@daveruddenwrites.bsky.social I've just finished Sister Wake. Good lord. It's incredible. I need a day to gather my thoughts. Thank you for writing this.

Did you make yourself a little resolution to get out more this year? How about coming down to Grafton St and supporting a local artist, writer @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social today - it’s free, there may be wine, and everybody is really welcome #SisterWake

Just two days left until SISTER WAKE is released! If you happen to be in Dublin this Thursday, come to the launch! If you're not, but you're craving an epic fantasy with; - anti-colonial themes - giant monsters with tragic hearts - Irish myth and history Then this might be the book for you...

This was a lovely chat with the fantastic @eithneshortall.bsky.social about all things SISTER WAKE, Sam, and a dinner party argument about why, no, colonialism was not a 'mixed bag...'

You know it's a good literary event when you and the audience end up singing Stacy's Mom at karaoke in a pub called the Banshee Labyrinth.

Friends in Clare/Limerick, I've been offered a job working between Ennis & Shannon. I'm looking for somewhere to live, I'll be hoping my 15yo can join me over summer, but I could rent a room til then. If anyone has any accommodation leads please give me a shout. Shares appreciated 🙏 #Speirgorm

Preorders are important because then you forget you preordered and you buy another copy of the book and give the one you get after the one you get surprisingly quickly to your friend.

Off to #Edinburgh for my annual week-long fantasy writing course with Rutgers students AND my first Sister Wake event AND also to go to the bar where they lower a nine-foot Frankenstein from the ceiling at 4pm every day, all equally and extremely educational

Thank you all for your kind interest in my haunted door! Upon opening, it is in fact the door to a haunted room. So that's consistent at least I did a lil photoshoot (incl with my new book!) so insert your own monster here, and hey, may you also be visited by a creepy door this year too...

Hello new followers and happy new year! We're just twelve days away from the launch of my first epic fantasy, SISTER WAKE, everything you've ever wanted in a book; (provided what you want is Irish myth, colonial revenge and two hundred foot Celtic goddesses with a grudge. I hope to see you there!

Happy New Year everyone! My NYE's plans involved inviting some friends over and opening the mysterious door in our new house for the first time. It was lots of fun and we certainly didn't unleash or get replaced by anything. Here's to a new year of definitely not being possessed!

And on that note, here are some of the new SFF horror and spec fic books scheduled for release in hardback this January that you might want to keep an eye out for 👀 🪐📚💙 Titles and authors below ⤵️

I have always said it, I will continue to say it, we are limiting the productive potential of millions of freaks by demanding they earn a wage to survive instead of enabling them to do whatever thing their brain is broken for

they didn't need AI to make Silksong, it just needed some deeply insane guys to have a blank check for living expenses until their next thing was done, I think we should try doing more of that instead

may every trans child grow into a trans adult

There are many brilliant children's authors out there who have created incredible books, who don't always get the visibility they deserve. Explore your library or bookshop and ask for recommendations ❤️

Sister Wake Exclusive Extract: a high fantasy trilogy, inspired by Ireland's history of English oppression from Irish author Dave Rudden. @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social hodderscape.co.uk/blogs/exclus...

Join the Rising on Jan 15th! We are launching my Irish-inspired epic fantasy SISTER WAKE in the lovely Grafton branch of @dubray-books.bsky.social on Jan 15th and there will be wine and readings and I am QUITE NERVOUS so you should come along and tell me I'm pretty

Looking for a lunch-time read? @hodderscape.bsky.social are sharing an exclusive extract of SISTER WAKE, my anti-colonial Irish kaiju epic fantasy. I've been working on this book since 2020 and I'm beyond excited for you to read it... hodderscape.co.uk/blogs/exclus...

Thank you @hodderscape.bsky.social for these epic fantasy ARCs Sister Wake by @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social - rebellion, gigantic gods, & Celtic myth - perfect for me! Out 15th Jan Saltswept by Katalina Watt - ragtag crew, a perilous quest & Southeast Asian mythology - sounds fun! Out 26th Feb

109. Conn of the Dead Dave Rudden & Ali Al Amine Irish mythology reawakens as the Abhartach comes to life. Can Conn make the right decisions? Humour, horror and a great representation of an ADHD child.

"If you're the kind of kid who can't sit still in school... you still have a chance to be a hero." We had the joy of chatting with @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social, author of Conn of the Dead, which is shortlisted for the 2025 @specsaversie.bsky.social Children’s Book of the Year - Senior.

LOVE voting for my faves! If you do done fun / satisfying thing on the internet today this should be it

Just a few days left to get your vote in for the Irish Book Awards! Show your support for CONN OF THE DEAD and a whole host of gorgeous books at irishbookawards.ie...

Absolutely bursting with pride that the mighty #ConnOfTheDead is up for an #IrishBookAward! Written by @daveruddenwrites.bsky.social and illustrated by @aeadraws.bsky.social – vote early, vote often! www.irishbookawards.ie/2025-shortli...

So lovely to see a new prize celebrating a crucial bandwidth age in children's books - we so often lose young readers around 10/11, and this will hopefully reinforce the importance of books for that age. Plus, @frankcottrellboyce.bsky.social is amazing - what a pick!

So angry for the Bloody Sunday families and the people of Derry. Absolutely no justice in this at all.

Can't wait to read this!

Seeing as it's #IrishBookWeek, I've put together a Starter Pack of bricks 'n' mortar bookshops. Terrified I've forgotten someone obvious so please let me know of additions go.bsky.app/G4kmxVq

Come and sign up or even just support, your new favourite author may be about to take the stage!

An absolutely gorgeous time with these students - I am WRECKED but full of joy...

I was buying a hat for a friend in a Parisian shop and I couldn't find a mirror. When I asked for one, the elderly owner popped it on their head and did a perfect catwalk circuit of the shop for me. (I bought the hat)

‘96% of healthcare professionals said the model helps to reduce children’s anxiety, and 46% reported a lesser need to use sedation after the children played with the set.‘ ‘Lego doesn’t sell the sets and instead has donated more than 10,000 of the kits to hospitals around the world.’

This is just such a no-brainer win for everybody that I hope that it gets rolled out in a much bigger way.

I'm ignoring emails from one of those freelance book promoters, and they're really hitting me where it hurts - 'Dave, you're not good at communicating, just respond to say no.' Which I know is just a tactic, but man am I susceptible to GUILT

So sad to hear of Manchán's passing. His works are always on my desk, just reading a line or two is enough to lift you and remind you of the ground beneath your feet at the same time.

'They rode to the fugitives’ bed at Waermund Hill – a white stone square as flat and smooth as a quilt. In some tales the beds were for lovers, in others they were for thieves, and in a few they were for both, the besotted boys and heart-crazed girls who stole each other from disapproving hearths.'

The CONN OF THE DEAD audiobook has been released! This was such a blast to read so if you've got a horror-lover aged 9 - 11 (particularly one who's neurodivergent) this is the peril-packed few hours for them. There's even a sample here to check out! rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/97...

Somewhere in Iceland.

Film criticism is an environment where straight, white, cisgender, and male voices have dominated for over a century. Now we FINALLY have an influx of diverse voices who offer more context, expertise and analysis! And now, of course, people say critics are worthless now. What a fucking coincidence.

Politely withdrawing from a book prize isn’t cancelling anyone. When the Women’s Prize said it had no problem incl transgender women, the “gender critical” novelist Lissa Evans, for example, said she’d no longer allow her books to be submitted for it. I wonder where the substacks were about that?

I was in Edinburgh and saw a battered burger on JustEat. Reader, they had battered the buns. (you could also order cigarettes)

"He said: "Wouldn't it be great testament to [Sean Rocks] and to Michael D who's going to finish up this year, if there was a dedicated section in the six o'clock news for an artistic segment the same way as there is for sport."

Very sorry to have to cancel my gigs in Malahide Library today due to a wretched stomach bug - we are looking to reschedule and I'll yell about dates here when we do!

It's a target-rich environment if you're comparing JURASSIC PARK to its successors with an eye toward what's changed in blockbuster filmmaking, but a big one that stood out to me this time around is little things like Sattler collapsing against a fence and sobbing after an escape from the raptors.

One of the unexpected joys of parenting has been discovering just how many great books are now available for the confident middle grade reader, and indeed the useful existence of middle grade for labelling books with plenty of action/peril but not much emphasis on the relationships side.

I've added another Publishing Information Session as the first one has been snapped up - your support is greatly appreciated and I'd love to help your book find a home! Find out more at the link below. www.ruthennis.com/irish-kidlit... @rurooie.bsky.social @sineadohart.bsky.social

My new book with @facetpublishing.bsky.social is out soon! It’s aimed at new D&D dungeon masters, especially school staff that have less time than they’d like! You can pre order here! facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/... #ttrpg #ttrpgcommunity

Show your support: buy Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward, Bloodsongs by Mae Diansangu, Impossible Heat by Ciara Maguire, Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye, Spoilt Creatures by Amy Twigg

By my count this makes 5 out of 12 authors on the Polari First Book longlist who have withdrawn. It's hard to understate the moral courage this involves, esp for folk launching their first book into the world. As so often, those with the most to lose end up showing the most moral fibre. Solidarity x