Notices by Cara Bruar (carabruar@sfba.social)

I'm about a quarter of the way through The Nerd Reich by Gil Duran. He makes a good case that all these billionaires who want to remake the political systems across the world with themselves at the top are a pack of loonies.
Nowhere in their plans that I have seen so far does anyone grow food, provide clean water or textiles or maintain roads and bridges, just for a start. Apparently all this real world stuff happens by magic. #tech

@jeridansky i love that colour, a kind of sunny pumpkin

@jeridansky I put it off as long as possible to increase the chances of my glucose monitor still working. The manufacturers are often slow to test against updates.

@jeridansky well, that's genius, Jeri. When I finally have to update I'll remember this! thank you.

The weather in inland Australia is referred to by the media as sweltering. May be technically the right word but for me to swelter implies humidity and sweating. It's too hot for those. We have 43 degrees C and 15% humidity. Baking would be a better word. #australia #weather #heatwave

Grammar help please. Is this apostrophe in my wip correct? This is a blind spot that I have not been able to overcome.
**
The gnome, it's ear broken off during the affray, had no case for compensation at all.
**
#grammar #amEditing #wip

@skinnylatte what period does that cover? Ours in winter is $1100 aud for 4 months, that's about usd 500. Not that I disagree with you at all, they are all parasitic ghouls.

@witchnwords.bsky.social @bmacDonald94 👏👏 it took my son nearly two years to drop off a box of book donations I asked him to take. You are doing brilliantly.

@steter @jeridansky perhaps they are designed to fit in an inside suit pocket?

@jeridansky my hands are small so I also have an SE. I would prefer something with smaller width and length but thicker like my old Nokia which was much easier to hold. Unsure what the thinness fetish is all about really.

@skinnylatte I've been watching lots of kdramas. Their food is very different, a lot more meat and seafood than I would normally eat. Of course it's tv so may not be a very accurate depiction. I would expect more vegetables.

@skinnylatte No. Aged care homes here serve slush, macdonalds would be more nutritious. There's more to food than nutrients. Has to look and smell and taste good as well. And those things have a huge cultural component.

@skinnylatte Sounds like the menu needs an upgrade. Like hospital food. Healthy but unpalatable

@skinnylatte I had a friend who grew up in India. At work lunches she always brought her own bottle of chilli sauce. Australian food was always too bland.

#ScribesAndMakers April 26. Do you engage offline with other creatives? What did you/would you do if social media didn't exist?

I like interacting online, not in person so much. If there was no social media I might start a mail newsletter.

#ScribesAndMakers 13 March: Shameless self promotion day. Boost away.

New cover for my most popular ebook, Wipptee, available on Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Kindle, and others.

I have tried multiple covers for this book, a mystery/ action adventure set in an imaginary Australian country town called Rakali Springs, but this is the first one I've really liked.

It shows Maddie, my heroine, a very tough woman with serious attitude, who is searching for her missing husband.

Cover by me using image licensed from iStock. Credit:3quarks

#bookcover #bookstodon

My newest ebook novella is out now from Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Kindle and others.

A village magician embarks on a journey to save a young man from a magical affliction.

Includes river voyages, danger in the capital city, fear in the forest, and a mysterious older mage, among other excitements.

The cover is based on a licensed image from iStock by Tithi Luadthong (@grandfailure on iStock), a wonderful artist.

#bookstodon #newrelease #newrelease2025 #fantasy #FantasyMagic

My photo from 2014. This is the Taemas Bridge over the Murrumbidgee River at Cavan in New South Wales.

This is at least the third bridge to be built here, the others were destroyed by floods.

Just downstream of here is the Burrinjuck Dam, used for power generation and to control water flows further down.

The road to this bridge is hellish, and goes from Yass to Wee Jasper and beyond into the mountains to the west.

#photography #australia

#WritersCoffeeClub March 12. Happy Plant a Flower Day! What rôle does nature take in your stories?

I write a lot about the weather. One of my characters is prone to sunburn and never has a hat.
Sometimes nature is an obstacle, e.g. long grass to be struggled through, or mud for a car to be bogged in, or fog making it hard to follow someone.
Sometimes it's inspirational, usually when people stare at mountains or stars or lakes.
Occasionally I have animals.

Here's a sample from the book Deadset Mongrels, a crime novel.

He scanned the rocky gullies and arid hills for threats. The sensitive muscles around his eyes tightened against the glare, and his fair skin was hot and halfway to blisters. He was drying out, withering into a parched remnant of a man. He should have brought a hat with him. Or failing that, some water. Maybe there was some in the car. Nothing would induce him to drink anything that came out of that shipping container.