Thank you @katebarker.bsky.social . There was a section on the inaccurately negative impression of autism and autistic people that is part of this whole sorry saga. Got lost in the editing but important not to lose sight of it in the conversation 🤔😗

Proud of prof @ginarippon.bsky.social and her response to Trump's dangerous pronouncements on autism and paracetamol: www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...

Duolingo channeling the zeitgeist

"Well what a huge surprise" - no woman, ever

If you’re around in Chelsea next Wednesday afternoon… chelseaheritagequarter.co.uk/chf/blood-an...

I'll be talking about non-fiction book proposals at this online event on 23rd Sept. Come along and ask questions! www.eventbrite.com/e/fwn-live-m...

No wonder I miss the '90s.

Just wait until the BBC, Sky, Mail, Telegraph, Express, Sun, and GBeebies get hold of this story of obvious and deliberate tax avoidance! JUST WAIT! <waits> <waits some more> <does today's sudoku> www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

You know when a famous person dies and you're surprised because you'd assumed they must already be dead? That, but for Nadine Dorries defecting to Reform.

Americans! I am told this the three day 25% off Barnes & Noble sale period. Well, here’s something you could preorder now to benefit from that discount. www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-and-...

Attention #crimewriters! Ready to solve the mystery of getting published? Secure 15 mins of #Agent121 time with a #litagent who loves your genre. Book: iaminprint.co.uk #Amwriting 3 Sept - @litagentfran.bsky.social 4 Sept - @katebarker.bsky.social 16 Sept - Nicky Lovick 17 Sept - Clare Coombes

Very happy to receive finished copies of this cracking thriller by @kathrynsharman.bsky.social, out from @hodderfiction.bsky.social later this month.

Frankly amazed by Bloomsbury’s position here. Indefensible!

#Crimewriters are you ready to make your move? Would you like 15 mins of #Agent121 time with a #literaryagent who loves your genre? Then book at www.iaminprint.co.uk/agent121 with: 3 Sept - @litagentfran.bsky.social 4 Sept - @katebarker.bsky.social 16 Sept - Nicky Lovick 17 Sept - Clare Coombes

Hey up @latitudefestival.bsky.social goers. I'll be on the Apollo Stage on Saturday lunchtime with @garwboy.bsky.social @robinince.bsky.social and @reggiewatts.bsky.social talking all things psychedelics. Join us at 1pm!

@ginarippon.bsky.social incisive as ever on autism and "over-diagnosis" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Writers 11 to 19, the #YoungWalterScottPrize is open for your entries! You could win a £500 travel grant, see your work in print, and visit one of the UK's best book festivals. Learn more at https://loom.ly/gr8Lmfk#YoungWalterScottPrize #ywsp #creativewriting #writingcompetition #AndrewMiller #SophieBerry

I do hope that the next DCMS/DSIT working group on #copyright and #AI will include some creators' representatives. The attendees at yesterday's meeting were just big tech and big publishers.

Lovely review of Blood & Treasure in the Economist. economist.com/culture/2025...

‘Victory, in popular myth, depends on the exceptional courage and skill of the nation to which the mythmaker happens to belong. Mr Weldon offers more convincing explanations’. economist.com/culture/2025...

This looks like a wonderful opportunity for writers: rsliterature.org/rsl-scriptor...

As I keep saying: if it's truth you want, read fiction, not 'true stories'. Fiction writers are honest liars. They're not out to con you. If you want to read a redemption narrative about going on a long walk, read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Commentators: 'Labour's wasted its first year in office'. Ed Miliband:

Worth a watch: Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.

Today is the last day you can register books for PLR (money for library loans of your books in the UK and Ireland). They have to be already published. If you have unregistered books, you'll miss out on this year's income. It adds up! Illustrators and audio narrators are also entitled to a share.

Worthy cri de cœur

Rather than Glastonbury, can we watch a livestream of Jeff Bezos’s wedding with @dieworkwear.bsky.social doing the outfits?

Spent the day at such an interesting forum on #GenAI and the novel. Too much to report on here but follow @clemicollett.bsky.social for when she publishes her research at the end of the year.

Chelsea History Festival 2025 tickets have gone on sale for September. Loads of great talks & events - with multiple event booking discounts available. Can imagine how quickly I responded to an email asking ‘do you want to talk about Blood & Treasure at the National Army Museum?’

I did love it! More fantastic psych suspense by @[email protected] coming your way some time next year. It’s extremely satisfying when book 2 is just as good as book 1. #TheFamilyatNo.23 #Notsurewhatbook2iscalledyet

Day 10 of the 'I can't believe it's not Covid' cold. Son has two more A'level papers. Next week, it will all be better.

I think swifts are nesting in my roof. Unfortunately one of the eggs has fallen out.

Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.

#Google, I have watched your video about the added AI features in Google Workspace and don't think these will be useful to me. How do I decline the package and revert to the previous subscription price?

There's more!

Absolute knockout review for Blood & Treasure by @duncanweldon.bsky.social "Often funny…accessible to anyone with an interest in history, politics or simply trying to understand why humans seem so committed to fighting…a deeply engaging and original take on the forces that have shaped our world"

There’s a reason every podcast I listened to for the past few months was advertising to college students that chatgpt was “free through finals season!” OpenAI knows most profs won’t fail a whole class… & just like that: new norm for students re: buying & using a bespoke automated plagiarism service.

Happy Publication [email protected]

Incredibly strong message sent by the Lords today. The government cannot keep refusing to hold AI companies accountable for the large-scale theft of copyrighted work. 3/3

This is another huge defeat for the government, 242 vs. 116. And, once again, it is essentially only Labour refusing to support transparency requirements. 2/3

The UK government has been defeated for a *4th* time in the House of Lords on AI training data transparency. The government refuses to make AI companies disclose their training data; the House of Lords is insisting they do. 🧵 1/3

The audio recording of our fantastic event with Gina Rippon - The Lost Girls of Autism - is now up on our website and Youtube Channel. For those that missed it, or for those who want to experience it again, go take a listen now! Link in comments @ginarippon.bsky.social

prize fees continue to blow my mind: eg for the Women's Prize, any longlisted title's publisher has to pay £1,250; for a shortlisted title it's £6k! Prizes do require a huge amount of admin, & marketing ££, but while a long/shortlisting can (*can*) really boost sales, that's a BIG dent in your P&L

For the evening crowd.

And now I've read KJ Charles's newest book which has the very best copyright statement regarding AI that I've seen so far:

Exactly

If you fancy 30 minutes of me chatting about the economics of the Mongol Empire then I’ve got good news for you: History Hit. Available wherever you get your podcasts.

Brilliantly useful and interesting piece on book titles (mostly for commercial fiction but with some relevance to other genres) from editor and author @phoebeannmorgan.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/honested...

Writers, have you been asked to work for free? Then join our call for evidence on the type + amount of free work that's been requested of you over the past 12 months to help us identify + tackle the problem Open to non-members too! #scriptskyuk #screenwriting writersguild.org.uk/free-work/