Stephen Swartz, fiction author 2.0

A fair wager nobody else has a ribald comedy set in future-medieval Missouri to entertain you during this holiday season! Get yours here: mybook.to/fOAbh

@EJFisch 💯

@SketchesbyBoze @MadQueenStorm "But not *that* knowledge."

The promise of the early web was that all the world’s knowledge would be preserved and accessible. In the past several years we’ve seen attempts to destroy every major hub of the knowledge-based internet. The “information super-highway” is a dream that is nearly dead.

@redrose_anna Holy

was just thinking about my last self-portrait with a candle 🕯️

@redsaid1 Thanks. It's my attempt at a "cozy" story.

@StephenSwartz1 This is a fantastic excerpt, thank you Stephen!

#vss365 I keep thinking of my music plan as we approach winter. Such a scheme! To what end? Just a vanity project? People here have no need of music. But what if there was a band and they liked it? I write some #letters on paper, fold them into envelopes, and get the postal boy to take them to his office and from there send them on to three different cities, one north and two east, seeking information. It takes several weeks before I get any message sent back to me, delivered by the postal boy, Charlie, who has a sweet round face and the minimum whiskers over his upper lip. He gives me the #letter and stays to listen to me read it aloud: Dear Miss Baumann, It is with great interest that I have received your inquiry regarding musical instruments for your town’s band. Please find under separate cover a catalogue of our products. I am at your service and shall do my best to fulfill your musical needs. I also wish to make you aware of our large library of musical compositions, especially famous works preserved from before the great pandemic. Please inform me of whatever you may require and I shall comply forthwith and straightway. Musically yours, Hal D. Hill, Ph.D. (Music) I stare at the signature, trace the big loops with my finger. He has a degree after his name so he must be a top musician. I didn’t know you could go to school for that. I always thought you picked up an instrument and figured out how to play it. “Is he gonna send us some instruments?” asks Charlie. “Why, I don’t exactly know,” I respond. “You have a catalogue in your bag?” “No, ma’am, but it’ll be along next few days.” So I wait. -from THE GRANDDAUGHTER (apocalyptic musical, 2024)

@MsAnjaliB 😢

Six months of living life without my heartbeat. Yet my heart beats. It’s her. Throbbing love in my veins. Delicious oxygen in my lungs. A glitter bomb called grief, sparkling in my gut. Six months. A lifetime to go. There’s no word big enough to define the loss of my Ma.💔❤️

@dailylaufeylin Can we have an album of all cello covers of her hits?

I'M OBSESSED WITH THIS PRINCESS #Coachella

The job title said "Contrarian" so he applied for it, claiming he could go against anything, anyone, for good or no good reasons, and he was right - or wrong. Hired, he refused to go to the office, laughed at calls from HR, tore up #letters sent to him. In the end, he showed up just to take a desk chair, sit laughing, when other people, the obedient ones, were let go. #vss365 #blastfromthepast

Happy Bunday to all who celebrate!

@NoDMsPerfavore Saddle up and ride west as fast as I can.

You go into work tomorrow and they tell you’ve gotta get micro chipped or you're fired on the spot.... what do you do?

#vss365 More from the noisy musicians. I got up and moved closer, back of their table. The pair of lords gave me a glance and spoke on. “I met a strange woman in the woods,” said Nicky, seeking a new topic and choosing poorly. “Said her name was Eva.” Lord Terren didn’t seem to notice, focused on his men’s joysome noise. “Eva?” he asked after a blink. “Oh – that one. A traveler down from the north. Bears #letters of introduction, so I gave her and hers a room for rest.” “#Letters of introduction? From who?” asked Nicky, as he held up his goblet to be refilled by a buxom wench. “Why, from Ulris.” Terren waved off a refill. “She’s on her way there. To Indipol, she said.” “Ulris, hmm?” Nicky pondered. “Eva? I thought her name was Evina. It was three years ago, as I recall.” Terren took notice. “You’ve met her then?” Nicky fought off a smile. “She came upon me during my hunt in the noontide. We had words.” “So much more for your holiday, eh?” He grinned at his cousin. Nicky seemed puzzled. “A long journey then. Has she guards? I see no other tunics here but yours and mine.” -from A TIME OF KINGS (future-medieval epic coming in 2026)

@MandyLSimard Will this collection of selfies go toward any good use?

𝕏 is encouraging people to turn on their cameras and make original content with their face. So here is me.. with original content🌿😏

#vss365 That time when he’d gotten up from the mat, started pulling on his clothing, leaving the woman to watch him, clucking like she’d been well-satisfied. “What’s your name, sir?” she’d begged, giving a lusty toss to her thick blond hair, sending the mane back over her shoulder. “Stanley K. Baumann,” he’d responded, hitching up his trousers. “Stanley? What’s it mean?” “Name my mother gave me.” “Ain’t no meaning to it?” “It means warrior,” he said, uncertain. “You can call me Stan.” “Just Stan?” “Awright, Stan K.” “Stan Kay?” “Stan K. Like the #letter K.” “Stankey.... I like it.” “No, not Stankey. Stan-KAY! It’s Stan K. #Letter K. K for Kirk.” “So Stank? That it?” “It’s Stan. Call me Stan K.” “Stank? That your name?” She gave a throaty laugh. “Thought you washed up before we lay together.” He’d felt insulted. “I did.” “Well, you still smell like horse.” “And you ride like a girl,” he came back. He smiled at the memory, setting eyes on the horizon. -from THE WARRIORS BAUMANN (ribald comedy set in medieval Missouri of 2353 AD, out now; see pinned)

@dlhampton ...then I should be saturated in the dopamine by now.🤣

How a Simple Smile Benefits Your Brain and Body buff.ly/1PpAon8 😊 Each time you smile, a little party happens in your head. Science shows that smiling triggers the release of feel-good brain chemicals like dopamine, which can boost your mood and support brain health. Your brain responds to the physical act of smiling, even if it starts out as a “fake” smile. A simple smile can: 🧠 Boost mood 😌 Reduce stress 💪 Support mental resilience 🌱 Contribute to long-term well-being Learn more about the science behind smiling and why it can improve your health and happiness both in the moment and over time. #brainhealth #mentalhealth #neuroscience #wellbeing #happiness #Mondaymotivation #MondayMood #MondayBlues

It's Bunday. Don't think so hard.

It's true: I don't write in the center of any genre. Rather, I play around the edges and often make up my own genre, such as "future-medieval". Thanks to Jonathan for "getting it".

A fair wager nobody else has a ribald comedy set in future-medieval Missouri to entertain you during this holiday season! Get yours here: mybook.to/fOAbh

#TodayInMyWIP [newest book] Finally got our odd trio out of town and on the dangerous road west. Only I know what awaits them over the next hill. In addition, I have an unsettling foreboding that this new book may be what critics call a "cozy" story in the manner of a "romantasy". Could be fun.

When the populace realized, seemingly all at once, how vile the intrusiveness of the media grid was, most of them unplugged and learned to write elegant #letters by pen and exchanged them from time to time. #vss365

@NatashaCL7 Platforms are all heading to the singularity: all being the same.

I joined this app 6 years ago because I was told this was the writer’s app. I like that it’s text based. If I wanted mostly videos, I’d be on TikTok. If the platform changes, where will I go? Threads? Please don’t make me go to threads.

@playinglesshurt I thought the top reason would be so you don't have to play the oboe.🤣

#jokeoftheday isn’t it time for a #clarinet joke? I appreciate number 10! You? #music