhaps the more consistent, although Harris' Cicero Trilogy is possibly the masterpiece of the genre.Both have the ability to create and communicate a coherent, detailed vision of people, places, and events from the distant past.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> 12th April 2025. Shameless self-promotion day. Show us what you're proud of. Let's boost away.My <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> debut "The Plague Angel" has spawned not only a prequel, but now a sequel also! So, much to my surprise, I'm now about halfway through writing a medieval trilogy:<a href="https://unexpectedangles.wordpress.com/2025/04/02/and-then-there-were-three-the-plague-angel-becomes-a-trilogy-by-howard-aiken/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://unexpectedangles.wordpress.com/2025/04/02/and-then-there-were-three-the-plague-angel-becomes-a-trilogy-by-howard-aiken/</a><a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/wip" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#wip</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/amquerying" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#amquerying</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/ScribesAndMakers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ScribesAndMakers</a> Do you use spreadsheets to help in your process? If so, how do you use them, and what makes them better than other tools?Yes, I do, and I find them very helpful. I write <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>, and I use spreadsheets to keep track of dates, characters, locations, and storylines. I also use OneNote to collate Web links, media files, and random notes. I'm sure there are lots of other possible tools, but these are the ones I know, and that is what makes them better than other tools.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a>

Karen ConlinInteresting to me that BrE not only uses the spelling "moustache" but also pluralizes it to indicate a long length, such that a man might "idly stroke his silvery grey moustaches."I knew of the spelling but not of the pluralization-as-descriptor.Yeah, I'm back to reading my Victorian-era mysteries.<a href="https://beige.party/tags/AmReading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AmReading</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/HistFic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#HistFic</a> <a href="https://beige.party/tags/GUMmyStuff" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GUMmyStuff</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a> 9 April: What’s the most prevalent form of communication in your world besides talking face-to-face?That would be the written (not printed) word. In 14th century England, the written language was still usually Norman French or Latin, although Middle English was emerging as a literate language. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WritersCoffeeClub" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WritersCoffeeClub</a> April 9. How much room for the fantastical is there in your work?Not much. I'm writing real-world <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a>, so there is no magic, there are no dragons. Of course, my characters can *believe* in magic or dragons, they may hallucinate or go mad, but the fantastical is in their heads, not in reality.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Paul BaldowskiHaven’t backed The Dee Sanction: Monad Edition yet?You're one quill stroke away from infamy!📜🖋️ Don’t delay—pledge today!<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allrolledup/the-dee-sanction-monad-edition-elizabethan-supernatural-rpg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allrolledup/the-dee-sanction-monad-edition-elizabethan-supernatural-rpg</a><a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TTRPG</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Kickstarter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Kickstarter</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/TheDeeSanction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TheDeeSanction</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Historical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Historical</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Histfic</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Elizabethan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Elizabethan</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/JohnDee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#JohnDee</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Supernatural" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Supernatural</a> <a href="https://dice.camp/tags/Investigation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Investigation</a>

Mister GarlandHaven’t backed The Dee Sanction: Monad Edition yet?You're one quill stroke away from infamy!📜🖋️ Don’t delay—pledge today!<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allrolledup/the-dee-sanction-monad-edition-elizabethan-supernatural-rpg" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/allrolledup/the-dee-sanction-monad-edition-elizabethan-supernatural-rpg</a><a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TTRPG" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TTRPG</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Kickstarter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Kickstarter</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/TheDeeSanction" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TheDeeSanction</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Historical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Historical</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Elizabethan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Elizabethan</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/JohnDee" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#JohnDee</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Supernatural" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Supernatural</a> <a href="https://mastodon.social/tags/Investigation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Investigation</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PennedPossibilities</a> 636 — Are your characters superstitious?Even educated, literate people can be superstitious. That was even truer in 14th century England than it is now. The uneducated peasantry lived in a world of superstition and magic.<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/PennedPossibilities" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PennedPossibilities</a> 637 — Does your MC have a past that haunts them?My MC's past, like all our pasts, is made up of both good and bad memories. He is not a victim, and he does not dwell on the sad memories, even though he does not smile as much as he used to. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

Howard Aiken<a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/WordWeavers" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WordWeavers</a>⁩ 07 April: Does your MC have a secret? Can you give us a hint?His only real secret is who he is working for. <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writing</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/histfic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#histfic</a> <a href="https://mastodon.scot/tags/writingcommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#writingcommunity</a>

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