Very few folks have entered this, so odds of nabbing a free copy are high 😅 👀

Another year, another application to the New Writers Award. Proof that applications are worth submitting to even if the odds aren't in your favour: when asked 'what do you plan to work on?' I finally put pen to paper and outlined a novel that's been knocking around in my brain for years.

You've just warmly welcomed Serwotka - the husband of the woman who set up a TRANSPHOBIC HATE GROUP ("A Woman's Place") into #YourParty. Meanwhile Corbyn is sharing top billing with a transphobe and anti abortion rights MP. Your Party is dead. What the hell are you both thinking?

Essential reading.

I want to explain a few things and then it might be clearer why UK trans people are upset. In 2001 I married my wife, Sylvia. In 2005 I started medical transition. (1/13)

What in the utterly petty hell is this nonsense, Florida 😒

As a chronically ill/disabled person who couldn't even get on the wait list for accessible seating at Chappell Roan, I'm equal parts dread and excitement about tomorrow. Organisers could have accommodated more peoples' disabilities if they want to but you're supposed to suffer or miss out I guess.

THIS is more like it. Great work @jaseokundaye.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I am one of the 14 authors who chose to leave the Polari Prize, and I find myself frustrated and saddened at the way this entire story has been represented. 1/

My toddler's obsession with Chappell Roan continues. His favourite is now "Chappell Roan gets her hair stuck", as he refers to The Subway. He is going to be so crushed that he's not coming to her show end of August, so I guess it's best he learns the lyrics now. #SheGotAway

Look you just have to make the cool weird shit that excites you. You must. In this world besieged by bland, scrubbed boring, computer slop, you must. Make the thing you’re embarrassed to make, the thing that feels “too much” because otherwise we get drowned in a sea of cowardly work made by a button

Disappointing statement from the Polari Prize. The inviolable right of our trans & non-binary siblings to live safely, without fear, abuse or discrimination is not a matter for debate, nor "a substantive issue" & you cannot "hold a different position” You cannot “both sides” people’s right to exist

Re John Boyne and the Polari Prize. I didn't think it could get worse, but here we are.

In case you needed a reminder of how disgusting and contemptible John Boyne is.

Donald Trump is not welcome in Scotland.

I have a horrible cold and a flare up, so every part of my body hurts and I feel heavy like a bag of wet cement BUT not being able to sleep meant I finished reading the most amazing book yesterday. #ThisPrincessKillsMonsters

“AI is inevitable, we’re just going to have to live with it” sounds a lot like “Covid is inevitable, we’re just going to have to live with it” We’re all being conditioned to accept mass atrocity as normal

Absolutely dystopian juxtaposition from the Guardian front page. Difficult to understand how anyone of decency and conscience can defend this government at this point. Just sheer moral degeneracy to arm a state that does this and arrest people for objecting. Wtf are we doing as a country?

Listening to the Pink Pony Club cover by Hildegard von Blingin' makes me want to write a medieval fantasy, a genre I've always been too intimidated by to attempt, but undeniably where my writing aspirations began. A perk of being an unpublished writer: I can write anything I please. 🙃

For the first time in my knowledge, my toddler has an opinion on my outfit and baby does not like denim waistcoats. (Rude.)

absolutely fuck this but it's crucial to think seriously about the fact that things like 'displaying a pride flag' and 'using customers' preferred pronouns' are being seen as unacceptable. this country is far, far further along the slide into fascism than i think many people realise

I am obsessed with the floppy pages of a US paperback. They're light. They're breezy. They hold themselves open. My arthritic hands are grateful.

happy pride month. that’s right. july is pride month too. in fact it’s pride year, bitches. the pride will continue until rights improve.

What must summer be like when all those lovely flowers and trees and sunshine doesn't leave you wanting to claw your eyes out? I may have been born in June but I'm counting down the days 'til autumn.

The Boy I Love might just be the perfect read if you're a queer person like me feeling a bit hopeless and despairing when looking at the state of the world. William Hussey brings so much kindness and tenderness to the page. This book destroyed me in all the ways a reader could wish. 😭

Never a great first impression when half the ads are for the army.

Booked the earliest screening of 28 Years Later I could find so I could go to the cinema while the toddler is in nursery. No Peppa Pig this time, just beautiful Danny Boyle horror.

I go to the shop for bread and I come back with dinosaurs. This is my life now. #ToddlerParent

Wanting not having the to create energy to create ( •_•) (•_• ) ( ง )ง ୧( ୧ ) /︶\ /︶\

And just like that, the toddler is three, using the sofa as a trampoline as he sings along to Hot To Go! and Red Wine Supernova at the top of his lungs. I cannot stress this enough. I love him so much.

Edinburgh-based children’s publisher Floris Books has revealed the shortlists for the annual Kelpies Prizes for Writing and Illustration with the prize for Illustration returning after a two-year hiatus 👇 #BookSky

As a kid I thought adults were stupid and didn’t know anything. Now that I’m an adult, I know I was right.

Thrilled for all the incredible writers and illustrators shortlisted in this year's #KelpiesPrize with @discoverkelpies.bsky.social. Some truly fabulous entries that I hope to see in printed book form soon. 😁

We're delighted to announce the #KelpiesPrize 2025 shortlist! Congratulations to: ✍️@debsca.bsky.social, Ross MacKay, Steve McKenna, @taslinpollock.bsky.social, @temwilder.bsky.social 🎨Jessica Bolevin, Siena Cameron, Joshua Dau, Grace Owens, Laura K Sayers discoverkelpies.co.u...

The #FolkloreThursday theme today is seas and oceans! So here's a thread of some strange nautical creatures from Scottish folklore! First up, a fave, The Ceasg - a Scottish mermaid half-woman, half-salmon. In some tales, she swallowed men whole, trapping them in her stomach...🌊🧜‍♀️ 🧵

One novel competition submitted to, one more to go. I've been re-reading my novel in preparation for this, and it really is my happy place.

Proud parent moment today as my toddler requested Chappell Roan, then sang along to The Giver.

If you would like magic trials set in an arcane university in a queernom world (+dragons), that's Emberclaw (though you should read Dragonfall first). I grew up on HP and I know its creator would hate pretty much everything about this series. Once, that would have made me sad.

No transphobic court ruling, no bigot in charge of NHS, no billionaire media can indefinitely hold back the fierce tides of love and joy and courage that is queer community and solidarity. These are the desperate gasps of a dying era, one we will survive. Love & solidarity, today and every day 🏳️‍⚧️

Not only do your purchases of Rowling's IP directly fund assaults on the legal rights, dignity, and very existence of trans people...she's made it crystal clear that she views anyone who interacts with her IP as aligned with her values. That's a pretty fucking good reason to read another book.

So...new Pantomime is up on US Netgalley. In many ways, it's scarier releasing a book with a nonbinary, intersex protagonist than it was the first time around 12 years ago, so help signal boosting appreciated. Queer magic circus, coming of age, cosy-adjacent. www.netgalley.com/catalog/book...

Kidlit colleagues, just a reminder that JK Rowling *funded* this challenge over the definition of women at the Supreme Court. Every time you choose to work with her, platform her, take a stance that aligns with her, buy her books, nominate her for more awards, she uses that and funds hate.

This is where your Harry Potter money goes

The Supreme Court can get fucked, and everyone who supports that decision can jump into a volcano.

I tried to be sensible given that gigs hurt my chronically ill ass, and I have no money regardless, but then I got the link to the latest presale and then I made it to the front of the queue and there were still tickets, and now I'm going to see Chappell Roan in August.🙃

I finally got back into writing, then this past week I had too many other obligations and didn't get a word down. My mental health and self esteem have plummeted as a consequence. Note to self: treat writing as I would anti-depressants. Life-changing, thus vital and non-negotiable.

It's one of those really lovely writing days where you're tapping away and you can't stop grinning for all the heartache that you're bringing your characters.

Queer coming-of-age romance + found family road trip! A Colorado teen investigates her grandma's hidden past, one of UFOs and polyamorous heartbreaks, while dealing with her own grief, the pressures of being broke, and falling in love with the enby who moved into her old house. #ScotWriterPitch2025

Today! Writers, pitch your projects - details below!