because I will always be the "I have a skilled trades/labour background, not an education" person, I will tell you that a big part of becoming skilled in anything is trying, failing, and being willing to try again despite how much it hurt. That's key labour, and without it, it's all an illusion

je suis fatigué which is all the french i know and let's be honest all the french i need

Voting for the Hugos, BSFA's and Locus Awards all close soon so can I just gesticulate at THE SALT ORACLE once more? This book has ghost orcas, what more could do you possibly need? ALSO & MORE IMPORTANTLY, please go vote for the AMAZING cover designer, Sam Gretton and editor Amanda Raybould? 🖤🌊🖤

It's official. The Packet is out today! Thanks to NewCon Press and the brilliant Vincent Sammy for his outstanding cover art. You can grab one in person at Eastercon next week, buy online from the publisher's website or order from wherever you buy your books. www.newconpress.co.uk/info/book.as...

Look if you follow me and your entire feed and persona is just US politics, then you get blocked. I realise some good 'uns are going to be airlocked in the process, but I'm not here for the bot wars.

This is the CEO of "superhuman" (i.e. grammarly) talking about that impersonating experts thing. And how he tried to justify that "all" these "experts" wanted them to do it. Business decisions - by a powerful, wealthy company that wants to put Grammarly into your entire computer -made thusly:

I wish I was more of a hustler

I've been on the ice for 2 1/2 hours already, it's probably about time I wake up.

I'm kinda obsessed with this song right now, lyrics maybe nsfw youtu.be/7YBe414fPcc?...

I adored this book, and fully recommend that you read it if you haven't yet

Suggestions are open for the BFS awards. Both my novel Forged for Destiny & my novella Walking a Wounded Land are eligible for this, so if you read & enjoyed one of them, & you're in the BFS, please consider giving them a nod. Meanwhile, I'll be busily nominating my favourite books by other people.

Took a walk I hadn't gone on since my old dog died (so...three years?). I avoided a lot of our walk routes because they hurt too much. Today I took the scraggy dog out to the doocot, where one can imagine bodies dumped...

Ruin a book by adding 'somehow' to the opening line. "It was a bright cold day in April, and somehow the clocks were striking thirteen."

Ruin a book by adding 'somehow' to the opening line. "The man in black fled across the desert, and somehow the gunslinger followed."

god why am i always so full of rage and also hunger

You know what? Feel free to add somehow to all your sentences if it makes you happy Because you saw it on some star wars show

Posting with my vaguely editorial hat on here, but I have never seen a sentence that was not improved by deleting the word 'somehow.' *removes editorial hat and goes back to being feral*

If you're suggesting work for the @britfantasysoc.bsky.social awards, these are my eligible works from 2025. Danke!

Thank you to whoever put Godzilla as a Youn Man Named Mike on the British Fantasy Awards suggestion list already! ❤️🦖 You can name your faves by going here (remember to check the guidelines, naturally): docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Still only 99p! amzn.eu/d/02JNmwJq

I needed an absolutely ridiculous and idiot-friendly film for I am having a no brain say and The Fall Guy is everything I want and expect from Ryan Gosling going full cheese on the Ken wave. Gloriously stupid and revelling in it.

The Heart of Winter is on sale for only 99 shiny pennies! What a bargain - and perfect reading as we pass from Winter to Spring amzn.eu/d/0hqFWAqp

Ahhhh love to see someone getting what I was going for in A Million Points of Light! "This is a story about power, yes, but also about identity, restraint, loyalty, and the fragile thread that keeps someone tethered to their humanity." syllableinthecity.co.za/a-million-po...

Two years ago I had my agents ask authors seeking blurbs if they had used LLMs in the writing or research for their novels. If yes, then I won’t read their books. I know I could be lied to. If I am lied to, I will LOUDLY retract my endorsement. I hope more writers might adopt a similar policy.

Frank Herbert. Also a homophobic prick. Villeneuve has done a great job of excising the bigotry of the books from the films though. #Dune

My child sent me this red dwarf fan edit and it is perfection. www.tumblr.com/odo-apologis...

Prints AND posters are 25% off! PRINT SHOP sales have been non-existent for the past year and any shares/orders of any size help out a lot! #art #DarkArt #ArtShop #BSNM

Our March #Salon is an evening celebrating the dark imagination of women writers, with three brilliant voices in contemporary gothic fiction. Free tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/gothic-wom...

Ahh I love this cover! The planchettes!

It appears I must make my own coffee. What fresh hell is this

Not long to go till this, my London-based, storytelling-loving pals! Tickets & more info: tickets.storypickandmix.co.uk/events/theho...

Actual quote from recently, in a class test where AI wasn't allowed: "But how can I write code without AI?" 😐 Watching ChatGPT do your homework is *not* learning. A lot of students are vibe studying through their degrees and not gaining basically any knowledge of what they're doing

Book 8 The Coral Bones by E.J. Swift Three interweaving stories of past presents and future make for a depressing yet ultimately hopeful read in this climate fiction SF novel.

Ahhhh love to see someone getting what I was going for in A Million Points of Light! "This is a story about power, yes, but also about identity, restraint, loyalty, and the fragile thread that keeps someone tethered to their humanity." syllableinthecity.co.za/a-million-po...

What gives me faith in humanity is everyone I know just flat out refusing to read any article that claims to know banksy's true identity. we don't want or need to know

🎉ACQUISITION ANNOUCEMENT🎉 We've snapped up THE TRAVELLING MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT by @gen-dimova.bsky.social for the UK! 👉 https://bit.ly/4sg10Rn THE SPELLSHOP meets NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM in this cosy fantasy! @alrutter.bsky.social acquired UK/BC English language rights from @benglishhh.bsky.social.

being a writer has highs and lows and I will celebrate the highs (because they are few) but I'm not going to curate this perfect instagram unreality for people to believe in. if you think that talking about the lows and the hard times makes me a whiny dick, then my timeline is so not for you.

Right, this has been a fairly productive day, and I have made some few words. Now I will go walk the scraggy hound.

Just some robot whimsy for your timeline

Hey folks! If you're in the mood for a bit of Scottish sea going sci-fi adventure, you can pre-order The Packet now. (You don't even need to read it, just enjoy Vincent Sammy's outstanding cover art!)

My two self-pubbed books featuring trans/nonbinary characters will be 99c for the duration of the Trans Rights Readathon, wherever you buy books. The universal buy link can be found in my linktree in my bio. #booksky #transrightsreadathon

Quietly proud that three of my 2025 novels that I commissioned and edited have been bothering awards: The Serpent Called Mercy by @roannelau.bsky.social winning the Aurealis Award for Best YA Novel; The Salt Oracle by @rainewilson.bsky.social being shortlisted for Best Novel on the BSFA shortlist...

This is out in August! Writers and reviewers, my dearies, if you fancy an ARC drop me a line- they are heading out shortly! Preorder it if you like cool books about swords and ships and monsters and guilt and arcane archipelagos and betrayal and hope and disaster and fate amzn.eu/d/08ibViSi

see? here's the thing. A lot of people are like, the earth is fucked, it's beyond salvation, it's hit the tipping point, but time and time again we see that if we just fucking fixed the problem, it rebounds so incredibly fast. Imagine what could be done if people actually cared

I love both the US and UK covers for this, which is quite a thing. Put this one on your list, folks!

You absolutely cannot separate the artist and the art without contributing to the persecution of trans people. Boycott everything Potter.

Short story/flash pals! I'm running a workshop on experimental stories in a few months (interactive, epistolary, lists, reviews, adverts, recipes etc.) I already have a good few to use for it, but if you have a recently published one, would love to add a couple more! Feel free to drop links below! ✨️

Outside my flat, I hear a voice say “Alan, you are being so fucking obstreperous right now.” A woman appears, walking backwards, holding a taut thrumming leash, straining hard against her. Then, seemingly minutes later Alan finally appears: the smallest, lowest, muscliest sausage dog in all creation

Please sir, may I have some story acceptance? I am but a poor Victorian orphan and I am tired of this chimney sweep life

Submissions for They Are Still Here t @wtpress.bsky.social close March 21st! wizardstowerpress.com/2026/submiss...