✍🏼Winter Simpson

Mine, not my character's: Seasonal altar decorations, all the candles (esp. spicy scented ones), coffee and journaling on dark mornings, listening to stormy weather while I'm cosy inside, Samhain, then the beginning of winter (want me to bore you about traditional Irish seasons?) 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

My plan for the week is to get back to editing Darwin's Cliff after taking a week out to record some short fiction. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (goals day)

I don't have terror in Darwin's Cliff, but I do have terrible. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (line share day) #QueerWriters #WriteSky

I have a few potential WIPs floating around for after Darwin's Cliff is done, so I'll probably drift between them as the muse takes me and then see where my focus naturally lands. 🏷️ #PretendPanel

I planned to record a short fiction series for my Patreon this week and I did it! I'm having so much fun with Audacity and my new microphone. Definitely still a beginner, but I love learning new skills and digging into unfamiliar software and gear. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (check in day)

🌃 MILES FROM MORNING / THEN / 07 📢 New chapter on my Patreon now! 🔗 www.patreon.com/winterandwor... 💝 You can read this post, and everything else on my Patreon, by joining as a free or paid member. 🏷️ #Cyberpunk #SciFi #QueerWriters #LGBTQWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #Patreon

Tobie's entire primary school years feel like a big pile of awkwardness and embarrassment to her. She never actually *did* anything embarrassing, but she never felt like she belonged and was always just on the outside of things. 🏷️ #QueerWriters

Obsession, momentum, joy, creative flow. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. Distract me at your peril! 🏷️ #PretendPanel

This is always my favourite #LGBTQWriteAThon prompt 😄 My WIP is Darwin's Cliff, otherwise Tingled as... Pounded in the Butt by Nostalgia, Grief and Decades of Inappropriate Yearning

Darwin's Cliff is a very Person vs Self situation. That's not a very exciting answer for a Halloween-themed #LGBTQWriteAThon, but it's what I've got 😄

Darwin's Cliff could easily work as a supernatural story by turning the metaphorical hauntings into literal hauntings and making a few small changes. Its vibes already lean slightly into modern gothic, so it could also be pushed further in that direction as an alternative genre. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

My plan for this week is to dive into recording some short fiction readings for my Patreon. I'm aiming to have a series ready to post on Thursdays (chapters of Miles From Morning post on Saturdays) in November and December. Let's gooooo!! 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (goals day)

I don't have creepy in Darwin's Cliff, but I do have a metaphorical ghost, if that counts? 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (line share day: creepy) #QueerWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

Goal achieved: I took the microphone out of the box! I even opened Audacity and recorded something. I still have a lot to learn, but I found some resources that don't seem too confusing and I have plans to do a series of short fiction readings for my Patreon by the end of 2026. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Darwin's Cliff is filled with texture, atmosphere, sensory descriptions and *vibes* so my hope is that readers remember it as though they watched a film. 🏷️ #PretendPanel #QueerWriters #WriteSky

🌃 MILES FROM MORNING / NOW / 06 📢 New chapter on my Patreon now! 🔗 www.patreon.com/winterandwor... 💝 You can read this post, and everything else on my Patreon, by joining as a free or paid member. 🏷️ #Cyberpunk #SciFi #QueerWriters #LGBTQWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #Patreon

Tobie would protect her girlfriend Eden with her life, not only because she completely adores her, but also because she knows how much it hurts to lose people she loves. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Tobie: Never have I ever suspected my best friend's father of murder... 🕵🏼‍♀️ 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Tobie is perpetually worried about looking sheltered and childish in front of people who she sees as having more life experience. She's pretty sure everything she says is going to be wrong somehow and everyone's going to laugh at her. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Eww fuck off with your corporate AI bullshit replies on my posts as a creepy marketing strategy. And don't follow me in the hope of being able to DM more gross sales spam at me. It's disingenuous and horrible and gets you blocked immediately. This isn't what writing communities are for. Go away.

🚨 Ellipsus' new mobile app has landed! I got to test the beta version, which I was really excited about, and now the full version is out on Android, iOS coming soon. 🏷️ #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #QueerWriters #AntiAI

THIS THIS THIS

I love this advice!! It's one of those things I definitely do without ever having put it into words before.

In terms of process, do what works for you, even if it's different from how other people do things. Even if it's different from one project to the next. If editing as you go helps to shape your story, do it! Also, write for the audience you want, not the one you're scared of 💜 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Remember the microphone I bought a couple of weeks ago to use for my audio readings on Patreon? My goal this week is to take it out of the box instead of just staring at it like it's a potentially venomous creature that lives in the corner of my office. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon #QueerWriters #WriteSky

Catching up from yesterday! Also, this is the first time I've used the snippet feature in @ellipsus.com on mobile and it was lovely and simple 😊 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon #QueerWriters #WriteSky

I wrap my bravado in ribbons of tendons and bruise-kissed skin, and even that is not enough of an offering. 🏷️ #WriteSky #QueerWriters #WritingCommunity

I've had a productive writing week, mostly adding texture and detail to Darwin's Cliff. The chapter I was working on yesterday involved a storm as dramatic punctuation, which had me squeaking with joy because it's so totally on brand for me. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon (check in day) #QueerWriters

There are definitely little bits of lots of people in my characters, but it's more something I notice after the fact. In terms of writers who inspire me, there are probably threads of Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Palahniuk, Douglas Coupland, Anne Rice and Poppy Z Brite in how I write. 🏷️ #PretendPanel

🌃 MILES FROM MORNING / NOW / 05 📢 New chapter on my Patreon now! 🔗 www.patreon.com/winterandwor... 💝 You can read this post, and everything else on my Patreon, by joining as a free or paid member. 🏷️ #Cyberpunk #SciFi #QueerWriters #LGBTQWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #Patreon

Tobie's parents died in a tragic accident when she was very young. It's not a secret as such, but she's aware that kids at school see her as different and are low-key uncomfortable around her because of what happened to her parents, so she tries not to talk about it. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

I know this is such a cliché of an answer, but it's true. I genuinely don't remember a time when I wasn't making up stories. I started writing them down and illustrating them as soon as I was able to. I'm better at the writing part now, not so much at the drawing 😆 🏷️ #PretendPanel

The first part of Darwin's Cliff is set in the nineties so I got to relive the aesthetics of my teens. Tobie loves her secondhand jeans and t-shirts (from the seventies, which was FOREVER ago 😆) with plaid shirts and chunky boots. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Tobie from Darwin's Cliff wears a metaphorical mask, for part of the story anyway. She doesn't come out as gay to anyone but her gran until she leaves her hometown to go to university, even though she's pretty sure her friends wouldn't feel any different about her if they knew. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Tobie, the main character of Darwin's Cliff, is a socially anxious soul. She's perpetually worried about saying the wrong thing or looking naive and sheltered, especially in front of people who she sees as having their life together more than she does. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon #QueerWriters #WriteSky

I'm planning to work through some more of my revision notes for Darwin's Cliff. I hope everyone else has a lovely creative week 💜 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

Aaaahhhh I have the exact word in Darwin's Cliff! I discovered the concept of foreboding joy via Brené Brown and have had an uncomfortable awareness of it ever since, so of course it made its way into something I'm writing. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon #QueerWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity

How have I been alive for almost forty-six years and never realised this before??

Yay! I'm caught up and posting on the right day. This week has been great. I got some work done on Darwin's Cliff, sorted a mess of notes into logical order in Notion, downloaded Audacity for the audio readings I'm doing on Patreon, and even bought myself a vaguely decent mic. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

I forgot to mention my goal yesterday (I'm still catching up, don't judge me) but it fits into today's theme too, so here goes... Introducing Darwin's Cliff, the WIP I'll be working on this month. Queer lit fic with vibes like The Secret History, The Virgin Suicides and Sunburn. 🏷️ #LGBTQWriteAThon

WHAT THE FUCK I missed the start of #LGBTQWriteAThon?! I'm Winter, canon bisexual character, high-functioning trash, writing queer neo-noir fiction, apparently two days late to the party and hurriedly catching up now.

"We write so that 'little us' feels like they've FINALLY embraced their purpose." I love how full of healing that is 🥰

"But I also write for community because queer stories matter and should be shared/told." YES 🏳️‍🌈

I love this! Today's Pretend Panel is giving me all the feelings.

This answer gave me such huge warm'n'fuzzies.

I write for myself and I share for connection. Doing the writing and sharing the writing serve different functions for me. I feel that difference most when I'm doing other creative things that I don't share. Writing just happens to be a form of creativity that fulfils both desires. 🏷️ #PretendPanel

🌃 MILES FROM MORNING / NOW / 04 📢 New chapter on my Patreon now! 🔗 www.patreon.com/winterandwor... 💝 You can read this post, and everything else on my Patreon, by joining as a free or paid member. 🏷️ #Cyberpunk #SciFi #QueerWriters #LGBTQWriters #WriteSky #WritingCommunity #Writers #Patreon

This is a beautiful answer 🥰