Good God. Is this real?

New Substack post with all my publishing and illustration news: garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/a-long-ove... #booksky

It's called the principle of Osman's Razor: faced with two books of equal quality, the publisher will prefer the one written by a celebrity. #booksky #writing #books www.theguardian.com/books/2024/j...

Authors, mark your calendars! #booksky #writing

I have seen the greatest minds of my generation radicalised into flat earth trutherism by the comment section of a Smashing Pumpkins Facebook fan page.

People come by the house and they're like, "Ooh, I like your Halloween cobwebs!" And I'm like, "Hallo-what, now?"

When people ask me what I think about using AI in writing I’m going to send them this screenshot

Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for how A.I. could be used in Meta's universe. But the actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt is here to point out a flaw in the technology: an apparent lack of guardrails around how the company's chatbot interacts with underage users. nyti.ms/3ILwCNo

Well said, Gary Neville! 👏

Wonderful comment on this on Instagram which sums up how I feel.

Oh, dear. Is it just me that has a bad feeling about this? I've been using Affinity programmes for years, and they're great. But anything that mentions "the future" gives off an aura of bullshit and AI flangery. #AI #art #books

It's ironic how when a big, faceless corporation treats you like you're not a person, you can't help but take it personally. #philosophy #books #AI

Sad to hear philosopher John Searle has died. Big influence on my PhD, a wonderfully clear thinker and his views on consciousness are more important now than ever. That said, I found his atheism shallow and the sexual harassment thing tarnishes his reputation. Anyway, bon voyage! #philosophy #books

I ran a poll on Mastodon and Bluesky asking who'd read a book where the author used AI to some extent. Combining the results: of the 56 respondents, 82% said never, 16% said only if AI was used for editing, and 1% said they didn't care as long as it was a good book. #books #writing #AI #reading

I've just written an article on Stoicism for Welldoing, a UK-based site where you can find the right therapist for you: welldoing.org/article/stoi... #philosophy #stoicism #writing #books #booksky

My review of Steven Shwartz's "Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths". A great, well-informed little book from a Silicon Valley sceptic. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/evil-robot... #AI #philosophy #books #reviews #booksky

Book cover design and illustration for Clif Haley's comedy Western, "Emory Crider and the One Dollar Bounty". garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... #books #illustration #art #covers #booksky

Dear book marketer, thanks so much for your email, and for your eloquent praise of my book. You were "profoundly moved", you say? I am flattered - and doubly so that you've taken the trouble to hunt me down all the way from ... [checks website visitor stats] ... oh. #books #writing #AI #booksky

It's coming up that time of year again, so it seems an opportune moment to post an old article on happiness and the seaons: garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/can-we-be-... #philosophy #books #happiness booksky

I didn't know this was a thing! Exciting! www.imdb.com/title/tt3151... #books #scifi #williamgibson #neuromancer #booksky

Interesting long piece by Michael Moorcock on the right-wing views implicit in Golden Age fantasy and science fiction. Moorcock anarchism/libertarianism colour everything, but he's very knowledgeable and well read. libcom.org/article/star... #books #sff #scifi #reading #writing #booksky

Reading Peter de Vries' wonderful "Reuben, Reuben" and came across a passage about how places are named after the natural features they've destroyed, which exactly parallels something I'd written in "MUNKi. This ever happen to you? #books #writing #philosophy garethsouthwell.com/books/munki/

Great post about John Carpenter's classic sci-fi horror The Thing, the novel that inspired it, and the problematic man that wrote it, by Alex Worley (whose Substack is well worth subscribing to). alecworley.substack.com/p/science-fi... #books #scifi #horror #reviews #booksky

Doing a little cultural anthropology into the Christian concept of Hell, surprisingly you find that it is built on philosophy. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/a-brief-hi... #philosophy #books #booksky

Book review of Meghan O'Gieblyn's "God, Human, Animal, Machine", a subtle analysis of the overlap between spirituality and technology, and how a strange new religion is emerging from Silicon Valley. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/god-human-... #books #reviews #scifi #philosophy #booksky

Cover design for my sci-fi comedy novella Pale Kings. I spent quite a while trying to give the virtual mermaids a sort of degraded, retro, cathode ray TV look. Not sure if I could remember how to do it now! garethsouthwell.com/books/pale-k... #books #illustration #coverdesign #scifi #art #booksky

I've been thinking exactly this. I'm quite sceptical about politics, but I care about all these things. The people voting Reform have no idea what they're voting for.

This is why the government needs to fight reform. Reform/Farage have many unpopular positions, but people don't hear about them. 1) Putin fanboys, wobbly on Ukraine, wobbly on defence. 2) Climate sceptics. 3) Pro fracking the countryside 4) Pro fox hunting 5) In favour of privatising NHS

#philosophy #books #booksky

I'm a professional book formatter (among other things). This is a piece I wrote for indie authors about whether you should format your own book. Feel free to drop me a line to chat about it. It's a headache! garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/should-you... #books #indies #design #writing #booksky

I spent ages adding all the detail to this cover, and then realised it's all sort of lost when it's reproduced at actual paperback size. So, for those interested, here are some of the details! #art #illustration #books #design #bookcovers #scifi #sff #booksky garethsouthwell.com/books/tidela...

@alarno.bsky.social So are you pro or con AI? (broadly)

AI is a magic fish! Interesting piece by Austrian novelist and poet Clemens J. Setz, comparing prompts to magic wishes, as in the Grimms fairy tale The Fisherman and his Wife - and if it didn't end well for them... www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s... #books #AI #philosophy #booksky

I\'m curious how people feel about AI and writing. Feel free to add comments in reply. #books #reading #writing #AI 1️⃣ I'd never read an author who used AI in any way 2️⃣️ Only if AI is used just for editing/proofreading 3️⃣ Don't care, as long as it's a good book 📊 Show results

This is wonderfully disturbing.

Cover design and illustration for Garry Seabrook's "Cracking the Quantum Mystery". Had great fun doing this - any eggheads out there spot all the Easter eggs? :) garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... #books #philosophy #science #illustration #bookcovers #booksky

I'm ambivalent about HP Lovecraft. I read them all along with www.hppodcraft.com/about, which was great fun. Some stories are schlocky, there's the whole racist/right wing vibe, but the odd one really creeps you out. "From Beyond" did that for me. Anyone else read HPL? #books #podcast #SFF #horror

OK, so I've read 21 off this list - I've been good and only counted those I've finished! God, so many I for some reason abandoned at some point. I need better discipline. You? reedsy.com/discovery/bl... #scifi #sff #books #reading #sciencefiction #lists #booksky

Just reading an academic text on the history of censorship in the UK, and came across this little gem. #philosophy #books #booksky

Book review of Samanta Schweblin's "Little Eyes", a disquieting, dystopic and quirky exploration on how the digital world is changing and shaping us. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/little-eye... #books #bookreviews #reviews #booksky

I'm cynical about politics, but I can't ignore what's happening. Remember that - whatever your political views - there are forces that are trying to divide us, to turn complex issues into flag-waving slogans. Be kind and empathetic – we're all on the same team ultimately. #philosophy #books #art

A little portfolio piece of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". See more here: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... Interested in cover design, illustration or formatting? Contact me here: garethsouthwell.com/contact/ #books #illustration #design #art #booksky

Okay, hands up: who here is really a bot? #AI #philosophy

On the curious nature of "nothing" - and how to make money from it. A piece about my quirky SFF novella Pale Kings, and some of the art-world craziness that inspired it. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/how-do-you... #philosophy #books #art #technology #AI #finance #booksky #Banksy

Oooh... This came in the post today. :) Met him in Bristol at a talk. What a lovely and humble guy. #books #MickHerron #SlowHorses #amreading #reading #booksky

A little piece about the surprising connection between Western philosophy and Buddhism, via lucid dreaming. What's not to like! garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/who-am-i #philosophy #books #dreaming #booksky

Book review of “The Invisible Doctrine” by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison. A nice summary of how we got to where we are in terms of the creation of the uber wealthy, and what we can do about it. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/book-revie... #philosophy #books #bookreviews #reviews #booksky

Is it just me, or is every TV series, film, book and comic now produced via an orange and blue filter? Oh, it's not just me: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwik... #art #design #illustration #books #booksky

Book cover design and illustration for "Fun With Nuns" by A.J. Caliendo. Want illustration, cover design or book formatting? See more: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... Get in touch: garethsouthwell.com/contact/ #books #illustration #art #design #booksky

A little thing I wrote about confidence. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/on-confide... #philosophy #ethics #books #booksky