James Alistair Henry
@jamesbluecat.bsky.social
Surrounded by yowling, nebulous forms. Writer: Smack The Pony, Green Wing, Piglets, my first novel Pagans now available in paperback: https://www.waterstones.com/book/pagans/james-alistair-henry/2928377365622
🚨 BOOK TRAILER ALERT 🚨 Watch the trailer for Seething Lane, the brilliant new historical thriller by @jackjewers.bsky.social. When Samuel Pepys is called to investigate a brutal murder, it leads him to a secret that threatens the fabric of England itself... www.moonflowerbooks.co.uk/seething-lane
"The US military came under pressure to buy into just-in-time supply chains of the sort used by companies like Amazon. This worked great, right up until the moment you’re fighting a war, when it turns out you suddenly run out of bullets."
Drought conditions
This week: southern Britain has too little water; this map projection has far too much. But first: in praise of inefficiency.
jonn.substack.com
Today's earworm is a weird mashup of that bit of Christian Bale's on set rant where he angrily shouts 'LA DI DA DI DA!' with a bit of The Damned's cover of Alone Again Or, where there's a guitar bit with almost exactly the same sequence of notes.
This is so good! Also I find it quite fascinating looking back that any serious film critics believed the Coen Bros. were superficial or ignorant of the complex themes in their own work
Anise K. Strong@anisekstrong.bsky.social · 5d agoA long while ago, I wrote a pretty good piece on O Brother, Where Are Thou?, lies, & Oz. It was rejected on the explicit grounds that Real Classicists had no interest in engaging with "low-brow shallow comedy". Anyhow, at this moment of #Odyssey reception, here it is. medium.com/@anisestrong...
Omg what a fantastic write up in The Observer for It’s a Superpower?? Thank you so much @msmirandasawyer.bsky.social ! Everyone go read the whole article 🥹🥹🥹 observer.co.uk/culture/audi...
The honest assessment here has to be that the man was paid to be as much of a cunt as he could about absolutely everything, and he excelled at it because he enjoyed being one. But nobody can say that, because it raises questions about what exactly it is *they* are paid to do.
Just learned Amazon Prime in the UK is now showing the 'Pendragon Cycle' fantasy series, so in case anyone stumbles into watching it by mistake, know that it was made by far-right Trumpists at the Daily Wire, explicitly as violent right-wing Christian propaganda (this is a tweet by its creator)
It's true, 7th Feb I will be all up in yr Cheshires.
Moonflower Books@moonflowerbooks.bsky.social · 2d agoTwo of our brilliant authors, @jamesbluecat.bsky.social and @jackjewers.bsky.social, will be at #CheshireCrimeWritersFestival next February, and there's a brilliant discount available for early bookers. Tickets from @curiouscatbookshop.bsky.social here: thecuriouscatbookshop.co.uk/cheshire-cri...
I've belatedly realised that a big part what works in Brand New Day (no spoilers) is Peter Parker going from being, in effect Iron Man Jnr. to embracing being an independent Spider-Man, and it's a gear change that's handled really well.
Explained to my daughter that I'm fairly relaxed about people increasingly relying on AI for every decision because eventually all those people will just walk into the sea and drown and we can have all their stuff, but she didn't seem 100% convinced.
Saw a thing yesterday with some guy distraught that his AI no longer lets him rewrite in the style of another writer and he was halfway through his novel where he would write a bit then get the AI to rewrite it in the style of Brandon Sanderson then write the next bit and so on.
yeah, I think there's a lot of AI going on with these 'festivals', so this blocklist is worth subscribing to.
TC Parker (she/her)@tcparker.bsky.social · 3d agoAh, I lie - not quite the same thing, but in the ballpark...
Oh! Hang on, I think I saw a blocklist for those sorts of scams yesterday...
Suddenly getting lots of follows from 'script festivals' who are keen on people paying them to read their material and 'consider' it, awww that's nice of them. Reminded: money is supposed to flow *towards* the writer, not away from.
The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.
The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien
Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
The COVID brain fog explained. The COVID-19 virus binds to the ACE2 receptor to enter cells. Dopamine producing neurons are rich in the ACE2 receptor. The virus causes disruption in the dopamine network in the brain. 🧪 tech-paper.com/scientists-f...
Scientists finally have a biological explanation for why long COVID patients lose motivation and can't think clearly. They scanned their brains and found the dopamine system was physically damaged - T...
Millions of people with long COVID report the same cluster of symptoms: a crushing lack of motivation, an inability to think clearly, memory that slips, movements that feel slower than they should. Fo...
tech-paper.com
If you fancy a re-read of Gene Wolfe's Solar Cycle (Book of the New Sun et al) or want to have a first read with some critical accompaniment, @alzabosoup.bsky.social podcast have just finished their commentary on the entire sequence from
Out of interest, is anyone I follow (or follows me?) going to lacon.org next month?
All the best films begin with a G, Grosse Point Blank, Ghostbusters, Go, Gremlins, Gremlins 2, Groundhog Day, does any other letter have as good a run? NO.
Carl Jung would have made some absolutely kick ass comic book covers for Vertigo around 1997. www.openculture.com/2026/07/visi...
Weirdly enough, bearing in mind my family are mostly chemists and teachers, I recently discovered that my estranged great grandfather (so maybe cheating slightly) was a director and screenwriter, so I'd have been all right, I reckon.
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d agoEnough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?
my mole at the Tel once told me that Heath writes his headlines himself and delights in "triggering the woke", or words to that effect, so yeah, you're all being played like fiddles I'm afraid
the more you click on Allister Heath's mad columns and link to them the more he will be incentivised to write some more of them
I'm going to see Spider-Man on Saturday, daughter went with friends to see it last night and has given it 4.5 stars, thank Woden, because I'm *very* invested. The last ten minutes of No Way Home, the bit in the coffee shop was honestly the most emotional experience I've had in the cinema for years.
Saying it again: Any "Human Authored" self-certification honesty scheme is bound to fail, because people who use the slop generator to "write books" are by definition dishonest.
madeline odent@oldenoughtosay.com · last wk.shot, chaser
#booksky (UK Only) This is a genuinely fantastic offer. This wonderful, independent bookseller is offering a FREE BOOK.
Big Green Books@biggreenbooks.bsky.social · last wk.IT'S WEDNESDAY! It's #buyastrangerabook day! The grooviest day of all. I'll give out TWO books. FOR FREE. If you'd like one, let me know. Also, if you'd like to #BuyAStrangerABook too, let me know. It's a thing! Look. www.biggreenbookshop.com/stuff-you-mi... UK only.
