skribeworks

All about stories

Server Move

Web server on fire

I’ve just spent the last few days moving my web server. If you haven’t noticed any difference, then that’s good. However, if you notice some issues then please drop a comment and tell me, so I can fix it ASAP.

Changing the Date

A meeting between the Australian Prime Minister, Queensland Premier, and the Northern Territory Chief Minister.

As usual for this time of year, there is a lot of discussion about changing the date for Australia Day. There are many reasons for doing so (which I won’t entertain here), but no clear alternative date. Here is a sketch I recently posted to Mastodon about the issues of choosing 9th May as Australia Day.

Vale, Terry Bisson

Terry Bisson, 2009

I did not know Terry Bisson. If fact, I barely recognised his name when I saw John Scalzi’s post about his passing. On a whim, I did a little research. I’m glad I did. I may not have remembered his name, but I loved his work.

Preludes

Bayle in worse days

I have had an AO3 account for more than a year. Almost eighteen months, to be exact. In the mad rush to publish Coils of the Serpent everywhere I could manage, I signed up — only to discover that AO3 frowns upon original works, preferring to remain a site reserved for fan fiction. It has […]

The Pact

A bee within a pink, orchid blood.

Of course I was distrustful.

Even moreso once I actually saw the place.

I checked the message, written on a slip of grimy paper. The purple ink smudged. The address was right. Yet all I saw was an alley beside an old bombed-out department store.

Totalitarian Society Story #2

A glass of bloody milk

I am happy. The street is clean and damp. I wait for my succulent loaf of bread, and my 453.6 grams of wholesome milk. The queue is not long. The people are cheerful and consistent.

Oh no!

En and the Hunchback

A prince with dark hair, dark eyes and a beard in gold armour.

“How am I supposed to defeat even one giant let alone an entire empire?” En fretted. “You must out-think them,” Kobanongar the hunchback, told him. “Even If I had the heads of the six smartest people, in my father’s kingdom, a single giant would be smarter.” “If you had the heads of the six smartest […]

Totalitarian Society Story #1

A red bus from a futuristic totalitarian society

I am happy. The economic bus is clean and quiet. I am going to work at my government appointed employment. My spirit is filled with incentive and inspiration. All my fellow bus riders are happy. Their spirits are filled with vigour and stimulus.

Oh no!

Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

The Left Hand of Darkness

It’s been just over two weeks since I finished Ursula Le Guin’s, The Left Hand of Darkness.  I wanted to pen my thoughts on the matter.  I’ll try to keep spoilers to a minimum.  Although the novel is fifty plus years old, it managed to pass unheeded by me until now. It is a science-fiction […]

The Elon Musk Method for Writing WordPress Plugins

Some code

So, recently I coded up my first WordPress plugin. Nothing majorly impressive, but it did suddenly place me in some very rarified company, and that was a little intimidating. I’ve recently joined Mastodon.  No I haven’t left  Twitter, but my engagement there is minimal (and has been for almost a decade).  It’s no longer the […]