Gary Panton
@garypanton.co.uk
Author of THE NOTWITCHES and THE NOTWITCHES: PRISON BREAK. All the links for ordering can be found at garypanton.co.uk/books/ Represented by Rachel Mann at CAA. 📍Perth, Scotland
In case anyone's wondering, our current position on the wrong-side-of-history scale is £15 million for children's books and £700 million for AI.
Autumn Budget 2026: Freeze on business rates, £15m for books for children, but no word on copyright in AI
A freeze on business rates, as well as an increase of the 100% Small Business Rate Relief, were announced by chancellor John Healey to the House of Commons in today’s Autumn Budget.
thebookseller.com
It's the season of the witch's cat, so grab your pens and pencils and draw one with me! #DrawWithRob #Halloween 🐈⬛ ✏️https://youtu.be/1QP_IE68EEM
The fact that a major company with a sizeable marketing budget is seeing enough of an anti-AI backlash to hook its whole advertising strategy onto it feels like quite a positive development.
Firefox brings back internet icons for new anti-tracking, anti-AI campaign
Numa Numa Guy, Overly Attached Girlfriend, Annoying Orange — they're all here.
mashable.com
As the most ghostly of days is almost upon us, here's a quick shameless plug for a bunch of pant-wettingly terrifying books I've written over the last couple of years. I put some plastic spiders next to them and frankly they're making me feel a bit sick even though I know they're not real.
Had a whole community here during the summer! The snorting and gnawing sounds are on a different level when they come by :)
I will never understand the number of people expressing concern about how AI will affect our jobs and our security while forwarding their friends AI memes of monkeys riding donkeys or asking Chat GPT what to cook for their dinner.
WRITERS! New Writing Scotland seeks a new co-editor for English- & Scots-language work. Applicants should be currently based in Scotland & have a strong publishing record, with a focus on poetry. Post is up to 3 years: stipend £1500 per issue. #writers #writing Pls RT 👇 asls.org.uk/new-writing-...
⚡️ [BIG BISEXUAL THUNDERCLAP] ⚡️ London, I WAS A TEENAGE BISEXUAL will be back from the dead for a night at @pleasance.co.uk! Come kick off #PrideMonth on 1 June with a funny, spooky monster mashup of vintage horror & '90s teen movies about the perils of being bi. www.pleasance.co.uk/event/i-was-...
Anyone else finding they're now unable to scroll down through their drafts on here? I have a *lot* of half-baked, poorly informed opinions I can't get to and I'm not happy about it.
Little reminder that this is happening in Edinburgh this Saturday and we'd love to see you there. There's going to be lots of drawing (mainly Dotty), blood-curdling screaming (mainly me) and a prize for the best Halloween costume. It's completely free and tickets are available from Waterstones.
Gary Panton@garypanton.co.uk · 2w agoGuys! If you have kids and you're anywhere near Edinburgh this Halloween, we would absolutely LOVE to see you at our free spooky event at Waterstones Princes Street. There will be drawing, crafting, stories, prizes and screaming with terror. More info here: www.waterstones.com/events/spook... 🧙♀️🧛♀️
Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk
Might just dive fully into some charming-yet-forgettable Channel 5 Christmas movies for the rest of the afternoon. Only two months to go innit.
Happy to say I've chucked a couple of Notwitches books into this year's Children in Read auction. All proceeds go to BBC Children in Need, and the winner's books will be signed (with a dedication, if you like) by me and Dotty Sutton. All the info is below. Please go support this excellent cause! 😊
Children in Read 2026
(In memory of Peter May & Sophie Kinsella)Authors and Illustrators around the globe, sign and dedicate their books for the biggest online signed book auction in the world.All Postage & Packaging is fr...
jumblebee.co.uk
If you're a sparrow or chaffinch this morning, let loved ones know you're safe.
I am quite genuinely fascinated by the psychology of this. After two or three Facebook posters for local events which were so busy they honestly made me feel a bit nauseous, I snapped and said that AI posters give me headaches. And the person who made this this asked me HOW I CAN TELL IT'S AI:
You know which people I'm fascinated by? The ones who upload selfies to TripAdvisor.
When Channel 4 shows those old US sitcoms in the mornings I sometimes wonder if anyone has actually checked them to see if they're, like, OK for daytime viewing? There's an Everybody Loves Raymond on at the moment that is pretty much entirely about sex, which seems a bit icky at 8.30 on a Saturday?
I'm heading out to attempt to buy some new clothes this morning, and I already know that's going to involve trudging around finding nothing I actually like. Quite excited about buying myself a nice sandwich when I'm done though.
Shaun Tan’s phenomenal new book Hometown has got me mulling over the nature of home. So for this week’s #KidsBooksFriday, let’s share kids books that celebrate, challenge our notions of, or generally make us think more deeply about the concept of home? #KidLitUK #UKKidLit #KidLit #Home
Oh, are AI haters becoming "unhinged" now? Does it seem like we're everywhere no matter what you do? Are we ruining being online for you? Are you feeling like you can't do anything without us making your experience worse? Is it like we can't be escaped even though you want nothing to do with us?
I obviously post them on here but if you want Gig Updates from me, sign up to my mailing list: sendfox.com/rossmccleary...
Poetry Gig Updates For Ross McCleary
SIGN UP TO MY MAILING LIST I'll contact you when I'm doing some sort of poetry or spoken word thing and other similar events.
sendfox.com
One of the things that really gets my back up with these slop-scam emails is they never start by introducing themselves. They always just launch straight into the same stream of unmitigated bollocks. Literally no one would do this in a normal piece of first-time polite communication with a stranger.
You know what I love seeing and hearing in the sky at this time of year? Geese. Loads of geese.
I'll always remember where I was the day Gary Barlow went to lunch in a jumper.
Other than the Channel 5 years I've watched every series of #BBUK, and this year's is swiftly turning into the most uncomfortable watch in a long, long time. An actual abusive relationship unfolding in real time and you have to wonder at what point the producers step in.