Pantea Arteshbod (559-529 BCE; fl. 539 BCE), was a Persian military commander during the reign of Cyrus The Great. She was one of several women to hold high ranking positions in the Persian army. #CelebratingWomen

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 8565: No character can represent all of a group, an ethnicity, a culture. Every character is a complex result of upbringing, race, sexualtity, class, culture, age and many other factors. If you just write a character as "gay", or "Black", you're creating a stereotype.

Definite signs of spring…

How to be a Writer. 1. Stare out of window at rain. 2. Experience a certain lassitude. 3. Contemplate the infinite. 4. Tea.

And this morning the Shed is a spinning wheel, spinning the clouds into threads of gold…

As a child, I read LORD OF THE FLIES: never doubting that it reflected actual human nature. Turns out it actually didn't. www.theguardian.com/books/2020/m...

Excavation of the tomb of Akhet-Hetep at Giza revealed a monument to his mother Peseshet, the "Overseer of Women Physicians." She is the world's earliest known woman doctor, and practiced at the time of the building of the great pyramids in Egypt, about 2500 BC. #CelebratingWomen

One of the wickedest things Wes Streeting has ever done is push politically convenient falsehoods about suicide rates amongst young trans people. We have new data from the National Child Mortality Database that exposes the truth he tried to cover up.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 712: Male writers: if you're uncomfortable writing women characters, then write them as men, and flip them in edit. Too many otherwise excellent male writers seem distracted by boobs, and forget that women have exactly the same range of character types as men do.

I’m an Ambassador for this brilliant charity, Bookbanks, giving away books with food parcels at food banks. There are two part-time jobs going for Regional Leads in London and East Anglia. Link below. Please share far and wide :)

Don't remove the racist post. Remove the racist from his post.

Me, in La Stampa, talking about VIANNE and my upcoming visit to the Turin Chocolate Festival. (Tough gig, but someone has to do it:-) www.lastampa.it/torinosette/...

And this morning the Shed is a promontory overlooking a stormy sea: the green waves rise like cutlasses; the sky is like a purple bruise…

Rule of Goats 2.0 cc: @kenwhite.bsky.social

Phillis Wheatley, (1753 – 1784) was the first published African-American female poet. Born in West Africa, she was sold into slavery at the age of seven or eight and transported to North America. She was sold to a Boston family, who taught her to read and write and encouraged her talent.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 2035: Knowing where to start a book is as tricky as knowing where it ends. It can take pages of scaffolding before you reach a strong starting-point. Kick away the scaffolding when you don't need it any more. You're building a self-supporting structure.

Missed yesterday's #Storytime? Here it is, all washed and brushed... ko-fi.com/post/The-Vul...

And this morning the Shed is a house in the hills; alone in a field of snowdrops…

There is a story the bees used to tell, which makes it hard to disbelieve. #Storytime

February’s print is just starting to go out. If you’d like to join the club, www.infinitebacon.com/printclub It’s less than a tenner and postage is freeeee anywhere in the world.

As @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social said 'The story has turned into being about 2 bad boys, Mandy and Andy, and not about an elite group of men creating a den, cut-off from the real world where they could behave as they want - which was about corrupt finance and brutalising women.' #Epstein

We are very sad to learn of the death of Dr Neil Philip, folklorist, writer, poet, & long-standing member of The Folklore Society. Jack Zipes says: ‘He was one of the most kind and helpful people I ever knew. … He was a superb scholar and devoted to the study of folklore.’

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 320: Writing complex characters is great in principle, but in practice often results in messy, difficult characterization. If that's you, try choosing just TWO main characteristics to start off with - one positive, one negative - and build on those as you progress.

Marie Spartali Stillman: Pre-Raphaelite muse and talented artist in her own right, whose own important work is often overlooked. More than just a model.

And this morning the Shed is a forbidden chord, the playing of which was once believed to summon the forces of darkness…🎶

Dear Film Industry, Wouldn't it be nice to have a film version of WUTHERING HEIGHTS that was: 1. Filmed in Yorkshire 2. With actors that one could plausibly believe to be from Yorkshire 3. Of the right age (teens and 20s) 4. Actually scripted by someone who has read the book ALL the way through?

Maud E., aged 21, admitted to Colney Hatch in 1900 for reasons of "puerperal insanity." Maud was a housemaid: her baby illegitimate. In this case, Maud was lucky; she was released, with her baby, after only 6 months. Some women spent years there, for what amounted to a temporary hormonal imbalance.

I made myself an AI FREE stamp for any creative workshops I'm running so that people can use it on their work if they like, and as a general reminder.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 9: However familiar you are with the characters, world and plot of your book, remember: your readers don't know anything unless you've told them. How you tell them (quickly, slowly, using suspense, in passing, by implication) - and whether they care - is up to you.

Wasp update: my foot is the size of the QEII and none of my shoes fit, but I do have antibiotics, antihistamines, tea and a generous supply of biscuits, plus a terrific excuse to stay indoors all day and do some work (ahem, finish watching CELEBRITY on Netflix:-), so all is well in Harris-world...

And this morning the Shed is a violin, made from the bones of a murdered girl; the pegs from her teeth; the neck from her spine; the bow strung from her golden hair…

How to be an (off-duty) author: Have nice, relaxing bath Put on fluffy slippers Discover MASSIVE FUCKING WASP inside slippers Discover that yes, you are allergic to wasp stings Tea.

Very nice and also sad. Orange boys are very good cats.

Snow and wind outside the Shed, and a sky like a lead balloon. This thing isn't going to happen tday. Netflix and chocolate Hobnobs it is...

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 111: Criticism comes with having readers. If you can't handle criticism - be it fair or unfair - then you should keep your work strictly private.

And this morning the Shed is a silver thread, glimmering through the trees…

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 42: Not every noun needs an adjective. Keep your adjectives for when they are really needed…

Alecto says hello…

Release all the Epstein files.

And this morning the Shed is a secret door, from behind which comes the sound of laughter…

Properzia de' Rossi (1490 – 1530) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor, who reportedly taught herself by sculpting cherry and peach stoes. She is one of only four women to receive a biography in Vasari's Lives of the Artists.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 176: Don't wait by the phone for a reply to your submission. Start work on something new instead. At best, you'll have a half-finished second novel by the time your first is accepted. At worst, you'll still have made progress and kept momentum going.

And Phobos!

Deimos!

Imbolc greetings. Spring is allegedly springing. So maybe it will actually stop raining for a few minutes at some point soon! Image: GFDL, CC-BY 3.0 Brigid’s cross, woven from rushes and traditionally hung in the home, particularly in Ireland, to protect from fire, illness or other bad luck.

Lovely dinner at my old college last night: now off to London to visit my son - with bonus cats!

And this morning the Shed is a limousine, as glossy as the Ace of Spades…

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 4: “But it happens in life” is no excuse for including something random or improbable in a story. Life is often random, unstructured, unbelievable, disconnected. Stories need rules, structure, meaning and a satisfying resolution.

This Itch of Writing: Fourteen Things Your Readers Want, But You Don't Have to Give Them - Unless you and your story decide you want to. emmadarwin.substack.com/p/fourteen-t... @emmadarwinwriter.bsky.social #writing