I guess this AI marketing scammer has used up its last punctuation mark in the first line?

Another load of AI marketing/phishing crap, this one pretending to be from a country where the book hasn't even been released. If "Craig Sailor" exists, can he clarify which of the three words in quote marks are the two words he wants me to reply with? I can think of a couple of my own, if not.

More AI marketing slop/phishing, this one from some guy's ChatGPT that runs a website that bilks people who've written "Business Secrets of the Pharaohs"-type books out of their money. Guess ChatGPT thinks he needs to branch out...

Here's another pick from this week's work email junk folder. If "Bella Monroe" exists, I wonder whether she'd like to explain what that second paragraph means?

I'm getting about a billion of this phishing attempts a day, but not usually as crap as this one:

Some weird city recommendations for your weekend. The weirder, the better.

LOOK OUT!

The very first copy of LOGOS: The World of FINAL FANTASY XVI was delivered to none other than @square-enix-games.com #FFXVI Localization Director & Lead Writer for LOGOS, Michael-Christopher Koji Fox, and he can't wait to share it with all of the fans on release day -- March 31st! 🥳 #FFXVI

HOT OFF THE PRESS! 🔥 Uncover the secrets of Valisthea and its inhabitants in this expansive compilation of Final Fantasy XVI lore! LOGOS: The World of FINAL FANTASY XVI goes on sale March 31st! ⚔️ #FFXVI

Also in our newsletter, a new novel by Alex Pheby. I said, A NEW NOVEL BY ALEX PHEBY. The Picnic. It is extraordinary. More information soon. Get ready.

youtube.com/watch?v=Wud9... Cities of the West inspired hyperpop banger from STIM. My new theme tune.

Core to that piece was "how literature interacted with itself"; in another of the nominated essays, I found Roberts' new history of fantasy essential in identifying the "wide range of resonances between Pheby’s work and the canonical texts of the genre." Pheby emerged as a key to contemporary SFF.

I am delighted to see The Green Man's Holiday on the BSFA Awards longlist. Inclusion in this preliminary stage of the awards process is a great compliment. Writing the Magic is also listed in the Non-Fiction category, rewarding all the contributors' and editors' work.

Come fellow writers, come willing to write what you’d rather burn:

Collector alert! Limited edition Cities of the Weft prints from the genius cover artist James Nunn. Get them before they sell out. jamesnunnart.com/collections/...

Oh yes, we're doing this on Saturday 25th October at MCM Comic Con in London. Join me, RJ Barker, Alex Pheby and Juliet E. McKenna, as we discuss how to build fantasy worlds and our new book of essays, WRITING THE MAGIC (out September 18th).

Don't forget to grab a ticket for a night discussing Fantasy fiction with Dan Coxon, Alex Pheby and R.J. Barker at Dead Ink Bookshop! We're celebrating the launch of WRITING THE MAGIC ✨ Date: 18.09.25 Time: 6 - 8 PM Tickets: £5 entry // £13 entry & book deadinkbookshop.com/products/sep...

Signing with Wes at Elliott Bay bookstore in Seattle. V. cool guy.

No Tropes For Me—Let’s Write Weird panel @seattlein2025.org #worldcon2025

Our short story prize is open for submissions again! Please share this widely - and please send us your stories: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize Closing date 8 November!

Alert! Alert! We're having a 35% backlist title sale. And just look at these incredible books: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/gbp-timeline...

We're bringing a little magic to #Liverpool this September! WRITING THE MAGIC will launch on Thurs 18 Sept at Dead Ink Books, Liverpool, at 6pm. Discussing it with me will be archmages of the written word Alex Pheby & RJ Barker. More info and tickets below. deadinkbookshop.com/products/sep...

Reading “Waterblack” by @alexpheby.bsky.social and a dreadful thing is occurring — this novel (and the series it concludes, “Cities of the Weft”) is SO bloody good that it’s spoiling me rotten. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that this is as good as Mervyn Peake.

Do yourself a favor and read the cities of the West trilogy from @alexpheby.bsky.social. Waterblack, the last installment, is a mind blowing conclusion?? that I am in total awe of. Rating: 5/5⭐ Final Recommendation: BUY ALL OF THEM IMMEDIATELY #booksky 💙📚💫🖋️

Links, Tips and Suggestions substack.com/@samj/note/c...

Our latest newsletter is live: shorturl.at/0KVXi Contains: news. News about Waterblack, upcoming books, upcoming short story prize and more.

Epic review of Waterblack in @strangehorizons.bsky.social by Matthew Eatough: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no... "Waterblack will be greeted as a fitting conclusion to one of the landmark works of experimental fantasy of the twenty-first century...

Amid the excitement of the @strangehorizons.bsky.social fund drive, we also have a standard issue this week (we are rockstars). In Reviews so far: Eatough on Waterblack and Pheby’s Cities of the Weft (@galleybeggars.bsky.social); @marinaberlin.bsky.social on Wheel of Time’s third and final season.

THE COUNTDOWN APPROACHES! We have 4 days to reach our fundraising goal & we have a LONG way to go!! Be the reason that the Locus lights stay on! Help us out at igg.me/at/locusmag2025. We are so grateful for your support! Fundraiser link in bio #sff #scifi #fantasy #booksky

"If, in Peake, I saw the possibility of a fundamentally different sort of fantasy story from those of Tolkien and his many imitators then in Pheby we can see the perfection of that method" Sounds right! www.typebarmagazine.com/2025/02/23/i...

The Fiction shortlist: Mark Bowles, All My Precious Madness @galleybeggars.bsky.social Lucas Rijneveld, My Heavenly Favourite, translated by Michele Hutchison @faberbooks.bsky.social Phillip B. Williams, Ours @vikingbooksuk.bsky.social Yasmin Zaher, The Coin @wearefootnote.bsky.social

We just finished recording a bonus episode with @alexpheby.bsky.social about his work, the undeserved disrespect heaped on Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Final Fantasy games. We all had a great time chatting with him and can't wait to get the episode out to you! We'll be back to Against the Day in two weeks!

The third has finally come to join the others. I can’t wait to see how the Weft expands in Waterblack @galleybeggars.bsky.social @alexpheby.bsky.social

I'm listening to Waterblack by Alex Pheby and it's fantastic. Been looking forward to it so much.

Explore @Mondyboy’s review of WATERBLACK by @alexpheby (@alexpheby.bsky.social): “In a series that’s all about power, Pheby reminds us that he’s the one in control; he chooses which narrative lever to pull.” locusmag.com/2025/03...

open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/b... A few words about the publication of Waterblack.

Lovely review of Waterblack on the @turnarounduk.bsky.social blog: theturnaroundblog.com/2025/02/28/w...

Hello Scotland! This is happening in Edinburgh next week. Tickets still available - will be an excellent event. (Please RT so people get to hear about it...) www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/edinb...

My latest article in Typebar Magazine is a close reading of the Cities of the Weft trilogy by the inestimable @alexpheby.bsky.social

And that’s a wrap 🥲 Thank you @alexpheby.bsky.social for one of the most imaginative and wonderful trilogies I’ve ever experienced. I loved these characters so much. What a conclusion.

app.thestorygraph.com/books/4b111f... Finished Malarkoi. I think I loved it even more than Mordew. It makes me want to read anything and everything by Alex Pheby. What a writer!!! #BookSky💙📚

Today @alexpheby.bsky.social comes to Hell to give us the 5 tracks that will be used to torment him for all eternity! Alex talks about his new book WATERBLACK, tells us about the challenges of writing a trilogy, and gives us what is surely the worst job anyone has ever done ever. tr.ee/PQLPm4WkLE

Already a couple of hundred pages into Malarkoi. No idea why I left it so long but Alex Phelby is a droll, vivid and meticulous writer, crafting impossible worlds that feel vital and immediate. Highly tempted to move on to Waterblack directly after this… #BookSky💙📚

New from @galleybeggars.bsky.social 'Waterblack' by @alexpheby.bsky.social Cities Of The Weft - Book III SIGNED copies avilable from @blackwells.bsky.social but hurry! Only a small handful are left! 📖 sample to peek inside and share www.jellybooks.com/cloud_reader...