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Stee Tee

@tontonstee.bsky.social
300 followers 298 following 317 posts

Storyteller with my heart in several places: Detroit, New York, Belgium, Ireland, France and the UK. English and French-speaking, with enough knowledge of Dutch and Spanish to be dangerous. Inspirations: Bombeck, Baldwin, Basquiat.

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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
In the re-writing process, do you ever come across a line or paragraph you'd written and forgotten, and think, "Damn, that's a solid piece of writing"? #Writing #WritingCommunity #Editing #Rewriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
When someone talks about "universals" in storytelling, I put it like this: food is food. But in cuisine, Thai is different from Cajun. Both uses spices but produce different flavors...and these cuisines aren't appreciated by everyone. So they're not universal. Same with writing. #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
George Bernard Shaw said the UK & the US are 2 nations separated by a common language. Brit & Irish pals tell me that what's on a baby's bottle is called a "teat." Only humans & other mammals have nipples. So a Yank asking in a shop, "Where are the nipples?" sounds like a creep. #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
A dilemma of #writing a #memoir after a certain age: certain pop culture references will miss certain readers. Example: younger readers might have no idea who Imelda Marcos was, or what a Louise Brooks hairstyle looks like. This is why you have to choose your audience. #WritingCommunity #writers
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
For decades, I could not write with music playing in the background...but now I must have something playing in the background. Have anyone else's #writing quirks changed over the years? #WritingCommunity #writers
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 17/10/2025
#WritingCommunity #dilemma #BlackSky
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Please post something you read at an age far too young...that may have informed your writing more than you'd like to admit. #WritingCommunity #writers #amwriting #guiltypleasure
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 28/09/2025
I just saw a video with AI-generated subtitles. The audio said "influencer" while the subtitle read "influenza". Brilliant. #WritingCommunity #writing #writers #AI
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Between boycotting CBS/Paramount over Colbert and now ABC/Disney over Kimmel, it seems like a good time to read more books…bought from independent booksellers, of course. #WritingCommunity #reading #amwriting #boycott #writer #books
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 02/09/2025
What book or author did you read at entirely too young an age...and today you side-eye your parents for their negligence? #WritingCommunity #writing #reading
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
On my list of freaky lyrics that I never thought about - Spice Girls' "Wannabe": "If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends." I have NEVER made that a requirement in past romances. #WritingCommunity #lyrics #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Watching Cardi B on the witness stand, I can't help but think of Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny." Cardi needs to do a remake... #BlackSky
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
The search for a new James Bond continues. But what original author Ian Fleming created was a product of an era far more sexist, racist, and imperialist. So he's been updated. As a writer, would you like your characters continue as IP for new adaptations beyond your lifetime? #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 29/08/2025
Confession that might get my Black card taken: I'm OK not being invited to the cookout. As an introvert who doesn't drink, I'm good for an hour if a card game is going. After that, folks are tipsy and I'm getting my plate to-go. #BlackSky
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
What film's plot have you always had a problem with? For me, it was the 90s movie about the pig 🐖 “Babe." I was like, "Why is this pig helping the farmer? Don't pig know that farmer eats pig's people? Pig 🐷 is a Sellout!" #WritingCommunity #writing #film #plot
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
What would you entitle you #autobiography? #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
#Netflix is diabolical. I'm watching a tell-all documentary about "The Biggest Loser" - which is interrupted by a commercial for Hostess Twinkies and Ding Dongs. #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 17/08/2025
#WritingCommunity #writing #agents #authors
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
In translating languages, you're often re-writing text as many concepts don't translate literally. Example: the Dutch equivalent for the insult "a55hole" is actually their word for scrotum. What foreign word/phrase you know has a strange literal translation in English? #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
I've just seen a recent full-body photo of Dean Cain. It took 30 years, but I can now say I finally have a better body than Superman. #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 07/08/2025
Weird thing about my New York writer pals: they assume NYC is the center of the universe. So in stories they write taking place in NYC, they neglect to let the reader know they're in NYC even when that would be useful information. Get out more, New Yorkers! #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 03/08/2025
Time away from a piece can be as crucial as the time you've spent writing it. Largely because "darlings" you couldn't kill a year ago can age so poorly that it's easier to put them out of your misery. #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 02/08/2025
What are the two greatest compliments a reader can give your work? #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 01/08/2025
Because #writers are supposed to be good with words & use them well, One of the biggest challenges is making characters not sound more articulate & educated than they're supposed to be. Even if a character's "educated," there's often tension between speech & motivation. #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
I laugh when young'uns think saying someone was "born in the 1900s" is a diss. I'm like, "Baby, that's a privilege. May you live to see two centuries. Because I'm on my second millennium." #Aging #WritingCommunity #writing #inspiration
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 25/07/2025
So many of my fellow #writers are obsessed with their #legacy and their name living on beyond their death. So I pose the question: would you rather your name die out...or live on with AI remixing your work and style so that future generations keep reading "your" work? #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 23/07/2025
2nd rejection received today to my memoir #query. Barbara Walters once said all the successful people she'd interviewed had 2 things in common: their steadfastness in the face of rejection and belief they'd ultimately succeed. So I sent out another 3 queries. #WritingCommunity #writing #agents
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
First thing I'd do if I got a million-dollar book deal: before telling any of my loved ones, I’d ask each to lend me $200. Those who do would get a cut of my fortune. Those who don't? They get a postcard from my mansion in the south of Spain. #WritingCommunity #money #BookAdvance
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
I've just received the best compliment from a member of my writing group. I was called "direct but kind" in my critiques. Like a choir director cringing when someone sings off-key, I hurt at bad writing. So it's nice to know that I'm not a jerk in delivering comments. #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 13/07/2025
As "that guy" at parties who raises a finger during conversations and says, "But actually...", I witnessed two other "But actually..." dudes goin' at each other with facts during last writing group. Pure Comedy Gold. #WritingCommunity #writers #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
From my #memoir: "Revenge is like that chocolate cake on the carousel display at the diner. It looks delicious but rarely tastes as good as it looks. But, sometimes, you have to order it just to find out." #WritingCommunity #writer #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
First rejection received after starting #querying for the first time in 3 years. Time for skin to thicken. #WritingCommunity #writing #agents
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
What three favorite #authors of yours show the breadth of your literary tastes? I'll go first: Erma Bombeck Toni Morrison Elmore Leonard #WritingCommunity #writing #writers
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Starting the #Query process again and girding myself for the rejections, which I plan to take in stride. If an agent rejects me, I'm not a good fit for them. I'll have only 1 agent, but they can have many clients - so I need to make sure my agent's excited about my work. #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Happiness is: running into an ex, looking them up and down, and then saying, "I see my hex worked." #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
Technique and training are what you call on when the muse is taking her time showing up for work. #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting #writer
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
What fictional character would you love to have dinner with? #WritingCommunity #writers #fiction #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
#Writer in writing group was talking about "universals," things everyone responds to the same way. "Everyone in the world laughs when someone falls down," he said. I countered, "You're young, boo. As you age, you're more likely to wince & hope they're OK." #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
One of the hardest bits of #writing a #memoir: choosing pop culture references, which is - in effect - choosing your reader. Raquel Welch and Pam Grier might get completely missed by younger readers, most Yanks are clueless about EastEnders and Top of the Pops. The dilemmas... #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
#WritingCommunity #writers #amwriting Now doing a major edit and thinking why "Kill Your Darlings" is such bad advice. A better tip is from cooking: "Where there's fat, there's flavor." Too fatty a steak fries clogs the arteries...but no fat? It's too dry. It's all in getting the balance right.
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 15/06/2025
A writing group member presented his work where he'd fallen into a trap of many a new #writer: his characters were puppets of his plot, rather than beings with their own agency. As someone who loves to plot, I felt his pain. But my advice fell on deaf ears. He'll learn in time. #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 14/06/2025
Now critiquing a piece of work for a writing group. It's so poorly done that I am sure it was written by ChatGPT. #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting #writers
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 09/06/2025
Why "kill your darlings" is lousy advice: The goal should be to write so much that the STORY becomes your darling, and you'll do whatever's needed to make it work. It's easier to cut from 100,000 words you've written than from 10,000 because the whole is more important. #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Weird thing about English: whenever someone calls another person "sweetheart" or "honey," 9 times out 10 it’s not a term of endearment… #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Editing to cut down word count, and cutting paragraphs and lines is like downsizing your list of wedding invitees due to budget constraints: "Uncle Floyd and Aunt Thelma are good people, but Cousin Ricky is more fun... and somebody's gotta go, so..." #WritingCommunity #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
There's a certain kind of #writer who obsesses about remaining "relevant" beyond death. Which would you prefer: Future generations altering your work, as has been done with Roald Dahl, to make it more palatable to future audiences, Or having your work fall into obscurity? #WritingCommunity
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
#writers, what two lines of a song are so good that you wish you had written them? I'll go first: "Once upon a time I was falling in love, Now I'm only falling apart..." #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Computer died, and I lost the first half of a chapter that I'd completed to perfection. Now it's lost, and I have to do a total #rewrite of it from memory. Rather than be gutted by it, I know this is a chance to make it even better. Wish me luck, comrades!!! #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Get involved in things where you have similar interests, so there is instant common ground. My #writing group has brought me younger and older friends who are fascinating whom I wouldn't have met otherwise. #WritingCommunity #writers #writing
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Stee Tee @tontonstee.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Auto-correct screws up more than my unassisted typing. Example: when I try to type "pre-nup," I get a rather vulgar "correction." #WritingCommunity #writing #amwriting
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