Holiday self-promo thread: if you're looking for last-minute gifts... For the person who wants their cozy fantasy heavily anticapitalist and queer, with a dash of sexy incubus: wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/nove...

The Hellmouth has opened, & the sorcerer who did it is still mad about being taken on canal holidays as a kid.

FAQ for torties: Q: What is this?! A: A tail Q: When did I get a tail? A: You've always had one Q: Why does my tail taste of porridge? A: Because you left it resting in my breakfast Q: OMG SHINY! What is THAT?! A: The Xmas tree. Same as yesterday Q: OMG A SNEK! A: No, that's your tail again

Speaking of great essays, The Full Lid ends the year on top form. I've been thinking a lot this year about how we romanticise pain to make it more bearable, how that's a trap that becomes a justification for hurt. Al uses three contrasting examples to skillfully pick that bullshit apart. Go read.

New Review - a haunting novella where the mysterious appearance of a child on the sofa sets a tragedy of events in motion - Visions of Grace by Alison Littlewood is out now! www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/12...

Is there a game that can be surreptitiously played at a dinner table by bored kids and childish adults, not like I spy but an actual little game, the sort of thing where the aim is to pass cards around or something. I'm asking if there is a stealth ttrpg for unengaged kids at family functions lol

A fascinating article about a story I wish I'd heard of years ago. And fifteen quid a year for all the articles in Speculative Insight is great value for money.

Today's writing is a quick bit of business writing, then trying to sneak in a chapter of next year's first novel. If I get ahead of my plans now, there's more space to fall back when life interferes.

Daily bunny no.3176 catching the sun

Today's reading. Near future dystopian fiction about the grinding damage of austerity. The protagonist's mental drift feels like a perfect fit for an atomised society, & it's fascinating to see him seek solutions in the wrong places as well as the right ones.

I don't particularly like hiking up hills but I like the view from the top. That doesn't mean I'm interested in using a helicopter to shortcut anything. The journey is part of experience, not just the destination. It makes the view that much more worthwhile.

Why decline all these chances to defend feminism? Because to participate would be accepting the premise that our rights and humanity are up for debate in the first place. Once you’ve conceded that it’s reasonable to ask whether women’s equality was a mistake, you’ve already lost.

SANTA CLAWS IS COMING TO TOWN

Enjoyed the magic

Maybe the earliest Japanese SF story is about Japan invading Britain, as Eli KP William explains in this new essay . Subscribe now (AUD30) to read - and get the July-Dec ebook with TWO exclusive essays! www.speculativeinsight.com/subs (~GBP15 or USD19. Ish.)

Laughing

🚨I’m open for design, art direction, and production consultation in H2 2026! I’m a holistic book designer working in TTRPGs and games: I’ve worked with Summer Eternal, SoulMuppet, Safe in our World, and run Peregrine Coast Press. Let me help you make beautiful books. Full portfolio @ Eryk.zone

A house that wakes? 👀🏚

Me: I should finish reading the books I have before I buy more. Oxfam bookshop: Sure, you could do that, or....

Daily bunny no.3173 must complete their collection

Lovely words about Dark Crescent from the ever-generous Ed!

For the evening crowd :)

Final call for our final BFS event of 2025! A specially themed quiz with @mkhardywrites.com tinyurl.com/bigbfsquiz4

Sinners! Pluribus! Ladyknight books! Matt Murdock praying to the patron saint of lawyers! Aspect ratios! Yves from LOONA! The wedding music in Andor! It's a weird, nerdy world. Here were some of our favorite examples from 2025:

Honoured to see The Executioner's Blade on Womble's festive recommendations list. If you're tempted by a "hugely refreshing and inventive story" (Womble's words, not mine), you can get 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS at @northodoxpress.bsky.social checkout. www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...

Hello Santa Womble is in SPACE! Or more accurately science fiction

Tried to keep my Top 2025 reads to 25, but a few extra snuck in...! Here's a wee thread of all of my favourite genre books that I read this year - horror & gothic, sci fi, eco fiction, fantasy, and blends of them all! 🧵👇✨📚

'My year end reading statistics' (originally for @theguardian.com books). p.s There's still time to pick up new book Physics for Cats at good bookshops and online www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2

Honoured to see The Executioner's Blade on Womble's festive recommendations list. If you're tempted by a "hugely refreshing and inventive story" (Womble's words, not mine), you can get 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS at @northodoxpress.bsky.social checkout. www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...

Did you know that different painkillers work best on different sources of pain? Inflammation: Ibuprofen Fever: Paracetamol Billionaires: Guillotine Hope that helps!

Today's writing is mostly revisions - tidying up a flash story for myself & a business book for a client, finessing the fine details so that the bigger narrative doesn't snag on them. What are the ret of you fine folks creating today?

Bluey. I can't watch an endless stream of it like my nieces do, but a single episode each morning over breakfast really lifts my spirits. It's does what it does beautifully.

"Novellas are meant to be compact little things, a swift punch of story that does the business and moves on. That’s how I’ve approached writing them in the past, building a world just big enough to serve my cast. All That is in the Earth is different." @aknighton.bsky.social

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'follow'. In this extract from "Song, Stone, Sail, Bone" by Juliet Kemp in Wiz Duo #2, Sir Cade's client is riding into trouble. #BookQW wizardstowerpress.co...

If anyone is looking for a Christmas present, A SWORD OF BRONZE AND ASHES and A SWORD OF GOLD AND RUIN would make a beautiful gift for any #fantasy, #folklore or #literature fan in your life... #booksky 📙📖🔥

Also check out organisations to join and get advice. In the UK, there's the Society of Authors, or the Writers Guild of Great Britain. In the US talk to the Authors Guild. Read websites like Writer Beware. And if you have the funds and still have doubts, find a lawyer who understands the book trade.

A Christmas cartoon from my new book of science cartoons PHYSICS FOR CATS. In good bookshops and online now: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2

Last time for 2026! Hey folks -- Signal Boost time for this week's #TheFullLid. If you have a creative project to promote, leave the details in a reply. Include the title and a link please, so folks can find it. For pre-launch crowdfunders let us know about 2 weeks in advance.

do you gotta personify the dead trees in the vacant lot too. they're having a hard enough time without you imagining they have an opinion about what's happening Wondermark #1578; In which Trees are a Lot

Dracula: Comedy Of Terrors Sword of Avalon-AK Faulkner The Iron Road-David Wragg That Time I Got Drunk & Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf-Kimberly Lemming Chuck tingle-Bury Your Gays The Vengeance-Emma Newman Debts of Fire-Intisar Khanani The Way Up Is Death-Dan Hanks I Want That Twink Obliterated

Today's writing is mostly getting ahead on work I won't fit in over Christmas. Or at least it should be, except that I've finished outlining the next novel, & now it's sitting there like a voice whispering in the back of my mind, wanting to be written...

This year definitely earned a retrospective post... andrewknighton.com/2025-my-writ...

This has me even more excited for this film.

Daily bunny no.3171 is going underground

This year definitely earned a retrospective post... andrewknighton.com/2025-my-writ...

This is the basis of the 'Pigwank' principle. Call something Pigwank because a) that will NEVER* accidentally get through editing, and b) it has no chance of influencing or being mistaken for a proper suggestion. *You really better hope not...

My @horrortree.com book review of Harrowfield by @stephellis.bsky.social is out today, and this is certainly a folk horror book you don't want to miss! horrortree.com/epeolatry-bo... #bookreview #folkhorror #horrorcommunity #horrorwriting

Have reached the point of outlining madness where I have a flowchart of evidence trails, which feeds into the multi-tab plotting spreadsheet, which feeds into the Scrivener document. Huge respect to folks who can wing a story, but I am not one of you.

One thing I've enjoyed this year is watching some of my favourite reviewers grapple with the art of reviewing itself, what it's for & how it works in our the current moment. This is thoughtful take on that question & its complexities. www.youtube.com/watch?v=koXQ...