#ScribesAndMakers 24/04: Show us an image that inspires your creativity

In German I've been getting on everyone's nerves with how powerful Gritli Faulhaber's 'Militant Joy' series felt to me already, but since you asked...

*Gritli Faulhaber is a visual artist who has ME/CFS and her 'Militant Joy' series is compiled of canvasses she has done in a state of extreme fatigue and only then. As an artist who does have days of muscle weakness for other reasons I felt a connection and such a blast.

#ScribesAndMakers 4/23. Do you have deadlines? External or self-imposed?

For the most part, all my deadlines are self-imposed. I have a goal and set a deadline for myself to try and meet that goal.
I give myself a lot of grace, though. Shit happens (a lot) and I try not to put too much pressure on myself if I miss a desired deadline because I'm busy cleaning crap off my shoe

Taking this pressure off actually helps me reach those goals, even when things get dicey. The flexibility is good for me

#ScribesAndMakers 23 April:
Do you have deadlines? External or self-imposed?

Dead lines?

Well, I do have a scene where a group of zombies line up in an orderly queue to take turns smacking the living shit out of the man responsible for their deaths.

Is that the kind of dead line you meant?

#ScribesAndMakers 23/04: Do you have deadlines? External or self-imposed?

I should, but it's hard to keep them being a spoonie with a disability and multiple chronic illnesses. I never know if or how much I can move one day or what my pain level will be, so it's already difficult to plan 'Wash hair on Tuesday' or 'Get groceries on Friday'. But I like deadlines, they help me stay organized, so I'll have them if they're generous enough.

#ScribesAndMakers
April 22. How do you feel about the different qualities of film vs. digital photography?

I know nothing about them. I snap pictures on my phone and use a webcam and that's about it. I suspect in the hands of people who knew how to use the tools well the differences would be apparent and fascinating, but not something I ever got into.

#ScribesAndMakers Day 21: Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?

First of all, I write for those who love horses and animals and have rich relationships with them. But also, I write for those who don't often see themselves in stories, or who don't get happy narratives of themselves. I write queer/disability/neurodivergent liberation into my stories, even if it's not overt.

I am not everybody's taste, nor do I want to be.

#ScribesAndMakers 4/21. Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?

I create for the niche of ME! lol

I make what I like. My writing's the only thing I plan to share with the world, so I hope it'll appeal to others, but I don't write to the market or change the story based on what's "popular" or whatever.

Honestly, I just don't like what's popular in most cases. So I guess I'm writing for anyone who wants what I have to give.

#ScribesAndMakers

21 April: Do you create for a certain niche or do you hope to have as broad an appeal as possible?

I appear to be writing for a niche of one.

I'm repurposing a USB endoscope I had sitting around. It's now a workbench microscope, strapped to a 3D-printed arm. I'm hoping this will reduce some eye strain from messing with all these fiddly little bits and pieces. #3dPrinting #3dDesign #electronics #ScribesAndMakers

#ScribesAndMakers 4/20. Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

I think there are many movies. I just read a scene that was inspired by a tragic scene in International Velvet. Usually bits and pieces, but yes.

#ScribesAndMakers 4/20. Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

Most Disney princess movies.

Say what you want about Disney (and I know you could say *a lot*) but they make good movies.
(They used to, at least :P)

Anyway, I've always loved the princess movies. Magic. Love. Bravery. Adventure.
They were the first stories I encountered and I soaked them up! Still enjoy a lot of them as an adult. They definitely influence the stories I tell now.

#ScribesAndMakers Apr 20
Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

My gut reaction is to say "fuck no."

I might watch a movie now & then. I watched (& enjoyed; "at" me not, knaves) the Arnie Conan movies. There's a slew of other good low-fantasy movies that I enjoy, but with a couple exceptions none of them I would say have been profound inspirations.

I am not a fan of "movies." They tend to put me to sleep. A lot (& I mean *a lot*) of writers I know tend to emulate movies in their writing, too. It leads to a kind of conformity that also puts me to sleep. It forecloses quit a bit on what books can do--in my not-so-humble opinion!

However, one film series does serve as a much broader & more profound inspiration. It is The Story of Film: An Odyssey (2011) by Mark Cousins. This documentary series that examines innovation in the film medium makes me think more & harder about my own art than anything about writing does.

Plus I'm enamored with his voice, the cadence of his narration, the depth of his own appreciation for the films

#ScribesAndMakers 20/04: Is there a movie that inspires your creative work?

I was thinking of skipping this one, but here goes nothing: Robin Campillo's '120 bpm' (which I can't watch without crying ever since I first saw it). It tells the story of an ACT-UP group in France and while their struggle for survival of course was different to that of the disability community I recognised many of their internal conflicts as similar to those inside the disability community.

#ScribesAndMakers 4/19. Would you like to hang out with your favourite creator or appreciate the work but keep a distance?

*sigh* If you had asked me this a year ago, it would have been a resounding yes.

But (and I hate that this is the reason) I worry about where he sits politically right now. I'm a little worried he's one of /them/.
I kinda think not, but I can't be sure. And if I found out he is, it would ruin all his stuff, and I REALLY like his stuff.

So I'd rather not, just in case.

#ScribesAndMakers 19 Apr: Would you like to hang out with your favorite creator?

Yes indeed. I'd love to talk horses and parrots with her and just let her know how much her world has meant to me.

#ScribesAndMakers 19/04: Would you like to hang out with your favourite creator or do you think it's better to appreciate the work but keep a distance?

I find it hard to define 'favourite'. I'm often hyped about whatever art I saw and I like to talk to the artists. But we do it from artist to artist and with some of them I can see going for a walk or having a coffee. I had a great talk with R., a photographer, about "Büdchenkultur" (kiosk culture), which is officially local culture heritage.

I am vibrating, tired, joyful, and anxious.

I have a book! I can lick it! (Don't eat the book...)

Thank you to each one of my Mastodon friends and the folks in the #writingcommunity who followed along, encouraged me, and gave me food for thought.

As a thanks to all the folks in all the hashtags, I set up a secret sale to get the ebook for 50% until the end of the month.

https://empyclaw.itch.io/scribesandcoffee

Appreciate you all!
#ScribesAndMakers #WritersCoffeeClub #wordweavers #pennedpossibilities