Things I hate about the redraft process: realising how badly you've broken continuity in scenes you thought were going to make it through intact... #writing

The latest novel by Thomas Old Heuvelt, DARKER DAYS (pub @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social) is a corker -- a classic modern horror that plays to Heuvelt's strengths, where a small community have successful happy lives for 11 months of the year... providing they make a sacrifice in the darker days...

It paperback publication day for #BrokenGhosts and you get a newsletter! How spoiled are you all? mailchi.mp/ff4d1fae9294...

Today's work has been sent in! I can go and lie down and weep! And maybe then get back to editing my own work! Hurrah!

Have you been playing nice? 👀 😈 PLAY NICE by @rachelharrison.bsky.social is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller! Have you picked up your copy of this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel yet? https://tinyurl.com/4kjjhchh

At that stage where I'm close to finishing a thing and my brain decides that literally anything else is more interesting to do... And of course the thing needs to be finished today... *shakes brain* *brain starts to think about projects it would rather be doing*

Very excited for this! I truly adored WHERE THE DEAD BRIDES GATHER, and this looks it'll be just as excellent!

Today Mandie shares her review of Broken Ghosts by JD Oswald, which is out in paperback tomorrow. Link in bio @sirbenfro.bsky.social‬ #jamesoswald @wildfiredoesbooks @mandie163.mg #bookthreads #books #booksky #bookstagram #bookreview #brokenghosts

Great -- not only am I getting the "I can promo your book" AI email spam, I'm now getting the "I'm an author, what do you write about?" spam from "famous writers" (i.e. scammers using their names for whatever purpose)... Oh, the joy...

A classic this evening with THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971, dir. William Freidkin) -- I know everyone loves the car chase but for me the sequence where Hackman tries to tail Frog One on the subway is a bloody masterclass culminating in a super final shot...

I think that THE WINTER JOB may be Antti Tuomainen's best book yet -- a road trip, a pair of socialist mercenaries & a piano with a dark secret add up to a triumphant mix of the Coen Brothers and Elmore Leonard that you're all going to adore... out next month from @orendabooks.bsky.social...

I was always under the impression that Tylenol was some kind of high end US painkiller that was more powerful than our over the counters here in the UK... but it turns out its just... paracetamol? Well at least I learned something today...

An old post from the always excellent @chrisbonnello.bsky.social, but especially appropriate today - on the alleged "causes" of autism as told to to people with autism back in 2018. Forget yer Tylenol (altho it does get a mention), who knew Peppa Pig was a root cause...? autisticnotweird.com/causes/

I mean... There are no words... I just... *shakes head*

So... if this rapture thingy doesn't happen today, is there going to be an excuse as to why? Like, God slept in? Or he had to bump it cos he double-booked a video conference with other Celestial Beings and needs to urgently discuss a reallocation of budgetary resources between realities?

As an experiment, putting the J McNee series on Kindle Unlimited -- so if you have a membership, you can now read books 2, 3 and 5 as part of your subscription (the rest'll be coming after delisting completes) -- go get yer fill of some Dundee noir! www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0822L7CP... #booksky 💙📚

Trying eliminate the crutch words that I use when writing first drafts -- the words that act like throat clearing instead of adding anything to the moment. One of the interesting ones for me has been overuse of "almost" -- it can almost always be deleted... *And yes, that was deliberate...

it me 👇🏻

JACKAL by Erin E Adams (pub. Dead Ink) gave me chills as a young woman returns to her home town to find that young black girls are being abducted... Is the suspect human or something far stranger? A brilliant depiction of small town life and undeniable tension charge this one... go read!

Mentioning this superb thriller as part of the last @dosomedamage.bsky.social the other day made me want to rewatch. 13 Tazmeti (2005, dir. Géla Babluani) is a cracking film about a man who stumbles on a Russian Roullette gambling operation... and as you can imagine, things go downhill ftom there...

New @dosomedamage.bsky.social alert, and I'm talking about why I fell back in love with physical media for movies (as well as exposing my sometimes weird taste in movies): open.substack.com/pub/dosomeda...

Its not Friday 13th so why is everything going wrong today?

The beautiful Spanish edition of CLAIRMONT has arrived! ❤️❤️❤️ @wildfirebooks.bsky.social

New @dosomedamage.bsky.social alert, and I'm talking about why I fell back in love with physical media for movies (as well as exposing my sometimes weird taste in movies): open.substack.com/pub/dosomeda...

That's a Labour government minister berating university students and staff by saying that 'too often people go to university to "explore research and knowledge"'. I'm very glad of our students who study history to explore research and knowledge.

I get two or three of these a day. One of them brilliantly told me I should be proud of my work as a "general miscreant" as readers would be hugely interested in such an author backstory! But that was a rare highlight in what is otherwise an incredibly and pointless annoyance.

Today I have things to do and yet am in a most distractable-- ooo, what's going over there?

If we're all a little autistic, why is the world so cruel to autistic people? The phrase "we're all a little autistic" doesn't just trivialise autistic struggles- it's often weaponised against us. Several followers have told me their psychologists even used the line to deny them a valid diagnosis.

ONE MONTH TO GO until Broken House is published! Here's a bit more about it. You can preorder now here: geni.us/nnlu #crimethriller #crimereaders #policeprocedural #crimefiction #policedogs #dogstagram #spaniel #gsd #germanshepherd

Aghhhh!!! The horror of popping an email to someone after making a contact at a festival and realising too late you managed to misspell their name... *crawls under a desk and weeps*

Coming up very soon on my reading list (cheers @orendabooks.bsky.social for the advance copy!) I simply bloody adore Antti Tuomainen -- if you ain't read him, you're missing out on some of the finest comic crime novels of the last several years. So go, read his backlist now and then get the new one!

First time I was aware of Robert Redford was SNEAKERS, which I saw with my dad, who told me how this guy had done so many great films in the past. And boy, was that an understatement. So many great movies. Such a great presence. RIP, Mr Redford, and thank you for all the great movie memories.

Love the attention to detail on the blu ray of @secondsightfilms.bsky.social blu ray of @pranobaileybond.bsky.social 's brilliant CENSOR (2021) witj copyright notices marred by tracking & static like proper oldschool VHS... One of my fave films of the 2020s so far...

#TheMidnightKing by @tariqashkanani.bsky.social has won the McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year! The Midnight King is a dark thriller about family, trauma and the secrets we hide within... www.waterstones.com/category/cul...

Back to work today -- so many things to do, and still a little post-festival brain, so trying to trick my brain into actually focussing on one thing at a time... and mostly failing...

Taking today very easy with a touch of ADHD burnout after a brilliant couple of days at @bloodyscotland.bsky.social -- brilliant panel appearance with @tariqashkanani.bsky.social @carolehailey.bsky.social & expert chairing from @samhollandbooks.bsky.social as well as... (1/3)

Not a big Will Self fan (premises tend to be more interesting than the books tho thats a personal preference thing) but this transcript of him running rings around Richard Littlejohn made me laugh this morning (its old but via a recent @adamroberts.bsky.social post) news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1390...

THE BURNING STONES by Antti Tuomainen may be the most original novel about a sauna obsessed serial killer I've ever read! Witty, original and observant, it cements Tuomainen as one of the finest comic crime writers working today in any language! (Cc @orendabooks.bsky.social)

A little break from the movies to watch 1960s paranoia TV series, THE INVADERS in which an architect stumbles across signs of an alien invasion... but will anyone believe him? A brilliantly groovy Quinn Martin series, its a take on Invasion of The Body Snatchers and a forerunner to the X Files...

Writing is amazing, but publishing is a different story. If you’re going to put yourself through publishing, make sure you write the stuff you love. Always.

Happy Publication Day to @lavietidhar.bsky.social and the final instalment of the Maror Trilogy - Golgotha Available now - Click the link! https://bit.ly/3I5Fjlh

That @vaseemkhanuk.bsky.social threads an almost impossible needle perfectly in QUANTUM OF MENACE, in which a recently retired Q (from the Bond books) gets caught in a conspiracy after a friend's death. It could be a parody, but Khan gives us a proper mystery with high emotional stakes. Brilliant!

No idea how long this is on for, but THE FRIDAY GIRL is at a bargain price of £6.21 in paperback on Amazon UK... which, frankly, is a bloody steal! www.amazon.co.uk/Friday-Girl-...

Off to @bloodyscotland.bsky.social tomorrow (with panel on Saturday at 4pm -- tix still available, folks!) so today is a full-on "get those editorial letters finished and sent to the authors" kind of day... Luckily the authors I work with are so hugely talented that it's hardly a chore...

Yesterday we went to the Tutankhamen interactive exhibition at the SEC. Can't show the VR experience bit (but it was really well done) but here's some clips from the immersive film and one of the artefacts on display.

A surreal mix of Edward Bunker & Philip K Dick, Craig Clevenger's MOTHER HOWL (pub Datura Books) finds the son of a serial killer running from his past but forced to reckon with it when he becomes a father. But what does this have to do with a man who believes he's not an angel? Dark & brilliant.

Not entirely sure I know what happened but I can tell you tonight's watch was visually stunning even 30 years later... CITY OF LOST CHILDREN (dirs. Caro & Jeunet, 1995) is French steampunk fantasy about a mad scientist stealing children's dreams. And the most FX led French film ever made...

I know that everyone always waits till the last second for this sort of thing, but think how cool you'll feel if you sign up now.

The morning’s bright the sky is blue and we have a teaser trailer! WAKE UP DEAD MAN the new Benoit Blanc mystery, in theaters Thanksgiving and on Netflix 12/12

Last night's watch was an absolute classic - IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967, dir. Norman Jewison) still holds up as a powerful piece of cinema. Poitier's performance is breathtaking, but Rod Steiger as a white sherriff struggling with his own prejudices more than holds its own. Simply stunning.