A reminder for 2026: in a time where internet algorithms are being trained on anger, & politicians & media outlets are learning how to capitalise on fear & hatred, the most radical thing you can do in public is SHARE MOMENTS OF JOY. Share what you love as much as possible. Let gratitude be fire.

It'll spot any intruder over four feet tall!

Crime headline of the day.

I read "crime among the most wealthy" another way. Also, "Sauron" hahahaha

The Pop Tarts Bowl ritual mascot sacrifice fills me with horror. Delicious, delicious horror.

DEVIL: You shall stay forever young, but this picture of you will bear the marks of your sin! DORIAN: Can I hide it? DEVIL: Well, yes, but— DORIAN: And there are no other consequences? DEVIL: This… This picture will become so foul! DORIAN: Again, probably I’ll hide the picture.

writing a horror movie about a jewish exorcist whose catchphrase is “dybbuk stops here”

As the daughter of a Medievalist and mother of a historian whose PhD research led to her delving into the 17th century records of the Archdiocese of Westminster, I agree 100%!

Going in

On Christmas Eve, reupping this piece I wrote for The Strand magazine. Featuring THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, and RONIN. Ten Great Crime Stories Set During the Holidays

"This story doesn't need a sandworm" This is almost always wrong. Arguably, EVERY story benefits from adding a huge subterranean worm with quasi-mystical or semi-supernatural powers, or equivalent (similar to Moby Dick). Obviously the bigger the worm, the more literary quality it adds.

"And the strange trees seemed endowed with a human vitality, and waving to and fro their skeleton arms..."

I work murders. No one is hiding murders. The numbers in these cities and others are down. This is historic good news.

Headline of the day. Mystery as hundreds of Victorian shoes wash up on beach

Please God yes

Support a good cause, and get to read my short story "All My Life" to boot!

The Wexford Carol, Alison Krauss & Yo-Yo Ma www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxDZ...

Two more days to buy a copy of 120 MURDERS directly from @ruadanbooks.bsky.social with 50% of the publisher's profits (not mine!) going to food banks in the greater Boston area. A good way to fill your mind with filth and someone else's belly with Christmas dinner!

Rare footage of St Paul’s Cathedral testing its giant flamethrower

Happy winter solstice, northern hemisphere. Reupping this lovely piece:

A few movies and TV shows I've loved in 2025: Sinners F1 A House of Dynamite Adolescence Andor Le Bureau The Lowdown Slow Horses Murderbot

'Tis the season for some festive science songs. If you've ever wanted to hear someone sing about a dimunitive tyranosaur then now is your chance

I DO

Yes, I laughed. No, I can't help myself.

Headline of the day. Man sues casino after waking up in handcuffs with $75k debt he doesn’t remember

Terrifying headline if you don’t realize they are sports teams.

In a novel, you can sometimes get away with ONE coincidence. Anything more, and you'll lose all credibility with your readers.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 1726: Fiction hates coincidences. Just because it happens in real life doesn't mean it will work in fiction. In 1379, in Yorkshire, there was born a girl named Diot Coke. This, although actually true, still doesn't mean you can use her name in your historical novel.

THIS

I also frequently think about this poster on the back of Scotty Lundegaard's bedroom door

"The sun rises and sets with her, man."

for sale baby shoes never worn BECAUSE THE BABY CAN FLY! EVERYTHING TURNED OUT GREAT THE END

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of Michael Mann's HEAT, a hacker movie classic. (Shoutout Kelso.) We did an episode on HEAT last year with the great @meggardiner.bsky.social (co-author of HEAT 2) and our friend @cje.io. The podcast IS the juice! youtu.be/b2cfEXeWSn0?...

Yellow-Red-Blue, by Wassily Kandinsky, 1925 (detail, rotated), 📸 by @riogiancarlo.bsky.social

This is absolutely correct. Almost every artist I know is DROWNING in ideas. The issue is in executing the ideas.

Happy birthday to Shirley Jackson, an all-time favorite of mine. To celebrate, here's my favorite Jackson paperback cover art, an image that famously captures the central theme of The Lottery: boobs.

The Hunt for Red October is not explicitly a holiday movie in any way, but it's one of my favorite movies to watch in the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas

Wife: [watching tv] Me: … Wife: [watching tv] Me: It’s not clear to me what … Wife: I DON’T CARE WHAT NCIS’ BASIS FOR JURISDICTION IS HERE Me: I’m just saying it’s not particularly nautical

🎅My Evil MoPac Merch Holiday Sale has arrived, y'all!🎅 The coolest anthropomorphic highway merchandise line out there, with all kinds of awesome gifts 🎄🕎🎁 Check it out here: evilmopacatx.com

Orcas gonna get their own Andor-style prequel.

Last night we rewatched GET SHORTY and it was as perfect as I recalled

Crime headline of the day. May claims he 'teleported' into stolen BMW before 130 mph crash, deputies say

I BET YOU MY LIFE SAVINGS THEY PICKED TIMES NEW ROMAN BC IT HAS ROMAN IN THE NAME

Specifically, we’ve cut/permanently taken aware your wedding ring. You now belong to us. Kiss your old life goodbye. 3 & end/

Taken all personal possessions & filing them when booking someone is law enforcement SOP. Cutting a wedding ring is not. I can’t prove the officer who did this is part of the specific subculture I’ve described or aware of it, but it was the first thing that came to mind. 2/

I’ve been studying these weirdos, & regardless whatever else they are they’re weirdos, since I was in my mid 20s. The extremist subculture has absorbed or connected to other ones over time. A lot of acceleration of that dynamic over the past decade or so. 1/

Fucking hell

Crime headline of the day.

Crime headline of the day.

you: absolutely and correctly livid at the abject stupidity of this suggestion me: unable to stop muttering FEWER calories