Never mind age verification: mandatory monochrome CSS and GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING: SOCIAL MEDIA ROTS YOUR BRAIN on front page of sites, along with randomly chosen horrifying @thelouvreof.bsky.social screencap

No surfing today because red flag, but we do get some entertainingly dramatic sea instead

Thank you to everyone who made the Bi+ Community Fair today such a roaring success! @sabacelebritypa.bsky.social @evaecho.bsky.social @cdelull.bsky.social @hannahflynn-poetry.bsky.social @queerdiary.bsky.social @julietk.bsky.social

Today’s delightful thing: the little seated dance that L & I (with occasional assistance from his toy seal) do together to the Sewing Bee credits music.

L & I stopped on our way back from the Proms tonight (Arvo Part, Dvořák violin, Sibelius 2, v good) to take a look at the terrifying Viking longship sailing up towards Lundewic…

Would you like a nice relaxing audiobook about meeting the family? (and investigating murders!) In the tradition of the Vera Wong books, except with a murder/diplomacy m/m couple trying to solve things without adding *more* dead bodies to the tally. www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.

I am an unapologetic broken record on this: if you actually give a toss about What's Going On With The Children, then maybe do something about the 64% real-terms cut to youth services over 10 years.

I just finished "Song, Stone, Scale, Bone" by @julietk.bsky.social. www.wizardstowerbooks.com/shop/wiz-duo... I loved it. Got that real adventuresome mood, with a carefully built world that clicks everything into place quite naturally, ready for it to matter later.

Met a lovely Harris hawk and falconer scaring pigeons in Sloane Square today!

Saw Tim Minchin last night in Hammersmith and it was a bloody fantastic gig. I especially enjoyed the first song, "Turn Off Your Motherfucking Phones" :D

It's Fantasy Friday @fantasymagazine.bsky.social pubbed by @psychopomp.com and it features my story, Corporate Policy! "Just a quick note to ask if it’s an issue that an employee has called out of her shift because she says she’s possessed." Read it free: psychopomp.com/fantasy/issu....

Want a bit of light reading while you’re busy melting today? Here are some things I like about my most recent novella Song, Stone, Scale, Bone & which you might like too. books2read.com/Song-Stone-Scale-Bone

Figs!

In case you are one of the apparently many people who don't read their publishing contracts, a) don't be a bloody fool and b) IANAL but here is a blog post with a few things for you to look out for as a starting point. kjcharleswriter.com/2017/03/24/t...

I really hate the bit of writing where I spend a lot of time staring into the middle distance and wondering what has gone wrong with the brain-part that smashes ideas together. (Today, of course, possibly it has melted.)

I have COMPLETED A NOVEL DRAFT. Possibly it is the third draft? Somewhere around there anyway.

big up the bangface hard crew!!

Editing the bit in the current project where I basically worked through the same thought process at least three (maybe four) times in two separate chapters.

In Coventry for the day yesterday (for a singing thing) so stopped by the cathedral. This photo makes the new one look rather more ominous & less friendly than it feels when you’re there!

it's almost the solstice (17 hours of daylight!) so here is the reminder: Sing For The Coming of the Longest Night, the wintry weird-ancient magic poly novella I wrote with my lovely friend @krfabian.bsky.social (come for the atmosphere, stay for the jokes!) www.generalist.org.uk/iona/books-a...

After someone yesterday mentioned Giles to L, I introduced him to the wonders of BUFFY SEASON ONE. (He enjoyed it. I also enjoyed it, “lots of nostalgia” version.)

I got lucky with an ARC of K J Charles’ forthcoming All Of Us Murderers (yay!), and ummm should not have read straight through it all late last night because a) up too late and b) actually gave myself a nightmare 🙄😅 It’s v good! Also creepy! Do not read just before bed!

Faster… harder… SCOOTER!

Teenage goslings!

I’m not sure about 14, but age 12 I wrote an SF novel for an English project about some kids who found/renovated a spaceship and went to space. (It was deeply inspired by/a total rip-off of a Nicolas Fisk series.)

Mended two hoodies in exactly the same place over the weekend (left elbow); inspection reveals that today's hoodie is also wearing thin there. I guess I spend a lot of time leaning on that elbow?

Real actual physical books! (Arrived last week in fact but I was away camping.) books2read.com/Song-Stone-S...

Song, Stone, Scale, Bone is still out in ebook & paperback if you’re looking for a weekend read (books2read.com/Song-Stone-S... ) & here’s a quick character thread…

This is the sort of thing I trained for (used to work with neural networks!).

Out today! books2read.com/Song-Stone-S...

THE INCANDESCENT has been out in the world for one whole week! Do you like magic school? Jokes? Books about intelligent adults who know what they’re doing? Consider Saffy Walden, who is not a chaos bisexual, thank you. She’s a highly competent career focused bisexual.

Out next week (22 May) -- Wiz Duos 2, containing BOTH my novella 'Song, Stone, Scale, Bone' AND @bethkesh.bsky.social 's novella 'Bring Me Home'. Pre-order link now up! books2read.com/Song-Stone-S...

Peas & broad beans from the garden! This is the second batch of peas. It is a very small garden but I am happy with even a very small quantity of tasty legumes.

I really enjoyed this! (And want to do a better review but ~life stuff atm~ so just: go ahead & read it, it’s good 👍 )

THE INCANDESCENT is a book about money and education and status symbols, about loving your career, about demons, about magic, about fantasy school - but most of all about how 'school' is always a kind of fantasy. Available now! US: bookshop.org/p/books/the-... UK: uk.bookshop.org/p/books/unti...

this weekend: camping with my Scouts & several other Southwark troops. Sent some of mine off BY THEMSELVES!! on a hike (they only got lost a little bit! and found themselves again!); spent an hour going 'ready set go' for 100m solo/relay races as part of Scout Olympics; saw KITTENS at Foal Farm;...

I remember this well! @doop.bsky.social was all like oh yeah super cool having a lovely chill chat while it was happening & then afterwards said to me OMG OMG OMG DO YOU KNOW WHO THAT WAS!!!! !! !!!! (I did not) and hyperventilated for a bit :D <3

Last day! So many cool things in here. (Including some hand-knit socks from me.)

Auction is ending this Friday! And we’ve had a few eleventh hour additions, including a collector’s edition of Vicious, Rogue One data art print, future EasterCon memberships and @laurenbeukes.com’s the writing desk.

This is incredible.💗🏳️‍⚧️ Rhianna Pratchett and Rob Wilkins spent the whole week digging through Sir Terry Pratchett's archives to find an incredibly rare signed first edition of Monstrous Regiment for the Genre for Trans Rights charity auction. bit.ly/genrefortrans. It's already over £1000!

Wow people are adding some cool stuff to this auction (raising money for trans rights in the UK and South Africa). Go have a look. (Also there’s a pair of handmade socks in there from me 🧶 )

Second post of the day. This is short but sweet and details stuff YOU can be doing now to hold government to account. jane-67706.medium.com/get-writing-...

I'm mailing postcards with favorite recipes on them (signed, obv). Please bid on stuff you're interested in; all proceeds go to two charities for trans rights

So in the midst of the chaos and joy of Eastercon, @ngjeannette.bsky.social and I have set up a charity auction: Genre Creators for Trans rights in the UK and South Africa as a small personal response to what's happening in the world. You can bid on cool things here www.32auctions.com/genrefortrans

Lovely reading with @julietk.bsky.social & @bethkesh.bsky.social today. They have stories in one of the novella books from @wtpress.bsky.social. For a limited time, until I can get home and sort stuff out, the ebook is exclusively available here: www.wizardstowerbooks.com/shop/wiz-duo... (UK only)

Hijacking this to vent my cranky opinion that everyone goes on about The Knifecrimes and The Feral Youth and The Social Medias What Can You Do Eh but rarely The 50% Cut To Youth Club Funding This Last Decade. Youth clubs should get more money. (Signed, treasurer of a youth club in London)

At Eastercon in Belfast this weekend, and just did a reading from Song, Stone, Scale, Bone - which you can now BUY as an ebook from Wizards Tower Press as Wiz Duo 2, together with E M Faulds’ novella Bring Me home. Two novellas in one cover! Bargain. www.wizardstowerbooks.com/shop/wiz-duo...

This is a great list! (& not just because it includes one of my books :) )

Seen yesterday evening: a fox confidently using a pedestrian crossing. (it didn't wait for the lights, but then neither did I.) Last year I saw one using a zebra crossing. Urban life skills!