This is me reading the middle page of my forthcoming novel, Widdershins, at the point when the narrative hovers, before beginning to circle backward. #booktrailer #speculativefiction #scottishbook youtube.com/shorts/98ADk...

Forget life is short--what if you had all the time in the world?  Widdershins COVER REVEAL. Kara's story is vibrant retelling of the selkie myth and an epic tale of connected lives spanning a thousand years. Sign up to be notified when the Kickstarter goes live: www.kickstarter.com/projects/all...

First, what's a Monster Of The Month talk? Cuz that sounds amazing & just the kind of thing we're trying to do at Monster Lab (which launches tomorrow; see my pinned post). Also I've just started reading @allysonshaw.bsky.social's tremendous book Ashes & Stones on this very thing. Highly recommend.

Couldn’t resist: Sally Mann book purchase inspired by The Great Women Artists Podcast, Ashes & Stones retrieved from my wish list on Bookshop

My friend, the brilliant @nromanek.bsky.social & ¡AU! are kicking off a series of talks about monsters and the creative process. It's going to be fascinating. It launches with @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social & Esdi Reich THIS SATURDAY. #monsters #writingcommunity www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/monster-la...

Absolutely over the moon about this, esp. having just finished The Tombs of Atuan. Ursual La Guins maps, devised by her for Earthsea et al, are available in a London exhibition running till December. www.aaschool.ac.uk/publicprogra...

Our new monster event at ¡AU!, which kicks off Oct. 18. It's going to be a mix of fun and deep monster study. Still working out what the frequency will be, but we'll be doing Monster Lab regularly. Ticket prices are absurdly low for this first outing. Join us.

"...a landmark $1.5bn settlement of this copyright class action brought by a group of US authors against Anthropic over the use of their works in the training of Anthropic’s large language model, Claude." societyofauthors.org/2025/09/26/a... #GenAI #AI #Anthropic #WritingCommunity

My train from Inverness to Glasgow ran into some issues resulting in a 2 hour delay, so the extra time sitting on the track meant I was able to get through half of Ashes & Stones by @allysonshaw.bsky.social 🧹🐈‍⬛ (bought at Leakey's in Inverness!) #booksky #scotland

Fantastic piece on the influence of Alice in Wonderland on writers and artists. It made me consider the influence of that story on my own writing. www.thecollector.com/alice-symbol... #Feminism #Surrealism #Writing

Drawing Hands, M C Escher. This image encapsulates #dyslexia for me--the good side of being #neurodiverse in this way is that even two dimensional things like text are three dimensional, or spacial in a way that is nonlinear. It feels a lot like the visual puzzle of Escher's work. #neurospicy

Memory foam pillows are being marketed to M and I on social media. I said, I don’t know why memory foam freaks me out. And M says, ‘I mean what else is it remembering?’

The Westray Wifey is giving you the Monday side-eye. This #Neolithic figure from the Stone Age found on Westray #orkney is the first depiction of a face found in the UK to date. #FavouriteThings

That sounds amazing. I help writers with worldbuilding and character building, and if anyone needs it I also create maps, character illustrations or even book covers for them.

Sketching a preliminary map. I love second world maps-once I get something down that works I’ll ink it. Does anyone else draw maps for their books? (This the map of the world of my novel. Do you recognise it?) #WritingCommunity #cartography #maps #fantasy

Little doodles, big plans. Images for chapter headings for a novel I have just finished. Once I’m happy with them I’ll ink them up with some pilot carbon black & a zebra G nib. #booksky #FountainPens

I believe this illustration is by Kay Neilson-it’s a bit distorted but I love her troll bling-complete with temple rings!

A close encounter of this little fellow during our dinner camp fire one day in Greenland. Turned out he stole our cheese from one of our bags while we prepared the food a few meters away. #greenland #arcticfox #Wildlife #WildLifePhotography

The US Republican Administration expects other countries to collect tariffs on its behalf; it doesn’t have the infrastructure to do it. Royal Mail stopped shipping to the US. This tariff is a body blow to the business I have built over the last 13 years. (already kneecapped by Brexit) I’m scared.

From heritage museum in Sanday, #orkney Gutter dolls (one complete with knife) and knitted herring in tiny barrels #knitting

How do you decide what to share online? What is off limits? Read The Altar I Did Not Photograph: allysonshaw.substack.com/p/broad-cast... #witchsky

Saros #5 is open for submissions! Send us your 500-2,500 word fiction themed around sound(s), silence(s), and the spectrum in between: Music, speech, singing, unbearable (enticing?) noise(s), and/or auditory nothingness.

Reading one star Tripadvisor reviews

#flashbackFriday to the last time I was on Hoy. (2024). Rackwick is beautiful. #orkney

I could, but it’s BLOOD MONEY.

Listened to this awesome show from the proms at the weekend: Angeline Morrison (featuring Eliza Carthy who also produced the album) - folk songs of the Black British experience www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Look at this brilliant clip from the National Library of Scotland showing an Orkney Library Book Box being filled to go to the island of North Ronaldsay in 1957. The Family Box service started in 1954 and continues to this day, serving customers in North Ronaldsay, Papa Westray and Graemesay. ❤️

This detail is a ring of midges from the Scottish £10 note visible under UV light. The bill also features scientist Mary Somerville who discovered the planet Neptune. (I believe this midge wreath also appears on other denominations. Has anyone seen them?) #Scotland #midges

#SundayPixVehicle ‘71 Chevy El Camino, London E5, June 2019. Original J reg suggests it’s been in Britain all its life. Not even slightly framed or positioned, no adjustments at all, but the unexpected subject, hazy backlighting and iPhone 5s gave me an accidental William Eggleston tribute.

Check out my Affiliate shelves uk.bookshop.org/shop/Allyson... with my monthly blog reads, plus a selection of source texts for Ashes & Stones, and much more! Buying books from my affiliate page helps support my blog and indy bookshops. 💙📚#Booksky #Witchsky

You can't step into the same river twice: Herk Harvey's uncanny, unmissable, underwater CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962) rescreens 8.50pm tonight, NFT2 at BFI Southbank. A chilly, stone-cold classic. #MovieDrome. projectedfigures.com/2016/04/14/c...

hey fountain pen peeps! im looking for a new purple ink for my purple lamy safari. I've been using iroshizuku Murasaki-shikibu, which is lovely, but im lookong for a purple that has a nice shimmer. does anyone have any recommendations?

From our Sea Stack Earring collection: a tiny row of deep blue lapis lazuli shot through with gilded pyrite, hanging from hand forged recycled sterling silver ear wires. The rustic & faceted lapis stack has shades of a stormy sky & sunlit sea. feralstrumpet.com/products/lap... #handmade #jewellery

The fog horn is going off today so every five minutes or so you hear this HOUUUUUUUUUUUUUM

Really feeling this one today. Send me stories this strange when the window for Saros #5 opens on August 22!

Starhawk's profound essay on Isreal's war crimes is essential reading. open.substack.com/pub/starhawk...

My latest blog post is live: GenAI Gurus & the spiritual cost of #GenAI. allysonshaw.ghost.io/a-world-with... #Witchsky

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/... class action suit could ‘financially ruin’ #GenAi industry. Bring it on.

I'll never forget @allysonshaw.bsky.social c.2009 describing cider as "the mad old lady at the beer festival." Madam, let's go nuts.

@feralstrumpet.bsky.social is my #handmade business where I sell original designs I make with @mrowsan.bsky.social. We are new on Bluesky! Please share if you know someone who likes witchy, gothic, folklore inspired things! #Witchsky

This was a fascinating watch youtu.be/-I_HMGUly4Q?...

If you're a teacher or a nurse, and you'd like to have a blog but don't know where to start or can't afford hosting fees, then you can get a free blog at micro.blog Here's the details: micro.blog/account/forg...

I've written about a LOT of new tech - primarily in media. Even in the failures you see the appeal. Take 3D - I saw amazing demos. Really beautiful & inspiring. Ultimately it wasn't practical & audiences just didn't care. I've seen nothing like that with Gen AI. I've never once said "I love this!"

Acid Renaissance: Arcana - open in Hastings www.lazaruscorporation.co.uk/blogs/artist...

Looking back at some old photos. This is me at Long Meg--about twenty years ago! That spiral, tho...#Megalithic #StandingStones #StoneCircle #MegalithicMonday #StandingStone

This month’s round up: Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategies, Dioreann Ní Ghríofa’s A Ghost in the Throat, #Murderbot & more! Subscribe to my #newsletter to get a heady dose of high quality recs in your inbox. #Booksky . allysonshaw.ghost.io#/portal 📚💙

Are all these 'how to promote your art/writing/music without social media' sales types just building pyramid schemes? Is this the new life-coach-cash-cow? Has anyone found them helpful?

one like = one non-political opinion

18. any deliberate gender expression can be drag. doesn’t have to be a different gender than yours. if i (a cis woman) dress femme it’s drag.