Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 3hI know this is your job, but have you considered that I, an unqualified white man, might be able to do it better? You should consider going to the bookstores where the book is already in circulation with a bottle of white out because I, a man who has never written a book, have an opinion on it! 020
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 10hIt’s a bit hard to describe! It’s a vast epic fantasy that’s told across a bunch of interconnected short stories (but on the website which is the best way to read imo, the links to the stories are found inside the other stories) It’s free to read! So If you want to see if you like it:nicholasjcollins.com 100
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Webmention is up and running! I don’t have likes and replies visible on my pages but I do see them! Man, the Indie Web is great! But oh no now that all this stuff is set up how will I procrastinate writing more? 💀 Another Origin story and Day Four sample chapters are coming soon! 120
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Thank you! Maybe you’re just feeling my mortification that I didn’t crop out the scroll bar when I took that screenshot 🙃 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I don’t know how to tell you this but the stars are still there… 120
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I don’t read… enough! I don’t read enough. I wish I had more time to read. Reading is great. It’s like a knot slowly coiling from around my spine every time I put down my phone and grab a book 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Oh also! If you’re looking forward to a return to the world of Agora and its petty gods and its tens of thousands of years of history and conflict. ME TOO! That’s part (but not most) of the reason the last batch of stories has been a bit slower! I’m doing something important with “home” I swear! 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Also, I would be beyond appreciative If you would consider signing up for slowclap Even if you use your applause elsewhere. $5 a month can support hundreds of people that are sharing their art with the world! If you like my writing and want more, support me by supporting everyone!(including me!)slowcl.appsupport friendly-corncob on slowclap 👏with slowclap you can support hundreds of creators with a single subscription. Plans start at $5 033
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I’m also very proud of the slowcl.app integration! Despite being static html it reports back the url being applauded so I can see which stories you like, even from RSS! Next up, webmention! Happy to help anyone looking to do similar and build their writing / artistic presence on the indie web!slowcl.appslowclap 👏let's make some noise 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The new design is aggressively focused on typography and prose! The origin page in particular is something I’m really excited about. And there’s a cool new design thing in “Father Is Missing” that was a lot of fun to build! Please check it out and let me know what you think! nicholasjcollins.comnicholasjcollins.comnicholas j. collins 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026The new design eliminates Javascript entirely and has RSS for everything! Like the stories in Agora but not so much the bleakness of those in Home? Don’t like searching stories for connecting threads? No problem! Subscribe to the Agora feed! Full stories in RSS! 100
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 07/10/2026That was a lot of work and I still feel like there’s so much more I need to do, but I just finished a complete redesign and rebuild of my website! It’s built by hand, from scratch, using Hugo! 100
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 30/09/2026It’s so nice to know that the stuff I’ve found and appreciated this month has translated to real support going to real people. My favorite part of slowclap is how much fun it is to be nice to people.slowcl.appsupport friendly-corncob on slowclap 👏with slowclap you can support hundreds of creators with a single subscription. Plans start at $5 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Congratulations!slowcl.appsupport forgetful-chameleon on slowclap 👏with slowclap you can support hundreds of creators with a single subscription. Plans start at $5 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 24/09/2026I’m sorry but this makes me laugh every time I see it. I can only hope I’m a bad enough dude to earn 100 applause this month 💪slowcl.appsupport friendly-corncob on slowclap 👏with slowclap you can support hundreds of creators with a single subscription. Plans start at $5 020
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 21/09/2026 slowcl.app is for: ✍️ writers slowcl.app/forgetful-chameleon @valwrites.ca slowcl.app/dashing-dingo @linnfoster.com slowcl.app/peckish-friar @averystorm.bsky.social slowcl.app/simplistic-unicorn @cknightwrites.bsky.social slowcl.app/ample-auctioneer @seraphrdm.bsky.socialslowcl.appslowclap 👏let's make some noise 254
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Signing up for slowclap lets you use your one sub to support as many people as you’d like! And every month you get to decide where your support goes! You can give as little as a penny or your entire subscription to one person! Its really cool! I know I’m biased but it actually is! 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I’ve been working hard on dev stuff, but I have more origin on the way! I’d love to hear what you think of the stories so far! They’re free for everyone to read! nicholasjcollins.com/origin If want to support me, please consider joining slowclap! If you throw me 10 cents I can hit my next goal!slowcl.appsupport friendly-corncob on slowclap 👏with slowclap you can support hundreds of creators with a single subscription. Plans start at $5 100
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Lastly.. sharing! Next to each of your events and goals there’s now a share button. Click it and a link will be copied to your clipboard that routes people where they’d need to go to applaud that person as well. No more diving through settings for your applause page. 121
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Next up.. goals! Goals are a lot of things. They’re challenges to you and your community. They’re a decentralized, no API way of replacing (and improving on) paywalls and they’re fun! Here’s how they work 121
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 16/09/2026First up events. I’ve completely replaced the old (utilitarian) history view of applause sent and received with a unified timeline that dynamically batches all applause events you’ve been involved in. someone applauded you? It’s there you applauded someone else? also there got a kickback? Yep! 121
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I know summer is almost over but look! we’re on a deck 💪 (Technically 3 decks but it’s been a tough year and I’ve been binge eating frosted mini wheats) 041
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 05/09/2026Getting concerned about this slowclap thing… There’s a cancel button on the settings page and it just… works? There’s no “are you sure?” prompt? No weird attempts to trick me into staying subscribed? It lets me keep using everything until the end of the month? WTF… where are the dark patterns? 061
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026Don’t buy them used. Buy something that doesn’t actively fund hate. Better yet, buy something from someone that actively supports marginalized people. Better yet, buy something written by a marginalized person. Take a chance. It’s just a book ffs. 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026In all honesty, I think a big chunk of this “I’ll buy them used” nonsense is because people can’t fathom reading being enjoyable for kids outside of the one book series they liked, which is pretty sad. 100
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 06/09/2026But if not HP what am I supposed to read to my kids? Beowulf? 100
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026nicholasjcollins.com/origin/agora...nicholasjcollins.comfather is missing · Nicholas J. Collins 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 05/09/2026complexity isn’t about backstory, it’s about wanting multiple things that can’t coexist, or making mistakes or being willing to break with their own moral code. Backstory can obviously influence a character but when it’s all that drives them it’s predictable, in my opinion. 100
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 03/09/2026And here’s that fun little update I promised! Themes are available to all subscribers on any tier. They let you personalize your slowclap page! More themes to come soon!nicholasjcollins.comSlowclap Update: Themes · Nicholas J. Collins 221
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026As always, you can support my work (especially Origin which is available to read in its entirety for free) here: slowcl.app/friendly-corncob But what would be even better for me is if you could encourage everyone whose work you admire to sign up for slowcl.app and support them as well!slowcl.appslowclap 👏support friendly-corncob on slowclap 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026He looked with agony and envy at the beauty of the cloudless starlit sky. He wondered to himself how life could possibly continue after so much pain, but indeed that is all that life has ever done. 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 01/09/2026I’ve been super busy lately with work and life and software dev stuff but I will have some exciting stuff to share with everyone soon including: - a fun little slowclap update - an iOS app to make life less stressful - some sample chapters for my upcoming novel - More Origin! nicholasjcollins.comnicholasjcollins.comNicholas J. Collins 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 29/08/2026Can anyone in the self publishing business weigh in.. serialized pre-release serialized chapters. Good idea? How many is too many? 000
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Today's design philosophy 🧵 is about: subscriptions and auto-allocation. But in order to talk about this I need to talk about something everyone in the design business understands but I haven't really seen people talk about: manipulation. 131
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 26/08/2026Today’s design philosophy 🧵 is about… attribution! (Please picture a shooting star flying overhead and chime sounds whenever I reveal the thread topics going forward, please and thank you) 131
Reposted by Nick👏 slowclap @slowclap.bsky.social · 24/08/2026it's getting to the end of the month which means a lot of you have applause you might want to use before it rolls over. But slowclap! You're such a new platform... who can I even applaud? Glad you asked! And if you're considering joining, one sub lets you support ALL these people and more! 2104
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Fast forward to the end of the day, when I, like a modern Icarus, have 98 followers instead. 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 22/08/2026I’d like to get to 100 followers today, but I think it’s also important to keep your goals achievable. What do you think, friends? Should I go for it? 110
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 22/08/2026Almost all (all?) of my Origin stories are under 2500 words and I think they pack a lot in! I think it’s trusting a reader to infer what they need to about a character and focusing on a single problem for them to solve or fail at or deliberately break 010
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 20/08/2026How about an indie serialized short story universe thing? nicholasjcollins.com/origin/nicholasjcollins.comorigin · Nicholas J. Collins 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Oh, and in case it’s unclear, there is more than one story.. they unlock as you explore and the stories themselves are the table of contents. You’ll know you’re caught up if you get to “The Body Collectors” There’s 5 stories and two more story adjacent things! All free! nicholasjcollins.com/originnicholasjcollins.comorigin · Nicholas J. Collins 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026If you’re also a writer on slowclap let me know! Or reply here with your Slowclap page! 000
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026@valwrites.ca is another! slowcl.app/forgetful-ch... I’ve thrown them some applause and you should too!slowcl.appslowclap 👏support forgetful-chameleon on slowclap 110
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 19/08/2026If you’re liking nicholasjcollins.com/origin And would like to help me prove that you can release great writing for free and people will support it, please consider signing up for slowclap! There’s already several great authors and one sub lets you support all of them! slowcl.app/friendly-corncobslowcl.appslowclap 👏support friendly-corncob on slowclap 121
Nick @smplfi.bsky.social · 18/08/2026I have a short story collection you can read for free online and it’s good I think! nicholasjcollins.com/origin 174