Strange few days of bereavement and funeral services for my brother-in-law of whom I was very fond. Not one friend of mine came. I need to think about what that means.

He got sleepy reading his big book

I've signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too? my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...

I've just signed this petition protesting Meta's theft of Irish writing, which they've used to build their AI tool. Will you sign too? my.uplift.ie/petitions/pr...

@sethandrews.com sorry for liking lots of posts at once. Listening to the audiobook of Deconverted at the moment and having a Seth Andrews phase!

Happy Christmas all xx

Spilled my dog a bit

Excited to see the biblically accurate Spider-Man appear in the MCU very soon

Word of the morning is ‘williwaw’ (19th century): a sudden violent squall or a toppling gust of wind. Goes well with ‘thunderplump’: a sudden downpour that soaks you to the skin in seconds.

Mother Willow Tree. Ink on canvas. This tells the story of the hunted hare protected by Mother Willow, who transforms hunters' blood into hare's blood, ensuring that they learn to live as the hare does. Both story and music are by wonderful musician, Ange Hardy, from her album Bare Foot Folk.

Amazon proof of delivery photo.

Gracefully wandering at night among the fields of the soul Laura Makabresku

So, celebrity authors need a break do they? I’ll tell you who needs a break. The aspiring debut who’s spent literally thousands of hours honing their craft, only to be told their book doesn’t ‘fit the market’ or the risk-averse publishing world can’t see ‘where to place it’.

Breaking news from my lap:

Definition of a woman of ‘a certain age’: - Too old to be bullied & intimidated. - Too young to be patronised & ignored. Terrifying to men of a certain type.

I've been spending a lot of thought trying to choreograph the events of an upcoming scene in my head. It's a crushing moment of disappointment for my protagonist in historical Hollywood. A voice in my head just told me: You know the setting. You know these characters. Set them free and you'll see.

Bizarre thing happened to me yesterday that my teenage self would not believe. I was playing at the gig to celebrate the life of the genius that was Neil Innes. Whilst waiting backstage to go on, Michael Palin sang the lumberjack song to me, in German.

I love an Irish General election. You can keep Jake Tapper striding through a VR map like a Colossus. I don't want Wolf Blitzer using a touchscreen to show voter turnout. Give me a frazzled RTE reporter coming live from a playschool in Offaly watching votes being added with a pencil for two weeks.

And remember, it's a secret ballot, so if you have multiple loves, you can say this to them all. And good luck with none of them finding that out in Ireland.

Wowowow. THE STAIRCASE IN THE WOODS is amazing. Scary, emotional, thought provoking - everything I've come to expect from @chuckwendig.bsky.social.

This is the face of a guy going back to finish narrating an audiobook only to be told on the train that the session has been cancelled again due to flooding. Deep breaths. Dreams can come true, but that doesn't mean they're easy. (Ps, I do own other jumpers, I just feel like this one likes me)

Serious moment: I've been I'm a lot of pain recently and honestly do not know how I would cope without the escapism of reading.

Over the next 10 days I’ll post a book I really enjoyed this year from a new-to-me author. Day 1 - This Wretched Valley by @jennykiefer.com

Here’s France getting Irish summer temperatures . . . in November. At night. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

Good man yourself Oedipus, how’re ye keeping these days, tell me now, do y’still have the

Thought for the day: ‘lads’ is gender-neutral, actually

Jack Frost fingers…

Happy Thanksgiving from our little family to yours! Grateful every day for the community you all have given us. Love you guys!

If you’re celebrating it, Happy Thanksgiving. If it’s a hard day for you, I see you and in my capacity as Horror’s Avuncular Uncle, declare that I am thankful for you today and every day. Treat yourself to some pie. And for those of you not in the US, have some pie, too.

It is a word that’s hard on the ears.

Your Ikea name is your name spelled backwards with an umlaut. I am Nisiö, a chunky desk with lots of handy storage spaces. You can buy an optional drawing board, and some of my screws come loose over time.

Wow. Here is one to brighten up your morning. The first images of the restored interior of Notre Dame cathedral. Breathtaking. In just five years France did it

As I have somehow surpassed 7k followers on here I thought it might be nice to do a giveaway: All 7 of my books to one lovely winner. Just share and like to be in with a chance! 😁📚

This seems as good a time as any to remind everyone that we share between 50-60% of our DNA with bananas

Here's what I don't get (genuinely): Simon Harris likes to claim in every interview about how he got involved in politics while seeing the frustration of his mother trying to get support for his autistic brother. How are services for autistic people still so shit then, Simon?

Twas the night before voting, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The poll cards were hung by the chimney with care In the hopes that regime change soon would be there. #GE24

There’s a new American Psycho in the works (by director Luca Guadagnino) and I honestly think that these days Patrick Bateman would’nt be on Wall St he’d be an influencer posting his perfect life and perfect body on TikTok making money on views and selling his followers stuff through the TokTok shop

I am thankful for a social media site that’s not run by disinformation-pushing maniacal billionaire, not controlled by an algorithm design to censor news and much-needed debate, and not overrun by mean-spirited people who encourage and celebrate ignorance. Thankful, indeed.

Fox watched the snowfall, utterly captivated. She could watch forever, her mind drifting along with the snowflakes as they floated and fell with each whisper of wind. Well, maybe not for too long actually. She was getting pretty chilly and quite fancied curling up somewhere warm.

Keith Melling. Lancashire painter who loves to paint Yorkshire

Be cool, be cool, be cool

(I dunno who made this image but I looooooove it)

Orbanization of the press at work.

For those interested, I've just posted my entire recommended list of stories and poems from 2023 on my blog: ellendatlow.com/category/news/

My story All That We See or Seem is in Ellen Datlow's recommendations list for 2023 🥹

This is Teddy. He just finished his first Thanksgiving feast. Immediately proceeded to his new favorite tradition, the post-feast nap. 12/10