#authorslife

As far as I know, the best writing tool isn't always the most expensive one. It's the one that helps you stay focused and keeps your ideas organized.

Here are a few tools many writers find helpful:

Google Docs: This a great tool for writing from any device and saving your work automatically.

Microsoft Word: I would recommend this as a reliable choice for drafting and editing manuscripts.

Notion: Very useful for keeping character profiles, world building notes, and story ideas in one place. you can also check it out for your story.

Plottr: plottr helps in planning your plot, timelines, and character arcs before you start writing.

Remember, tools can make writing easier, but they don't write the story for you. Your creativity is still the most important part of the process.

That’s a textbook septarian concretion, sometimes called a “turtle rock” or “dragon stone.” Nice find for the Greensburg area!

The woods around Greensburg sit on top of Pennsylvanian-age shale and sandstone formations from ∼300 million years ago. These concretions are super common in that geology.

Why I’m calling it septarian:

The cracking pattern: You’ve got that distinct blocky, turtle-shell look. Those cracks are called “septa.” They form when a mudstone/siltstone concretion shrinks and cracks internally as it dries.

The infill: The cracks got filled later with darker minerals, usually calcite or siderite. You can see that dark brown/black crystalline material between the lighter tan/gray blocks. That’s the telltale sign.

The shape: That rounded lobe on the side is classic. Concretions grow outward from a nucleus and often have odd knobs.

Are these fossils?

Not the rock itself. Septarian concretions are geologic, not biologic. But they sometimes form around a fossil nucleus like a shell or plant bit. If you split it, you might find something inside. Most are just mud though.

People cut and polish these because the contrast between the blocks and cracks looks amazing. Western PA has some great ones due to all the old coal swamps and shallow seas we used to have.

𝐼 𝓀𝑒𝑒𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝓀𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓊𝓉 𝒽𝑜𝓌 𝓉𝑜 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈,

This is a request from the bottom of my heart. I put a piece of their soul into this book, dreaming of the day it would find its readers. I’m asking you, begging you… please be one of my readers. If you’ve ever wanted to support an author’s dream, if you’ve ever wanted to get in on the ground floor of a new series you can fall in love with, please give The Shadow Realm Chronicles: Maeve a chance.…