Planting Life in a Dying City (Kolchais, E1: the Fog)

Kolchais trudged through the market, doing eir best to ignore the thudding pain accompanying each step, each breath. Ey couldn't take day work like Lefeng and Tsouchm, could barely help clear the debris and prepar the ground to build their new home.

But ey could do this. Little as it was...

https://jessmahler.com/planting-life-in-a-dying-city-kolchais-e1-the-fog/

#PlantingLife #QueerFiction #polyamory #webserial

(Planting Life in a Dying City is a low fantasy, multi-generational found family story. Each season will be told from the PoV of a different character. No explicit sex, minimal violence, lots of trauma. Agender, disabled, elder, and autistic characters.)

#am #foundfamily #PlantingLife ntingLife

Working on story blurbs:

Left alone after a tsunami destroys eir village, it would have been easy for Lefeng to walk into the mountains and not look back. But a child lost on the trails redirected eir course and another survivor plants the seed of an idea – a new family. Lefeng’s commitment to those ey comes to love will take eir to the hated city and a new way of life. But in a slowly dying city, Lefeng’s determination can only carry them so far.

#amwriting #foundfamily #PlantingLife

Ironically, the long piece which has the most content right now is #PlantingLife which I just decided a few weeks ago I needed to take a break from working on.

*shrug*

I've got got a full season available, at least. And time to work on more/work on the next thing.

#amwriting

"Lefeng thought a minute, then said, "Let us see how the day goes." "

Got 1200 words. Here's today's last line.

#LastLine #amwriting #PlantingLife

"So ey was not surprised to see nothing but a simple palisade and a gate across the road."

1000 words today (plus a bit). Here's the last line I added.

#amwriting #PlantingLife

I (in theory) should have a full hour and a half for writing today. Normally my goal for today would be ~1500 words, but I'm in an annoying writing stage where there is very little steady writing going on.

I guess I'm hoping for 700 words. Fingers crossed....

#amwriting #PlantingLife

Someone (another autistic author, I think), said something recently (I think on birdsite) about how *accurate* autistic perspective in books never gains success or acclaim the way neurotypical ideas of autistic characters do. See, allistic people aren't comfortable with a real autistic PoV. It is strange and disturbing to them. So they reject it.

And I've been thinking about that a lot, because one of my PoV characters in #PlantingLife is autistic.

#actuallyautistic #amwriting

Publishing Schedule For 2021

With Polyamory and Kink almost ready for it's July 31 release, I figure it's time to look ahead. Such as setting a (tentative) publishing schedule for 2021.
Planting Life in a Dying City
This is the iffy part of the schedule. I'm confident of my ability to stay on track with the Polyam on Purpose books (barring major life craziness). But the fictio

https://jessmahler.com/publishing-schedule-for-2021/

#JessMahlerBooks #JessMahlerBookshelf #PlantingLife

Finished edits on #PolyamAndKink

Going by prior experience, I should be able to put one day a week into formatting/book design and still have it finished a month+ before the publication date.

Go going forward putting most of my focus on getting caught up on #PlantingLife fantasy novel.

#amwriting

"Understand this, Grandparents and Elders. The High Priest was correct -- we do not need your approval. We have many options open to us if you reject our petition.
"But you, you who have breathed the stench of rot so long you no longer notice it creeping in your homes? It is you who need us."

Chotaikytsai is done with this shit.

#amwriting #PlantingLife

New #fiction post up for Patreons: "The Home" from #PlantingLife

https://www.patreon.com/posts/chotaikytsai-36543008

#amwriting

Got some DSharp playing and going to try to get some writing done. I think (fingers crossed!) that I'll be able to #PlantingLife done on schedule, which means my goal of publishing two books a year going forward will probably work long term.

Because if I can get it done THIS year....

Well, I'm not going to tempt Murphy, but it's, well, this year, you know?

#amwriting

#FediWorlds day 9

There are two or three ways to become family-less: to not be accepted into any marriage group, to be born to a family-less Cenn, or to be the last of a family that dies out.

That last is a grey area, technically family-last and not family-less, but they are often treated as such, especially in cities where a single person simply can't fulfill the many political and economic expectations placed on a family.

#WIPWorldBuilders 2/? #PlantingLife

Playing catch up -- #FediWorlds day 9

"How are outcasts treated in your world? How's one become one?"

Most outcasts are family-less, people who don't belong to a family.

This is mostly a problem in the cities, as in rural areas a group of family-less can come together to create a new family any time they choose to. So in rural areas the only family-less are generally people no one wants to be with.

#WIPWorldBuilders 1/? #PlantingLife

#FediWorlds Day 5

And if a group of people wanted to create a new family, they just did it.

As cities developed, a families specialized more to the point that each family eventually was defined by the trade it practiced. And the nature of the restricted space in cities and the developing city governments meant families needed to city approval to become residents of the city. In time this evolved to needing city approval to form a new family.

#WorldBuilding #plantinglife

#FediWorlds Day 5

"How have family relationships
changed over time?"

The two big changes have been the family is tied to trade and the difficulty in creating new families. These changes are connected to each other and to the rise of large towns and cities.

Among nomadic families and in small villages, a family might be known for a certain speciality or focus -- this family has a special way of dying clothing, that family prefers deep sea fishing, etc.

#WorldBuilding #plantinglife

#FediWorlds Day 4

"Do people form groups with people that are their same age or not?"

Sort of yes. The main social group for everyone except priests is the marriage group. A marriage group needs to be from the same generation, and ideally across a smaller age range. 10 years is considered ideal. So not the exact same age, but within the same age range.

#WorldBuilding #plantinglife

D2 & D3 #WIPWorldBuilders
What methods are used for scientific discoveries (ex: empirical method)? How is it viewed

Science as-such doesn't exist yet. Philosopher-types usually become priests and experimental folks fiddle within their families. Fiddling is usually encouraged, though this varies by family.

Philosopher-priests are given a great deal of respect within the priesthood, by rarely hold high rank. They tend to be left to do their own thing.

#WorldBuilding #plantinglife

Smaller marriage groups are usually more cohesive with everyone cheerleading everyone else.

#FediWorlds #WorldBuilding #plantinglife