Shorthand Missile

Starred review from LJ. That is some color! #collectiondevelopment bookshop.org/a/4013/97816...

Why would anyone invest in a company that has an annual net loss $80.7 billion? #anthropic #claude

"You are Mitnick's American." "One of them, yeah." Oleg narrowed his eyes, then they crackled with realization. "Ah, you mean the U.S. agent. Yes, we speak with him." I wondered at the #ominous statement and for the first time I felt sorry for Atwell. #WIPSnips #booksky #skywrite #writing

@ravenbranhard.bsky.social Howdy.

They called him the #travel man. He'd show up and promise one of the bored youth a life beyond the small town. Then he'd whisk them away, never to return. Watching him one day, the pastor couldn't help but wonder, if he'd led so many away, why did he keep coming back? #vss365 #microfiction #skywrite

Wow, Lula won in #Brazil? I'm pleasantly shocked by that.

I did some quick and angry math in the dark, narrow alley. In the contained space of the Citroen I could kill Atwell without too much noise and disappear. At this time of night, in this part of town, anyone who might see me wouldn't be the type to call the cops. #WIPSnips #booksky #skywrite #writing

After the days of watching Mitnick's carefully controlled persona, there was a pleasure in seeing it crack with the bounty of confusion and fear that this web of #falsehoods produced. Mr. Smooth actually stuttered in the face of the lie's enormity, which was enough proof for Oleg. #WIPSnips #booksky

He was riddled with #doubt. He knew that he had to accept his fate, but no one would tell him what it was, so that made it kind of tricky. #vss365 #microfiction #skywrite

@muiiz.bsky.social Howdy.

“You’re making me hard” 😂

"The idiots?" His smile resurfaced as if there was never any doubt how that encounter would turn out. "I sent them to see if you could handle yourself. I need to know whoever is working for me does not #rattle easy." He smiled more broadly, as if we were sharing an inside joke. #WIPSnips #booksky

X currently has over 10x the number of users of @bsky.app. It would probably be a good place for an aspiring #writer to be. That won't be me, though. Water is for drinking, X is for fighting and BlueSky is a place where we actually talk about #writing

His #commitment to her was absolute; for better or worse, for rich or for poor. No one doubted this. Except for him, at night, when all of his evil thoughts came out to play and he wondered what she would do if she found the graves in the earthen basement. #vss365 #microfiction #skywrite

Happy spoofy season everyone. In these dark times, be sure to have extra security. #Halloween

I could feel Atwell trying to gauge my temperature. His efforts at being subtle #equalled his attempts at conversation. He abandoned both with, "So I heard it was an interesting evening at the casino." "Yeah." I didn't see a reason to mention the Corsican. #WIPSnips #booksky #skywrite

The #fueling depot was an essential to the offensive. Driving up with the 50 gallon drums he was supposed to take to the front, he'd detonate the bomb at the pumps instead. There was no way he could runaway in time. He'd never make the distant. But he'd be with Angela #vss365 #skywrite #microfiction

Why is it that I would never go back to the '80s, but the #music has grown on me?

Just mistyped "can't make the distance" as "can't make a difference." #Freudian slip there. #skywrite #writing

I need to figure out how to embrace this. With both arms. Maybe wrap my legs around it. Give it a good kiss. Maybe some tongue.

The rain of the last few weeks had given way to a light, constant breeze that carried the smell of the ocean and oleanders. I watched the last of the twilight disappear on the Mediterranean, until the dark covered everything but the sound of the surf and the crescent moon. #WIPSnips #booksky #write

@pbmccoy.bsky.social Didn't see you on this thing.

He was #nervous about the job interview. Not about missing an opportunity, but about actually getting the job. In the best case, he'd get the job and work at it until he died. What kind of world had that as its options? #vss365 #skywrite #microfiction

I thought about those isolated hours when we first arrived in France, sneaking out only to haunt midnight booksellers and stalls, afraid that the freedom Atwell had delivered might be rescinded at any moment. That time was sweet in comparison to the blood soaked moment of now. #WIPSnips #booksky

It's rather telling how quick people are to blame the rioting in France on immigrants when it's mostly the French who are doing the rioting.

Say what you want about the English, but at least their literary agents tend to respond. Even if it's in the negative. #booksky #skywrite

Fuckin' cowards.

The #training was grueling and difficult. By the time they were done, Tommy was certain he was ready to be a bag boy. Sure, it wasn't glorious, but there was a bonus for every shoplifter caught. The real cash, though, came from keeping out the people you knew couldn't afford groceries #vss365 #write

Hello? Yes, your cover is creepy AF. Congratulations. #collectiondevelopment bookshop.org/a/4013/97981...

Brick kept an eye on me, only pausing to take a red-starred cigarette pack out of his jacket. He didn't offer me one but it gave me the chance to see the black matte grip of the pistol is his shoulder holster. I guess he wasn't interested in being friends. #WIPsnips #booksky #skywrite

It's hard to get up in the morning and #write rather than doom scroll. It's hard to create anything in an environment that feels designed to make it all feel pointless.

They were #sneakers and thieves, hoodlums and thugs. The threat of violence was implied, but in case the mark was new to town or just thick, one of them made it clear with a simple, "Trick or treat." #vss365 #skywrite

The tram felt more crowded than usual, causing me to eye other passengers. I told myself it was just tourist #season picking up. I rode in silence, watching the dirty and graffitied streets of Les Moulins slowly transform into the clean sidewalks and brightly colored shops of Old Town. #WIPSnips

No one wanted the job, so we chose by #lottery. Normally, the guards would have, but when it came to the witch's house, they left it to us. They were guards, not executioners. Tommy got the short straw, went in, didn't come out. But that night we found the little cure by the fire. #vss365 #skywrite

Walking into the roulette hall, wearing a dark #suit with a deep purple tie, came Carlu Sartre, a man known to everyone in the hall. Rumor had it he was a silent partner in the casino. The floor buzzed with activity that was fitting for the arrival of the shadow king. #WIPSnips #booksky #skywrite

His life was #unexpected and short. His mother was banished after falling pregnant under the priest's rape, but returned in disguise. Just in time to substitute her babe for the intended sacrifice of the high festival, bringing him under the knife of his father. #vss365

I would walk past the bright casino marquee with its lights reflected in the sleek European automobiles queuing up to go fetch their wealthy patrons. I'd try not to think about where the money came from or how the whole city seemed to run off the engine of it changing hands. #WIPSnips #booksky

Happiness isn't meant for people like us.

In the city of Slakterquay there's an office with the words Spectral Analysis on the window. It handles the strangest cases in the Paris of the Pacific Northwest. In this episode, Aggie McPherson meets Pastor Neumann, the friendliest man in a town that doesn't want her around. #UF #skywrite #audio

Happy #Halloween everyone. Young hotties are in your area! Stay inside. Shelter in place. Remain quiet. If one is spotted in your neighborhood, extinguish all light sources.

In the city of Slakterquay there's an office with the words Spectral Analysis on the window. It handles the strangest cases in the Paris of the Pacific Northwest. In this episode, Aggie McPherson meets Pastor Neumann, the friendliest man in a town that doesn't want her around. #UF #skywrite #audio

I walked over as the driver finished opening the side window. His black hair and thin face were lit by the headlights of passing cars. He looked at me as if inviting me into a limousine instead of an old hatchback. "Get in." With the regret of a tired streetwalker I got in. #WIPSnips #booksky #write

Happy #Halloween everyone. Watch out for those lizard people.

The #bravery he showed was why they made him king. It was not courage in battle, or in the dueling of politics, but that even in the desert, he had the courage to follow the prophet's words and care for those without. By the time the royal guard found him, he had given away all he had #vss365 #write