I've also been on a bus where the driver insisted it was a different bus and went the wrong way. Fortunately, I happen to live near the mystic bus nexus that all buses must pass, so I just got there by a slightly more scenic route.

There's a space between viral and only being seen by the same few people. Most of what I post isn't going to interest most people, but I wouldn't mind if I could get book posts to go a bit wider. It does make a difference to sales at the unknown author end of things.

As is usual for times when the aurora happens down south, it's cloudy and raining right now. I did see it once some time back, though it wasn't very bright that time.

Just a warning for folks prone to photosensitive epilepsy: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is not epilepsy safe. There is a pretty visually & aurally wild scene that caused a man sitting next me to have a seizure and caused a pretty nasty headache and 'bout of nausea for me.

I had a bath and ate beetroot, so time for some writing!

tesla took tofu under his wing, and taught him how to cat, with an emphasis on how to spot lizards and birds from the windows 7/🧵

An extended announcement of the Chronicles of an Age of Darkness relaunch can be found on the Hugh Cook subreddit. Thanks once again Adrian for all your help. www.reddit.com/r/hughcook/s...

Dolly. Though she be but little, she is fierce.

It's been a big year losing my job to AI and going freelance with my illustrations but I've never been happier with my work and I can't wait to show what I've been working on in the new year! 🎉 Hope everyone has a happy new years eve! ✨️

Your favourite posters all live under the same unused and forgotten garden tile btw. If you lift it up you’ll see us all crawling around holding our tiny devices. We send funny poast ideas to each other through our funny little antennae

Age and freezing conditions giving a lovely frilly effect to the gills on this Velvet Shank mushroom. Taken at Bavelaw Marsh this morning. #Fungi #Mushrooms #Nature #Photography #iPhone

This week had important paperwork things, but not that great for getting creative stuff done. Hoping to do a bit of video editing and writing over the weekend.

Cat considering whether to use up one of her nine lives:

I will be one of the speakers/mentors at the Indian Ocean Writers’ Residency in Bentota, Sri Lanka from July 9‒15 2026. Applications close at the end of January—please do apply if you're interested, and share with anyone else who might be! vajra.me/2026/01/16/i...

*gently offers the sea* I come bearing aspec books that are filled with water 🌊 I'm having fun collecting asexual and aromantic SFF books alongside different themes! Titles are in the ALT text~

Female Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis hovering in a small London park this morning #birds. Any closer, and she wouldn't have fitted in the frame!

I don't know if I'll hit any submission windows this year, but it'd be nice if I could get a few more short stories out on submission. I've noted down some dates.

This call is now open 🚀 Looking forward to your queer space opera fashions!

My SFF collection Echoes and Embers has been out 6 months! From magical realism to military science fiction, Lovecraftian cyberpunk yarns to swashbuckling tales in space, this collection spans the frontiers of the imagination and the vastness of the cosmos!

Accounts and taxes done. Pudding eaten. I'm doing nothing else useful tonight.

Continuing making puddings to use up the excess milk. Also means I'll have pudding to eat once I finish my taxes today.

My new washi tape designs, based on some patterns of aotearoa's outdoors! 🌿 layaroseart.storenvy.com/collections/2009582-other

I checked more of the accounts following me and did some following back. Though I don't need to be following you for you to say hi if you want! (I think most people follow me from the trans writers or flash fiction starter packs, only to discover I mostly talk about random nonsense.)

I can't repost with my home river because there isn't one unless you count the channel. There are a bunch of streams, but there's been none with a riverish vibe since the old Bourne Stream got culverted (long before I was born): historymap.info/Bourne_Stream

I've done work and now have tea, cheese and crackers.

Cyborg whale! On a serious note, this story jumped out at me and I just had to acquire it. A very pertinent message for us two-legged. strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

I still wish more conventions considered text chat programme items, for those of us who can't really do the camera or voice thing. There's some stuff on Discord, but not like panels/roundtables with people who know stuff.

I've registered for virtual Worldcon. It's on brand that I couldn't find my debit card at first, because it was under a packet of googly eyes. I don't use it much. Not as often as the eyes.

😭💖🙏🔥95%!!!!!!🔥🙏💖😭 THANKYOU ALL SO MUCH! We're so close to getting the amount for him to sit the minimum to get to college!🔥🙏🥳Any extra we raise will hopefully be enough for him to sit more of the subjects he's studied! itch.io/b/3469/path-...

One of my goals for this year is to be able to run and jump again. Just regular levels so I can outrun the undead horde, not like an athletics thing.

My cousin asked me to recommend some good cozy fantasy books but she couldn’t remember “cozy fantasy” so she called it “heavy on the bread and hard cheese, light on the stabbing.”

Did the usual new year stuff in Second Life. (Dressing as penguins and hitting each other with fish.)

Timeline Cleanse: Please enjoy this photo of a praying mantis that was sitting on top of my car windshield, but the angling and lighting were so weird it looks like a giant praying mantis wandering a corn field in Iowa.

Time for some more Stranger Things. Family is rewatching in step with my watching, which is helping keep me on track. It's not so much about what I'm watching, but making sure I take breaks from working in the evenings. It's a plus that I know this one got finished.

I'm trying Fever-Tree's lime soda, as this is basically the only full brand in the UK that doesn't have sweetener now, so I try the new flavours. Anyway, not bad. It does taste like lime.

WERECOCKROACH has an aroace agender lead, aliens and gentle vibes. Friendship focused. www.polenthblake.com/words/cockro... EVERYDAY ALIENS is a flash fiction collection about weird aliens. Often experimental. www.polenthblake.com/words/aliens... #PrideBookFair #QueerBookSky #BookSky #Pride

Time Travel Is Easy is officially out in the world! Dinosaurs and Deep Time are thematic links to queer embodiment, childhood trauma, and life in the late Anthropocene. Cover art by the amazing Helen Whistberry. (Non-Amazon options coming very soon!) www.amazon.com/dp/B0G344X8L7

That turned into an exciting side quest where I scrubbed the whole fridge down with bicarb so the cheesecake wouldn't get spicy. But it's all done!

It's still storm time, but I have power, so I'm going to make a cheesecake.

Alternate history and physics! ⚛️ NYC in primordial darkness! 🕳️ A rebellious mechanic! 🔧 Art is political! 🎨 Everything is (even dessert)! 🍮 No to tech oligarchs! 👎 #BookSky #SFF #AlternateHistory 🪐📚🌈 🖋️📖💰 Kobo: kobo.com/ebook/when-in-erebus Itch: parisvivian.itch.io/when-in-erebus

There's some very James Blunt getting scurvy energy with some of the diet discussions. There isn't one diet that works for everybody, but there are some that work for nobody.

Triscuit decided to flop on my laptop so I asked him if he also wanted to wear my headphones and he was SHOOKETH at the experience 😂

hello internet please enjoy the way Rio sits while having a sink drink

Storm Goretti, which family have been calling Storm Gurathin, is busy storming. That meant I didn't get out for a walk, but it's not been too bad here so far.

Some epic weevils in Costa Rica. Huge with bold colors. These were almost an inch long. I love how weird these are with antennae at the very end of the long snout. Cute and alien at the same time. They are harmless to humans generally; some species will chomp on your garden veggies. #invertebrates

Women of Xal II's Kickstarter is FINALLY up and running! Please share with your #VisualNovel friends who like their dark political mysteries, character studies, and cast of queer ladies. First game is free during the campaign, of course. #Gaming #Kickstarter #Campaign #Yuri #Indie #Indiedev #Game

anyway good night

I've finished rereading "Werecockroach" and also pulled out some quotes for the start of a series overview file. It was originally intended to be a standalone, but now I have to care about stuff like what colour are the aliens.

This is Tara. She joins me every night whilst I brush my teeth and sits in this exact spot. It is our nightly routine before she gets her milseag (dessert/pudding aka Dreamies) and tucked in I always wonder if she thinks I’m purring because of the electric toothbrush

I turned the leftover parsnips into soup/stew, which'll be suppers for some days. Still have some carrots left, so the animals will probably get those.