H.K MacLean's avatar

H.K MacLean

@hkmaclean.bsky.social

21 followers 31 following 98 posts

She/Her. Fiction writer with my debut dark fantasy novel currently in editing. That's a wolf friend in my profile photo. Also, I stole the name Seven from George Costanza and I'm not sorry. Insta HKMacLeanwrites

H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I'm thinking very seriously of getting a snake and naming him Legface McCullen. Terrible frog name. Great snake name. IYKYK.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Thank you! Good luck with your writing and the conference!

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I'm doing a weird editing + writing hybrid goal of 4k words/day (editing much more than writing). I'm in a strange place between "pantsing" and "planning" but it's kind of working for me.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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There is a 2 hour video version with lofi too, "krill waves radio." I like the tiny squids too, because they are calm and floaty 90% of the time, but the other 10% they have tiny adorable spats with each other.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Another example, found in the wild, of why computers/AI can’t replace an editor: “He did not mix words.”

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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aw so trim! so neat!

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Reposted by H.K MacLean

Dan McCoy's avatar Dan McCoy @dankmccoy.bsky.social
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Motherfucker. I shouldn't be surprised by Ursula K. Le Guin's wisdom, but I just started this and keep getting blown away. [From "Steering the Craft" (1998)]

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I think it can work! I'd put something in that replaces sunlight in some way, magical or otherwise (it doesn't have to resemble a sun in any way, but something to replace that energy source). Ecosystem balance also be a big concern in a small, closed system.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Also the whole "how can you care so much about X when Y exists" is a fallacy. People care about more than one thing at a time. They prove nothing, convince no one by destroying harmless things that have cultural value. The only change they're making is to drive people away from the issue.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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/furious scribbling 😂 Love a fun theme and theatrical presentations. If you’re ever in the Austin area, the Roosevelt Room, while not horror themed, has good and extravagantly designed drinks.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Hey I love all those things! Thanks for sharing the name, it’s on my list for my next trip to CO.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I really appreciate you bringing a little dose of delightful bunny whimsy to my bluesky feed each day <3

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Hi #HorrorWritersChat I'm told my current project fits better in "Dark Fantasy" but it has Lovecraftian horror as a major element. Nightmares in Hale Harbor is about to go to an developmental editor, because it's my first book ever, and I need help haha. I'm writing the sequel now!

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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USA, central Texas! I loved my visits to Japan; the scenery is so beautiful. This is Sif, she loves to meet small dogs. She and Masuke would be friends <3

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Listen you, it's not even father's day!

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I have never felt so heard. I still accidentally do the old save-as menu occasionally and rage every single time. Everyone, from a writer -- don't ever use a "free" cloud service as your default save. Back everything up in multiple places and assume anything free is stealing your content for AI.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Me, trying to write "corridor,": It's two 'o's here, right? No? Just one then? Still wrong? It can't be two 'o's THERE, that's almost beer. Okay, I give up, spell check, what the hell is it? TWO 'R'S? OH COME ON. English is weird and words are hard, everyone.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I agree and I'm making a mental note.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Me: Google, does the Mandalay Bay hotel treat their animals well? Google: YES, YOU CAN BRING YOUR DOG HERE. DOG FRIENDLY. YAY DOG ANIMAL. Okay, that wasn’t my best use of search terms, I admit that. But come on! (They are AZA accredited, which is what I should have asked I suppose)

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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"The Cloud is just someone else's computer." Brilliant, how I wish I had thought to explain it like this!

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Who likes inventing swears in made-up languages? In the scene I worked on today, a merchant calls one of my MCs "A fermy, god-blasted twick!" and I think it kinda slaps tbh.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Has anyone else tried WriteTrack? TBH, I like it better than any other word count tracker I've tried. I like that it allows me to set weights for particular days, so for example, I can set zero words on Saturday and it'll update the daily goals on the other days accordingly.
writetrack.cloud

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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For example, it seems calling your daughter “brat” for using the word “wolf” to describe a boy (a man?) is a fairly mild exchange here 😂

I found a review of the book “Death’s Old Sweet Song,” here: classicmystery.blog/2023/05/29/d...

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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"19 crimes? That's rookie numbers." - Cleo Show off your cat in a box! Fill the skyline with fuzzy little criminals in boxes!

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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People are so blown away by this, but it was/is a common attitude where I grew up, to be proud of killing any creature that dares cross you in some vile, vicious manner. Kids I grew up with bragged and joked about it frequently. I'm relieved people are outraged.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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(And study strategies, essay prep, critical reading were all things I learned mostly during class time in AP courses - could absolutely be done in regular courses too)

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I tutored history in college. So many freshmen had no idea how to study - for multiple choice, short answer, or how to prep for closed-book essays. I think part of the problem was that they never had to learn that skill independently. “Complete homework, get points” didn’t translate.

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Kaitlin Ruiz's avatar Kaitlin Ruiz @kaitlinruiz.bsky.social
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we need to get this guy together with the lady who refused to disclose the location of her buried bean stash

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Reposted by H.K MacLean

Bruce Arthur's avatar Bruce Arthur @brucearthur.bsky.social
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I think the best thing about a solar eclipse is that it should remind us that we live on a planet and we should care for that planet because there are forces a lot bigger than us that should cause us to reflect with awe and reverence, and the other best part is the eclipse jokes

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I experienced a (relatively minor) earthquake in Japan while staying with my friend. "Aren't we supposed to stand in the doorframe or something?" I asked. "Oh since you're here, I guess so." She wasn't even going to get out of bed 😅 Now I know the doorframe wouldn't have made a difference.

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Max Gladstone's avatar Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social
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The story you write for a "wide audience" will be trammeled by your own (incorrect) belief in the existence of normal people. The story you write for the weird little goblin who lives inside your brain will grow wings because the world is full of weird little goblins

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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A normal work life balance, appropriate feedback from your supervisor, reliable coworkers, and a non-toxic work environment are not compensation - they are minimum standards 🫠 Next they'll be talking about "structural compensation" as though a roof and a parking lot are part of employee pay.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I'm trying Scrivener for the first time, testing it out on creating a complete encyclopedia for my world/characters and it's great so far (definitely better than 100 Note files with slightly ambiguous names which is what I was using until now). Any other apps I should try?

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Delivering an electric shock to an animal to compel their compliance is inherently abusive. If it wasn’t an abusive practice, people would use them on children. Yet even people who think hitting children is fine would balk at that suggestion.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I poked around for satellite trackers after seeing your posts and didn’t find many options. Surprising since satellite GPS has been around for a long time.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Anything that says “training collar” you’ll want to examine closely, as they’re almost always shock collars. Companies are often very misleading about it, using nice words like “feedback” to cover up the actual functionality. Funny how they feel the need to do that.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I love rereading books. It’s like comfort food for my brain ❤️

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I watched like 3/4 of Steven Universe (in part thanks to you - you know why!) and it was delightful and comforting and I really need to watch the rest.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I just don’t have enough books that look good in tiny hats 🤔

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Writers and everyone who needs to hear this today: thinking is not procrastination, it's progress. Thinking IS work. I sat down yesterday and wrote a synopsis in thirty minutes. It wasn't thirty minutes of work, it was hours and hours of thinking plus thirty minutes of writing it out.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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Texan here. It's awful. It feels like screaming into the void. But we did stop christian nationalists from taking our school board in my city last year. Voting still makes a difference, even here, where we have actual criminals in high state offices.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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If they haven’t been the Weather on the Welcome to Nightvale podcast, it seems like a missed opportunity.

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H.K MacLean's avatar H.K MacLean @hkmaclean.bsky.social
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I like the Bluesky space. Y’all are great. Smart, compassionate, fierce, uncompromising when it comes down to what matters most. I’m glad I have a social media space that doesn’t make me heave in a deep breath before I open it. Here’s a pic of my dog, just because.

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