Diana Wynne Jones panel at Novacon.

Attending tickets for Iridescence 2026 ( Eastercon ) currently start at £50/£80 for adults, £20 for teens. This price will rise at the start of December 2025, so check out the link in the profile today and book! When? 3rd-6th April, 2026 Where? Hilton Metropole Hotel, Birmingham, UK.

Hurricane Melissa wreaked havoc in my birth nation of Jamaica. Reported: "The University of Miami with the US NOAA measured wind speeds from start to finish across Jamaica with the weather aircraft named Kermit. The maximum wind gust speeds were 252mph and maximum sustained winds were 185 mph..."

Final point on the Brontës: they were well educated and travelled (at least Charlotte and Emily went to Brussels) and visited friends in other towns. They really were not lone geniuses.

#totp viewers, I've been told a perfect Christmas gift, or indeed just something you might like to read. OUT NOW. #IntoTheGroove

All Saints Day youtu.be/AOZhgs2Uk20?...

See also the UK benefits system. Most people on Universal Credit are employed by retail businesses. Our taxes support supermarket chains in providing terrible wages.

How anyone in a country with government-controlled healthcare doesn’t look at the US with terror is beyond me. Resist all privatisation of of NHS, and campaign for more funding to reduce waiting lists.

First panel of the day: Paranormal Romance to Romantasy with Ruth Frances Long, @amydelaforce.bsky.social, @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social, @anniesummerlee.bsky.social and Sophie Jarrell

Tonight I’ll be at the mass @worldfantasy2025.bsky.social signing with character art! So will @amalelmohtar.com @rflong.bsky.social @nadiaelfassi.bsky.social ENDLESS ROCK STARS, happy Halloween everyone. #worldfantasy2025

And more power to him. I note that the most virulent online opponents to him are not New Yorkers, just as the most anti- Sadiq Khan voices are generally not Londoners

Something like 1.7m people in UK are in 0hr contracts, and everyone else is forced by the institutions that hire them, to have to deal with them every day. People who are desperate, exhausted, often not very qualified, serving people who are paying more and more for these services every day.

Amazon is helping fund a $300 million build of a ballroom for the White House. Independent bookstores are donating to food banks and organizations that help with food insecurity. They are not the same.

If you're in the UK, today is your LAST chance to snap up my fantasy rom-com Wooing the Witch Queen for only 99p! Grab it now: stephanieburgis.com/books/wooing-the-witch-queen #romancelandia

We've been wanting to do this episode for a long time and finally made it happen. I loved geeking out about every aspect of SFF cons, and trying to imagine how they could work differently. <3

#TeamAnne reporting for duty!

Yes. I am sorry I missed hearing this. Queen Latifah is such an important presence in hip hop.

If you want to hear people (including fabulous @unamccormack.bsky.social) being RIGHT about Wuthering Heights, I recommend that you listen to @backlisted.bsky.social. It is not romantic (in the modern sense)! It is a gothic horror.

@cynderness.bsky.social Steve and I went to an exhibition of photographs by Spike Waltzer of LA punk gigs. I bought a postcard print for you and I have to remember to bring it when we meet!

Been talking to other local freelancers and it can be a bit of a solitary thing sometimes. So, since I help at a community co-op bookshop, this seemed like a good idea. Fourth Friday of the month, come join us at @allgoodbookshop.co.uk (Turnpike Lane, London) for chat, advice and mutual support.

Now also in poster form! #Edinburgh @robinince.bsky.social

I’m sure they didn’t mean to eliminate the woman in this image.

Um. There’s a woman presenting this too.

I’m excited. My copy of @maggietokudahall.bsky.social’s The Worst Ronin is winging its way to my local bookshop, just in time for me to include it in my lecture on diversity, inclusion and reading for pleasure! My teen and I can’t wait!

Why do I do this to myself? How do you explain to people that society as a whole is better off when children are fed, housed and educated? That’s what I pay my taxes for! I also want decent social care for adults who need it, decent roads and cleaner air. I guess that makes me a pinko commie.

Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists. We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still. Archaeologists 🥺 www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

Hooray! We are past 50% in our campaign. Thank you, everyone! Today Cheryl is off to Aberystwyth for the October Queer Lit Quarterly meeting. In honour of that, today's update tells the very queer story of our cover. (Content warning for sexual assault.) www.kickstarter.com/...

UP NEXT!! Preorder Milestones now: play.google.com/store/books/...

Sooo...remember how I said I'd give away 2 of these gorgeous paperback ARCs of Enchanting the Fae Queen in my first October newsletter? A quick heads-up: that newsletter goes out Monday morning! Subscribe here: stephanieburgis.com/newsletter #romancelandia

"Christ, we don't want people studying English, they might waste their time becoming teachers of our children! Or working in a massively profitable industry that gives us huge global soft power! Or just being able to parse the nonsense we spout and spot our Chat GPT bullshit!"

a) an English degree does not prevent you from getting and doing a [scare quote] real job [scare quote] b) there are things, goals, and values in the world other than money but also c) last year the publishing industry's estimated worth to the UK economy was ELEVEN BILLION QUID.

Episode 19 with Ali Williams, talking about fairytale retellings. Because yes it's Stockholm syndrome but he gave her a library so we're all here for that 😆

Listening to old Fantasy Book Swap episodes and @alisonbaker01.bsky.social coming directly for me with "yes, but it's Stockholm syndrome in a library" 😆

That's amazing! 🥳 The SFF community is so vibrant and welcoming! Can't wait to see your chapters shine! 🌟 Keep embracing those connections! #SFF #WritingCommunity #Friendship

Good news for sewists: the paper pattern company feared lost to bankruptcy has been saved as an independent company. craftindustryalliance.org/sewing-patte...

I wish I still had the knees and ankles to play hockey. I’m feeling a bit smashy.

@diane.dianeduane.com I met you very briefly at Dublin WorldCon. I just wanted to send you good wishes and let you know how much I enjoy your writing. Please don’t feel any need to reply.

Got involved with SFF fandom again, got 2 offers to write book chapters and made friends with people I’d never have met otherwise.

10+years ago, I met a couple of fab women on Twitter who lived in the same city as me and also liked football, beer, vintage toys from the 80s and general silliness. We decided to meet up irl and have been friends ever since. Thank you both! @alisonbaker01.bsky.social @cynderness.bsky.social

In 1934, it was wasn't in the top 100 names for girls but by 1944, it was the 11th most popular name, 1954-1964 it was the most popular name but by 1974 - it was 20th and by 1984, it was 82nd. This is from the spreadsheet for Top 100 names in England and Wales on the ONS. 1904-2024.

Hey British children’s lit pals! What is it about “Susan”? I’m British Gen X and I think it was maybe considered old fashioned by families naming their daughters in the late 60s? But: Susan the First Mate in the Swallows and Amazons Susan the Queen in Narnia Susan the sister of Colin in Garner

www.walker.co.uk/michael-rose... Spark a love of poetry this Michael Rosen Day (Thursday 13 November) with FREE resources and events and a brand new children's poetry competition. Find out more and get involved. #MichaelRosenDay

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... IMAGINE MY SURPRISE

Holding this event when 2,500,000 people have signed a petition against your new flagship policy looks a lot like group delusion.

As an Actual Old, I have been online a comparatively short time compared to some of my peers. It wasn’t until 2002 that I got my own computer. I wish I’d found LiveJournal, but instead I found message boards; in particular music and literature message boards.

cis friends we NEED YOU TO CALL YOUR REPS and yell at them to protect trans healthcare Dems have got to hold the line on this, again, even when it’s hard our right and ability to exist is on the line someone even put together a call script, i’ll link it in the replies PLEASE HELP WE NEED YOU

Your brain works fine when you're under 25 (no matter how 'inconvenient' this fact may be) theneuroscienceofeve... The myth that 'if you're under 25, you're not mature enough to decide anything' refuses to die. But it absolutely should #Brains #Development #Maturity

'You'll never need to work again': Criminals offer reporter money to hack BBC. Brilliant and chilling piece by @joetidy.bsky.social - who is not, I can confirm, now living on a beach in the Bahamas! www.bbc.com/news/article...

Okatsuka posted the censorship rules for the controversial comedy festival, noting how many "You can’t say anything anymore!" comedians have signed on. www.avclub.com/riyadh-comed...

Especially when the retail price of books has been stagnant for over 20 years. It's comparatively cheap to read a book and find out it's not for you, but it's even cheaper still to get it from your library and find out it's not for you. All the fun of gambling, but it's free!