About

Just who in the world is Ripley Sweet?

You are very right to ask that question, and I should like to illuminate on the matter right now.

It's been a few minutes. Who are you?

By day I work in retail hell; by night I work toward escaping it. But during my free time—well—I like to write.

I wanted to make movies growing up. I made amateur films until college, first with stop-motion, then live-action techniques. I never thought I'd like to write, truly.

However, when I started writing articles, I discovered that I actually am rather talented (though, at this time, not skilled!) at writing. I see now that I just love to tell stories, whatever the medium.

Writing is just my favorite method of telling a story.

What do you like to write?

For now, I mostly write short stories, and humorous ones at that. I'd like to begin writing a mystery-novel series, but I'm putting that off until I have more room to breathe. Lately, from July of 2024, I have decided to start crafting poetry, and am taking a break from writing funny short stories.

What are your hobbies outside of writing?

Like most writers, I love to read. Outside of that, I really haven't much time for anything else, as I am young and training for various things, such as a profession.

I love to smoke a pipe. I think the coffee and tobacco plants are some of the best members of the vegetable kingdom that God ever made for us.

My favorite pipe tobaccos are aromatics. I've tried various non-aromatic blends; I don't care for them too much. I want something that not only tastes good, but smells good to others.

I currently own eight pipes. Left is my gourd calabash.

There are two hobbies which I have made minor progress in, but I almost always put their practice off in favor of other pursuits. I like to practice the imitation of dialects—namely, the non-rhotic Southern dialect (really a generalization); and I'd like to later take on the Upper-Midwest dialect. I also want to eventually become proficient at traditional banjo playing, but, my, learning to play an instrument is hard.

My favorite genres of music are folk music (actual folk, not modern "folk"), baroque and medieval music, military marches, and Gregorian chant.

Like most of my generation, I do play video games, but only from time to time. I prefer strategy games and simulators.

I also like to play poker, but not with monetary stakes.

How do you write your stories?

It varies. Sometimes, an idea flashes into my head, and in my head at work, I develop dialogue, sentences and plots. This I am able to do because my current job usually only requires repetitive physical labor. During my free time, when I have set time aside for writing, I drink a big mug of coffee and sit down for several hours, chipping away at a story, usually until it is done.

I jot down ideas and lines/paragraphs into Joplin, which syncs between my phone and my computer. I write the story proper in Scrivener.

How did you build this website?

I quite like the websites of old, that is to say, websites made from the 1990s to the 2000s. I employed a frustrating search for easy methods of creating an old-fashioned website. My searches came to naught, until mid-May of 2024, when I came across a comment on Reddit recommending SeaMonkey Composer. SeaMonkey is a continuation of the old Firefox, which itself descended from Netscape Navigator. In a sense, SeaMonkey Composer is a true old-internet website builder. It's a nigh-extinct animal, except it's escaped from the zoo and is now roaming the streets terrorizing people.