Today is Candlemas - which is a beautiful name. A chance to celebrate 'the return of light' Artist: Roger Hall

Just for today, my novel, “Introducing Mrs Collins”, about Charlotte Lucas, is 99p on Kindle!! Grab it while you can!!

A few book tour gigs coming up!

London: temperatures have dropped. For anyone sleeping rough, this can be fatal. Contact thestreetlink.org.uk if you see anyone sleeping rough who might be in need of support, and we'll get them out of the cold.

I just think it’s so much cooler and more interesting to try to be the best audio show rather than the shittiest television show

4 years ago today this came out on @subexotic.bsky.social armaturesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/mirror... Still proud of how this one turned out. ffo reverb

Ever feel like AI is trying to gaslight you? “There is no such book, Rachel. It never existed. No, no don’t look down, don’t look at the search results just listen to me. YOU NEVER WROTE A BOOK AND ALSO YOU WERE IN THE MIGHTY BOOSH”

“I often racially abuse people, but never in a hurtful or insulting way”

I’m in PETWORTH tonight chatting about Jane Austen and my book. If you live nearby, come!

Went to see @marcusbrig.bsky.social last night. He’s still knocking it out of the park. Thought provoking, top class comedy.

Empathy levels zero

If you want kids to read: -Reopen the closed libraries -Give them free books -Sponsor author visits in schools with high % pupil premium or FSM students -Work on adult literacy Then Y8s will have a chance of passing this test www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

The assumption appears to be that ordinary voters will be cowed, obsequious, and unwilling to challenge autocracy, just like the billionaires, business leaders, media executives, and other leading institutions of civil society, which have decided that fighting back is “not worth the hassle.”

He could have commented on the dangers of a president vowing to punish an entire city because he doesn’t like the democratically-elected Mayor, or asked Mamdani to do so. Instead, he took these threats for granted and asked whether voters should decide to be swayed by the rhetoric of an autocrat.

In the 1st question of his brief interview with Mamdani. Anderson Cooper reports Trump’s strongman threats to punish NYC if the Mayoral candidate is elected, as if he gets to select where funding goes according to his whims, & then asks whether voters will find it “worth the hassle” to vote for him.

Sex scene with Mr Collins, anyone? It's the perfect time for some Austen-inspired fiction & I hugely enjoyed this heartfelt, romantic & v. funny imagining of the life of Charlotte Lucas from @rachelparris.bsky.social (Honestly, don’t let the sex thing put you off, it’s lovely) Out 6 Nov 📚 🌟

See what people are saying about Introducing Mrs Collins… and then order it!! Signed and dedicated, if you like! Perfect Christmas present for the book-lover in your life! backstory.london/products/int...

This month I announced that London has met legal limits for nitrogen dioxide for the first time ever. When I became Mayor, we were told it would take 193 years. We did it 184 years earlier than predicted.

Not long until my novel, Introducing Mrs Collins, is out! Nov 6th, but you can pre-order now via link in my bio. It’s all about what happens to Charlotte Lucas in P&P, after her engagement to Mr Collins, and whether perhaps she might find herself to be romantic after all…

Nazis ban comedians shock.. NYT, 4 Feb 1939

In London, hate will never win.

This afternoon, in addition to Charlie Kirk, there was a school shooting. Bullets don't know and don't care if you are a Republican or Democrat. It is time for Republicans and Democrats to find a way to work together to reduce gun violence. www.wcpo.com/us-news/crim...

In 2022 I received the wholesome DM in the image on the left on the Other Site, tonight I received the one on the right 🥹🥹🥹🥹

Sorry to sound like DFS but this offer ends tomorrow night!! (And unlike DFS there won’t be another starting immediately afterwards)

My forthcoming book is currently on a pre-order special off at @waterstones.bsky.social !! Get 25% off the normal price if you order now, then it’ll get delivered to you on publication on Nov 6th!! Code is SUMMER25 www.waterstones.com/book/introdu...

Look! My brilliant wife wrote an entire book. It is excellent and if you are able to order a copy BEFORE release date she would be very happy* *which will be well deserved because she worked her ass off to create this story.

Looking forward to reading this. Rachel P is so talented.

Some exciting news…! Introducing Mrs Collins is out in November but available to pre-order now! #PrideandPrejudice #newfiction #JaneAusten

If you’re looking for something good to listen to, highly recommend the audible version of The Examiner by Janice Hallett. Really intriguing, complex mystery, voiced by full cast. So good!

Don't forget to rinse out every jar and tin you finish, guys x

Went to see The Ballad of Wallis Island yesterday and it is a truly beautiful film. So very funny and so very moving. Cannot recommend enough.

James Acaster has mastered chat shows like nobody else in comedy. This is a tour de force 15 minutes, Seth Meyers is fighting for his life 🤣 youtu.be/pTbALzICA6c?...

There may come a day when the BBC puts on air one of the other 29,999 headteachers currently estimated to be working in UK schools, but that day is not today

@csittenfeld.bsky.social hello! Could I possibly send you a message about a novel? x

Wow! 😮 youtu.be/iO24SGs4B_k?...

Thanks @marcusbrig.bsky.social and @rachelparris.bsky.social for yet another great pod episode. However, I did not have either of you down as double-dippers! You've become George. Shocking! www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOy...

A must-see.

Some of y'all can't handle 2 high agency males going at it and it really shows

Read this right now. And be chilled to the bone.

‘How was it for you?’ with @rachelparris.bsky.social and now with special GUEST STAR @5teviem.bsky.social ! podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

We now have GUEST episodes on our podcast #HowWasItForYou and our first is the superlative @5teviem.bsky.social !! Check her ep out now wherever you get your pods. Content warning: Strong opinions on Flowers and Pigeons

a few of my ~800 followers haven't bought my album... Still got copies on CD if you want one Link below 💿 armaturesmusic.bandcamp.com/album/osprey Go on it's really good (I've been told). #newmusic #bandcamp #MusicSky #electronicmusic #CD

Read our open letter here 👇 4/4 www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/mind-signs-open-letter-to-uk-government-on-planned-welfare-cuts/

There's still time for the UK government to reconsider its benefit cuts. To reframe the question and ask itself how it can lift disabled people out of poverty. 1/4

Just in time for the May Bank Holiday! Roll out the bunting… podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/h...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Times VITRUVIAN MANGO “the comedian is transportingly funny, and his set is studded with bright ideas”

So what can we actually do about Adriana Smith, who is brain dead, but whose body is being kept alive on a machine against her family’s wishes, until she gives birth in three months to a (almost certainly tragically unwell) baby? This is in the US. What can we actually do?

Pet peeve that I have witnessed twice in the last week in a film/tv show; someone googling a persons name, and google returning 0 results. None. Not unrelated results, spurious, unhelpful results; results of other people with that name, but a shot of a screen actually saying “0 results”.

Pure, nonsensical cruelty from the DWP. For 6 years, without telling her, they let this mother unknowingly earn 83p-£1.92p per week too much as a dinner lady while juggling caring for her son with severe autism. Then they slammed her with a bill for £10k. Vile. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...