Final thoughts on “Frankenstein”: definitely better than “Nosferatu”, but that’s not a very high bar. Also: it really wasn’t that faithful to the book. Also also: the accents…

BUT WHAT ABOUT THEIR GOLD FILLINGS AND HAIR

Hey the Nazis did this to my grandparents so this sounds cool @teamlabouruk.bsky.social

All in all: lots to like and lots to…. not. The accents chief among them

Nice to hear the monster has the traditional Yorkshire accent though. So many of the films miss this…

Christ, Oscar Isaac is having a shocker here (no pun intended).#Frankenstein

Time to bring back this Patricia Lockwood banger.

Speaking as a male writer who writes about men (& other people too!)… this is a hilariously bad take www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

A man?? winning the Booker prize????? Is that even possible? It hasn't happened since the far-flung days of 2023. Our legends say that a man also won it in the ancient, prehistoric era of 2021, but surely that is just an old wives tale meant to frighten MFA students before bed.

Course my life was better 50 years ago. I was 7. Mum & Dad did stuff for me. Considered a genius cos I could do long division. Could get away with sulking. But fairly certain the 70s were shit for lots of people. Everyone wore brown suits. Oh, and there was a global recession & mass inequality.

Athletic achievement is a piece of piss. Let’s see celebrities writing 100 experimental novels in a row for charity. That I could respect.

Tip: everything may be terrible but I’m rewatching Northern Exposure (in the middle of season 3 now) and it continues to be the best tv show ever made. And it’s not even close.

When Bruce Springsteen sang "at night, we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines", he was talking about people who log on to LinkedIn after 6pm to write fanfiction about how good they are at their job.

Reminder: If you use generative AI for *any of your writing tasks* you are a Slopper not a writer and should be ashamed of yourself. The end.

“Like a joyless Jilly Cooper…” 😂 Glorious. profadamroberts.substack.com/p/david-szal...

Feeling the urge to make a zine again. This is dangerous. I don't have time to make zines.

Blows my mind that the writer of one of the finest experimental novels of recent years cannot find purchase with the UK's allegedly 'No one publishes the stuff we dare to!' indie publishing sector. Generic, humdrum, feelings-fodder trumps the technically advanced, poetucally astute always.

How can you tell if your narrative is written in “Third Person Wanker”? Ray nails it:

You: but what do you mean when you talk about writing in the “Third Person Wanker”? Me: I think I sort of mean something like *this* owen-booth.com/2025/11/11/i...

God bless Michael Shannon. '“I’m sure anybody who’s associated with promoting and selling this movie to the world is going to be horrified by everything I’ve said in this interview,” he agrees. “But I don’t really care.”'

THIS IS GREAT!

Currently struggling to write anything decent because I keep slipping into a narrative voice best explained as “Third Person Wanker”

Well, I enjoyed the Liadan Ní Chuinn one

Also, I really enjoyed The Unreliable Nature Writer by Claire Carroll , and I've heard good things about Elsewhere by Yan Ge, although I've not read it myself yet

If you like Grudova, I highly recommend these two: strangeregion.bigcartel.com/product/the-... www.andotherstories.org/the-thinking...

best thing I've read recently was The Department of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans. It's not exactly NEW new, though.

And ofc The Unreliable Nature Writer - Claire Carroll also Scratch Books tho feel sure you already know this. Last one- Marnie Appleton I Hope You’re Happy

+1 for Will Wiles Also Tim MacGabhann SAINTS from @scratchbooks.bsky.social

I can attest to the goodness of the Will Wiles one; haven’t read the others - yet!

The last 3 new-ish short story collections I’ve read (not written by any of you lot btw) have been absolutely godawful. Will somebody please recommend a really good recent collection? I AM WILLING TO PAY FOR THIS INFORMATION

Not sure why Leeds United want to ruin my life but they do so who am I to argue

Annual WW1 remembrance shoutout to my grandad Horace Booth. Fought in France & The Tyrol, got blown up, caught malaria, & claimed to be the Prince of Wales's batman. Also once battled a Brazilian Wandering Spider.

I'm losing my mind over how many reviewers are like "GDT's Frankenstein makes you wonder who the real monster is." THAT'S THE STORY! That's the story Shelley wrote!

#VOH stands for Voices of Hookland, because you can’t tell the truths of anywhere and exclude voices that aren’t the middle class academics, authors and professionals the weird fiction genre relies too heavily upon. Dairy men, shelf stackers, factory workers all sing the strange truths of place.

lol

Look at this! Congratulations to @cdrose.bsky.social - We Live Here Now has won this year's Goldsmiths Prize! @goldsmithsprize.bsky.social A writer who has pursued his own vision and refused to be swayed by the world - lovely to see this rewarded

Thinking about McSweeney today who is sat in a dark room frantically coming up with a piece on how and why Mamdani's election is a fluke.

It’s ridiculous how much better this is than most literary fiction being published today. He’s 88 years old, for God’s sake!

Britain’s Deadliest Surfeit of Lampreys with Alexander Armstrong

That’s it. I’m out.

BURN IT ALL DOWN

SOMEBODY ELSE SHOULD DO SOMETHING ABOUT ALL OF THIS

Confirmed: I do indeed sound like a wanker

I probably sound like a wanker, but if you’re interested in hearing me chatting about art vs craft, hobbies vs making a living, short stories vs novels, and PowerPoint vs sanity have a listen open.spotify.com/episode/3DWs...

Day off

Minority representation on TV causes outrage From the new Private Eye, in shops now.

For my scary Halloween costume this year I’m going to dress up as a person who phones someone to respond to a text message.