Being autistic in space. Arguably the best Claire North to date. And it’s not just me saying nice things. READ IT.

Me: tells my grandmother about one of my (queer) authors Her: are you sure you can’t find a nice man among your clients? 😂😂😂😂

Will I ever be able to spell “Caribbean” correctly on the first try? No one knows…

Getting an adhd diagnosis at 5 Going to a book launch at 6:30 The author: this one is for the adhd girlies I feel perceived

I don’t think I’ve ever pressed the full request button faster. It’s horrifying, it’s beautiful and hey, can there ever be too many cannibal books?

So grateful that this weekend’s editing is a revolutionary, anti-colonial, political fantasy that feeds my rage at the world

Listen to Stew.

Absolutely delighted to see my acid-western-queer-romance novella, FOR THE ROAD on the BSFA longlist! It's a mega year (go check it out) but would be extremely honoured if you'd consider chucking in a nomination towards some of my rawest, strangest writing: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Look, I'm going to tell you a secret. If you buy an e-book while it's on sale, you never have to read it. If you have $2 to spare & want to help that particular author, you can just chuck the book into the oubliette of your TBR. Every sale helps. The author will never know, but you gave them a gift.

Going to Waterstones to look at cannibal books is not something I ever expected to be part of my job

I couldn’t be more thrilled. UTAMA, a historical fantasy about Singapore’s founding myth was one of my standout reads of 2025 and we’ve got big plans!

I guess my sister can stay

Six and a half years of life in the UK and this last trip to Switzerland has shown cars driving on the right now confuse me.

Spending the weekend with friends who have forbidden me from doing anything work related. In theory, great idea but dammit I’m 30 pages from the end of a manuscript I’m obsessed with

The delight when your author tells you they’re comping their new project to one of your favourite books of all time, unknowingly

Strange Horizons fiction submissions open next Monday! The window will be open for 48 hours from 3 p.m. UTC on January 19th 2026 to 3 p.m. UTC on January 21st 2026. There will be no cap. More information on submitting, including the link to our Moksha portal ⬇️ strangehorizons.com/submit/ficti...

Writing retreats are great and all, but where are my editing retreats for agents and editors?

No one’s expecting me to get work done while it’s snowing, right?

Leaving my laptop and notebook in the office over nights has done wonders for my work-life balance, who’d have thought

Doing work planning for the next six months and looks like I'll have slots available for freelance work, esp around Feb-April. So if you need someone to write STUFF or do narrative /story consulting, HMU! Things I've worked on over past few years (and am not NDAd about) include!

Never thought I’d miss Swiss noise regulation laws

And I’m officially open to queries again ✨ looking forward to diving into some great stories. QueryTracker.net/query/fabien...

Meant to edit today, got dragged into the gay hockey show instead

Since everything is awful and it’s nearly Christmas, who’d like some pictures of ship’s cats? Don’t worry dog lovers, a canine thread’s coming soon! Let’s start with Tiddles, sitting in his favourite spot on the carrier HMS Victorious in 1943 (he liked playing with the bell rope) 📷 IWM A 10646 🧵1/17

We'll be reading stories for ✨ What Elegant Stars: Queer Tales of Impossible Style ✨ from January 15th to April 15th. Give us stories of satellites and sewists, terminals and tailors, dandies and dying stars. <6k words. 8¢/word. simsub ☑️. multiple submissions 🚫. www.neonhemlock.com/submissions

But in more positive things, send your queer spec short fic to these awesome people.

Thanks to @sfwa.org for being so responsive to concerns around the Nebula Awards and LLM use. The Nebula should honor human creativity, as the revised rules now state. However, we also don't want to see writers tripped up on eligibility or hit by witch hunts over minor LLM usage like spell check. 1/

Honestly, though, begs the question... why did this even occur? Everyone involved should be fired or quit or whatever the process is. I'm not actually thankful they rescinded it so much as wanting accountability for why it even happened in the first place.

Actually, there is no good reason to use genAI in your writing. Just don’t.

BLOODY FINALLY.

If you're a writer in the North of England, there's two days left to send your work to us for consideration! We're looking for new novellas and short story collections of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror - with a preference for strange and literary writing.

I’ll be reopening to queries in January - please see my freshly updated MSWL and submission guidelines at the link. I can’t wait to read all your fantastic projects. ✨✨✨

Hey universe, I’d really appreciate a Christmas present in the form of good news, pretty please

I love the cold, foggy mornings. Really make my cemetery commute shine.

Strange Horizons will be open to general fiction submissions for 48 hours beginning January 19th, 2026 at 3 p.m. UTC and ending January 21st, 2026 at 3 p.m. UTC. There will be no cap. See our fiction submission guidelines for more information on how to submit: strangehorizons.com/submit/ficti...

I have a (longish) story in this. Publishers Weekly gave a nod to "The Road of Mirrors", which is kind of a deconstruction of the classic novel as well as being horrifically queer. You can grab a copy here: www.lethepressbooks.com/product-page... 🎭🏳️‍🌈📚💙 #NewStory

“Transgender and nonbinary youth (ages 13 to 24) whose pronouns are respected were 31 percent less likely to attempt suicide in the past year than those whose pronouns are not respected, according to a new report from The Trevor Project” www.advocate.com/exclusives/p...

Slow Gods, by Claire North (pub by @orbitbooks.bsky.social) is a superb space opera, a novel with a different narrative approach that stays with you long after finishing Maw's story. Full thoughts: jamreads.com/reviews/slow... 💙📚

Mental state: tried to get on the wrong train

We’re immensely proud of our very own @hagenilda.bsky.social who is now a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society!

If you like reading South-Asian Speculative Fiction, we have an opportunity for you. Tasavvur is currently looking for enthusiastic slush readers, preferably with prior literary experience. Email us at [email protected] with your pitch! 🔮 - #SouthAsian #SpeculativeFiction

MARCH 10 2026 BE THERE OR BE SQUARE Covers are by @fringe-element.net who did an awesome job Editions will include introductions plus bonus short stories There will also be a preorder campaign--more details on that later.

The usual Wednesday end of day thing of “why ever did I think going to D&D was a good idea I’m far too dead”

Every dollar JK Rowling makes from Harry Potter is going into bankrolling an extortion racket issuing legal threats to organizations across the UK to purge themselves of trans people or face ruinous lawfare.

i hope every single person who still buys harry potter merch or engages with that franchise is happy that they're literally making girl guides cry girl guides uk have been forced very much against their will to exclude trans girls. full statement is here: www.girlguiding.org.uk/information-...

It doesn’t look very sexy but I made myself an advent calendar out of books I picked up throughout the year and it feels glorious to unwrap a book I really want to read each day.

Hey, I’ll be on a virtual panel this weekend - if you want to hear me ramble about changing the industry, widening access and ESEA spec fic, you can still get tickets! britishfantasysociety.org/events-calen...

One last slow morning at the pool in Singapore, home tonight. I had the best time visiting the Singapore Writers Festival as an international visitor, met many fantastic people and learned a lot.

So far this is excellent. Impressive writing and rooted in history and mythology.

Reading a YA fantasy and just figured out the MC was born the year I finished school. Nothing like YA to make you feel old…