Today's story is set in the A.I. Universe, starting a few months after the events of "Opening Moves." However, there is absolutely no need to have read any other stories in the series to understand or enjoy this one.

I know today would normally have a Back to Basics grammar lesson; however, I promised to explain why so many seem to hate adverbs. The reasons aren't because of grammar really, and while it can be considered a relatively basic concept, this article just doesn't fit in the Back to Basics series. It's more of a technical aspect of writing, fiction in particular, so I am including it in that grouping.

​As such, there will be no elementary version of this lesson.

Story lines continue to intertwine within the Supers universe with today's story set the day after "Not in the Job Description." While you will see how our different stories are beginning to merge if you've read the other stories, you don't need to be familiar with the series to understand and enjoy the story.

However, if you'd prefer to see the entire series, you can find it all here.

A few weeks ago, I talked a little about how I came to realize the way I experience the world isn't how the majority of people experience it. As a result of that particular journey and the things I learned along the way, I came to realize I had written at least two of my characters as autistic without actually setting out to do so. Having come to this realization, I had a choice.

Rewrite them to be neurotypical, which is another way of saying "normal," which in and of itself is just a way of describing how the majority are, or I could keep them as they were.

The thing is, I cannot really imagine either Pyrrha or Asa being any other way than how I have been writing them. Plus, for me at least, nothing has really changed about how I view either character. Both are still strong, intelligent, kick butt women. They have places where they struggle and places where they shine like anyone else. There's just a concrete, neurological explanation behind some of theirs. 

Born of the Wall is set less than an hour after the events of "Conflict of Instinct" in the Myth & Science universe. You don't have to have read any of the other stories in the series for this one to make sense.

If you've ever hung around writing forums or even just google searched "adverbs," you may have the notion they are evil words that should be banned from the language. This is a notion rooted in writing conventions. It has it's place, but it is not the end all, be all for this group of words.

We will discuss adverbs today in a grammatical sense. I will touch on them in writing fiction in another article.

An adverb is exactly what it sounds like. It adds to a verb. Adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs.  

He runs fast.

She sings beautifully.

The dog quietly whimpered after being scolded for chewing the new shoe.

​In the examples above, the adverb is underlined, and the verb it modifies is in bold.

Today's flash fiction takes us back to the AI Universe a few months after "Adventures in Childproofing." While you might recognize the characters if you have read a few of the other stories, you don't have to have read any of them to understand the story.

I wish I could say returning to writing after almost a year and a half of barely writing at all, aside from business correspondence, has been a breeze. Well, I suppose I could, technically speaking, but it would be a lie.

Truth be told, returning to writing and soaping has been difficult and rather frustrating. It isn't for lack of trying or a lack of desire to begin creating again. I'm just horribly rusty, so it's a bit like returning to a sport after sitting on the sidelines for a season or two.

Creativity, much like any other mental skill, has been compared to a muscle so much it has become a bit cliche. The thing about cliches though is they come to be because they contain an element of truth. "Use it or lose it" applies to mental skills the same way it applies to physical dexterity and strength.

Today's story takes us back to the Myth and Science Universe around about eight hundred years before the events of "The Accord is Struck," fae realm time. But, as always, you don't have to have read the other stories in the series to understand this one.