iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Time to Stress and Delete. Stress my protagonist's dilemma and goal to solve the situation, while Deleting about 20 words to meet the story length cutoff. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I hate the genre question when submitting a work to an agent. My novel has a serial killer stalking a woman as she falls in love with a female detective, all while trying to play Cupid to her two best friends. And there's a dog. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Only 25 pages to go. It's taken 7 months but totally worth the time. #booksky

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

I am currently reading War and Peace (less than 200 pages to go!), Regime Change, and The Once and Future King, and with rules for DarkSpace RPG, Astroprisma and Daggerheart. My dreams have been intense. #books #reading #booksky

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

I lost my husband at Eataly

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Dear 2026, ready for a challenge?

Book cover for War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

I have finally found something that when I feel like procrastinating my writing. If I say I'm going to do this instead, I'd rather write. Knitting sucks. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 30/12/2025

Get up, meet my daily word count on the first draft of the second book in a middle grade trilogy, update my solo game actual play blog, edit the third draft of the first book in a middle grade trilogy. Repeat daily. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

I just had to punish the protagonists in the middle grade book I'm working on. Rather, their parents had to punish them. I still feel awful, though. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

A full-on writing day. I met my word goal on the second book of a new series, then edited two chapters of the first book. Now some solo journal roleplaying to relax. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

Getting up at 1:30 in the morning so I can do the laundry and ironing and not miss my regularly scheduled writing time. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 26/11/2025

Not a bad situation. I finished the first draft of the first book, and while my reader has it I've started the second book. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #BookSky

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Session 4 is posted of my ongoing solo adventure on Barsoom using the John Carter of Mars RPG from Modiphius. I tuck the game mechanics into footnotes. #solorpg

open.substack.com

John Carter of Mars RPG Session 4

Ambush in the Cave

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

I finished the first draft of a new middle grade adventure novel. I'm anxious to get it back from my preliminary reader so I can work with the feedback. Meanwhile, the second book in the series is starting to form in my subconscious. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

I just finished the first draft of my middle grade science fantasy novel. I used Scrivener for the first time. Writing by scene with a daily goal word count countdown was a great experience. Now for the fun part: Editing! #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Another day making my writing goal and then forcing myself to stop. #LiteraryEdging #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I told my partner I met my writing goal and was excited to continue writing tomorrow. He suggested I just write more today and didn't understand when I said I'd rather be excited to write tomorrow. #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Authorsky #AmWriting

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

Seven months ago I finished a project that emptied me. Yesterday, I finally felt the energy to tell a new story. I'm returning to the world of middle grade readers and the words are running so fast I can barely keep up. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

I want to edit while my partner watches TV. I put on my headphones and pull up my Spotify Writing playlist and let the music drown out the news. My partner immediately starts talking to recap the anchors to make sure I don't miss anything. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

You send out a query package, praying a publisher will ask for the full manuscript. And when that day finally comes it's sooooooo hard to open the story for one more readthrough before letting it go. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

Just as I was preparing to start my second Space Aces adventure I received a note from the lobby that I had a package. I was thrilled to find my hard copy of the game and Galaxy cards, along with a special extra surprise. #solorpg #solottrpg

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 13/08/2025

Decided to do a hair reset. Clippers across the whole scalp. We'll see how it comes back.

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

My partner just called me a bitter old man, which makes me feel a little proud. Kind of like if Alan Turing asked for my help with the daily Wordle. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 26/07/2025

I want to tack these wise words from L.M. Montgomery up on the wall above my desk: "Although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self-denial, anxiety and discouragement." #authorsky #IAmWriting

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Have you ever written something that explores an experience that was so personal, so protected, that when you finished you feared it was the underlying source of all your creativity and now it's gone? #IAmWriting #booksky #writingcommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

The dog is walked, vacuuming is completed, plants are repotted. I am getting dangerously close to running out of excuses to keep me from writing. #IAmWriting #booksky #writingcommunity #Authorsky

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 23/07/2025

We decided to take a short trip into the city this morning. I hope the new issue of Oh Reader is on the display at @barnesandnoble.com

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

Does anyone else use solo or journaling RPG as a writing warmup exercise? #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 27/06/2025

Milestone time! I've reached 75% in reading Anna Karenina. With all of Tolstoy's switching to French I am so glad to be reading on my Kindle for easy translation.

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 17/05/2025

I've come to terms with using being a victim of SA in my writing. Yes, it might embarrass my abuser in my hometown, but why should I be the only one to be ashamed of it? #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I am obsessed with this line from "The Age of Innocence": She said the words "my husband" as if no sinister associations were connected with them, and in a tone that seemed almost to sigh over the lost delights of her married life.

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 19/04/2025

Oh for God's sake, put me out of my misery. One email is all I ask. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

Have you ever read something so good, so engaging, so unrelentingly engrossing that it just pisses you off you aren't writing? #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity @thebobthedragqueen.bsky.social

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I'm working on a piece I've had kicking around in my brain for the past two months. I thought after that many mental drafts it would be an easy essay. My assay was in error. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

My cathartic auto-fiction novel about adult survivors of SA is out seeking an agent, so while I wait I'm working on a fun, non-introspective, absolutely angst-free novel. My partner appreciates the improved mood. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 27/01/2025

As a proponent of the pomodoro method, this made me laugh. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

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Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I took a week off from writing fiction to write a little solo board game for myself. It's been a fun distraction, but it's time to get back to fiction. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity #SoloGaming

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

I've noticed that for several hours after submitting a story for consideration, I am just as exhilarated as I was when I stood at the edge of the Cliffs of Moher. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity

Pat Murphy @pfmauthor.bsky.social · 31/12/2024

A better ending for a short story I thought was finished came to me in a dream. Now I get to go back and remove the foreshadowing that no longer fits, and add in details to hint at the new ending. I think the solution is to stop sleeping. #Authorsky #AmWriting #WritingCommunity