"Verify your age" The one phone in our house was in the hallway. It had an enormously long cord and I would walk down the hall to the bathroom, where I could shut the door and have a private conversation. This seems very horrifying to me now, as I will do anything to avoid talking on the phone.

In my next life I want to be a well-loved cat.

I was speaking with Mitch McConnell by phone for twenty minutes when he said, "hey, what's Lindsay Graham doing here?"

Psst...go to my new site draigbooks.com to see the super secret (not so secret) blurb for the highly anticipated (by me) fantasy novel QUARTZ STORM. While you're there, sign up to Dragon Post and you'll be first to see the fantastic cover designed by the fab @ravven.bsky.social #booksky #sff

I think the piece of art that had the most impact on me was the violin door at Chatsworth. You go through yet another too ornate room, and through a doorway you see a plain violin hanging on a wooden door, very simple. Then you realise it is trompe l'oeil. I burst into tears and I wasn't sure why.

I think someone wrote this about me and I'm not pleased

Look! I wrote a thing! It lives! Reaching Rotbottom is the first in my NEW Hammer, Stone, and Thorn trilogy. It's a slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers romantasy featuring found families, fighting fantasy fascism, and a loyal but dimwitted magehound. Preorder it here: www.amazon.com/dp/B0H6Y91QDZ

Once you realise there are people out there who think One Hundred Years Of Solitude is a shit novel, or who think Wolf Hall is a shit novel, you realise there is no "correct" in writing novels. "Correct" isn't even part of it. It's about doing what you love, for you, and a few likeminded people.

I don't remember my father choosing any music to listen to, but my mom loved the Eagles, Neil Diamond, Carole King and James Taylor. Music in the car was always a country station.

Although I'm not very handy myself, I have a weakness for cool mechanical gadgets and kits. I would collect them if I could (like, if I had money and also somewhere to store them). I recently saw this typewriter kit and fell in love. www.rokronline.com/en-uk/produc...

So I always have music playing in my head - sometimes two songs at once. Quite often it's something stupid on endless loop, but there's always music there. For some ungodly reason today it's been You're Beautiful. And (as if that wasn't bad enough) it's the GROAN TUBE VERSION. Just kmn.

I'm done for the day, it's just too hot in my little top-floor office even with fans on. I've lived in California, NM, Arizona, and Florida...and the UK summer is totally kicking my ass.

Perfect, no notes. :D

It's so warm in the archive right now that we've chosen a new Muad'Dib.

It's not even 9:00 am and I've had to tap out because my office room is too hot even with the fan. Do not want. I'm going to go downstairs and eat popsicles. :)

We've made a feed that is JUST our free art reference posts! Should contain almost every post we've ever made that included free references! Which is a lot. bsky.app/profile/did:...

I finally started watching From during my lunch breaks. I know, way late. I'm watching it on Sky, which we pay a metric buttload for, and it still has commercials. Commercial breaks every five to ten minutes and it is such a punishing experience even though I can fast forward through them.

being far enough away from the situation in the uk i can personally say that i believe brianna ghey’s mother is a terrible person taking advantage of the death of her daughter

Zucchini, squash and cooked carrots - probably because of texture, but my mind convinces me that the taste is nasty as well. I also cannot eat breakfast cereal with milk because the first time I remember smelling really bad body odour was on the bus and they smelt like soggy Cheerios and milk.

oh hey i can carousel all the blight's hollow artwork

Deluxe cover done for Wicked Endeavors by Kamilah Cole. Published by : Little, Brown and Company.

This is the number one thing people should understand. The damage is easy. The cleanup is hard. The nation is about to learn a lesson.

A bit late for Mermay, but here's a mermaid. Always late to the party, that's me.

Working from home is funny sometimes. I just rushed downstairs in my usual black sweats to answer the door and the guy delivering my package said "Oh, do you work nights? Sorry if I woke you up!" No, dude, I just *look* as though I just rolled out of bed. I'm actually working. Sigh.

Cover Art for "Magic Underfoot" by Coralie Moss 🌿 This was so fun to work on!!

Pinned post! My name is Michelle and I’m a UK artist! Clients have included Metallica, Magic: The Gathering, Smashing Pumpkins, Boom! Publishing, Trivium and more. I’m a volunteer for Wolf Rescue Wolf Watch UK Website/shop wolfskulljack.com Patreon patreon.com/wolfskulljack

Hi #PortfolioDay! I'm a freelance illustrator specializing in animal and fantasy art. :) I've worked on book covers and TTRPGs and love just about anything involving Creatures.

What a pair, me and you #silenthill

Only bollards can deliver this much happiness. #WorldBollardAssociation

I made queso fresco this afternoon and it isn't as easy as all the Tiktok videos make it seem. Or I'm just overly challenged in the kitchen, which I freely admit. Anyway, it's hot in here and the kitchen and livingroom smell like cheese, as do I. This is not a good thing.

An unusual request in the name of archaeological science: Would anyone happen to have a Shetland or Exmoor pony that wouldn’t mind sending some fur samples to me? We’re trying to compare a potentially preserved fur specimen but there’s (perhaps unsurprisingly) few sources on fur fibre diameters!

Hi, I'm looking to fill more slots for June. If DMs aren't your thing my commissions are also available on ko-fi! ko-fi.com/hearoto/comm...

It was so hot this afternoon (even with all of the fans on) that I put a blue ice pack into a gift bag for our cat Luna and she's been hugging it like her child for hours. :) That's her special comfort cardboard box behind her.

So, a quick story. I have been at @comicpalooza.bsky.social, been swamped with long lines almost the entire weekend so far, and there was this very nice gentleman named Jin (not sure of the spelling). He came the first day and said he was bringing books the next day to get signed. 1/

Finally finished painting this water nymph

The most important thing in writing is to finish. A finished thing can be fixed. A finished thing can be published. A finished thing can be made into a movie. An unfinished thing is just a dream. And dreams fade if you don't hold on tight enough. So finish the thing.

We played some Conan Exiles Enhanced (the new UE5 update) and everything is so very gorgeous. I have something like 900+ hours in this game (when really stressed, I start a new game and just build and break rocks) and this is stunning. Not my photo, stolen from the web to show the difference.

Great. I now have bleeding scratches all over my thighs because I sneezed while the cat was sleeping on my lap. Massive overreaction.

One of my most loved artists: Chiara Bautista www.instagram.com/chiarabautis...

Last night I watched the Pursuit of Jade episode where Fan Changyu discovers who her husband actually is (not really a spoiler) and I am obsessed with the acting from Tian Xiwei. Such emotion under such physical control, the use of subtle muscles without big expressions. youtube.com/shorts/LypB3...

MerMay is here! I discounted Undine's Blessing on Itch (other stores will be later this month) to 99 cents. While Marella isn't a typical mermaid, she has water magic, speaks with aquatic animals, and has a bond with water no other human has. itch.io/s/182182/mer...

Name your fav music video. Two of them: Red Lights by Stray Kids (of course), and Nap of a Star by TXT because it's a gorgeous little fairy tale. youtu.be/XkDA02FHHik?...

It's 5:00 and I finally got up after lying awake for an hour with multiple conversations running through my head and also the Wellerman sea shanty mixed with Chk Chk Boom by Stray Kids. WILL ALL OF YOU JUST SHUT UP FOR A MINUTE YOU'RE DRIVING ME BATSHIT. *cries*

Ecstasy, every single time. My brain insists that it is spelt with x.

Artists, show your orange art 🧡🔥

Last few days... Use this link: ko-fi.com/bookcoversby... Or type in the code WINTERBLUES to get the discount.

We've finished all objectives in Windrose and I'm kind of sad. It was so much more fun than I anticipated, really enjoyed it.

That repost made me laugh so hard because I grew up that way. My mom always thought I was going to hell, and evidently God had heart-to-hearts with her so she could tell me what he thought I should do. I appreciate the advice, but in hindsight my music at 14 shouldn't have been that important.