Made my day⬇️⬇️⬇️

@cbnnetwork.bsky.social curtseys deeply to the kindness of Bea. Bloomsbury isn’t the same without you. I’d throw a wobbly like Small but suspect that’s not a good look for an elderly Large! Thankyou for a lovely review x

Bid now on our Christmas Appeal Auction featuring artworks by @jamiesmart.bsky.social, Axel Scheffler, @debigliori.bsky.social and other top illustrators. shop.scottishbooktrust.com/collections/...

The Grammar of Fantasy and the Fantastic Binomial: Beloved Italian Children's Book Author Gianni Rodari on Creativity and the Key to Great Storytelling www.themarginalian.org/2025/06/07/g... With grateful thanks to Maria Popova for this thought-provoking essay.

Despite the headline it’s not George RR Martin personally going for them cos he’s rich and famous. It’s all of us. The test case used his work, but it’s about the plain-as-day issue that ANY generative AI ignores and infringes copyright, by passing off. That’s a win for basic law.

In Mexico, blackouts caused by data centers destroyed people's refrigerators and oxygen equipment in hospitals, and water shortages meant toilets couldn't flush in schools. AI is another version of colonial extraction.

#booksky Anyone else getting random emails pointing out how little review coverage your book has garnered and how, with help from this oddly kind and very flattering random person, your book could reach the readership it ‘deserves’? It’s weirding me out. And also underlining how flat sales are.

Book people- is anyone getting these random emails offering to amplify your book’s review coverage whilst reminding you that your book hasn’t performed well with reviews ( and by implication, sales)on Amazon?

Hello Edinburgh Smalls and their loving slaves! I’m talking about bad moods and tantrums and unswerving love at @ifecosse.bsky.social tomorrow, Saturday 26th September at 1.00pm. Also live-drawing, signing books and answering questions. Hope to see you there-a bientôt!

Magical morning in the Jizera Mountains 🌲

At 6 am GMT, my podcast was interrupted by a message via an account I follow ( nothing whatsoever related to politics, the US or anything even remotely adjacent) from 47, aka the orange cheet’o. WTF is that about? Anyone else getting random texts from that source?

This cause is close to my heart - please sign: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/pa...

New data finds Americans are more likely to support labor unions over Big Business than at any time in the past 60 years. We are witnessing a historic rebirth of worker power.  If you want a better life for you and your children, join or support a union.

My advice for graduates: 1. Be cool. 2. Don't be a fool. 3. Avoid being a tool.

And besides, what could possibly go wro-

This list details every point of concern regarding the influx of AI activity currently infecting our lives.

There’s many unpleasant things happening in the world but this remains one of the absolute worst. Millions of people sentenced to death to own the libs. 19thnews.org/2025/04/aids...

secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/... The Supreme Court ruling that sex is determined by birth alone is discriminatory, extremely painful -and wrong. It is not a historic moment for feminism but a leaf from a fascist playbook. Please add your name to the Avaaz petition for justice for all of us.

Librarians in UK increasingly asked to remove books, as influence of US pressure groups spreads ( from The Guardian, April 14th 2025) Looks like Fascism. Reads like Fascism. Stinks like Fascism. Chances are, it is Fascism. The darkness abroad is closer to home now. MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY

So many people deserving of the pointy end of our collective pins. Stabby stabby stabby. Ton ton miawocute, y'all.

'Professor Gina Neff of Queen Mary University London told the BBC ChatGPT is "burning through energy" and the data centres used to power it consume more electricity in a year than 117 countries.' Tech bros are sociopathic exintinction events aided by demented power-needy govs bbc.com/news/article...

A woman interrupted a pianist. She's part of a bigger problem. open.substack.com/pub/jessiead... This came from Substack. As parent of a performing musician, I am in total agreement with the author, but you may disagree. Thoughts?

!! CALL TO ACTION !! #Booksky please join me in the fight to save our libraries. EveryLibrary is working hard to save the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), which is the federal agency charged with distributing Congressionally approved funds to state libraries and grant recipients.

Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition which now stands at 40,000+! You can #DoTheWriteThing & stop #MetaBookThieves by adding your signature here ✒️ authr.uk/sp40

Anyone else struggling with an overload of terrible imagery from two ongoing wars/conflicts/genocides, a decent chunk of existential dread and a light sprinkling of utter what the fuckery? And the Abyss can just do one.

For anyone who’s ever wondered why people can be bothered to climb Munros. This.

😬

Oh hello, Abyss.

open.substack.com/pub/theancie... This, and its genius creator, Joe Berger has been brightening my days over on Substack. And heaven knows, we could all use a little light and laughter just now.

A mother fox carries her baby by grasping with her teeth the loose, non-sensitive skin at the back of the neck. When she grips & lifts her baby off the ground it causes relaxation, baby assumes a compact posture with hind legs drawn, heart rate slows & makes no sounds while carried. 📸 Sharon Denny

This is what we all should remember.

Well, that’s the roof landed in the vegetable patch. 79mph winds as I write….

Here’s the Abyss looking right back.