Time to crack open this hefty tome. I was less than impressed by the Ranulph Fiennes biography so feel it better to head to the source. Very aware that this will be skewed towards an Orientalist work of prose.

Coming back to this again and again - I'm onto something, I'm maybe finally articulating what I believe / hope for the future:

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

Amur Dreams

We can only do what we can do. This year I am going to love my family, support my friends, defend libraries & the right to access materials, stand in solidarity with under-threat peoples, protest illegal wars & occupations and finish drafting my picture book & memoir!

The Serpent's Quest, book 1 of The Splintered Fool series written by me and Toby Bennett, is now available at my Ko-Fi store. ko-fi.com/s/e920553c93

Super chuffed with this yellow bell pepper I harvested this morning.

Saying goodbye sucks. My heart is broken.

🙏 The very intelligent people of Twitter made me realize that Arlen has Dorian Pavus Syndrome. There is no cure. 😔 #DragonAge #DragonAgeArt

I keep seeing people recc these books. I want to know from you why I *should* (or shouldn't) read them.

9 years. #CarrieOnForever

I'm sorry, officer, I was left unattended by the PS5 while my husband was working on my computer. Anyhow, I'm amped for a Pavellan run...

It's not often that I hit a fantasy novel that's the perfect blend of intergenerational adventure, but KR Solberg and CR Jacobson have pulled together a compelling tale that finds that balance.

Wishing all who observe this date a blessed Summer Solstice. As the nights begin to grow longer, may you have the strength and perseverance to carry you into the new year.

This is my obligatory Summer Solstice post. Tell me one awesome thing that happened to you this year and one outrageous boast for 2026. And go! My awesome thing was selling a five-book series to Mirari Press. My outrageous boast for next year is a top-secret thing I'm still under NDA for.

Signs of life. I'm tired. I'm taking a little time out for self-care. But there's lots happening next year too. nerinedorman.blogspot.com/2025/12/sign...

I write novels because I love stories. Because art is hard to be good at, it's always a challenge, I continue to learn & improve my skills & change my perspective throughout my life. Art never has to be static. Why on earth do it otherwise? The outcome is great but it's the process that sings.

This dude seems like the nicest, truly

Despite everything this year has thrown at me, I set aside an afternoon today to finish and submit my Sauútiverse story for the next anthology. And I think it worked very well. I decided to experiment, and I am pleased with the results.

Busy editing a long-awaited Cari Silverwood novel. IYKYK

A magical day in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, which was just what I needed to decompress after A Week.

Good times with good friends in one of the city's greatest spaces. I needed this. Love these guys so much.

In tonight's episode of authors drawing their own character art badly, I present to you my original bad boy Jamie Guillaume, black magician extraordinaire. You know this is not generative AI because I can't draw hands for sh*t.

On the recommendation of @nerinedorman.bsky.social, I headed out to Thelema Mountain Vineyard to try their The Mint Cabernet Sauvignon (among many) and ohhhhh myyy gawwwd. Place is gorgeous, the wine just as much.

C'mere, pookie. We need to talk about how now is a difficult time for lots of people in publishing. Not just bc--*waves arms*--but bc we're seeing Best of the Year lists and Award Eligibility posts, and bc the last book deals of the year are being announced while sub times are longer than ever. 1/

So good to see my bestie Cat again. It's been too long. 💜

I have a bad habit of rescuing African violets from Builders Warehouse. This one has fantasy blooms in deep purple.

I can't help but think back to the time my ex told me that I'd never get published and that my writing was too sentimental to ever be considered worthwhile. Yeah. I'm having a quiet chuckle right now.

Now that I have your attention by posting a cute cat posing with a book, I'd like to remind you about Mirari Press's Black Friday Sale. Get up to 60% off your purchase off their website for November 28 only. Remember to use the promo code "YOUATETHAT".

✨2025 Eligibility Post✨ ZamaShort #2 'Summer' by Nerine Dorman @nerinedorman.bsky.social 1st June 2025. Science Fiction

Today I remember Freddie. I was 13 when he passed away this day in 1991. I was aware in a roundabout way of Queen's music until that heady summer just before I went to high school – falling deeply and irrevocably in love with his voice after watching Highlander for the first time.

Just one of the many little love-notes I leave my authors.

Random doodle

A few months back I inherited Chicken. Yes, her name is Chicken. A local had a little Lohman Brown hen she could no longer keep. Chicken follows me around because I find her snails.

I have waited a long time for this book. Storm is perhaps one of the most influential and important authors who helped my career. Not a day goes by that I don't miss her.

Art appreciation: Scarab Inscribed: King of Upper and Lower Egypt New Kingdom ca. 1479–1458 B.C. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 116.

Art appreciation: "The Sahara Desert Made into Agricultural Land After a Climate Overhaul" by Albert Robida (1890) from La vie électrique. Image sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive / Internet Archive / The Getty

Art appreciation: The Blue Egyptian Water Lily by Robert John Thornton (1807, from Temple of Flora). Image sourced from the Public Domain Image Archive / Biodiversity Heritage Library / Missouri Botanical Garden

Salvaged from an ancient shipwreck off the coast of the Grecian island of Antikythera in 1901, the so-named Antikythera Mechanism provided scientists with a puzzle that was only solved in 2021.

It's been a great day for my writing. I got to spend time with not one but two of my writing groups, and made some important realisations for my stories. Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that Sun Swarm is a prequel in my Scatterlings of Fate series.

Happy Book Birthday! One year today! 🍾🥂 @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social, @aniyonsenga.bsky.social, @nerinedorman.bsky.social, @nuzo.bsky.social, @shingai-be-like.bsky.social, @stephenembleton.bsky.social, @suyidavies.com, @tobiogundiran.com, @xanwriter.bsky.social www.bloomsbury.com/au/afrocente...

Alas, 'tis a school night, and the event takes place other side of the Boerewors Curtain so there is no hope in heck that I can traverse Cape Town's traffic to be there on time, so I will have to be there in spirit instead.

An absolutely sublime piece of cinema that will stand next to Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula. I am in awe.

Echinopsis in bloom. I know these are on the naughty list, but we have them contained and our one plant is just *extra* this year.

Never a dull moment. I didn't have pig wrangling on my bingo card for Friday, but there you have it.

It's all rather silly, isn't it? Those men in suits who think they're so important. Hint: They're just stuffed windbags in suits. I don't think they're even human.

And further news from author-land is that my drabble withstood the Thomas-test. He is my harshest critic, and he says the story works. So I feel confident enough to inflict it on folks at Bloody Parchment tomorrow.

Finally! I admit I am biased as my beloved was the graphic designer on this production, and I got a big kick seeing his work on the screen. This special is a fun romp with a heist and a bonus monster.

Sometimes when I dictate my editor notes to MS Word, it vomits up clunkers like this 🫠: You don't need to go sort of to more complex parts with hats if that makes sense

My office assistant has Opinions.