One of the joys of writing a series is that you can plant a seed in one book and watch it bloom two books later. It is so satisfying! #amwriting

Have I posted this before? Changes to Amazon's algorithms and book sales.

Reading/writing scifi & fantasy: "I am really tired of people turning entertainment into utility. We don’t have to be productive all the time. Neither do we have to pursue constant self-improvement. Imagining the impossible—inhabiting the impossible—is about being free."

Agatha Christie adding magic to her mysteries? Sherlock Holmes battling space pirates? How about a new Warden trying to protect a futuristic parliament? Stars Die - an All-New Realm of Golden Age Mystery

I have EARNED the coffee I see in my immediate future.

Just had to phone to talk to a REAL PERSON in my current wrestle with bureaucracy and holy void! most of the phone call was listening intently to button-pushing options & proving that I am me. Shouldn't complain because once I spoke to a REAL PERSON issue quickly resolved. #exhausted

A friend just messaged with the awesome news that Bard by Audrey Faye is out on Thursday :) #booksky #MakingTheWorldBetterOneBookAtATime

🧪 cool and fascinating #SciComm theconversation.com/unusual-red-...

Romantasy now available as games!

Synthetic biology #bookmarking

I have notes for future books in the Caldryn series. They're continuity points & promises that have to pay off, but they're also philosophical questions. I write them down so that my subconscious can chew on the questions until the, sometimes unfinished, answers can find a home in the right book.

People never believe this fresco is real, but it is!

Advertisers know that what your friends think is far more important to your purchasing decisions than ads are. No wonder they're trying to substitute bots for your friends

Starting the week off right! Adding "A Skirl of Sorcery" by Helen Harper to my kindle. #NewRelease Contemporary #Fantasy #Booksky

I'm a scientist... Just keep your #onions in the fridge. Presumably (i.e., my hypothesis) this changes the viscosity of the onion juice. #NoMoreTears. Done. I've been doing this for years. Please credit me in the resulting paper 😀🧪 share.google/KyH5qOBp4Vuy...

A list of highly recommended readings to help understand today’s geopolitical and social-cultural environment. @anneapplebaum.bsky.social @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social @moisesnaim.bsky.social @marietjeschaake.bsky.social @yuvalharari.bsky.social @brianklaas.bsky.social

Solid.

Happy weekend!

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you’re under absolutely no obligation to justify yourself to anyone if you choose to spend the entire weekend drinking tea, reading books, and eating a scandalous amount of cinnamon rolls.

Popular highlight from my #scifi novel, Astray: “Humans tell their stories to meet current needs. Good, bad or misguided. When those needs change, sometimes you’re trapped by your stories.” Astray is in Prime Reading (US) till November 30. #booksky

THE WITCH ROADS ebook is currently on sale (US) for $2.99, so if you're curious & want to read a grimsweet tale of a humble deputy courier & her annoyed nephew, a possessed prince, & a ravenous fungal ghost plague, now's the time. Bk 2 of the duology arrives Nov 4! us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

All year long, Christophe Waggoner scours Texas thrift stores for children’s Halloween costumes. His hard work is worth it in the fall when he hosts an event in which anyone can pick out a costume — for free.

"higher agency" - I hadn't considered that where you land on the spectrum between "it's all fate and I'm responsible for everything" would affect your reaction to AI. Obvious, really.

Dark matter remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in physics. Join Rosalind Franklin Prize winner Professor Clare Burrage as she discusses how her research is probing our dark universe, and how she aims to engage girls of all ages with the joy of physics: bit.ly/4mFfvL6

The Royal Game of Ur is the world’s oldest playable boardgame! Played by Sumerians in ancient Mesopotamia about 4,500 years ago! It is a two-player race game, the rules of which have been deciphered from a cuneiform tablet. Game from the Royal Cemetery of Ur. 📷 British Museum #Archaeology

I like that Jane Friedman's publishing newsletter is now weekly. I read it and feel connected to my industry. Ever-changing and challenging though it is :) janefriedman.com

🍃🫖 🧪

Why use one word when you can use three or five? I'm musing on excess verbiage (i.e. padding) in novels. #writing

Enjoyed #listening to interview with Blythe Calnan re working dogs in Aussie ag.

A colloquial Colombian phrase about being very busy is mas ocupado que pulpo lavando platos. It means “busier than an octopus washing dishes.”

The elephant pretends to eat this guy's hat.

Gulf War illness impacts “up to 1/3 of the 700k troops deployed during Operation Desert Shield & Operation Desert Storm more than 30 yrs ago…. studies link Gulf War illness to chemical exposures that impair the body’s mitochondria—‘the energy powerhouses of cells’—& alter the brain &immune system”🧪🛟

Because their legs are so short, young #wombats just seem to flow over the land when they walk. #WombatWednesday #Tasmania #MammalWatching #WildOz #wombat

If Agatha Christie had written magical stories in a scifi universe... Hexes Fly (available in Kindle Unlimited) www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0DXN1LF23/ #booksky #fantasy

Type, type, type. Delete, delete, delete. The word count creeps slowly forward. #amwriting

I've been working on a book proposal and alternating between "this is meaningful" and "this is pointless," and a friend recently shared this quote that she stumble on in a Goodreads review: "Every book is a grand gesture of optimism on the part of both the reader and writer." Keep creating, friends.

Anne Bishop just shared a chance to win her new book - and some other great new releases. I've been waiting for Turns of Fate forever! (US residents only :( ) #fantasy #booksky sites.prh.com/autumn-with-...

...when an economist tells you you got the economic theory you applied to magic right!

OMG an amazing thought occurred about dogs, cats and their relationship with humans. Hear me out, hear me out: Dogs were domesticated over 20,000 years ago to help with hunter-gathering, cats only 10,000 years ago as rodent control for grain stores after the invention of sedentary agriculture. 1/2

Bookmarked for when it's restocked. WANT!!! Discworld reading blanket

Mate by Ali Hazelwood is out today! I've had this on pre-order forever. ::happy sigh:: #booksky #romancelandia

Out today! Academy of Outcasts by Larry Correia (I have soooo much title envy for this one. Best title matching genre I've seen for ages) #booksky #fantasy

I've no idea who the lady in the gif is, but she captures my mood after doomscrolling my way into Monday.

Huzzah my copy of the Weed Forager's Handbook, A Guide to Edible and Medicinal Weeds in Australia, by @csiropublishing.bsky.social has arrived. So rare to get Australia focused foraging books in .au

ZYGENTOMA: The living fossils of the insect world! Known as silverfish, these apterygote insects (wingless) have existed for over 400 million years virtually unchanged. They're detritivores that feed on carbohydrates like cellulose and starch. 🧪 #Entomology #Zygentoma

Boat (from Switzerland 1869 Sketchbook) https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12398

Chalets, Breithorn, Mürren https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/12299

A 3,500 year-old Egyptian glass cosmetic jar with two little duck heads! Glass was a relatively new material at that time, so this jar would have been a precious possession. From Merit’s beauty case, found inside Theban tomb (TT8) of Merit and her husband Kha in 1906. 📷 Museo Egizio #Archaeology

Takaichi Sanae will be a mould-breaking leader. She does not hail from a political dynasty; she grew up as the daughter of a salaryman and a police officer; and in her youth she played drums in a heavy metal band and was a motorcycle enthusiast

Australia grew rich on Chinese demand. But with China’s economy slowing and commodity prices falling, Australia looks punch drunk as a result. The question now is whether the government down under has the tools to reverse the country’s economic problems