"Dr Jeckyll & Mr Hyde" is actually a werewolf story in which Dr Jeckyll, instead of using a magic wolf pelt to turn into a wolf so he can indulge his basest desires, uses a "totally scientific" potion to turn into a different man so he can indulge his basest desires. He's a wereman.

While her attributes as described seem to track as feminine, nothing in the song actually says that Jolene is a woman. Maybe they're a guy named Joe Lane.

10 days left on the GoodReads Giveaway for my upcoming book, A PRETENDER'S MURDER! (US/Canada only, unfortunately.)

"My wife and my daughters" can also be written as "the Missus and the Misses".

#SweeneyTodd headcanon: Judge Turpin never actually assaulted Lucy. Mrs Lovett tried to kill Lucy with poison and threw her out, and ALL of "Poor Thing" was a lie.

Why was the potato field so noisy? Because of all the tubers.

I keep reading "MTG" as "Magic: The Gathering" and wondering what collectible card games have to do with right-wing politics.

I kinda feel like the best thing for the Andrew formerly known as Prince to do right now is to say, "Okay, yes, I was there ... AND SO WAS T----!"

"The Netherlands" ... sounds like a cute euphemism for "The Underworld".

I'm not sure what to make of this, but the Facebook algorithm just gave me an ad for shirts with clerical collars.

Probably my favourite Tom B. Wild song (yes, even more than "No More F***s To Give"). Posting for no reason other than I like it and for some UNKNOWN reason it's kind of earworming me today.

You can fold your arms crossly but you can't cross your arms foldedly.

Causal: doing things for a specific reason. Casual: doing things for no specific reason.

Way back when the Saxons first got into Britain, they had Wessex for the West Saxons, Essex for the East Saxons, and Sussex for the South Saxons. See the pattern? Took me a moment to realise why the North Saxons went with "Northumberland" instead ...

My editor sometimes tells me to "make a meal out of it" but I didn't think he meant it literally ...

100 years later, we still love it... crimereads.com/the-enduring...

Geeks are the hardest sort of characters to write, unless you yourself happen to be the same variety of geek. Because then you have to research up on whatever obscure interest your character's geeking out on, just to make them work.

Thanks, @msemilyedwards.bsky.social!

Why is A Pretender's Murder ranking as "science fiction crime & mystery" at Amazon? I mean, I guess historical fiction is technically time travel, but really ...

If we said "Estimated Arrival Time" instead of "Estimated Time of Arrival", we would eliminate the one word missing from the acronym and it would be delicious.

Did you hear about the private cinema at the Tower of London that only screens second-rate Hollywood flicks? It's just there for the "B" features ...

I know this isn't real and that it goes beyond tinfoil hat territory, but ... I keep thinking that some sort of flu virus is being electronically transmitted to me through my earphones.

From the upcoming book: "This was what the Working Lads Institute really offered, Eric realised: legitimacy, always preferable because it was easier than the uncertainty of chaos. A single public library probably did more good than a dozen policemen."

Thought: What would a crossover between "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Twelve Angry Men" look like?

A- #BookReview: A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang @misericordius.bsky.social #Inkshares #EricPeterkin #mystery #HistoricalMystery #HistoricalFiction #WW1

As a ruler in the Chronicles of Narnia, Peter is called "the Magnificent" because of both his robust health and his deep understanding of his kingdom. These things come naturally when one is always hi king.

A GENTLEMAN'S MURDER is also in Italian now!

Galleys! Time to get picky! (I print these double-sided, two pages per side. Physical copies just seem to make it easier to spot and note issues.) (reposted to add alt text to image.)

"Stress inducing" is when you see headlines that you'd love to believe in, but framed in a way that makes you think, "If this isn't outright misrepresentation, it's at least overstating things by a mile."

If people insist on being evil, I pray to God that they at least also be incompetent.

... I need to stop confusing Warren Buffett with Jimmy Buffett. Every news article I see about the billionaire has me singing "Margaritaville" in my head.

Comma power: "They rejected the proposal, detailing new objectives" = They detailed new objectives instead of accepting the proposal. "They rejected the proposal detailing new objectives" = The proposal detailed new objectives, and they rejected everything.

I still think about this description of the Canadian flag, which I first heard many years ago in a Montreal Fringe Festival show: "... a bloody, disembodied raptor claw, with a bit of bone still sticking out the bottom, on a field of snow between two rivers of blood ..."

The older I get, the more I realise that one of the most valuable parts of my primary and secondary school education was all those reading comprehension exercises we did in English class.

I think it's kind of wild that they got Scottish Nationalist Sean Connery to act in a movie called "Highlander", partially set in the Scottish highlands ... and cast him as the Spanish mentor.

Someone needs to be kicked a few times in the nethers by horny male platypodes.

Quite a bit later than I'd hoped, but my latest book is now in copy edits. At least the timing gave me a chance for a last-minute change to one major character's name. Because I am *not* going to publication with "Vance" plastered all over the book.

Comma power: "I don't laugh, because it happened to me" = It happened to me and that is why I don't laugh. "I don't laugh because it happened to me" = I do laugh, but not because it happened to me.

Today, and for the next few days, The Erlking’s Court is a buck! It’s a thick mystery about class and culpability with a hell of a twist, and Eleanor Donnelly, initially from Muscle and Blood, is the main character. Tell a friend! www.amazon.com/Erlkings-Cou...

The eye is a truly miraculous organ, for it can be both dark and bright at the same time.

Thank you but I would much rather get my research into interbellum attitudes (especially *late* interbellum attitudes) from books, not personal experience.

JUDGES BEFORE KINGS Humanity demands justice. This is why in the Bible (not just a religious text, but also an account of a society's development) the book of Judges precedes the books of Samuel (introducing the first king of Israel) and the books of Kings. 1/4

I wish that "authoritarianism" referred to a government formed by writers, publishers, and librarians.

#Mystery #London c/o @janetrudolph.bsky.social @cathyace.bsky.social @vickidelany.bsky.social @davidfennell.bsky.social @NarrelleMHarris.mas.to.ap.brid.gy @wendallthomas.bsky.social @misericordius.bsky.social @jeriwesterson.bsky.social @aubreynhamilton.bsky.social @gmmalliet.bsky.social

Did you know it's illegal to brew or store fermented apple juice in your living space? You could be charged with homey cider.

Why can't we brew coffee with little filter-paper sachets, the same way we brew tea? Are coffee machines a scam?

Why is kissing like a labyrinth? Because it's about your gob linking. Which, come to think of it, explains both the underlying coming-of-age themes of "Labyrinth" and the casting of David Bowie.

No matter what Edna Mode thinks of the subject, you know you can ALWAYS put capes on superheroes, because they are all supremely cape-able people.

Nearly suckered by a fake account yesterday. Found a different account claiming the same ID, and gave them a heads-up. Second account turned out to ALSO be fake. Cue "Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man" meme.