M. G. Roach

M. G. Roach

@mgroach.bsky.social

horror/weird fiction writer, occasional hobby artist and zinester! big weeb and HP Lovecraft enjoyer. mostly yap about wip progress into the void. https://mgroach.carrd.co/

107 followers234 following175 posts

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I had to draw a headshot to apply to a local zinefest so here it is. I'm not making this my pfp bc I don't feel like getting stared at judgmentally by my cartoon self every time I thirstpost about the Middle Ages at 2pm

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

need a name for the obscure French occultist who wrote a commentary on the Necronomicon in my wip. "ooh how about Montmorency, for the Gilles de Rais connection" I thought three weeks later the metaphorical DVD logo bounces into the corner of my brain and I remember the Comte d'Erlette's full name

M. G. Roach reposted

Valerie Valdes
@valerievaldes.bsky.social

How to make an author website, the fairly quick and only slightly dirty version!

valerievaldes.comHow to make an author websitePhoto by Iain on Unsplash Let us pretend I do not need to convince you of all the important reasons to have a website. You are ready to do it, but are not quite sure how. Here is the fastest and easiest way to do the thing in a moderately professional manner, in my personal experience. First, you need a domain.
M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I'm trying to get better at talking about my wips, particularly in this very-low-stakes setting, but man I get way too in my head about it lmao "dw me, go on, no one is reading this" "...no one is reading this [tumbleweed blows by]"

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

smth I think about a lot, and that's weirdly encouraging to me, is how not only is there "nothing new under the sun" in the world of storytelling, but also how people have extremely short memories/small knowledge pools even within circles where you'd think they wouldn't lmao

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M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

And we've all met the guy who's planning a new original fantasy novel that's deconstructing and reinventing the fantasy genre but then he describes it to you and you realize he's only read like. LOTR and maybe Mistborn. And played Elder Scrolls and Baldur's Gate

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

smth I think about a lot, and that's weirdly encouraging to me, is how not only is there "nothing new under the sun" in the world of storytelling, but also how people have extremely short memories/small knowledge pools even within circles where you'd think they wouldn't lmao

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

for instance, after the Backrooms movie came out, just by watching people spitball fanfic/lore ideas, I realized there are a whole lot of liminal space enjoyers online who don't even know House of Leaves, let alone Piranesi

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I'm feeling a little stuck right now w my cosmic horror wip, so I returned to the well & thought about one of my biggest inspirations, the denpa VN Subarashiki Hibi. Maybe what I need to add next is an unexpected semi-metaphorical and morally dubious sex scene

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I love & admire its scattershot, balls-to-the-wall, shamelessly niche, "let's add whatever I was thinking about in the shower today" approach to story so much. Denpa in general has such a borderline antisocial "this is only for people neck-deep in the subculture" bravery I hope to have someday

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

Drawing the four main characters of my current novel wip ("The Oldest Friend", Lovecraftian horror) bc everyone loves a visual aid, especially me

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

Upside of 9-5 desk job: you can spend a good couple of hours per day listening to audiobooks, research videos, and inspo playlists so you can think abt your wips while you work Downside of 9-5 desk job: you get home and have like an hour to act on SOME of that in between chores, food, and bed

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

what do powerscalers think about Jeanne d'Arc's anti-horny AoE this is a secondhand book btw. I swear I'm not the one highlighting descriptions of her breasts

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I'm much more of a discovery writer/plantser than I want to be...sometimes it's really fun and exciting to happen upon the perfect take on a scene/concept in the middle of writing it, and sometimes I sit there going "AAAA I'M CERTAIN I'M WRITING THE WORST POSSIBLE VERSION OF THIS PLOTLINE AAAAA"

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I wish Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan was as well-known a Victorian horror classic as like, Dracula and Frankenstein. Or even Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Helen deserves to be a Halloween icon too dammit 😫

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

so-called free thinkers when the Incidents Around the House movie just came out (it's been on my TBR list for like 6 months and so I was like "well there's my sign to pick this one up"

M. G. Roach reposted

John Wiswell
@wiswell.bsky.social

In light of some magazines pulling scummy things on creators lately, I’m doing a little thread on short story rights. I don't want anybody getting taken advantage of. Also, if you're new, this stuff can be confusing!

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

caught a stream of the new Hellraiser game last night and I did feel like it healed my soul a little bit. BDSM cults and sexy gore in a mainstream horror game...maybe nature IS healing

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

A1: Everything I write is so character-focused that the more I think about it the more I genuinely can't decide which comes first lol. I guess before anything I come up with a highly specific mental problem and then build both the character and the plot around that

Weeknight Writers@weeknightwriters.bsky.social

Q1: Do you typically create characters to match the story you want to tell or build your stories based on character(s) already living in your head? #WeeknightWriters

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

apparently I'm using bluesky again the same shit as usual is occurring over here: I'm writing!! I might even have to talk about it at some point!

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

God I'm so bad at having social media. What do I even say last night I had a dream I was being menaced by a bee that kept breaking into my house and in the morning I realized I had fallen asleep w my vibrator in bed w me

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

Wonder what the terms for male and female cockroaches are. I always think of my males as bull cockroaches, but calling a female cockroach a cow feels off. Sow maybe

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

nearly crashed my car in the boonies of West Virginia thinking about the divinely hermaphroditic nature of Leto II with his vaginal-phallic form and ancestral memories of both sexes

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I'm reworking how I think about drawing...for months I didn't draw at all bc I had this cloud of "I know I’m not good at it and I take forever to finish anything" hanging over me that made it hard to pick up a pencil at all. But lately I've been focusing on the process rather than the product

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

like by being laser-focused in on the act of making lines on a page, refining those lines to be as deliberate and details as I can, and drawing something over and over if I need to, I draw even slower, but at the same time I find it meditative...whether the end product is better or not, idek

M. G. Roach
@mgroach.bsky.social

I have the freedom to do that as someone who only draws for fun, I don't have to worry about whether my process is efficient or whether my drawings are skilled. I try to remind myself of that lol