what I think it’s going to be like watching bake-off every year: 🍰 lovely ☺️ cosy baking 🍂 with nice people 🐿️ and enjoying 🥨 how great it all looks 🧁 hooray 🥧 what it’s actually like: oh CHRIST that caramel is fucked oh GOD the cake is splitting oh SHITE what are you going you EEJIT oh FUUUCK

Wrote a Substack, which is only very briefly about Scrooge McDuck. adamfarrer.substack.com/p/acknowledg...

I keep getting asked for my salty thoughts about the Salt Path as my position on nature cure narratives is v clear! A mere fraction of those thoughts published here @literaryhub.bsky.social, with thanks to @bookwormvaught.bsky.social and @nicwilson.bsky.social for their earlier pieces linked below.

My husband @mjowen174.bsky.social is a brilliant writer. He’s written for Dangermouse, Private Eye, @almurray.bsky.social and many more… He’s struggling to find work at the moment. AI isn’t helping. If you need a writer have a look at his website and please repost. www.mathew-owen.co.uk Thank you

Can’t believe we are still doing the “defeat fascism in the marketplace of ideas by platforming fascists and confronting them” in 2025 whilst *gestures wildly at the US concentration camps, ICE-gestapo, UK’s Reform anti-immigrant party and race riots*

Far right groups are threatening to burn down hotels full of refugees at events attended by senior politicians, while people of colour live in fear after being falsely labelled as paedophiles How mainstream politicians and media organisations are allowing a violent far right movement to spread

Flashback to the day The Beatles passed their A-Levels.

"Writing is the adult equivalent of a kindergartner playing inside a cardboard box, believing it’s a rocket ship that will take her to the moon. Adorable, but ultimately sad." (via @mcsweeneys.net)

I hope this email never finds you. I hope a single shaft of light pierces the broken ceiling, giving life to saplings and ferns. I hope the old computer went dark years ago, and the office smells of moss and wild spores. I hope that you are free.

The first issue of Lost Levenshulme sold out fast. We printed some more, and they sold out too. So we printed a whole load more - they sold out too! So for for those who missed out, the full issue is now free to read online. levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk/lost-levensh...

Today is Paperback Book Day, commemorating the date that the first Penguin paperbacks were published, back in 1935. A lighter, less expensive form of book, the paperback helped to make pleasure reading (and book collecting!) accessible to a wider swathe of the public. #💙📚 #Booksky

What they think I want AI to do: 👉 Research my plot 👉 Give me ideas 👉 Write my story What I actually want AI to do: ✅ Sort my accounts ✅ Make my inbox go away ✅ Clean my house

📺 NEW 📺 TalkTV keeps broadcasting anti-trans views with nobody in the studio to push back. It’s up to us to stop them. Write to Ofcom here: goodlaw.social/66f6a3

Congratulations, the universe sent you this dog because you have been chosen. Joy awaits. 13/10

Tag yourself!

“Forget the MPs who rebel over cutting disabled people’s benefits - remember those who don’t. Just as Iraq was for Blair, disability cuts is the moral stain that will mark Starmer and his government for years to come, whether they succeed or not.” My col. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

the year is 2029. i start my work day by logging into the authentication app and plugging a six digit code from my phone into the computer. after repeating this process 300 more times for every application and website i use, i am finally ready to get to work. it is now 5pm and time to go home

Having stripped trans people of their right to be treated with dignity The Times is now coming for people of colour.

In solidarity with the movements in Los Angeles and elsewhere across the US, our Riot Prime reading list is 30% off and we've made Joshua Clover's Riot. Strike. Riot free to download.

a friend of mine shared this ai-generated "emotion wheel" and unfortunately i have been laughing my ass off at it for like 15 minutes now. today i am feeling Fnliinneon

This is definitely where I'm at with my WIP - the first draft was a huge decades-spanning mess, and I'm now halfway through a second draft that takes place over 10 months! Great article for anyone worrying about taming the beast of a messy draft.

Prize now open for: Stories of joy and resilience in the face of daily challenges Narratives of resistance, activism, and fighting against ableism in all its forms, Personal stories of triumph, solidarity, and empowerment within disabled communities Details in link. Please share :)

What I read in May... An excellent reading month dominated by The Mirror & the Light, which is my book of the year so far!

Felt incandescently angry, might delete later. enewman.co.uk/rage-rage-ag...

Dear everyone! Do please lend a hand and share our offer – times are extremely tough and we desperately need to raise some cash to keep things moving. Simply use TheBigSaltSale in our checkout or click on the link below— www.saltpublishing.com/discount/The... Happy reading!

We believe the UK is now in breach of its obligations under the Human Rights Act and the European Convention of Human Rights and we plan to ask the High Court for a declaration of incompatibility. We would be grateful for your help:

Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk

It's here! 🦜🦜 I've written and recorded a short story set in Highfield Country Park, 'Parakeet', for @levyoldlibrary.bsky.social's wonderful You Are Here project celebrating Levenshulme's parks. Listen to 'Parakeet' and four other stories set in Levy's parks here: you-are-here.captivate.fm/listen

I'm open till the end of April to unagented mss from trans & nb writers in the UK. Would love the word spread 🖤💙💗🤍 bsky.app/profile/wild...

If anyone in Manchester or north east wales wants a perfectly functioning wheelchair lmk. Proving bafflingly difficult to give away, including to the Welsh NHS or social services. I guess they are famously well resourced after all

Quite exciting/nerve-wracking to see signs up in Levenshulme for mine and @valerieoriordan.bsky.social's stories for @levyoldlibrary.bsky.social's You Are Here project! The podcast launches on Friday - see more info here: levenshulmeoldlibrary.org.uk/you-are-here/

Let's make Northern #Booksky grow! We've put together a list of Manchester & Northern writers we could find here, so check it out and give everyone a follow. This is, by all means, not an exhaustive list, so please tag who we've missed👇 bsky.app/profile/did:...

*News* I've written and recorded a story set in my local park in Levenshulme, Manchester for @levyoldlibrary.bsky.social's You Are Here project... Coming very soon in podcast format along with four other park tales! 🦜

The fight for the rights and dignities of trans people is a fight against the thin edge of fascism. It's a hill we are willing to fight and die on. If you'd like to support us with a donation dedicated to trans rights, you can do so here. I am donating £1,000. goodlawproject.org/crowdfunder/...

We're looking for pitches for four-part columns on any aspect of creative writing to fit broadly within the following categories: craft, creativity, performance, career. Please send pitches to maxine[@]mslexia.co.uk with PITCH in the subject line 💌

I seem to be mainly dealing with all the crap going on at the moment by listening to birds singing their springtime songs. Here's who I heard on my way back from the dentist today (via the excellent Merlin Bird ID app from Cornell University).

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

What I read in March. A very good reading month, but Broken Biscuits by @adamjfarrer.bsky.social was my favourite - wonderful, funny, heart-breaking essays that I tore through in days! #BookSky

I swear. Writing is the only discipline where we make people feel like failures for practising. How many songs does a violinist learn that never wind up in recital? How many studies do painters do? Acting exercises. Tennis for fun. You're allowed to write without the intention of publishing.

Good morning. if you're struggling to engage with the all the madness at the moment. Pop your head into your local library, if you can, buy a book from your local bookshop. And disappear into another world. Time for a brew. @waterstonesoxf.bsky.social @librariesconnected.bsky.social

Long-time lurker, first-time poster here! Hello to other readers, writers, gamers, slow runners, bakers and respecters of human rights. I write fiction and have published short stories so far. I'm writing a novel, very slowly. I have 216 books TBR, which might explain the slow writing 😶 Hi! 👋🏾