Off to @gladlib.bsky.social today for 3 days of writing on my own lalalalala.

So there is also the Scouts, who are open to everybody - and I do mean everybody! And they very clearly state it too, which makes me want to hug their, er, chief scout, or whatever ;) www.scouts.org.uk/news/2025/ap...

I was thinking “someone needs to set up an alternative to the Guides”, and then I remembered that the Woodcraft Folk exist. If there isn’t a group near you, you can set one up. woodcraft.org.uk/about-woodcr...

The spring sale at Proud Geek is still on (I have too many books and not enough shelf space) so grab a bargain while you can. Get 50% off queer books at proud-geek.co.uk/sale

I opened a new shop! So tired of Lulu's greedy ways, I've gone to the Sum Up side, and you can visit the Peachfield Press Sum Up online store here! Three books on sale (UK only, I'm afraid. Have you SEEN the price of oil/postage?) 💙📚 peachfield-press.sumupstore.com

Read for insights into the arrogant, ignorant and wilfully blinkered mindset of the self-proclaimed geniuses running AI companies. E.g. "If you’re a book author, your path to getting to your fans is you just keep publishing more and more books."

This is a long read but an astounding one. The ego in charge of Grammarly tries to defend the use of AI in every creative act a human might want to do. He thinks we want an AI agent to hold our hand in everything we create. www.theverge.com/podcast/8987...

This is a horrific hate crime. So are all the replies (i am not QTing antisemitism, but you'll find plenty) 'questioning' why 'they have their own ambulances'. Hatzola is pretty similar to St Johns Ambulances, but no one is conspiratorial about that. www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cz...

This is utterly jaw-dropping. A school that bans Atwood, Zadie Smith, Terry effing Pratchett and *literal George Orwell* is actively harming its pupils. www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...

Trump celebrates Robert Mueller’s death:

Solid gold, with material that yearns to be interpreted properly. WHAT an evening.

This is fine gif

I’m appalled to see that we are following the US in their puritanical obsession with book banning. This has to stop: support your local school librarian, folks, and push back against this nonsense wherever you can.

Packed with gems this morning, @theguardian.com, aren't you? The superhuman marching prowess of Harold's army in 1066 seems inexplicable and so unfair since it made them lose Hastings, and England, right afterwards. Now it seemed that the army simply sailed south. www.theguardian.com/culture/2026...

Her voice was the background to being an adult woman. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/m...

Assembling the conference schedule for Lolly Willowes at 100, from The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society. Early bird registration ends 31 March, and look what treats we have! townsendwarner.com/the-society/... www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lolly-will... 🧚🧙‍♀️

Truly an alternate reality.

Unfortunately, closer inspection revealed that our cupola requires a specialist to restore the original timber vents, lead details, and Victorian weathervane. As well as making sure that this unique feature is restored, it is essential work to protect the Reading Rooms below. 4/5

It's Map Commission Thread time! Do you need a map? Or want one? I can help! I make my living drawing custom maps on commission. And I am taking commissions *right now*! There's more info at my website: surprisedeelmaps.com Most of my maps are for history books. Here are some examples! (1/5)

On a train to London that stopped too suddenly among Oxfordshire fields. Waiting. Guard says we've been involved in a fatality, we could be here some time. Everyone peers automatically at the track, some self-conscious remarks. Kites in the air. Guard walking up and down carriages. 'You alright?'

It's funny how laws on, say, cars never gets discussed as "We need to reach a compromise between the people who want to steal cars and the people who don't want their cars stolen."

Colour me gobsmacked. Also delighted! 📚💙https://gnofhorror.com/the-shetland-witch-by-kate-macdonald-review/

Forget the epic quests. The Shetland Witch is about what happens when a Greek Fate needs a cuppa and a place to hide from Zeus. It's fantasy grounded in landscape, knitted together with real warmth. A stunning debut from Kate Macdonald. @kateem.bsky.social gnofhorror.com/the-shetland...

Very excited to have a sneak preview of the new science fiction and fantasy bookshop at Hay on Wye. Bookshop 451 from Green Ink Booksellers opens 21st March!

I have been cooking spoon corn bread for 30 years. Still nailing it.

I read Jeff Vandemeer's Annihilation, finished it this morning. Cor. Wow. Extraordinary ecoSF novel. I know, I'm late. Go consider buying it. uk.bookshop.org/p/books/anni...

She's a brilliant writer, clarity and articulation at full strength.

I just signed a petition to stop the rollout of facial recognition surveillance in the UK. The Government and shops are scanning us without clear laws in place, using our faces like barcodes. It feels really invasive. Can you take 30 seconds to sign it too? you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/st...

“She’s the exception, I am the rule.” Such articulate cutting through of the nonsense around puberty blockers and eg Keira Bell’s detransitioning from Stephanie Lynnette on GMB this morning. It is also a refreshing relief to see a trans person actually being allowed to speak for once!

American bombers take off from UK bases today on a purely defensive mission to pulverise Tehran, ensuring there are no dangerous school buildings left standing to threaten UK interests. #Iran #Tehran

if gender is so innate why does it need deputized citizens to meticulously enforce it?

Did Ray Bradbury write this scenario, 60 years ago? Or Heinlein? Is that what they've been reading?

Frogspawn! 🐸🌱

The Israeli military at the direction of its elected government and with the full support of most of its population murdered over 20,000 Palestinian children.

My top is finished and ready to load up, just as soon as I figure out the backing…

Now it's three US citizens killed by ICE.

2/3 So I'm asking the Great British public to help because NF is seeking to be our master. Were you at school with NF? Worked with him in the City when he was a tin trader? Met him through politics? Do get in touch: johnsweeney.co.uk

This is not the government I voted for. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Yesterday evening, for the second time in a year, the Met Police raided Westminster Quaker Meeting House and arrested a number of young nonviolent activists. STATEMENT: www.quaker.org.uk/news-and-eve...

If it’s true that the United States bombed an elementary school and killed scores of children it is an unfathomable crime. I have never been more disgusted to be an American.

Find the war zones below 👀

That, as they say, is how you do it.

Shameless ignorant incompetence by swaggering braggadocio without fear of accountability. So angry.

Piracy at sea.

The last photo of Mikaeil Mirdoraghi, a third-grade student killed in the reported U.S./Israeli strike on a primary school in Minab, Iran. He is waving goodbye to his mother.

The data from your Meta Ray Bans is used to train Meta's AI, which most people don't understand means that humans are looking at the most intimate details of their lives. www.svd.se/a/K8nrV4/met...

How I arrived on Bluesky.

Wow, this is alarming. Grammarly will scrape dead academic authors' work and spit words from it back at you to pretend that this is an 'expert' review. From a dead person. If you have Grammarly installed, I suggest you get rid of it before it takes your work too.

This is either the cutest bag ever, or evidence that just because something could be designed does not mean that it should. Seen at an emporium of overdesigned tat at Schiphol airport. 🧵 🛍️ 🦉