I am 43 years old and still aspire to one day be as cool as Claudia Kishi.

So much lightning & thunder last night in Melbs?! It went on for hours?! I am so tired this morning!

~Something that made me happy today: a perfect avocado for guac tonight. ~Something that pissed me off: more mailjetzky emails arriving in my junk folder despite me blocking them a million times.

Oh hey school is certainly back for the year because I have received approximately 17000 emails from the school today.

I didn't quite meet my goal but I DID end up with 10,000 more words than I began with! Now for the next 10,000. And so on. Until the first draft is done!

Omggg how good was Skeleton Crew?! My family definitely got bored of me saying "how good is this show?! I really love it!" every week 😅

Introducing: Leon Alvero, 19 year old palace guard. Sensible, practical, down to earth, loyal and not easily won over. Needless to say when Leon and Ana’s paths cross two very different worlds collide. The Lost Saint is out end of April 2025! You can pre-order now! ✨💕

When I was a little kid... we had to push a button on the TV itself to change the channel. (There were 4 buttons. We only had 3 channels. They were called TV One, TV2, and TV3 😅) There was a very satisyfying 'clunk' to push one of those smooth black plastic buttons.

Lil PSA to the sci fi fans out there, this is an amazing novella if you haven't read it yet!

If anyone is interested in running their own Kickstarter to publish their book, I've compiled a heap of notes about my experience in the hope that I can help others who want to take the leap! open.substack.com/pub/henrynei...

Watched the Runt movie (screenplay by Craig Silvey, who wrote the book) with the fam last night & we all loved it. Everyone acting at level 110%. Baz Luhrman but with more hand-knitted cardigans kind of vibes? Like Best In Show crossed with Strictly Ballroom. Also the dog doesn't die! All thumbs up.

Okay well now I want to go back to the WIP I have about terrifying things being released from melting ancient ice over the south pole. Must. Not. Get. Distracted. By. Other. WIPs.

Stumbled across a plot hole yesterday, dang it. Shuffled past super quietly and hoped it wouldn't spot me. Wonder how far I can get in this draft before I need to go back and fix it...

I am, as expected, WAY BEHIND even my smol writing goal but also I am STILL WRITING. One week to go!

Two stages of writing: 1) This shouldn't take too long 2) Oh no

The true test of Bluesky's value for writers might be its ability to provide answers to obscure research questions, so let's try it: Can anyone tell me how much the votive candle fee was at city churches in the USA during the 80s?

I restarted my laptop and forgot to restore all my tabs in chrome and they're ALL GONE. I lost them all. I am both bereft and FREE.

Today the BCA tried to argue Victoria is the worst place to do business... and yet, as @grogsgamut.bsky.social writes, business investment in Victoria is growing as strong as anywhere in the country! #OffTheCharts Believe the numbers, not the spin. australiainstitute.org.au/post/sorry-b...

I was preparing to pitch an op-ed on the nationwide protests calling for President Yoon's resignation, aiming to provide global context amid the limited international coverage. Given the urgency, I’m sharing it now. I didn’t expect events to escalate this quickly. #SouthKorea #Democracy

Ever the optimist, just set myself a smol writing goal for the next 6 weeks, despite knowing full well this period of time also includes end of school year, multiple birthdays, school holidays, Xmas, and New Years, and I have never ever hit any writing targets during it before. Onwards!

Thanks for the follows. I'll get back to you when I muster up the energy to try Bluesky out again. Last time my feed was, like, the same 3 people over and over again. Apparently there are more than 3 people on Bluesky now though.

Is it too early to start watching christmas rom coms....? 🎄♥️

Supposed to be watching Blade Runner to the accompaniment of a live orchestra doing the score at Hamer Hall. But nope. I am sick 😭

I'm getting close to 20k words on Project Badlands, which is oftentimes when I hit a wall and give up on a WIP. However, after a stern talking to, Project Badlands has agreed to not be a jerkface and have NO SUCH WALL 🤞

Hi! As an award-winning, New York Times bestselling author, and a professional writer of 30+ years, let me remind you of this today: If you write, you're a writer. No other qualification necessary or needed. You write, you're a writer. Do it as it suits you. Have fun if you can. Enjoy your day!

My interview with @horrortree.bsky.social was published today! Check out my ramblings on Kiwi horror and my explorations of the genre so far, along with a sneak peak of my dark dystopian story “What Bones These Tides Bring” that features in REMAINS TO BE TOLD. horrortree.com/remains-to-b...

I'm writing friends to lovers in this WIP, which I've never actually done before, and is highly entertaining so far. I just muttered 'ohmygod you big doofus' to my main character because she doesn't realise there's a 'to lovers' bit yet.

The fact that people under 35 years of age are twice as likely to support the Voice as those aged 55+ does not get enough attention. It's a huge generational gap, likely reflecting your economic situation (stability making you less likely to vote for change), and what you were taught growing up.

Will the detective investigating your murder be sad?

I realized this year that I always struggle with some part of the triangulation of MOTIVATION, STAKES, and URGENCY in my early drafts. There's a lot of advice to chart out characters' wants vs needs -- but that's not enough for me. So, I have an expanded list of questions I ask myself. 1/2

I think one of the worst quirks of online spaces is the idea that if someone doesn't post about something, they don't care about it. It encourages performative posting often makes things worse. I care a lot. I just don't want to add another poorly-informed voice. I'm reading & thinking.

PSA

lol

My adblocker no longer works on Pinterest and I didn't realise how fucking awful Pinterest is when you can't hide the promoted ads uggghhhh.

Poirot: The killer of the baroness is, in fact, in this very room Me: [wearing the baroness’s scalp on my head, covered in blood and holding a big knife] Poirot you old fool that’s preposterous

Taylor Swift went to her second NFL game. The GOP vitriol ain't slowing down. It's not just about voter registration or covid shots. Why Swift hooking up with Travis Kelce is aggravating to MAGA dudes: It's a reminder of their vast sexual insecurities. www.salon.com/2023/10/02/t...

The Buruli flesh eating ulcer has now spread into our neighbourhood in urban Melbourne. Cool cool coolcoolcool cool. I'll just add that to my list of anxieties. This is fine.

Don't reward arseholery with engagement. They feed off that shit like a leech sucking blood. Just block. Starve them of attention. It works and it's healthier for you too.

More than 53,500 users joined Bluesky yesterday, setting a record for new signups on the site in a single-day 5% of Bluesky's entire user base joined the platform just 24 hrs after Musk said he would charge all Twitter / X users a fee to use the service via @mattbinder mashable.com/article/blue...

Me: I should write something that will be commercially attractive to publishers, that would be smart. Also me: Oooh I totally want write a YA sci fi horror set in space.

anyway! it's Bi Visibility Week and this majority-bi disaster squad's story will be fully complete ✨tomorrow ✨ when the novella One Last Midnight releases! if you're ready to jump on board, the first book is City of Shattered Light!

Welcome to bsky; we have rules here: 1) It's just a jump to the left 2) And then a step to the right 3) Put your hands on your hips 4) You bring your knees in tight

New Substack post just went up: The Death of Twitter and Why I'm No Longer There. open.substack.com/pub/alanbaxt...

Only folks with at least one copy of blu-ray can watch Johnny Mnemonic too! It's like the streaming services have collectively gone "EW, NO" and none of them have it available, which saddens me cos I've never actually seen it.

Just a reminder in case the other site goes kabloom, my adult sci-fantasy drops next year!

It's here! We Who Are Forged In Fire is out TODAY. If you've been itching to find out what Priscilla does next, here you go. And if you're looking for a new YA fantasy duology to get your teeth into, the set is now complete! More info & booksellers etc -> linktr.ee/kateswriting

Is there, um, supposed to be any difference between the Following, Discover, and Popular With Friends thingos? Cos mine are identical. Perhaps a few more random replies & reposts in Following? but otherwise, exact. same.

Also tennis is like, that lemon hit was worth seven and a half, but THIS lemon hit is worth potato.