The fear of the world usually manifests as fear and hatred of new things. They rarely admit to this fear (especially the men), but they show it in their actions of carrying a gun everywhere or thinking that if they don't cheat others first, they will be cheated.

Grief There is so much of it right now - for individuals lost, yes, but for much else. I found this quite beautiful. open.substack.com/pub/begininw...

If you read one thing today, it should be this Iran report says 16,500 dead in ‘genocide under digital darkness’ www.thetimes.com/article/01ba...

This is the sad truth

Book Cover of the Day:

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 2165: Writing well for children is no easier than writing well for adults. You don't start off in one area and then move on to "proper" books.

I felt like making some art last night/today and could have made something beautiful and/or meaningful but I made this instead. It's a Barbie Yaga Malibu Dream Hut. No regrets. Can't defeat fascism without joy.

Despite the internet blackout in Iran, reports & video footage show that the Iranian authorities have launched a bloody crackdown to crush the protests. The intl community should urgently act & stop further massacres of protesters in Iran. Add your name to the global petition: amn.st/6006CFpVp

"She lay at the edge of the hazel coppice, one cheek pressed to the moss that smelt of worm cast and the last of the sun, listening: to the wind in the elms, rushing away from the day, to the jackdaws changing their call from 'Outward! Outward!' to 'Home now! Home!'" @nicolaz.bsky.social

If you're a writer, wondering why you should bother writing with the world on fire. It feels like it's not important, I need you to understand that it is. Even if it is just because it keeps you moving forward? Even if it only brings YOU joy, that gives you energy to fight & survive.

Le Guin got the words spot on here - ‘But when we crave power over life - endless wealth, unassailable safety, immortality-then desire becomes greed. And if knowledge allies itself to that greed, then becomes evil. Then the balance of the world is swayed, and ruin weighs heavy in scale’

Strong message from the Danish Foreign Minister: "This is 2026 - you can trade with people, but you don't trade people."🇬🇱🇬🇱🫶🇩🇰👑

Burgh sketch

Perhaps the surest sign of AI not being super intelligent is the amount of tailored scams targeting the finances of authors, which is as rewarding as trying to mug a seagull.

In the spirit of brotherly love, could I gently enquire why the almighty **** are government departments, government ministers and Labour MPs *STILL* using X?

Lowest murder rate in London since records began.

In fairness to Moore, he spent about 30 of those years working in comics - if you’ve spent a significant chunk of your life working in comics and you’re still alive at 72, that’s a definite win.

If I was the commander in chief of the Imperial hegemon I would simply not dismantle the network of military and diplomatic alliances, favourable trade deals, and broad cultural paramountcy that had made my nation the most wealthy and powerful the world has ever seen.

Into a dark wood, wonderfully wild. High hills all around, below a grove of oaks, Huge and hoary, more than a hundred Hazel and hawthorn were tangled together there, And everywhere rough mounds of hairy moss.. Modern translation, From Gawain and the green Knight, #photography #nature #moss

‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’ www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Late Afternoon Tracks. 0°C and very icy. Deer in the wood.

Have a couple spots available in my manuscript mentoring/editing calendar! Get in touch with me here if you're interested at all - I can explain more and we can work out a plan for your project. www.theshipmanagency.com/classes/manu...

I think if it's a choice between a world with soup or a world with social media, soup wins, hands down. So far as I know, soup never radicalized anybody. Never made anyone feel bad about themselves. Sure, I imagine a few grains of arsenic might have slipped through on occasion, but on the whole...

Books don't tell readers who they personally are or who they are supposed to be. They do show readers a variety of characters. Implicit in that is this: "Here are some ways of being." Kids books aren't altering your kid to be someone new. They are simply showing them parts of humanity.

I'm doing a Reddit AMA for the next couple of hours, along with a bunch of other 2025 debut authors from different age categories and genres. Pop in if you're curious what the debut process is like! www.reddit.com/r/PubTips/co... #kidlit #amwriting #booksky

hi- I'm a 3d animator with extensive experience in Maya and Blender, working in TV, film, and games! If you or someone you know is hiring for a 3d animation position, please email me ([email protected]) or pass this along to your talent folks! 🤩 Thank you so much!

Hey, Grok Leave them kids alone

"The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss... When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever monster screams the loudest." Andor, s2 e9, written by Dan Gilroy

Love this from Guillermo del Toro

THE NEW TERM #backtoschool #backtoworkagain #newterm #school #schoollife #schoolholidays #teachers #teacherlife #schoolteacher #limerick #fyp #fypシ゚viralシ #humour #humor

My plan for 2026: Turn the TV off. Check in on news once a day by reading headlines. Make your art. Love your people. Care for YOUR MIND and BODY. We need to be centered, with a healthy distancing from the chaos, and deep in the creative flow to help each other through to the other side.

It's the national year of reading in the uk in 2026. Instead of asking "why don't kids read any more", ask "how can I help them find the stories (and non fic) they will fall in love with". Less "get off my lawn whippersnappers" and more "come, sit on the lawn, here's a comic".

Picture of the staff who operate my bluesky account...

#KidLitUk #UkKidLit @hazelmpinner.bsky.social @mariannedoherty.bsky.social hoping UK kid lit can help, can anyone recommend books that have been translated into Farsi? Preferably ones I can get in English and Farsi. New children are starting and I want them to have options in their home language?

I'm still waiting for a reliable AI house-cleaning device. It should dust, vacuum, mop and scrub - and that's all it needs to do. Ever. Until that beauty arrives, I'm good. They can keep their bad art bot, perv glasses and stapler Clippy

One of my all time favourite literary quotations.

Goodnight. ‘The whole Moomin family had, as usual, hibernated for the winter and set the alarm clock to ring on the first of April. But the clock was old and not to be trusted, so it woke them up for Christmas instead. Since she was awake anyway, Moominmamma made coffee.’ ~ 🖼️ 🖊️ Tove Jansson

Yardraker

"They looked towards the hilltop and saw a yellow flame rising against the sky. Too-ticky had lit the bonfire. It wrapped itself in flames at once, from ground to top, it gave a roar like a lion and threw its reflection straight down on the black ice" Moominland #Midwinter, Tove Jansson

That’s what these ‘debates’ are really about: framing old fashioned oppression as some kind of high-brow concern for women’s happiness. You know what makes us happy? Bank accounts. Voting rights. The ability to leave a bad marriage and not have a miscarriage kill us.

Yes. Look for the helpers. Current helpers, but also future helpers.

The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing. All from his movies.

62. The Hound of Ulster, Rosemary Sutcliff Gorgeous retelling of the Cuchulain mythology. Sutcliff is so underrated, I think - a phenomenal stylist in a very unshowy way, and she really engages with the time, place, and mythology with great skill and depth.

I see from some comments I’ve had lately in various places that a new “I don’t believe you really think this, it’s just performative” has dropped. Some commenters now respond to my saying that something is written by AI with “this is just a slur people throw around about bad writing now.”

And yet another reason why every person in the U.S. should read atleast one slave narrative. #Lit #BlackSky I never use ChatGPT because people in my family who were forced to leave school early always said ability to read and write was a blessing. Literacy is a right we need to protect.

Watched the trailer for the Magic Faraway Tree; is the real victim of AI going to be kids’ sense of wonder? Cos it looks spectacular, but (like with Wicked and Frankenstein) that impossible fantasy land at magic hour thing just screams “lazy push button awe” now, even when it’s been handcrafted.

It was a honour to be asked to write the Foreward for this enchanting compendium of world-wide fairy creatures, legends and belief. Written by two of my favourite folklorists, Sara Cleto and @briarspell.bsky.social, the volume is beautifully, lavishly illustrated by Annie Stegg and Kristin Kwan.