These are worth your time and money. (and the sort of publishers i will work with)

I don't often get visual aura with my migraines but today I'm getting the sparkly light effect. It would be kind of cute and pretty if it weren't for the rest of the migraine.

I'm disabled with things that specifically impact my ability to think and string words together. I'm not a fiction writer because I'm just not naturally inclined that way. To get good at fiction writing i would have to put in a lot of practice and time - just like non-disabled writers. 🧵

Reading goals this year include: 📕Finishing or continuing some of the series and trilogies I've already started. Which might mean re-reading book one. 📗More books from other countries. 📘Maybe a bit more non fiction? 📔At least one library book a month. 📓 more indie and small press books 📚💙

Just remembered that in my dream last night was a giant (like 1m long) black velvety soft lobster. That was produced so i could stroke it. A real living lobster. Not a toy. I can't remember why i was being shown this lobster other than that it was clearly awesome.

My non professional tip for adding Alt Text to an image is to pretend you want to show me something on your screen and you yell "Arnica, come see this!" And I reply "Babe, I'm frying you homemade donuts, can you just DESCRIBE it to me?" Whatever you would holler to me is the Alt text!

Post 15 books you read in 2025 that you recommend. One book per day for 15 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no expectations, just covers. 1/15

I'm solidly agender. My preferred style is somewhere between laganlook and androgenous urban goth.* But sometimes. Sometimes i really want a stylish little 1930s ensemble. I just struggle to wear them without feeling horrible dysphoria and like I'm in "lady" cosplay.**

Three authors i love as guests of honour.

Daughters of Mercy, Leeds = nuns Sisters of Mercy, Leeds = definitely not nuns Must try not to confuse.

I was telling one of my kids that it was physically impossible for an ad to play between songs on any of the records I own, and they asked "and you only have to pay for it once?" and you could see how strange that seemed. You cannot overstate how many basic rules of media consumption have changed.

A while back somebody was posting on here vehemently stating that ebikes shouldn't be allowed on trains because they were too dangerous. Anyway, last week i was in Italy and the regional trains not only have really good bike spaces but deducated power sockets for charging your ebike in transit.

I'm in a busy hospital waiting room and there are only three people reading books. We're all under 50yr old. This just doesn't align with a lot if the "nobody reads anymore" articles I've seen. Clearly not many people are reading here, but who is and isn't bringing a book is interesting.

The hard hitting truth

Lot of people in the UK really need to learn to tell the difference between a weather forecast and weather in the local news. Forecast: there's a chance that some specific areas may get significant snowfall. Report: UK BRACES FOR BLIZZARD People: the forecast was wrong, there was no snow here!

The UK has declined a new Elbit Systems contract, leading Palestine Action prisoners to end the hunger strike that had three of them on the brink of death. The Tesco worker suspended for refusing to handle Israeli goods has been reinstated and will no longer have to handle them. We can and will win

Sometimes, you can just make a tray of scones. Because you fancy it. I just think this is a good thing to remember.

PLEASE, I am begging you, write your queer stories, your Weird stories, your #hopepunk & #solarpunk stories, your stories of a better world & our broken one, of healing & liberation. PLEASE (Brought to you by the trauma of me reading a story of horrifying conservative status quo justification)

Can I get some reccs for books ft Ukrainian characters? I don't care about genre, I just want these books to have more visibility and they scratch a sorely needed itch for me

The plural of spouse is spouses right? Not spice. Or speece.

Broadly speaking there's three types of vegan: Tofu vegan - most protein is tofu, tempeh or similar. Bean vegans - most protein is from beans, chick pass, lentils etc. Faux meat vegans - most protein is seiten and other mock meats These are all valid. They're all good. They're all tasty.

Still haven't written a proper review of Everything Will Swallow You by @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social . I feel like i have a lot to say about it but it's all just hazy shapes and abstract ideas and feelings. (This is good. It was good.)

I am once again reminding you all that the UK government introduced an Online Safety Act that is effectively a porn ban on most adult porn websites, but is dithering over banning a website that is actually creating child porn.

It’s awful to see the ‘stop the puberty blocker trial’ petition gain 100k signatures so quickly. It’s absurd that those who demanded a puberty blocker ban because of a lack of evidence for their safety are now demanding a ban on the research they claimed to want. PLEASE READ ON

Some of the comments being made about their trans experiences, especially as people who came out later in life and who aren't medically transitioning (these folks are not quiet or discreet), would result in at least 24hrs of "discourse" on here probably involving the word praxis

There is a small group of older (60s & 70s) queer folk who meet for coffee regularly in the local queer cafe. Trans and cis, gay and lesbian. And they have exactly the sort of vaguely questionable opinions that you get from reading mainstream news. And they're generally speaking pretty lefty

Hey Bluesky peeps, could you help spread the word? My Shirley Jackson Award-nominated gothic fiction book THE ATROCITIES is on sale today for $1.99 on Kindle. I have no idea how long this sale will last. www.amazon.com/Atrocities-J...

Most days, the place is empty. Some days, though, she sees two men. The same two men whose sexual harassment the bar owners chose to protect. The two men the bar owners traded for the steady attendance of thirty women.🧵

Can't decide what to read next. Think I want to choose from my physical tbr pile. Help me choose!

Apparently i can make it all the way to a foreign city, deal with being diverted to a different airport, make my way around the city using public transport, and get back to the airport no problem. But i can't figure out the train back home again and needed rescuing.

I'm just in love with this vista. As the graffiti acknowledges. Roughly translated it says ,"Have you ever looked at the sky above Rome and said how beautiful it looks from above" I don't think that's commissioned graffiti either. I think somebody was just inspired.

It getting dark early in winter causes absolute havoc on the buengiorno/buenasera front in Rome. It's dark. I'm having an aperetivo. Clearly this is a buenasera moment. But no! It's before 6pm! What do? Ciao ciao!

Like Elliot says, these are invaluable, & @rjbarker.bsky.social's essay in Writing the Magic was one of the most straightup enjoyable pieces of non-fiction I read last year.

Wait! I tagged the wrong person! I meant @clairewillett.bsky.social . How embarrassing. Sorry Gretchen, i assume that was confusing.

Tiny stone Jesus. The scale of this amuses me a lot. (Chapel of the Virtuosi di Pantheon in the pantheon, Rome. Depicting the "infant" Jesus age St Joseph).

Salvador Dali is definitely one of my "problematic faves". Feel in love with his art when i was about 13. I continue to love the depth and skill, the imagination, the interpretation, the influence. But oh boy, what a "controversial" individual.

Is this about aetodynamic advantages? Is this penis fairings? Oh good grief it's penis fairings

I read more short fiction than usual last year than and really enjoyed it. It was good when my brain wasn't able to cope with longer fiction but i also got to really appreciate short stories for themselves and understand their quirks and style.

Thanks to @scumbelievable.bsky.social (and my friend Charlotte) i learned the difference between "American Catholics" and "Catholics who are American" which is serving me well when people watching in the more touristy parts of Rome.

(New pinned post time, since I realised that it'd probably be a good idea to actually give Argentum a wee bit more of the foreground [and, y'know, mention that the ebooks exist xD])

Sending love to the imprisoned Palestine Action hunger strikers in the UK, whose well-being and survival I am deeply worried about. In Let This Radicalize You, @prisonculture.bsky.social and I wrote about the escalating repression in the UK. For those who aren't aware, the situation has worsened.

I've only just got to Rome and I'm cooking dinner. Brief foray to the local supermarket has me genuinely considering buying an extra bag for the flight back to stuff full of pasta and olive oil

This happened to me last year.

West Bank: Palestinian journalist and boy among dozens arrested by Israeli forces - https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-detains-palestinian-journalist-dozens-more-occupied-west-bank

Oh i saw a very good portal today! On one side an icy community garden and pond. Pass through the portal and reach Tropical World.

I get emails weekly from readers asking me how they can buy THE SCOTTISH BOY since Unbound went bankrupt. I really hope a new publisher picks it up soon :/ We already have an offer for digital rights and if nobody goes for print rights I’ll just do a Sanderson and Kickstart a nice limited edition

Bit of an intro to me, and my writing, for new followers: www.tom-cox.com/about/

Check out involveMINT - Making Change for Good share.google/LpznLVcMeDvu...