am reminded of the old joke: what did James Watson discover? Rosalind Franklin’s notes.

The context in which the Day Today skit is put into this documentary made me laugh so hard my friend asked if I was ok

Bro did you just flank my phalanx. My macedonian phalanx bro, you're flanking it aren't you. Why would you do that dude, I thought we were friends and here you are casually flanking my goddamn phalanx

Every time I get a copy edit back I end up feeling like I should send the copy editor flowers to apologise for my shoddy typing.

Been responsible for a child for three days and I feel like I've been run over seventeen times

Here’s the final version of the cover of my upcoming book REBEL OF THE REGENCY! Truly an object of beauty, I couldn’t be more thrilled! Thank you to @hanoversquarepress.bsky.social for taking a chance on me! The book is released in February; get all the links to preorder at rebeloftheregency.com 🤗

Burst out laughing at the bishop of York claiming that today's world is "more polarised than ever" while celebrating the king having out with the pope for the first time in 600 years because of all the BURNING EACH OTHER ALIVE people did in the 1500s

This is how you blurb

Much like Hillsborough, you have to marvel at how Britain as a system is so utterly impervious to accountability: decades of orchestrated bullshit, legal shenanigans and institutional roadblocks, and then one final great rasping fart of “maybe it was elves that did it, and fuck you”.

As we await a verdict in the trial of Soldier F, another reminder that in 2010 the Bloody Sunday inquiry found - the killings were unjustified - none of the 14 dead (7 of whom were children) had guns - no warnings were given - no soldiers were under threat - the troops were the first to open fire

Glad to see Celebrity Traitors is no different than regular Traitors when it comes to reading intelligent analysis of what's going on as a cause for suspicion. David Olusoga: "Think logically. Don't get swept along by groupthink." The rest: "He's being too clever. Burn him!"

Am on the final Vorkosigan book (sob) and the reveal that Cordelia and Aral are and have always been Sex People has truly delighted me

Thrilled to say I'm a judge for the first ever Inspiring History Teaching Awards, in association with Historic Royal Palaces. Do you know a great history teacher in the UK who deserves to go down in history? Nominate them here bit.ly/42yhGZP

Slightly surreal that a significant plot point in the tv show I'm watching is a character writing and pitching the exact book I'm writing next

Supporters of male primogeniture during the Anarchy of the 12th century:

Finally got a stupid ai written bookclub scam email. Was beginning to feel a bit left out.

Turns out that the biometric border thing is what finally prompts me to do the admin nightmare that is pulling together my Irish passport application documentation and get my eu privileges back

Reading the new Penguin Classic Horror Anthology where they've copy pasted a load of 19th Century short stories together with such little effort that they've left the explanatory endnote numbers in the text of one of the stories but haven't included the endnotes. Just numbers floating in a void.

Fun fact: Thiel didn't even come up with the gawker lawsuit idea. It was pitched to him by a student at Oxford who went on to come up with the Enhanced Games aka the Steroid Olympics, also bankrolled with Thiel's money. The world is so stupid.

I suspect that someone in my professional life is getting chatgpt to write their emails to me and I'm weirdly shook

This is what happens when society tells techbros they're very very very special people

Hi! We've made the Put This In Your Ear Object. It is the ideal size and shape to put in your ear, feels really nice when you put it in your ear, and can be used to clean out earwax, by putting it in your ear. Just one thing, though. Under NO circumstances should you put this in your ear.

I know what you're thinking and no, that's not how they rescued him. www.irishexaminer.com/news/munster...

Realised I am technically now an award winning audiobook narrator of children's books. What a life

WE WON!! Best children’s audiobook!!!! @emmasouthon.bsky.social

The first five chapters of my serial novel are still free to read! Have you read them yet? calamitystrinket.ghost.io/a-stranger-a...

These very true words from Steve Hely have given me tremendous comfort over the years.

I have made the first five chapters of my serialised novel FREE TO READ for the next TWO WEEKS. I would love for you to read it and to tell everyone you know to read it. calamitystrinket.ghost.io/a-stranger-a...

And here's my assistant, Little Parker Booowles!

Editing and grumpy about it

Shout out to the elderly man opposite me on the train in Sussex grumbling to his wife about the flags all over England right and ending his grumble with the very emphatic "Nazis! All of them!"

Great news for my fellow Ned Beauman fans: he has written an Anti-capitalist horror novel about the spawn of satan and it's absolutely fucking great titanbooks.com/creators/kit...

every “ancient tradition” was invented between 1848-1870 and every “modern perversion” is so ancient as to predate writing

Starts 17th September! Our new online course 'Roman Coinage in Britain' with Dr Peter Guest. A 5-week course, 6.00pm - 7.30pm (UK time) + recordings will be available. More info and booking at: www.hellenicandromanlibrary.org/Events/Event...

Pretty uncool how dust just accumulates on all your stuff even if you didn't do anything wrong.

I'm sitting here trying to map the I Claudius character names (Castor for Drusus the Younger eg) and I feel like I do when I try to look at US tax forms

I actually can't do a proper alt text for this image because words cannot express how much of a tangled nightmare this attempt at the Julio Claudian family tree is

Its more of a saxophone solo than a question really

Today’s news from Belfast. An actual proscribed terror group supposedly on ceasefire and enjoying the benefits of the Good Friday Agreement, doing actual terror. m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/...

This absolutely exceptional anecdote from Craig Brown's A Voyage Around the Queen made me laugh so hard I cried

Finished my book draft on Monday and I am already so full of energy that I've already started a new project and painted all the radiators on the ground floor of my house

In which I defend my boy, the handsome horror Caracella and explain that I would rather die than spend 20 minutes in a room with Marcus Aurelius

Today on #BetwixtTheSheets I am playing Shag, Marry, Kill, Roman emperor edition, with none other than the marvellous Emma Southon. First up, the emperor Caracalla Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

I have reached the disasterious Vorkosigan dinner party scene in A Civil Campaign while painting radiators and have absolutely lost control of my paintbrush several times

Don’t know who made this but thank you

“Between 2009 and 2012, iPhones had a built-in "Send to YouTube" button in the Photos app. Many of these uploads kept their default IMG_XXXX filenames, creating a time capsule of raw, unedited moments from random lives.” walzr.com/IMG_0001 this is beautiful 🥲

Me five minutes ago: I'm not going to read the Prince Andrew biography, so I'll just read this article about it Me after reading these two paragraphs: LMAO GOOD GOD

"We should go back to farming like the ancients." The ancients: "Farming is a literal curse from God."