RS, Author, Novelist

RS, pronounced /är' əs/. Professional #SF #fiction writer coming back from burn-out. Writes character-driven #SFF (science fiction #fantasy) and some #fanfiction (#MLP). #ClarionWest 98 graduate. #SFWA life member. Studied non-western culture, #folklore, and #mythology. #Feminist #Writer and #Author in the #WritingCommunity amongst the #WritersOfMastodon.

Goals: Return to paid publication. Provide interesting content for followers. Make friends; attract colleagues. See intro post for more...

Public Key

npub1r5fyvwr9tyt60j59u0gz4k496xy2gwsags4s9pehaw6pdr2u4eps4k39wa

NIP-05 Address

sfwrtr_at_eldritch.cafe@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsp6yjx8pj4j9a8e2z785p2m2jarz9y8gw5g2czsum7hdqk34w2uscpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qz9rhwden5te0wfjkccte9ejxzmt4wvhxjmcpwmltm

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1r5fyvwr9tyt60j59u0gz4k496xy2gwsags4s9pehaw6pdr2u4eps4k39wa

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Last Notes

2024-07-17 03:13:46

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@npub14k7…f93x I especially like the crop on the left. It captures the hazy autumn afternoon wonderfully. It's a perfect abstraction of the subject and the media. Well done, indeed.

2024-06-28 02:24:25

CW: Now I understand the word Triggered.
I watched maybe 5 minutes, but I can't. I can't. My stepfather was a narcissist and a sociopath, and I had to save my mother from him, physically, when she let him abuse her.
The voice, the attitude, the twisted reality with an illusion of reasonableness.
I can't do it. That voice makes me feel powerless.

2024-06-18 20:20:38

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@npub1jw3…h3v8 Thanks. They said, if you ever wanted to remove that chimney, now'd be a good time. Eh? No. (One of the roofers fell through the ceiling earlier: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/112639123239739026)

2024-06-05 00:38:37

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@npub1dg0…h6zw I failed until I read the seed packet. When I provided sandy soil and planted in the cool season, bam!

2024-06-04 23:54:13

Salad on the hoof.
#Photography #Photo #Food
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/112/561/040/084/568/045/original/67b5a3f0ae6ad6e8.jpeg

2024-05-24 17:25:29

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@npub1dkr…l5qs
Pixelated does not mean or imply old.
Shoot. I guess I'll just have to say I feel very 4-bit color today.

2024-01-06 07:36:22

Got down to #author stuff, now that I'm retired and can devote time to the #business of #writing #fiction. First order of business: catalog the unsold novels from after the burn out that need revision and rewrites.
Turns out that disconnecting my Mac from my work VPN messed up my folders. I had somehow mapped (don't know the Mac term) my work Windows computer folders to the Mac, and when I look in documents it tries to find it on the network and fails. If I reboot, so long as I go directly from my user's directory to documents directory, I'm good. If I click on Documents in Finder, it redirects and I'm screwed.
First thing I did was copy all my writing folders to the desktop. At least I've lost none of my old novels and short work.
I thought there were 7 completed books, and I said so online. There are actually 9, three that form a trilogy and one novel with a sequel in the mix. There are two incomplete novels.
Some works are older than others. Pages refuses to open one novel from 1996, a fun space opera that possibly has the highest chance of early sales. I haven't tried the others. Now I gotta install Word, of which I am not a fan, and investigate programs that'll open the really old files. If anyone wants to chime in with suggestions, please do! (I can always find someone with a Windows machine if need be.) Putting Google on TODO. I actually have original copies of chapters from my Apple ][ days, but thankfully I updated those to the Mac and to a new millennium version of Word in what were my PowerPC days.
Incidentally, there really are three novellas in good shape.What surprises me though? There looks like about 15 short stories, many complete because I see multiple submissions in the various folders. I completely forgot about these, and was sure I never wrote short-form.
Baby steps, I guess.
#writingLife #writingCommunity #writersOfMastodon

2024-01-04 02:17:34

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@npub1dkr…l5qs I'm looking for something that'll be like a small notebook at bedside so I can do quick notes. iPad and IPhone not really suitable because of modalities, despite Pencil. I hoping this is what I imagine.

2024-01-04 01:48:36

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@npub1dkr…l5qs They should give you a commission. I just care that I can get the OCR'd notes to my Apple devices and the notes pages stays immediately available. I'll see in a couple of weeks...

2024-01-04 01:31:34

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@npub1dkr…l5qs Okay. Color me intrigued. I think I'm going to buy it.

2024-01-01 08:22:16

Happy Mew Years!

2023-12-24 09:08:06

Status: Completed /The Downsides of Godness,/ a short clocking in oversized at 900 words, too big for a tootfic. Too pared down and concise to be sufficiently comprehensible, alas. Needs another 200 or 300 words added to fill in the holes, or a segment slashed out. Not sure which. Not giving up and throwing it into a drawer just yet. I wrote it from the god's point of view in first person. I'll try writing it from the mortal woman's point of view if all else fails as the idea is a good one, I think.
#amwriting #Writing #Writer #Author #fantasy #WritersOfMastodon #WritingCommunity

2023-12-24 02:11:04

The Prime Object is on the Christmas Tree! This is a #ScienceFiction #media reference. Anybody want to chime in? And no, it has nothing to do with ponies or unicorns!
#sf #urbanfantasy #fantasy #writing #writer. #primeobject.
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/632/958/525/292/956/original/a2afc91c373f0e0e.mp4

2023-12-24 00:36:31

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@npub1y3k…83tn Good points.

2023-12-24 00:18:47

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@npub1yh0…kya5 USPS is very true. FB is so true I don't use the service anymore.

2023-12-19 22:06:16

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@npub1p39…0ysz @npub1wu7…3d23
""Folks" can fill that role..."
I actually use this one a lot, but oddly I feel is too informal and is great for friends and family, though it can be used to referring obliquely to one's family. It might be useable up to a business meeting, but the CEO or a leader wouldn't use it. Well, someone like Patton or Jimmy Carter might, but informality is their hallmark.

2023-12-05 23:27:52

#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 4 Nbr 4— Do you/will you write under your own name?
No. I did, though. My name adds a subtext to my writing I wish to avoid. That doesn't mean you can't find my real name, but you're going to have to choose.
Do you share a name with another writer?
No.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion

2023-12-01 20:05:41

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@npub1ek8…t2en @npub1k24…26zw @npub1765…xh0x @npub1r27…yfqy
"It's the squeaky mouse that get the wheel."
My characters like their authors often fracture sayings. This will appear in one of my stories.

2023-10-08 22:06:29

#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 2 Nbr 8 — Rough, complete or not at all. How do you plan your writing?
For larger works, I do a lot of thinking about the character or the event that interests me. If it feels serious, I often write a treatment. That's a short summary of events that popped into my conscious. It might even be a bulleted list, which becomes the story bible. It always includes what made the MC think about what they're about to undertake, their beginning agenda and their ultimate goal, and if that would change. If I can't come up with an ending, I try not to start writing.
For my very short endeavors, the thinking part is often enough so long as I know how it should end. This describes most of what I present on Mastodon, and very specifically the (hashtag)Writever micro fiction stories I'm completing mostly daily. They're short, fun, and somewhat dark considering the themes, and you can find them here: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/111173835020993722
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
#RSdiscussion

2023-10-05 20:53:39

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@npub1zys…7dd9 I like both, but I eat more of the trick without getting sick.

2023-10-05 04:12:36

#WritersCoffeeClub Ch 2 Nbr 5 — What are your writing project goals?
Hm. Good opportunity to think about it enumerate.
Short term:
Write a completely unique 300-500 word #microfiction story for each of the days of October's #writever hashtag. I'm doing this because I think that my writing mostly in a well-defined universe with developed characters is making me rusty. I want to prove to myself that story ideas are a dime a dozen and that I can always find something to write. So far 4 of 5 of my stories are out-of-universe. The thread—which is not ever going to be in day order—is here: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/111173835020993722.
Keep up with the #PennedPossibilities and #WordWeavers prompts. I've learned so much from everyone, and I've discovered so much about my own stories. Thank you, everyone!
Longer term:
Get through the final proofing of the serial currently in serialization. Get the whole thing done and published. Get the darn epilogue written already! Decide if I want to do a sequel.
Work out the hiccups my beta reader pointed out in my Reluctance series. Finish that story, or finish the amnesiac romance I started as a prompt on Mastodon (https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246). Either could serve as the start of my return to commercial publication.
Work on my earliest work, for which I've gotten back my copyright. Create an author's preferred edition, modernizing the text. Hire a cover artist. Consider writing side stories or a sequel if the characters demand it.
Work on my unpublished novellas, revise them, and make them ready for publication.
Work on my unpublished novels, converting them to 1st person, readying them for publication.
While doing all of the above, launch an author website where I can post short material and blog. Revise my photography site and start blogging images. Record audio versions of sample chapters and post those.
When I have inventory that's sellable, contact my author friends and network. Podcasts and such would be nice. Volunteer at conventions.
ASAP:
Retire in the next few months so I can accomplish all this.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

2023-10-04 23:20:10

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Breakfast of champions! (Or people who like Japanese style breakfast.) Tomago, tomato, mackerel, and pickled veggies.
#tomago #Tomagoyaki #japanese #food #cooking #日本食
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/179/305/103/796/477/original/5545b4d38bef4c68.jpeg

2023-10-04 23:18:37

Today's experiment in tomagoyaki, in full color! It smells as good as it looked (1/2)
#tomago #Tomagoyaki #japanese #food #cooking #日本食
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/179/275/113/004/036/original/19fbe85029e398eb.jpeg
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/179/276/497/519/626/original/2413155c7830f070.jpeg
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/179/282/738/546/042/original/dbd82a3fd976c0d8.jpeg
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/179/285/731/436/174/original/203e3ae78aed8f2c.mp4

2023-09-27 04:37:10

Someone today opined on whether short stories are worth the effort vs writing and selling long forms. If I recall correctly, they said they found they'd wished they'd stuck with the long forms after years of experience.
Generally, I'd agree (I'm a novelist myself). But then I thought: /If I had not spent the last five years writing lots of shorts, and recently very short stories, I'd not have gotten the experience starting and completing stories the way I have./
Writing novelette length, short, and super-short has gone a long way to vanquishing my recurring writer's block. It's given me the repeated experience of starting and finishing stories, building my confidence that there's always more to write. (I burnt out in '01 and didn't start writing again until '15, so I'm recovering.)
One of the hardest things for me to get over, which plagued my early career, was my inflated opinion that my ideas were somehow special and unique (they're not), and that I would never come up with more than a few worth writing. Writing lots of little stories cured me of that delusion.
My little stories might never sell, but they could act as regular content to convince people to return to my author website. I use shorts to introduce people to my writing style and to explore ideas I might incorporate in longer forms. I've definitely used it to work out character backstory, even stuff that might contradict canon. It keeps me from fearing the experimental stuff; at least it gives me a chance to get the nonsense out of my bloodstream. Some of this might go into an anthology one day (as if, but I can hope.) In any case, they're the practice equivalent of tossing nickels and dimes into the wishing well compared to burning C-notes attempting a sketchy novel.
This isn't writing advice, nor am I advocating one way or another. I'm simply reporting what I've observed for myself.
#writing #author #writer #writers #writingCommunity #writersOfMastodon

2023-09-23 01:38:18

#PennedPossibilities 80 — MC POV: What was your greatest personal failing?
Being blind to what I didn't want to see.
Because it was fun. I could learn "magic!" Slowly being turned into a criminals protégé is never good, no matter how much I worked to not know anything about the business I was helping prosper simply because it was just another thing I could do well.
Because I didn't have the courage to say, No, no more of this...!
People died.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #WritingWonders

2023-09-22 04:21:08

So day 3 of #covid taking #Paxlovid for #COVID19 and I realize there's different color foils on the back. The dusky bronze for the morning dose, grey for evening. I realized suddenly I never saw this. My splitting headache at the time made me keep the lights low and I was too fogged to notice.
Did it matter!?
Oh, I really hope not!
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/106/868/707/722/238/original/f57cb995c455f232.jpeg

2023-09-17 06:54:14

I'm a sucker for a good story. Sleep is overrated.

2023-09-15 07:06:53

#WordWeavers 9.15 — Is your MC neat or messy?
My devil-girl is an ascetic by practice. Her possessions are a messenger bag containing her notebook and a 500 year old "magic" text. If she's traveling, she'll have a pack, sleeping mat, and tarp. Little to be physically messy about. Public baths are as common as groceries, so she can take care of appearances.
Physically, she's as average looking as they come, if you ignore her muscles, but with green-tinted skin that suggests she's the chameleon she is. She can do a silly mid-teen or a elegant woman hitting thirty, out sophisticating most society people. (She was well tutored.) She even designs clothes—that she can fight in. The upshot is she can be a messy vagrant or a high society snob, or in-between as her job requires.
So... either neat or messy?
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #WritingWonders

2023-09-05 03:04:55

Whilst this year's #iPhone 14 Pro has he had the best #camera system yet, especially for night #photography the, #Apple featured purple color has been an abomination. It's muddy grape and not pretty in bright light and black-the-noncolor-I don't-want in all other light. I am going to be so happy to trade it in this year. I am guessing there will be an equally muddy color because Apple thinks pro users hate color. Even though the gold color is almost monochrome, I will probably go back to that.

2023-09-04 08:33:41

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@npub1ryc…0ptf
@johnhowesauthor is the canonical source for this prompt, but he hasn't yet pinned the prompt card post to his profile as of this post AFAIK.
Here is the canonical post John Howes wrote.
https://mastodonapp.uk/@johnhowesauthor/110966608135035998
He also posted it on his blog.
HTH
http://johnahowes.blogspot.com/p/mastodon-writers-coffee-club-daily.html
#WritersCoffeeClub #writingCommunity #writersOfMastodon #writing

2023-09-04 04:02:19

#photography Good catch. Not an advert. The lighting was astounding. Spouse noticed. Taken with my iPhone in RAW. Moody. Interesting. Fleeting.
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/004/881/340/269/215/original/c7433728757592a0.jpeg

2023-09-04 03:35:30

#WritersCoffeeClub 03 — Is there one piece of well-known writing advice you ignore? There is: "Write everyday."
Mind you, with this hash tag, #PennedPossibilities, #WordWeavers, and the defunct #WritingWonders, I find I nonetheless invariably write something every day. I've fleshed out backstory and played with possible story lines that I'd normally wouldn't have thought about thanks to prompts. I've so thankful I've found this community and #Mastodon in general.
However, I stand-by not writing every day. For me.
Instead, I stay prepared to write any time, and I mean anytime, the urge strikes me. I cannot tell you how many times a character has woken me at 3 AM. I go and write, because I know the character will possess me and talk incessantly in my mind, never letting me sleep.
To ensure I can write, I have the ability to write on my computer, my iPad, and my phone. And to sync between them.
The other side of the coin, of course, is I don't write if I don't feel the spark. I just remain confident that the spark will come. I have a story I haven't written for in half-a-year. I know I'll restart it soon.
The benefit is that when I look at a blank sheet of paper (okay, it's an empty document file), I see a place to fill with possibilities and where some weird character can tell an even weirder story. That's what happened with my Word Weavers 9.2 entry, Chimera Rising (https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110993252771253246). A side character antagonist had certain, cough, physical attributes I could /finally/ explain. Moreover, it gave me an opportunity to write an amnesiac romance. I've always wanted to write a character who becomes someone completely different, finds a new life and new love, only to start to remember being a dark different person.
Spark.
I sat down and started writing.
I guess, after four decades writing, I've learned it's better to trust yourself than to work without inspiration, only to conclude you're a failure and start blocking.
Works for me, anyway. HTH.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon #WritingWonders #writingAdvice #writingLife

2023-09-03 02:15:07

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@npub1mfg…zv6k
I'm not going to quote you lest it sound flippant, but knowing yourself as you seem to, sees like a really good start. I like your style in any case, so you must be on track with at least one vote!

2023-08-27 17:28:24

#WritingWonders 8.27 — (CW: Frank talk.) Antagonist POV: What do you like the least about the place where you live?
/That everyone recognizes me./
It's by design, but also inevitable.
I've been 24 years old for so many centuries that they blur together. My looks come in and go out of fashion. At times, men think I'm genuinely attractive; there is certain biology human males can't mask. Nevertheless, they know who I am. I look, well, /distinctive/. You've seen my face in the newspapers, if not your history books. I always look the same. My wounds always heal and my memory always fades, making everything old new again. I'm recognized rightly as dangerous in so many ways. Men consider me unapproachable, not a woman with whom you might trifle to ask a night with, or spend a week in idle meaningless fun.
/I hate it!/ I destroyed and rebuilt civilization so nobody should be coerced, and I don't. I won't. Not ever!
My last fellow plotted to start an interstellar war against me. At least he didn't mind being a kept man all those years before!
I'm 24 years old. Twenty-four. Always. I know it affects my decisions, sometimes, and it makes me want to cry.
[Author retains copyright]
#BoostingIsSharing
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#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #feminist #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

2023-08-25 00:48:41

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@npub1c57…awu5
I'm impressed. It's actually flattering. Of course, the photographer has had a lot of practice with all the president's men...

2023-08-16 02:05:08

#PennedPossibilities 41: If your MC was to teach as a career, what would they teach?
While in very arcane terms, she may be the greatest thaumaturge of her time, she's piss poor at a surprising amount of common stuff people don't even need to go to school to do. Moreover, she gets stuck performing new things unless threatened with life or limb (or helped remedially by someone). As a result, she can't teach miracle working.
Nevertheless, she's is good (actually VERY good) at mixing working miracles with fighting without weapons, having been a both a prizefighter and a mob boss' bodyguard. As a result, one of her current jobs — one that she's actually asked for and gotten — is training the Residency staff and certain select constabulary staff how to guard someone and disable an opponent long enough to escape — even a dragon.
She'd happily abandon her current responsibilities and teach just that for a career. Not that her employer would let her.
Example teaching a dragon to respect her from the dragon's point of view: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110603595653290409
Example teaching that it is important to learn to fight without armor before learning to fight with it: https://eldritch.cafe/@sfwrtr/110874975005516372
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon

2023-08-05 20:54:44

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@npub1fgl…4jl4 You wrote:
...for someone who can’t afford an artist, what choice do I have?
I have spent a career making goofy sketches I'd never share or stick figures (which are acceptable as storyboards amongst colleagues), imagining really hard laying in bed working on a story, or writing treatments. AI seems fine, but I look at it and envision an AI writing stories in the style of RS the SfWrtr and shudder.
I can't tell you what what choice to take. For me, I pay a cover artist and am commissioning cover art as I write this.
Depending on your niche, you may find fan artists who might find a concept fascinating and work for you sharing their business card in your network of colleagues, or simply giving artist credit. If you get it for free, you must give the artist credit. I always tell my artists this and refrain only if they say not to.
Since you are a screenwriter, you don't need artwork to sell your stories, so I am guessing you are using AI to help you visualize. Might I suggest you consider only using AI to the extent that it is free? If nobody will pay for for AI services, it will affect the business models and investment.
#AI #Writing #WritingCommunity #author #cover #coverart #art #AI #chatgpt #writersofmastodon
cc: @scrhill@indieauthors.socia@scrhill@indieauthors.social

2023-08-04 22:48:28

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CW: AI Image. Thanks to @npub1fgl…4jl4 and his #writingWonders 8.4 response, I actually tried another AI generator named #Gencraft (not that I'd ever use AI to create something actual publication), but I got the following. Mind you, no wings and it defaulted (or course) to caucian, but it is something.
It is missing the sense of the character being fae, vulnerable, and mysterious. These are things I'm sure my cover artist would make happen.
#BoostingIsSharing
#CommentingIsCool
#fiction #fantasy #sf #sff #sciencefiction #writing #writer #writers #author #writingcommunity #writersOfMastodon
https://eldritchcafe.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/110/833/770/191/737/314/original/9ea399a55fcf467c.png

2023-08-04 22:19:34

#WritingWonders 8.4 — Share art, pics (face claims), and/or mood boards of one (or more) of your side characters.
I'm really not good with drawing figures. A sketch would take me days when I could write a two page description in an hour. Generally, I'd rather not have a precise idea of a character's appearance, and I sometimes make someone intentionally vague such that a reader is allowed to imagine someone like them or someone they'd like. That said, the little art I do possess is of main characters. I've nothing for side characters.
Instead, in humble defiance of the prompt, I'm sharing an #excerpt that evokes the visual (and other) senses. It is from an unpublished romance adventure novelette last revised in 2008, thus it is written in 3rd not my usual 1st person. The characters are both amazing side characters from an epic fantasy trilogy (also unpublished). Pardon it for being a little rough.
From Through Blood and Tears by RS.
An unseen cloud of lavender and heather enveloped [Myra] and she sneezed. Needing a distraction, she followed the scent. She pushed aside spiky blue-gray bushes dotted with purple flowers and peered into an herb garden.
A winged girl squatted amongst the aromas, intent on a porcelain dish containing wet snowy-white sand. She wore a white linen blouse and gray work trousers, a dirt splotch staining one knee. She molded the grains with her fingertips, spun the plate, and brushed it some more. The girl pushed aside her red hair, rapt in her creation, humming, her voice cracking and drifting into the upper registers. The girl could echolocate already.
Myra tilted her head and strained to hear sounds that, until last week, she could neither hear nor make. An apparition of a hand, index finger pointed skyward, flickered above the dish. Myra gasped.
The girl flinched, striking the plate, spraying globs of sand, dispelling the effect. She landed hands and knees down, her red-brown wings pointed behind Myra. The girl turned her fall into a bow. "Highspeaker! Forgive me!" 
[Author retains copyright]
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