Michael J. Fleming

Canadian sci-fi/fantasy author & infrequent 𝕏 poster.

Currently busy turning a published trilogy into something entirely new...

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

A bit of manuscript anatomy for an action story. I self-enforced some hard rules aiming to keep most chapters between 4-6 MS pages. Rectangles represent blocks of action/violence. Bridging the 4 act structure without losing reader momentum was the biggest challenge. #amwriting

[Alan Breen Author @AlanBreenAuthor]

Trying to set up A+ content on Amazon KDP like…

"Just upload a few images," they said.
“It’s easy,” they said.

3 hours later I’ve redesigned my entire brand, questioned my life choices, and aged 7 years.

Send help.

#WritingCommunity #IndieAuthor

[Roxanne LoMarc @RoxanneLoMarc]

The Book Con photos. Horror story or good news? It seems too many people went, but it's great to see so many interested in books, especially since someone recently said to me, verbatim: people don't really buy books anymore. 🤭 Um, I guess, I didn't get that memo 😅

[Tommi @tommithetechie]

Look at this Albert Computer! A fascinating and somewhat rare machine released in '83 by Albert Computers, Inc.

This is a pretty fancy setup here that includes the main dual-floppy drive unit, keyboard, a KoalaPad graphics tablet, and analog controllers.

The Albert was an Apple IIe clone, but it was heavily upgraded to beat Apple at its own game. It included 256 colors and built-in voice recognition!

"When you're ready to buy a personal computer, it's easy to see why Albert is smarter than Apple."

Does anyone want to guess what happened to Albert Computers? This should be easy!

#RetroTech #VintageComputing #Apple

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of typing these two words after completing a manuscript.

I know my fellow writers can relate.

[Zvonimir Tot @zvonimirtot]

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, do not - for the love of all that is holy - watch the Robert Downey Jr./Guy Ritchie trash. Back when they came out, I lasted about 30 minutes through the first of the two trainwrecks. When Hollywood tries to "improve" literature, nothing good ever comes of it.

You won't fare much better with the four (mercifully short) seasons of Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch. He’s a very good actor and the series is generally well made, but it suffers from the fatal flaw of trying to "contemporize" a Victorian-era narrative.

Instead, do this:

1. Read Arthur Conan Doyle's original stories.

2. THEN watch the beautifully produced Granada Television series Sherlock Holmes (1984–1994) starring the brilliant Jeremy Brett.

[Dean Robert Willetts @deanetts]

(Glorious ) Covers 🙂

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

YouTube would be more enjoyable to scroll through if it didn't show me random ads for stuff like this game where KPop Demon Hunters lift weights while shitting themselves. 💩🙄

Whoever their target audience is, it ain't me.

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

Just 15k words until I finish the 1st draft of this manuscript. I've found doing a merciless self-review and edit of each chapter as I go has helped tremendously with direction and pacing. If I've done this right, each chapter should be readable in 15 minutes or less. #amwriting

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

@MonaAnnLisa Nine volumes! What a challenge. Are you rewriting the whole series or trying to prune it down with edits?

[notch @notch]

Tech CEO's be like "you will be replaced by ai", and all I'm thinking is "oh sweet, I'll be able to hire people!"

And I promise you I'm not the only one.

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

After laboring over these two chapters and not liking the way they read, I started to wonder if I needed to rework the plot points altogether. It turns out a change of POV in one chapter and a change of venue in another was all I needed to make everything click. #amwriting

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

Writing the 10k word transition from act 3 to act 4 of this manuscript has proven to be the biggest challenge I've ever tackled as an author. I've never labored over inline edits and revisions like this, but each day brings its little rewards. #amwriting

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

Carl Duncan's latest video. Relevant. https://t.co/Lbw3RRMIsY

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

After 17 days of deliberation I revised the outline and axed 36,000 words from my manuscript last night. That was harder than I thought it would be, but now I'm back on track! #amwriting

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

The old books have been unpublished and the author site has been wiped clean.

I'm 100k+ words into the new manuscript and preparing for the beginning of something new in 2027.

Good things take time.

#amwriting

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

The queue of useless garbage in my 𝕏 'for you' feed seems to grow more repellent by the day...

...but I'm now shitting up someone else's feed by posting this complaint no one could possibly care about. Such is the karmic content churn of shit that is 𝕏.

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

@deanpb_author Ha! That's great.

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

This is my cat
He is made of fluff
And when I'm not looking
He pees on my stuff

#ImAPoet

[Michael J. Fleming @AdaAuthor]

I just finished watching The War of the Rohirrim for the third time, and I've enjoyed it more with each viewing. I'd put it on a shelf with other Japanese-animated fantasy like The Hobbit (1977), The Flight of Dragons (1982) and The Last Unicorn (1982).