We are very sad to learn of the death of our friend Rachel Cooke. In addition to being a wonderful writer and a superb critic, she loved books to her core. She kept us on our toes and it was a joy and a privilege to spend time with her, on and off the show. RIP. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

The best hour of my week! @backlisted.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @iammilliam.bsky.social

“The most we tend to hear from István himself is a bland, noncommittal “OK”. It’s a risky strategy, but this narrative flatness hugely pays off: it entices the reader into the yawning gaps”

For Monday: two harbour seals at Scalpsie Bay, Isle of Bute. 💚

Congratulations to Nina Allan! What an achievement! www.livreshebdo.fr/article/le-p...

Back on the Isle of Bute! Sunset stroll on Scalpsie Bay. 🙂

Still blown away by the fact that Heartwood won a World Fantasy Award last night. Such a fantastic weekend at the World Fantasy Convention, topped off in spectacular style. Wonderful to meet @joe-hill.bsky.social and @ericlarocca.bsky.social too. Now, back to work!

“a beautiful, moving story. Neither cosy nor dystopian, hopeful but not punk; it offers a future with as many setbacks and tragedies as there are joys and steps forward.” Well said, @niallharrison.bsky.social @catamaroon.bsky.social

For Monday: Isle of Arran from the Isle of Bute.

Brilliant night at The Arts Centre Edge Hill for the launch of AJ Ashworth’s Maybe The Birds - fantastic reading from Andrea!

For Monday: a carrion crow inflight on a grey day. Isle of Bute 💚

🌊20 days to go🌊 How about two very wise and brilliant authors persuade you to pre-order THE SALT ORACLE?? geni.us/saltorac @solarisbooks.bsky.social

“The sky is the chief organ of sentiment in painting.” John Constable From Gwaun y Llwyni in the Aran’s.

Oh hi. strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

If you'd like to read the speeches that were made yesterday about Ada Lovelace Day and women in STEM, you can find them here: hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2025... I'll share the right Parliament TV link as soon as the debate is up!

Left to right: a bar-tailed godwit, a curlew facing the camera, and a little egret. We’re seeing more egrets this year on the Isle of Bute 💚

Happy pub day to this wonder anthology which includes my story "Lord of the Fruit Flies" about the biologist Hermann Muller, big thanks to editor @nicholasroyle.bsky.social and publisher @saltpublishing.com

For Monday: fungi in my garden.

"It's all a matter of paying attention, being awake in the present moment, and not expecting a huge payoff. The magic in this world seems to work in whispers and small kindnesses." - Charles de Lint

This is the novel everyone will be talking about. It’s wonderful. And a beautiful blogpost from @catamaroon.bsky.social to mark its release today. 📚💚📚

Paul March-Russell on EJ Swift: "in electing to write against the white noise of voices prophesying doom, Swift’s turn to the utopian is courageous ... [it's] a viable demonstration of how we can meet the greatest challenges that face us as a community." A review, and a novel, which demands notice.

I think about this LSE post a lot at the moment. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...

Heaps of praise for Nina Allan and A Granite Silence from critic Stuart Kelly. @wigtownbooktown.bsky.social A packed event. Fantastic conversation! 📚📚📚

Visiting Wigtown Book Festival for few days. And a great start with @dominicmhinde.bsky.social interviewed by Stuart Kelly about his new memoir/environmental history/travelogue Drifting North - Finding a sustainable future for Scotland’s past. Can’t wait to read. 📚

Enter the world of Dreams Before the Start of Time! 👀 Amazing development.

🧪 Open to Science Poetry Submissions 🖋️ The Consilience journal is now open for submissions of science-themed poetry and artwork! Issue 23 explores the topic of ‘Tension’. Submit your work for free here: www.consilience-journal.com/submit #SciComm #SciArt #Poetry

For Monday: seven cormorants. They love the old pier at Port Bannatyne. 💚 Isle of Bute

On to ‘Corfe Gate’, the climactic last novella of Keith Robert’s extraordinary novel ‘Pavane’. So a fitting moment to also celebrate Robert’s talents as an illustrator, including contributing many striking covers to SF Impulse, in which the majority of these superlative tales first appeared.

Date for your calendar! Do not miss @catamaroon.bsky.social and @starkholborn.bsky.social in conversation! 📚

“The art of the Book of Kells is very different from the Iona stone sculpture, which, while high quality, lacks this endless inventiveness and unpredictability.”

Such sunshine! I had to get out there. Isle of Bute 💚😎☀️

This is an AMAZING book and I am so proud that @goldsf.bsky.social will be publishing it!

For some deep-seated reason that I've not yet fathomed, I'm always fascinated by crab shells. Here's today's (spotted on Musselburgh beach):

Thrilled! Goldsmiths Press/Gold SF will publish ALSTON MOOR in Autumn 2026. Epic eco-fiction with two entwined storylines, 500 years apart! I’ve adored every minute of research for this novel. @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @goldsf.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social

Corvids and a cockle. Isle of Bute. 💚

For Monday: 2 shots of Scalpsie Bay, 10 minutes apart 😎 ☔️ Isle of Bute

Ooh! “Dreams Before The Start Of Time, a multi-generational story … has drawn comparisons with David Mitchell’s blockbuster epic Cloud Atlas”. Thanks, Barry Didcock. In the splendid company of Martin MacInnes, Rachelle Atalla, Ever Dundass, TL Huchu. www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/2...

Oh I find myself in wonderful company!

Cabbage white butterfly 💚

A 2000-year-old Roman bridge has been discovered in Aegerten, Switzerland. Over 300 oak piles were unearthed. Based on current dendrochronological analysis, the earliest construction dates back to approximately 40 BC, while the most recent parts are from 369 AD. www.be.ch/de/start/die... 🏺

Prospect magazine has dropped its paywall for the first few days of September, which means that among other things you can now access Kaliane Bradley's prize-winning short story, "Doggerland". www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/culture/6081...

A book that means a huge amount to me. So glad we got to do this.

So saddened to hear this news. What a lovely man. My commiserations to family and those close to him.

Can’t wait to start. Saved for the weekend. 👀📚👀

Such a lovely interview!

Great to see our new Space Gallery on here (although under design and architecture?), it's shaping up beautifully and I can't wait for you to see it!

This is one of my favourites that we've done so far. Absolutely loved doing the prep for this, more than usual. @backlisted.bsky.social

For Monday: Splendid outcrops of turkey tail mushrooms and trooping crumble cap mushrooms (fairy inkcaps) which I spotted last week in Munich’s riverside English Garden 💚🥰☀️

Okay, deep breath. I need your help. My friend set this up for me because financial stress is making the whole cancer stress a lot worse. www.paypal.com/pools/c/9gAG... If, like me, you don't have money atm, if you have read and enjoyed any of my books, please can you tell people about them?