Dilman Dila

I Write. I make films. Transmedia artist. My blog @dilman is about my works and life. I daydream a lot and want to be paid for it. Been creating #sff #scifi for long but only recently was BSFA + Nommo Awards + PKD Awards 2024 finalist!

My films #DilmanShortFilms

#fedi22 #filmmaking #writing #writingcommunity #film #writer #filmmaker #solarpunk

East Africa

Avatar: A black-and-white portrait of me smiling like an idiot at the camera. Header: comic page of a woman holding a baby

Public Key

npub1qf0e5aq0zszrtzv3axf3m8lemtf583zw494kqceg9mtuc4z0jaesqd35c8

NIP-05 Address

dilmandila@mograph-social.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqyhu6ws83gpp43xg7nycanlua456rc382j6mqvv5za47v238ewucpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsuyecf9

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1qf0e5aq0zszrtzv3axf3m8lemtf583zw494kqceg9mtuc4z0jaesqd35c8

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Last Notes

2026-06-08 07:05:06 UTC

"...the hottest thing in AI these days is hiring humans, because they're getting to be cheaper than AI — and are needed for quality control on AI's output anyway. "
The AI vibe shift is real: Why the backlash is growing | Mashable
https://mashable.com/tech/ai-backlash-vibe-shift

2026-06-07 17:22:12 UTC

In about three weeks, I'll launch my new novella, about an old woman with social anxiety who finds herself organising the defence of a decentralised nation when colonisers invade to steal the tech that makes her village a #solarpunk utopia. It is available for pre-order in all major stores (I think), but you can also get it from my small press, and there is a sample chapter available.
https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/
#books #bookstodon #book #SolarPunkSunday #scifi

2026-05-17 10:29:30 UTC

#silentsunday #Bloomscrolling #bloom
https://mograph-social.s3.de.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/589/441/427/672/593/original/a0e851f34b1db6b8.jpg

2026-05-15 20:28:33 UTC

I'm set to shoot #windShortFilm a #solarpunk comedy in June, so this last mile campaign is to cover basics like food, transport, etc. We made all costumes, props, and set constructions from scratch and it strained our budget since it is a futuristic story with no central governments, and no #capitalism Everyone participates in running the country. Help me make it!
220/500
Details: https://www.dilmandila.com/donate/wind-a-solarpunk-short-film
#mutualaid #sff #scifi #buyIntoArt #creativetoots #crowdfund #writing #writingcommunity

2026-05-14 18:39:00 UTC

For the first time in my life I planted something, an onion that sprout in my kitchen. There were three buds, but only one made it, and now for reasons I can't figure it is dying. It's been out with plenty of sun, and it's been raining a lot, so not sure why dude won't live. There seems to be an ecosystem developing in the tin with smaller plants creeping out.
But next I'm planting flowers. I want some in my bedroom and office.
https://mograph-social.s3.de.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/574/371/213/824/753/original/5097f1fd5bb078ea.jpg

2026-05-12 12:44:25 UTC

People who can read #finnish here is an article featuring me and three other writers from Uganda.
https://kirjailijalehti.fi/henkilokuvat/ugandassa-kirjailijoiden-sananvapautta-rajoittavat-lait-kustantajat-ja-lantinen-katse/
#writing #writingcommunity #finland

2026-05-04 20:27:27 UTC

Scam alert!
"Ugandan scammers have realised just how popular dogs are in Europe, North America and Australia, and how easily social media's obsession with dogs can be converted into cash."
Mityana dog scam: BBC uncovers the Ugandans exploiting animals to elicit donations for shelters
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g9l74wvd7o
#dogsofmastodon #dogs #dog

2026-05-02 06:11:06 UTC

Need feedback. I'll share stories via @nprofile…0njf but hate that #wordpress has no print-style layout for text, indent first line of, and no space between, paragraphs. (Really, why?) So I installed a plugin, Simple eBook Viewer, that allows me to embed epub in my post, giving an ebook reader layout. See this example at the bottom of the page in this first tale.
https://www.ododopress.com/african-folk-tales/an-indian-story/
But is this nice or would it be cumbersome reading epub in a blog post?
#writing #writingcommunity #amreading

2026-04-21 10:28:55 UTC

So I convinced someone to join the #fediverse @nprofile…km8e we met recently in Dakar. He is from Mali, speaks mostly French, so it's been interesting having conversations. He got interested after I made a presentation about what works for me as an African artist, having left corporate social media. During the presentation there was a professional interpreter so the point went through. But as we wait for his #introduction post, perhaps someone fluent in #french could welcome and guide him.

2026-04-18 22:25:46 UTC

Following recent changes on policies of Draft2Digital and Barnes and Noble, I thought I should share my experience on how to set up a cost effective writer website, with one-time-fee-plugins that give you a shopping cart and a squeeze form to grow your newsletter, and so keep your costs manageable. Take a look!
"What I Learned From Setting Up An Online Bookstore With WordPress Plugins – Dilman Dila"
https://www.dilmandila.com/cheap-and-easy-online-bookstore-with-wordpress-plugins/
#blog #writing #wtitingcommunity #writers #writer

2026-03-27 13:30:24 UTC

Want to read screenplays I wrote? I realized I have a whole ton of scripts lying idle in my folders and decided to make books out of them. Here is the first, the stories range from drama, dark comedy, thriller, teen lesbian romance (is that a genre?) It's available for free via @nprofile…0njf (Only pdf, the epub comes out a huge file at 40mbs and I can't figure out how to reduce it). Enjoy the read!
https://www.ododopress.com/screenplays/home-is-a-fine-place-to-die/
#books #bookstodon #reading #screenplay #film #writing #writingcommunity

2026-03-21 04:42:07 UTC

Anyone have recommendations on a simple share button for my #wordpress blogs? I removed all the plugins for they were cluttered and a nuisance, and I keep seeing simple buttons like this but have no idea what plugin to use. It has to be free with no pro version, or if for sale, then a one-off payment rather than subscription. #blog #webdev
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/265/311/251/632/929/original/67ce56ac70b1db0d.jpg

2026-03-09 11:39:11 UTC

The ARC of my new novella is now ready, via BookSirens. It's a #solarpunk story set in an African nation without capitalism, or governments and politicians, and centers on a 70yr old peasant woman who has to coordinate the defense of the country when a colonizer invades. https://booksirens.com/book/BUG035E/WXLHD4W
You can also pre-order the book, or read a sample, without any sign-in, on this link https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/
#books #bookstodon #sff #scifi #writing #writingcommunity #reading

2026-03-03 06:41:06 UTC

Just finished the book. Enjoyable. It is the first book I'm finishing this year. I tried to get into the author's earlier book, Autonomous, but failed to, perhaps because I thought it was a war thing. But this is a thriller of sorts, a time travel book that is themed on editing history, though is a commentary on politics in the US where rights are being rolled back, so perhaps someone is editing our timeline to revert us back to the 1950s.
Very good read!
#books #bookstodon #sff
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/116/163/861/417/670/906/original/eee9c38d733c1640.jpg

2026-02-26 20:12:51 UTC

Whew! I guess I have to stop tweaking this site. It won't get any better than this, but yay! I'm announcing my venture into small press publishing with a new novella! Now on PRE-ORDER!!! (available in major stores too!). It's a #solarpunk about a seventy-something year old woman, probably autistic, who has to organize the defense of her decentralized country when a colonizer invades. See a sample chapter here https://www.ododopress.com/novellas/the-blossoming-of-the-big-tree/
#books #bookstodon #writing #writingcommunity #sff #scifi

2026-02-21 11:21:50 UTC

Does anyone else have songs from artists who perhaps never made it beyond a handful of fans? I have some songs I treasure, got the CDs from the musicians or friends over 10yrs ago, but they've dropped out of the radar and I can't find them anywhere. Just their voice haunting my speakers like a sweet ghost. There's also an mp3 I got off a yahoo group, around 2005. I like the song, but it has no artist name, no title, just a voice and a guitar, perhaps home recorded.
#music

2026-01-20 10:13:07 UTC

If you develop for #linux please make offline installation possible, for people in countries with restricted internet. Came back home last night and today I want to install Luminance HDR but their only option for linux is via the terminal, and yet, while I can access full internet on my phone using a VPN, I can't access any on my laptop/workstations, so I can't install this program, unless I use Wine. I'm in #Uganda They cut off internet during elections and it has now been partially restored.

2025-12-29 05:44:14 UTC

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@nprofile…upzx Thanks for this thread, and this map! It would however be nice, when talking of nations, to see that most of the continent was decentralized, but they don't get attention like Ethiopia, Egypt, Mali, Zimbabwe, because we love stories of empires and powerful kings, not those varying forms of direct democracy and communal governance; systems that the colonialist dismissed as anarchic and evidence of primitivity for they equated civilisation with authoritarian rule. And they still do!

2025-11-20 08:19:49 UTC

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@nprofile…pjqk Do you get to sleep after the first alarm goes off? Once I awake I don't even get the luxury of a second alarm, until day time

2025-11-20 01:58:16 UTC

It's almost 5am here. Woke up an hour ago for no reason. Insomnia sucks

2025-11-05 06:34:38 UTC

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@nprofile…np83 Just so you know, my film career really took off after a film lab Mira Nair organized in my country, and we worked on a documentary together, though it was a corporate something for unicef. I also directed the bts film of her film Queen of Katwe ;-))

2025-11-03 11:23:47 UTC

I don't understand why a lot of software in #linux don't read external hard drives. Trying to use Gaupol subtitle editor and it is functional. But it can't read files on external HDD or flash drives, which makes it the only pain.

2025-10-07 03:27:05 UTC

I wish I knew the different names of flowers. It seems a bit rude to call them all flowers and not by their name.
#Bloomscrolling #bloom
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/115/330/738/154/483/656/original/f451a071a3731370.jpg

2025-08-15 10:31:18 UTC

So this #followfriday here are two new accounts you might find worth giving a follow.
@nprofile…metx A film collective based in Uganda, and they share stories about the people whose lives they impact through trainings and film.
@nprofile…070q An award winning filmmaker and a student of animation who loves to laugh.

2025-08-03 10:27:41 UTC

#silentsunday #nature #photography
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/964/344/133/942/934/original/866ea03f752e588e.jpg

2025-08-01 08:21:01 UTC

I keep dreaming that the future is de-urbanized, and I'm working on a novella that is set in such a world, sort of a utopia. No mega cities, no mega urban centers. Life retreats to settlements that by today's standards are considered rural. But I want it to be 'hard scifi', meaning it is possible to achieve in the near future. Question then, is this a pipe dream? What would happen if this became the future? Would we be happier? Would it reverse climate change?
#writing #writingcommunity

2025-07-17 08:48:28 UTC

Book lovers in #berlin you might be interested in this festival happening this weekend in your city. I'm one of the guests, and I'll read from/talk about two of my books, A Fledgling Abiba and Where Rivers Go To Die, and I'll be on some interesting panels as well. Pass by if you can! It will be lovely to see this city in a warm month. I hope its sunny.
https://africanbookfestival.de/programme-2/
@nprofile…9vtz
#writingcommunity #writing

2025-06-29 20:21:42 UTC

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@nprofile…gk57 Can you boost my post so that the magic happens for me too? ♥️😊

2025-06-25 17:37:29 UTC

Seen on a door today, when I went to visit the studio of a visual artist.
#cats #catsofmastodon #cat
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/745/206/277/941/528/original/f6c44f31d28ba00f.jpg

2025-06-09 17:03:23 UTC

Have you seen my new short film yet? It's a kind of horror about a cheating husband and a flower monster.
https://video.ploud.jp/w/hBRDDrJtxiur3gaGoD5B8Z
#shortfilm #horror #horrormovies #HorrorCommunity #monster #monsterdon #film

2025-05-06 05:17:58 UTC

This story bundle with many African scifi books, including mine, ends in 16 days. If there are any "book influencers" here, or perhaps you want to run a campaign of some sort and need to give people a gift or bonus or something, let me know and I can get you gift codes.
https://storybundle.com/scifi
@nprofile…9vtz #writing #writingcommunity #sffbooks #sff #africa

2025-04-22 12:33:05 UTC

A bit pissed off. My machine is stuck on this, and whatever I do, I can't seem to fix it. The last thing I remember trying to do is install AppImage Launcher via the terminal, and then I launched Audacity, and I kdenlive (which didn't run) I went for lunch and came back to this annoyance. Been searching online for solutions. Now stuck. Sadly, I had not enabled timeshift (not sure its on by default) but when I try recovery mode it says no backups. Not fun at all.
#linux #linuxmint
https://mograph.social/system/media_attachments/files/114/381/622/656/949/129/original/92310f7758d5babf.jpg

2025-03-20 19:10:47 UTC

It has just struck me that I haven't written any fiction since July of last year 😭
#writing #amwriting

2025-03-20 07:33:36 UTC

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@nprofile…xvlc You did put in the 10000 hours to end up with such gifted hands. I envy you 😊

2025-03-20 06:46:59 UTC

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@nprofile…xvlc How long does it take you to draw each? They are so good they look like photos with filters thrown on them 😊

2025-03-15 10:35:38 UTC

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@nprofile…k3n9 do they have some telepathic communication or were the others watching and waiting 😁

2025-02-17 07:44:29 UTC

Are there any good open-source newsletter or mailing list tools that someone can recommend? I met a person who had a newsletter (not sure what service she was using) but she said the costs kept going up and she couldn't afford it anymore, so I promised I'd ask around and see if she can get something good and affordable. I've heard of Ghost, but wonder if there are free ones as well?
#linux #web #webdev #tech

2024-07-28 21:09:53 UTC

I remember when AI was short for Artificial Insemination

2024-05-12 06:03:39 UTC

Been a while since I encountered some drama on the fedi, I was beginning to wonder if this place had become peaceful. :-)

2024-01-11 07:24:57 UTC

I'm overwhelmed by all the engagement that my post about being nominated for Philip K Dick Awards generated. I haven't stopped smiling since yesterday, seeing all these strangers, over 1000 strangers, being happy for me and congratulating me. (1k? I thought such numbers are a rarity in Mastodon) I still don't know why people are being nice to me but it makes me happy 🤗❤

2024-01-09 09:03:07 UTC

When I was 20 I thought by the time I hit mid-40s, I'd be a world famous writer and filmmaker, but well, here I am, only mildly successful but getting a lot of praise for each story from the very few who find them. Uhm.... So, I turn to teaching, and mentoring. This is one of the classes I give, and it's online so you can sign up, if you ever want to get into #screenwriting
https://academy.lolwe.org/class/screenwriting/
#writing #writingcommunity #filmmaker #art

2023-11-04 13:51:03 UTC

Since #fedibookfair is happening this weekend, let me tell you about my book, it's a collection of short stories, which some people say are horror. Where Rivers Go To Die. I love the cover, and it should convince you to take a look.
https://cdn.masto.host/mographsocial/media_attachments/files/111/352/601/503/513/198/original/403716a4fe410299.jpg

2023-10-18 00:40:07 UTC

Rain all day today spoilt my fun in Accra. I had to stay indoors for a large part of the day. But in the morning I went to see an artist gallery, and a carpentry workshop with these fancy fantasy coffins..... strange thing to see on a travel trip, but the coffins in Ghana are worth writing home about! 😊
You can follow my blog @npub1ftl…sw8y where I will be telling you all about my #travels in Accra.
#travel #blog #writing #writingcommunity #writerslife #writerslifestyle
https://cdn.masto.host/mographsocial/media_attachments/files/111/253/207/240/984/093/original/55257ace4c3e499e.jpg
https://cdn.masto.host/mographsocial/media_attachments/files/111/253/208/496/929/457/original/206bc9890c4ff3f9.jpg

2023-08-31 16:39:00 UTC

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@npub135d…tg9k Oh you dear. Forgot to untag the other, but I was asking because your handle reads Fulani Girl 😊

2023-08-31 09:30:38 UTC

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 @npub1ctz…zyq5 @npub1fyr…nfva Its one reason I don't like following mainstream news outlets. They will always side with the establishment, however wrong. The Bongo regime was propped by France, and that means Europe + Western countries would not object whatever goes in Gabon, and the Guardian for all its claims to being independent, I've never come across anything of it criticizing anything the EU countries support.

2023-08-31 06:34:10 UTC

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@npub135d…tg9k @npub1ew9…qf5p Thanks. Following them. Are you based in West Africa?

2023-08-30 17:55:51 UTC

There's a coup in #Gabon and I didn't know about it! Mastodon has to fix its news problem otherwise it's beginning to feel like a silo of sorts..... or perhaps its just that the African presence here is very limited?

2023-08-03 05:32:43 UTC

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@npub1kyv…mvht 4. Beat him up in revenge for that time he refused you a 1% payrise

2023-07-19 06:49:12 UTC

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@npub1ul2…5sjq I am going to Durban South Africa to pitch this film I'm working on. I have been sending emails to industry players requesting to meet them, but very few even bothered to reply. Then yesterday a big time producer sends me an email, not even a reply, just emails me out of the blue requesting to meet with me and I am confused for a whole moment. I check my emails to see if I had emailed them before. Nope. They made first contact. Don't want to count my unhatched chicks but this is soothing

2023-07-02 09:01:34 UTC

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@npub1k24…26zw Problem is if I nap during the day, then it's like I've used up my sleep for the whole night and I'll be tortured awake until the wee hours.... perhaps let me take a walk to clear my head 🙂

2023-07-02 08:38:48 UTC

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@npub1k24…26zw I'm on hibiscus tea... but might switch to coffee because my eyes are telling my brain to shut down for a bit. I don't normally drink coffee but people say it keeps you awake so....