FANCY A FIKA WITH THE CREW? SHIP’S LOG 5
Fancy a Fika with the Crew?
Welcome aboard, weary traveller. You arrived just in time for a fika* with the crew. If this is your first time aboard the Resilience, let me start by introducing myself. My name is Linnea Lucifer, and I am the Captain of this mighty pirate ship. I built her myself, and moved in while she was nothing but a building site. Today, she’s home to a splendid, diverse crew made up of a Procrastination of Indie Authors.
Currently, there are ten of us residing onboard, but we also have a number of friends, guests and passengers who travel with us every now and then. On top of that, we are building a Readers’ Retreat in Libertalia, but I’ll tell you all about that another time.
Today, it’s my turn to read snippets from the Ship’s Log out loud. We do this every Thursday to make sure everybody’s up to date, and fully aware of what’s happening on board and in our camp. If you miss out on a Thursday Fika, you always get a second chance on Sundays, which just so happens to coincide with the release of our smut addendum, the Holihell Headlines. (NB! You need a separate subscription to take part in nsfw activities.) You can get the hottest tea and the spiciest nibbles served at any location of your choice. How sweet is that?
Now, grab yourself a hot beverage from the galley, and come join us on Quarterdeck where the fika-table is waiting. I’ll introduce you to our crew, tell you something about the importance of fika, and let you in on a little secret.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF SWEDISH FIKA
A freshly baked batch of kanelbullar made by #4, my youngest son.
If I were to venture a guess, I’d say that this is probably the most common, and popular, nibble for a fika. Personally, I’ve always believed that kids need siblings, pets, and kanelbullar, so I used to make huge batches to fill up the freezer every Sunday when the kids were still kids. With buns, that is. I swear, no pets or kids were ever frozen.
Someone (I can’t remember who) once said that the most important four-letter word in the Swedish language is neither ABBA nor IKEA. It’s FIKA. As a Swede by birth and old habit I wholeheartedly approve of this message.
Swedish people, much like our British cousins a few times removed, are very good at playing with words. Fika is an example of this. See, most Swedes would agree that any fika worthy of the name begins with coffee. (For the record, I am not of this persuasion.) Coffee is kaffe in Swedish, and it sounds like some variant of caff-feh depending on where in the country you are. Down south, it can sound almost like kaf-fi, or koffie as the Dutch say, and that’s where we get fika from. Simply put, the word is formed by a backslang of the syllables in kaf-fi. But what does it mean?
Well, fika is the time we take, normally at least once a day, to gather together around a table or any flat surface of your choice, to enjoy a (hot) beverage, a nibble of some kind, and a good old chinwag with friends, family, neighbours, colleagues or anyone close at hand really.
Any flat surface will do when it’s time for a fika, even a chopping block in the back garden.
Some people seem to think that the beverage or the nibbles need to be of a certain kind, but that’s just a load of hogwash. The whole point of the fika is to take a break and socialise with the people around you.
Fun fact: Fika can both be a noun and a verb. Engaging in the act of having fika is to fika. And whatever you’re consuming while you’re having fika is the fika. Simples!
In my family, we have tre-fika, three o’clock fika, and whoever is at home or around at that time will stop what they are doing to join in. In some families, it’s the same person who organises the fika every day, and in others you take turns. We tend to pop the kettle on and load up the percolator for the coffee drinkers, and then people bring their own nibbles for a mini potluck.
There’s no hard and fast rule to how many fika you can have in a day. Many families have two or three. One in between breakfast and lunch, one in between lunch and dinner and a final one, the kvällsfika, in the evening. Each fika can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. Fika before lunch is often a quick fix, and I do believe it’s mainly the coffee drinkers who need their caffeine fix who have an early break. Afternoon fika may take 15-30 minutes, longer if you have time or finfrämmande, aka prominent guests. Evening fika is often a routine to get the kids to slow down before bed and give the family a chance to sit and sum up the day together. The time you spend on fika is actually irrelevant. It’s the connection that matters.
Fun fact 2: Swedish people drink more coffee than almost all other people in the world. I think it’s only the Finns and the Dutch that have us beat in this national sport. I’m almost surprised no one has petitioned the Olympic Committee to add coffee consumption as a new combined summer and winter discipline yet.
Libertalia Tales: First Love
THIS SACCHARINE SENSATION
Sometimes in life, something momentous happens. An event of such life-altering importance that it shakes our foundations and makes a mockery of everything we believed to be true. For some, it arrives with bells and whistles, sweeping them off their feet when they least expect it. For others, it may pass them by like a sweet summer rain while they are too busy doing something—or someone—else. Later on, they may notice that the ground is wet, or that there’s a faint scent of petrichor lingering in the air, but by then it’s too late. The moment has already passed.
I am, of course, talking about love. Or, perhaps, more specifically about first love. It’s a peculiar condition that comes in many different forms, but they all have one thing in common.
They care little for human desires or machinations. Contrary to popular belief, love does not concern itself with sense or sensibility, and once it has singled you out it doesn’t give you much of a choice. You may embrace it and submit to its whims, or reject it citing some mitigating circumstance. Maybe that you’re otherwise engaged? Or, as is often the case, that it didn’t come in the size or flavour you would have preferred? The latter is what Gianna Ranieri did for the best part of 20 years. She treated love as if it was a particularly vicious strain of the flu, and claimed that she needed a man about as much as a fish needs a bike…
Can We Keep This a Secret?
So, I have a confession to make. If you read the book above, This Saccharine Sensation, you’ll get two more, but that’s not what my confession is all about. No, it’s related to the fact that I am partly responsible for that book. I am 50% of Linn Rhinehart.
We had a round table meeting on Quarterdeck just about a year ago, and our Quartermaster (the other 50% of Mrs Rhinehart) mentioned that he had plans for a Valentine’s story, Or a pair of them, actually, in line with the Japanese White Day tradition. Now, it’s no secret that I’ve never been much of a romance reader. At least not before 2020 when I began a deep dive into the genre to understand it better. Around the table, our writers had different ideas of what first love could mean. What it could be like. And that was the start of the project I nicknamed diabetes because of all the sickly, lovey-dovey sweetness that was pouring out of them.
I suggested we’d turn it into an anthology, and a plan took shape. A plan that backfired spectacularly when said Quartermaster, aka my Sir Bear, said “You too, pet.” I tried to argue that I don’t write romance, but he insisted I could do it. Right, I’d sooner teach a stone to swim than trying to talk him out of something he’s already set his mind to. I kept putting it off, but in the end, I decided to tackle the challenge for NaNoWriMo 2022. I named it “This Saccharine Sensation” as a joke, but pretty soon I had written enough material for a full-length novel about Gianna Ranieri. A disabled woman, closing in on 40, who has spent her entire adult life saying no to love and romance. When love finally singles her out, she has no idea what to do with the saccharine sensation she’s experiencing. She’s not even convinced that she likes it.
Gianna is one of my best friends, but she’s not based on a particular person. I’ve been a spoonie all my life, and those feelings, that fear of trying to build a relationship in the midst of tackling life, work and debilitating disease are very common in our community. If anything, I think I poured a drop of every spoonie I’ve ever met into her character. The end result was a proud, fierce Mediterranean beauty who takes no prisoners. She’s driven and accomplished, but she’s also very lonely. She can’t really see how that could change, though. How do you find a man when the only one you ever speak to is “Joe” from the tech support chat at work? Why would you even want to when all you do is work and sleep? I guess if you want to know the answer, you have to read the book. =)
What was that? The secret? Do you promise not to tell on me? Okay then… I actually enjoyed working on this book. Once the character came to me, writing Gianna’s story was a blast. The follow-up, a full-length novel, is in the pipeline for a 2024 release, but that book is not safe for work. Turns out, writing spicy romance can actually be great fun. Shhh! You promised not to tell anyone!
THE SOCK WARS
We Have a Mutinous Demon Onboard
Maybe I should have started with this information, but I didn’t want to scare you away. We may have a slight demon problem onboard at the moment, but there’s no reason to believe you are in any immediate danger.
The Quartermaster had to go away on business last week, and in his absence, McLeod’s adorkable little pet demon decided to make a move for the QM’s property and position.
Big mistake, if you ask me. There’s a reason I call the QM Sir Bear. He has a bit of a temper on him, and he can be rather territorial, but he’s been smiling ever since he got back. You know how the saying goes, right? Never trust a smiling Dom…
A bloody dwarf? Because that’s exactly the kind of headache I need right now. I wonder if that’s why we have a shining orb in our cabin? Oh, well, I guess we’ll find out.
McLeod has asked for a hand with the little rascal, and she’s also asking me to deal with a rather rude book. I’m afraid I’ve been so busy chasing the deadline for our own book, I haven’t had time to consider it yet. But I will. I promise, I will.
For now, I don’t want to see as much as a shadow of any troublemakers on my deck. Is that understood?
Current Work In Progress
Before I introduce you to the crew, let me take two minutes to tell you about my current WIPs. I’ll make a better job of introducing myself as a writer next time, but for now I can tell you that I have quite a lot of projects going on at the same time. Tomorrow, Friday 5 May, we release THIS SACCHARINE SENSATION. It’s a sweet little romance with no smutty scenes. I’m working on a Swedish translation of this title, and on SWEET & SPICY, the second book in the PET’S PENANCE SERIES. That one is not for the faint of heart, but if you like spicy reads you should probably subscribe to our HOLIHELL HEADLINES to find out all about it.
I have a fantasy story in the mix too and the first part of that saga is coming with the blue moon this autumn. On top of that, my editor’s desk is full of stories at the moment. Eleven of them to be precise. Somehow, they will all be published before the end of the year, or at least that is the plan.
Okay, that’s enough for this time. If you have any questions, you’re welcome to email me at linn@aswewrite.com, or contact/DM me on twitter @linnealucifer. Now, let me introduce you to our charming crew…
RECOMMENDED READING
You never forget your first love. The way they made your soul sing. The colour of their eyes. Their scent. How they broke your heart. Love comes in as many different forms as there are lovers. Find your perfect match in this brand new collection of stories about first love, some of them sweet, some of them spicy, some of them a little dark and twisted. Fall in love with a new story as more titles are added to our Libertalia Tales: First Love series.
D.G. Barnes
An Afternoon Delight
Can you meet the love of your life in a bar? When gorgeous Sam walks into Jess’s local bar, it seems like fate. Flirty, fun, and teasing, this sapphic tale of true love will have you gasping in surprise like it’s your first time…
Fanny Ingram-Bull
Love Never Dies
They say love never dies, that the dead never really leave us When Maya’s first love is tragically taken, she wants to believe it, but all she can feel is the lack of him. Until love finds her in the least expected way.
Love Never Dies is a bittersweet story of first love beyond the grave.
Linn Rhinehart
This Saccharine Sensation
Gianna has dreamed the hubby, house and rugrats dream for 20 years, but what would normie life look like for someone like her? How do you find a man when the only one you talk to is “Joe” in tech support? Can you fall in love with someone you haven’t met? And if you do… What next?
MEET THE CREW
Our current full-time crew is made up of the following splendid pirates:
LINNEA LUCIFER
Captain
Captain of the Resilience, amateur liar and bearer of many names. Linnea is a multi-genre author who writes fantasy, romance and sweet’n’spicy spoonie smut under different pen names. An ancient dragon lady who doubles as a writing coach, editor and desktop publisher.
LETO ARMITAGE
Quartermaster
The Quartermaster, in his own words, is a simple man of simple pleasures, but don’t forget: Two things can be true! Leto is not only a certified geek and living encyclopedia – he’s also a multi-genre author, storyteller and content creator who writes fantasy, sci-fi, romance and erotica.
F.K. MARLOWE
Ship’s Belle
Our Ship’s Belle is also known as The Belledame and Queen of Creepy for a reason. This sweet social media butterfly lures you in you with poetry and pretty pictures, but make no mistake. Belle’s horror stories will make your skin crawl, but only in a good way.
M.W. McLEOD
Ship’s Sea Witch
The Ship’s Sea Witch is our resident master of spread-sheets, cards and dice. Marie is the multi-genre author behind the Beyond the Veil series, and the content creator behind the excellent sock puppet theatre featuring her adorkable pet demon Zangrunath and a few other characters from her books.
KATE FLEMMING
Kate is a queer Canadian author of sibling love and sapphic romance. With an honours degree in psychology, she draws on her studies in philosophy, law, and both creative and formal writing courses to inform her work. Kate has done extensive research in popular culture and media, as well as the scientific literature, which also informs the stories she writes. While many may find her stories uncomfortable, Kate believes that they deserve to be told as much as any other.
SIBLEY STAMPS
Sibley is an American author and cover artist who, in their own words, writes super explicit, absolutely filthy pornographic monster, creature and cryptid erotica (if you like hentai, you’ll probably enjoy it). I’d like to add that the stories are likely to make you question who the real monsters are, and realise that monsters need some sweet loving too. Or at least some of them do. Sibley may also be the friendliest and most helpful pirate in our crew.
D.G. BARNES
Doug hails from the beautiful Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. He was a military brat who ended up joining the Canadian Forces himself. After a 32 years, he retired and picked up his pen again. He’s been bitten by the writing bug in his youth, but it wasn’t until he retired it became more than a hobby. Doug writes sweet sapphic romance and sci-fi. He’s a self-proclaimed geek, a proud boomer, and an enthusiastic gamer.
ENORMA LANCE
Enorma is an American indie author who loves gay aliens, sexy futa, beefy monsters, and slimy tentacles! They write LGBTQA erotica about tentacles, aliens, futanari, mpreg, monsters, and more. If that sounds like your cup of tea (or coffee), you should probably check out their work. Enorma enjoys writing pulpy sci-fi, sarcastic main characters, and graphic sexy times.
MATTHEW J. LARGE
Matt an English author-in-progress (his words, not mine) who’s working hard on his first novel, Echoes of Astyr. When he’s not busy writing, dealing with life, petting the cat or doing spectacular artsy stuff, he’s a Nanomaterials physicist. Which, in case you were wondering, means he’s very good at dealing with things that are so small you can’t see them. As a writer, he’s drawn to Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but has also dabbled in more contemporary fiction and horror.
SARAPHINIA
Saraphinia is our latest recruit. She’s an American writer who’s working on her first two titles at the moment. She likes para-normal romance, ideally with elements of dragon smut, plus fantasy and horror.
YOUR FACE HERE?
At the moment, we are not looking to recruit new crew members, but we do accept new passengers at each port. If you come sail with us and we seem to be a good fit for each other, you could land yourself a permanent position on the Resilience. We are particularly interested in seeing new faces with skills and knowledge that is new, or not common, onboard. If you write in a genre we don’t see too much of, you would also pique our curiosity. —>
YOUR FACE HERE?
A crew like ours works better the more diverse it is. When we look at new recruits, we try to make sure we don’t get too many members from the same place, with the same abilities etc. We welcome applications from any writer who is mad enough to want to sail with us. If that’s you, drop me an email at linn@aswewrite.com or DM me on twitter @linnealucifer.
SUPPORT US?
The Resilience hosts a series of independent blogs and websites, including aswewrite.com and holihell.com. But more importantly, she offers a steadily growing number of writers a home and a treasure trove of shared resources, knowledge and experience. Your support keeps her afloat and helps us make more shit up. Thank you and welcome aboard!
Pick up some cool author and book swag in our shop. Do you have any special requests? Let us know and we’ll see what we can do…
It takes a lot of tea and coffee to run a pirate ship. Spot us a cuppa if you can and help us keep the Resilience afloat. We always say thanks…
Are You Ready for SMUT Sunday?
Look, We Did It Again!
Heh, what do you know, we made it to the end this week too. Thank you very much for checking in today. We all appreciate your time and will keep doing our best to provide value for you in our Ship’s Logs.
Next week, our Ship’s Belle, F.K. Belle Marlowe, will be holding the pen again. The Queen of Creepy is a little bit like the Irwin family, you know the Australian zoo-keepers. It’s always lovely to see them, and they all seem so bloody nice you can’t help smiling, but they also tend to throw a big arse snake, or some deadly spiders, on the table when you least expect it and that’s a big no-no in my books. We’ll see what Belle has in store for us next week, but I think I have finally figured out why she’s always trying to ply us with drinks. #justsaying
Now, it’s time for me to curl up in my pet bed and have a long overdue nap, but before I go… You’ve got this! I believe in you.
Puss & Kram,
//Linnea x
Linnea Lucifer is the Captain of the imaginary, yet very real, pirate ship Resilience and her merry crew of indie authors. But that is not all – amateur liar, weaver of stories, peddler of merch, lifelong spoonie, ancient dragon lady and Maddox Rhinehart’s irreverent pet are a few more words often used to describe the bearer of many names.
The Captain, who was named after a delicate little flower that grows in mossy, Swedish pine forests, and a certain fiery fallen angel, spends most of her days daydreaming and writing fantasy, smut and painfully crappy poems. She takes great pleasure in everything that tickles the senses and adds a sprinkle of magic and spice to our world.
Linnea writes fantasy rooted in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore under the pen name Saga Linnea Söderberg. She writes sweet’n’spicy spoonie smut together with Leto Armitage under the joint pen name Linn Rhinehart. As Evalena Styf, she’s known as a knowsy roll model and prolific content creator. She’s also a retired writing coach, editor and graphic designer.
