Grilled Cheese

ExploreLog inSign up
Terms of UsePrivacy PolicyCommunity StandardsHelpGet the app

Grilled Cheese is a product of Village Compute

Version devBuilt at: 2026-10-13 06:05:14 EDT

Explore

PostsPeople
LatestRanked
@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 22, 2026, 8:58 PM

So I'm starting worldbuilding edits on #CourtroomGhost, and as much as I have wanted a map, I never drew one.

Now I have.

I traced around random pieces of desk decor to lay out continent shapes and now I just need to decipher the scale of this map to find my main country's location.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 22, 2026, 12:42 AM

Title: #CourtroomGhost WIP #QTP
Genre: comedic thriller
Season: Summer
Approximate word count: 55k, should double after revision
Fluids you expect it will make readers excrete: After a spit-take, whatever they were drinking. Coffee, tea, bourbon...
Where we can find it: Not yet available; ask me!

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 21, 2026, 7:18 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WIPSnips #CourtroomGhost

Substituting "river" for "stream."

I left the palace and circled it, finding the public gardens to the east up a bit of a hill. The world was quiet, the noise from the city hushed. Even the river flowing through the midst of the garden was muted. It had been channeled and sculpted as much as the rest of the garden; the green expanse was carved into a myriad of islands connected by bridges. Deep pools lingered here and there, with willows and oaks hanging over them and fish jumping at the early-morning bugs that flitted about on the water's surface. I walked slowly through the garden as the sun rose, turning the sky a pale pink. Blue crept into the day; the dew on the grass dried.
@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 21, 2026, 6:04 PM

I knew #CourtroomGhost had a lot of minor characters in it, but I'm now 2/3 of the way through the book and have identified...carry the two...FORTY individual unique characters. And there are more to come--I haven't gotten to the hospital staff yet.

Revisions, I tell you what.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 21, 2026, 2:25 AM

#CourtroomGhost I'm supposed to be finding characters and evaluating their first impressions on the reader this week.

Instead I'm finding plot holes so big I could get three wrecked C-47s in them (ahahaha). So many plot holes. I was supposed to find these last week, dammit.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 20, 2026, 10:26 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #AwesomeCharacters #CourtroomGhost
That's literally the lesson I'm on in the editing process and oh dear... Oh. Not to the *Reader*. That's good.

MC usually scares people at first glance. But he's kind, which gives them pause. Here he is making a friend!

I knocked on the changing room door again. The man inside opened the door all the way this time, and stepped out. He had a brown and purple paisley necktie tied around his forearm, the tails tied into a makeshift sling. I handed his gun back to him. "Thank you." "Any time," he said in Alement with a northerner's accent, holstering the weapon. He stuck his good hand out. "Sir Horace Northington, her majesty's Service. Krieveland," he said. I shook his hand. "Kai, king's Special Forces. Rhelin," I added, in case he hadn't guessed. He grinned. "I wasn't too fond of this tie but I think I'll be buying it." We walked out from the dressing room hallway. Monte was sitting on the ground, holding a pair of blue socks to a gash on his head. Captain Johnson was on his radio. Two police cars pulled up outside, discharging four more policemen into the shop. "You know," I said aside to Sir Horace, "They say there hasn't been an attack on the World Court in 64 years." He looked askance at me, and then we both cracked up.
@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 20, 2026, 5:53 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WIPSnips #CourtroomGhost

Both uses of "signal" in the manuscript. In which MC, taken hostage at the hotel, decides it's time to stop playing cooperative civilian and take the hostage-takers down.

Shit. Well, either we take out the guards or the Barago mercenary forces are going to attack the hotel. One way or another we're gonna lose civs. I looked around at the crowd. My people were scattered throughout it, generally placed near guards. Smart kids. They were just waiting for a signal. You wanna be a signal? The ghost grinned. Then he swooped away into the pool. The pool started steaming, filling the room with dense chlorine-scented fog. Not overly thick, but enough to catch everyone's attention. When all eyes were on the pool, he rose up from the mist and stood on the water's surface. Attack your nearest captor, soldiers of Rhelin! His voice echoed ominously around the room. The first instance of "signal" is highlighted in blue.
@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 19, 2026, 11:10 PM

the king about why her son was cloned, and she'll be there when the bad guys take the families hostage... This might be book 2 material.

Good question! :D

#CourtroomGhost #AwesomeCharacters

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 19, 2026, 10:24 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #AwesomeCharacters #CourtroomGhost

I don't think I really hit on "sad" moments much but...MC's progenitor's mom was wailing when he left to join the military, and he left angry at her. MC has to go visit her at the end of the story and make up for it.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 19, 2026, 10:20 PM

#WritingCommunity #Writers #Authors #WritingPrompts #pretendpanel #CourtroomGhost

I read a chapter aloud just today for writer's club! My voice dries out after about four pages.

However, I read short bits aloud to myself all the time. Especially dialogue, to make sure it sounds natural.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 19, 2026, 9:44 PM

#Septopolis #CourtroomGhost

The World Court has great medical care, but lousy education. This WILL change, but right now kids get lost and only attend with their parents' permission--orphans or wards of the state are left out.

I intended it to be a place of inclusion but I broke it.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 18, 2026, 12:26 AM

#WeeknightWriters #CourtroomGhost
No more than 5 editing lessons in a week, haha.

I've got 2 hernias and I'm not allowed to do basically any cleaning--no heavy lifting, bending, or carrying--so I might see if I can get someone to come help me clean my house. Depends on the bank's computers.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 18, 2026, 12:03 AM

#WeeknightWriters #CourtroomGhost
Let's see...
-I got a copy of @premeemohamed.com 's WICKHILLS (hardcover) from the library
-COFFEE
-made it to all my doctor's appointments!
-found some magnetic bookmarks
-Darkwing Duck
-Figured out what to share at writer's group (Chapter 11)

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 11:38 PM

#WeeknightWriters #CourtroomGhost
Specific struggles this week:
-getting gas for my truck
-sleeping through the night
-edits!
-No really, edits.
-Taking a brain break and using my time wisely

Also, my paycheck came in but the bank's computers went down so I can't access it. 🙃

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 11:21 PM

#WeeknightWriters #CourtroomGhost Well... It's been up and down. I'm taking a brain day today (so of course I read through lesson 6 and printed the worksheets, but I'm not DOING them...some break lol) because I've been snippy at people around me lately and that's not good of me.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 11:11 PM

#WeeknightWriters

Trying again since I posted the wrong quote.

Hi all, I'm Liz and I'm doing massive edit work on #CourtroomGhost. I'm following Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel class, and I've done five weeks of work in five days because I couldn't let myself stop.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 11:05 PM

#WeeknightWriters Hi all, I'm Liz and I'm doing massive edit work on #CourtroomGhost. I'm following Holly Lisle's How To Revise Your Novel class, and I've done five weeks of work in five days because I couldn't let myself stop.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 10:57 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #AwesomeCharacters #CourtroomGhost

MC's weakness is his naive belief that every wrong can be put right.

But I really think that's also his strength, because he's willing to do the work to find ways of making things better. He's not jaded yet.

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 6:35 PM

#Septopolis #CourtroomGhost

Actually getting to this for a change!

The World Court started out as a pirate base in the tunnels and caves underground. Above-ground the city was planned, and then there was major conflict between the pirates and the city builders (who I haven't named yet).

@danzierlea.bsky.socialSep 17, 2026, 4:53 PM

#WriteSky #WritingCommunity #WritingPrompts #WIPSnips #CourtroomGhost

In which MC, having been awake for half a day, can't sleep.

Two hours into the night, the ghost appeared beside the bed. Go to sleep, he said. Can't sleep, I told him. There's too much going on in my head. Your thoughts are like wind whisking leaves around in a tempest, he replied. Let the wind go. It will come back, but while it's gone you sleep. He disappeared again. I wondered how he did that. But the thought was another leaf whisking around my mind, and with some effort I let it go. Sleep came at last. But it didn't come empty. The word "effort" is highlighted in blue.
Load more