Watch this for perfect autumn sofa-snuggling, evening-tea-drinking, escaping-the-world TV. Then read (or reread) the book.

This is very good

@ronanhession.bsky.social Just watched episode 1 of Leonard and Hungry Paul. Loved it so much. I can't imagine what it must be like to watch your story done so beautifully on screen. Congratulations all! @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social

We should be asking this c o n s t a n t l y.

ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION YET? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Bots are busy

Lib Dems: We have 12x Reform's MPs, can we have the same coverage? BBC: But Reform has 2x your poll rating. If there were an election tomorrow, they'd be running the country. Lib Dems: So you're putting their people and policies under scrutiny, right? BBC: Lib Dems: Right?

Who better to represent the interests of the working man than Danny Kruger, he being an old Etonian son of a wealthy property developer & Dame Prue Leith, as well as having been political secretary to old Etonian Boris Johnson. He’ll smash the metropolitan elite in no time.

Warsaw opens metro station ‘express’ library to get commuters off their phones www.theguardian.com/world/2025/s...

Posted without comment.

Isn't this exactly what just happened? Have people got mass fkn memory loss? Five years ago an ethics investigation took SEVEN MONTHS, resulted in a finding of several serious breaches, which was then ignored by the PM and resulted in the ethics advisor AND the bullied employee having to resign. 1/

Nigel Farage, whose party recently put a teenager with zero work experience of any kind in charge of an entire English county, accuses the government of appointing people "with no knowledge" or experience in charge of Government departments

I see all the media organisations endlessly parroting the "free speech under threat" rhetoric of the right are now staying completely silent as Reform and the Conservatives openly ban news outlets that criticise them from covering their events bylinetimes.com/2025/09/04/k...

This is brilliant 👏

I think we’ve got to the point where we start looking for Sarah Connor.

⚽️ Lionesses 👏👏👏👏⚽️⚽️🥳🥳

The Queen of Night (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) blooms just once a year at night and only for a few hours.

@pippacrerar.bsky.social: ‘EXCL: Ministers are planning to close loopholes that could allow foreign money to influence UK elections, with a crackdown on illegitimate donations through shell companies and new tests on political donors. All the details’ 👇🏼

Great opportunity for working class writers. Please share.

Okay, we only gave you two days' notice of the $400 Archive Challenge. So we hereby award anyone who missed it the "Oh, Go On, Then" latecomer pass. Share stories daily from a journal over 10 yrs old for 2 weeks starting today, June 26, and you can still join in: www.smokelong.com/the-archive-...

Japanese paper artist Chie Hitotsuyama creates sculptures of animals using a technique involving rolled strips of wet newspaper #womensart

once again I must tap my own sign

I wondered for a while why Trump was so excited by Brexit, even to the point of getting Farage to fluff him. It was simple, really: proof that, with the support of enough bent media, bad people selling bigotry & lies really could persuade people to vote to punch themselves in the face forever.

I just watched this again after the song was in A Complete Unknown. So beautiful and so heartbreaking in these current days. This Land is Our Land, Obama's inauguration. It should be being sung loud on the steps of many buildings right now. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnvC...

"Elon Musk is the product of a mining magnate. To the degree that he is a self-made man, it is because he made a powerful illusion of himself, and marketed it to other illusionists, none of whom value anything human."

Well, it was good while the good stuff lasted. Requested archive that never arrived, and figured I'd never look at it anyway. I have all the lovely things people have said about my novella saved, and so we move on...

@jeanettesheppard.bsky.social ... well, we finally moved in September and then this week I at last moved into my little study. How stunning does your picture look?? xx

Can we get to a 1000 followers before midnight? 3 free entries to our micro comp for someone!

Weatherglass Prize for a novella (rare in this day and age), with the wonderful Ali Smith as judge. International. Please share: weatherglassbooks.com/novella-priz...

🚨WORLD’S RICHEST MAN BUYING OUR DEMOCRACY🚨 Elon Musk is set to pump £78m into Nigel Farage’s party—a sum that would allow Reform to flood our politics with targeted ads. Sign now to stop him: 38d.gs/ProtectDemoc...

@iammilliam.bsky.social @waterstones.bsky.social Fabulous evening listening to @davidnicholls.bsky.social talk about his books past, present and future. Funny and fascinating, and I'm off to spread the word to my copy-editor colleagues 😁📝

This time last year, in terms of writing, I had no clue I'd be finishing 2023 with an agent. But thanks to the Bath Novel Award, and before that the Caledonia Novel Award, it happened. Dreams can come true, even if quietly held. More words, more drafts, more changes - tiny steps into 2024 🖊 📚 🌿

Please share - New Prize for non-fiction for black women writers, amplifying us as knowledge-makers and critical thinkers. Global scope with a $20,000 award for exceptional work by black cis, trans and genderqueer women. Details here. Judged by Bernadine Evaristo.

I miss writers, so let's do a 100-word stories generative Zoom class on November 28th from 1:00-2:30 EST! Cost: Pay what you want/can afford! Reply to sign up! 5-6 prompts, some new/some classics! Help spread the word!

“The deadline for the SmokeLong Grand Micro Competition aka #TheMikey with its chance to win $1,500/$500/$300/be a finalist for $100 and get published in the Dec issue of SLQ to joy and great acclaim, spooky panda” is the answer you’re looking for. www.smokelong.com/the-smokelon...

Prepare to be transported in time and place! I knew nothing about this area or its history, and Louise brings it alive in this novel.

Woohoo, my first proper post at this blue place is lovely news! I'm very, very happy to say that I have signed with literary agent Kate Barker, judge of the Bath Novel Award. Very excited to embark on the next stage of my novel Silverfern with her, and the world of Victorian Liverpool 🌿🌺🤍💚🤍.

A quick message to new Blue Sky friends: We're entering the final week of our Short Story Prize submissions! Closing date = Saturday 30 (midnight UK-time). If you've a short story to share, we'd love to hear from you - and so would our amazing judges! Full details: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize

Arvon are currently offering grants for low income writers to attend their courses. Places go quickly so apply now! I did a course last year with @nicholasroyle.bsky.social and it was brilliant! ⭐

Hello friends, it's so lovely to see you all again!

Still loving the George Saunders Story Club. George selects masterful stories and offers directed reading, and all the wonderful folk over there get into brilliant discussions. I can't recommend it highly enough as a learning opportunity for short story writers. open.substack.com/pub/georgesa...