Congratulations to CMS Alum Helen Marshall (@manuscriptgal.bsky.social), whose "The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death" (Titan Books) has been longlisted for Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic! www.sunburstaward.org/node/147

A circus where illusion and power collide. A girl who must choose between serving those in power — or defying them. 🎪 On sale now! kobo.com/p/may-the-books-be-with-you #DarkFantasy #KoboSale

I have invented a game for four year olds called wombat combat. On their hands and knees, two kids have to try to knock each other out of a ring using only their butts. It’s going to catch on, I swear!

You can now read the Spanish translation of the terrific "The Hanging Game", by Helen Marshall (@manuscriptgal.bsky.social), in Cuentos para Algernon. First published in @reactorsff.bsky.social edited by @annvandermeer.bsky.social. Enjoy it! cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/e...

El juego del ahorcamiento, de Helen Marshall

Empezamos nuevo año con un relato de Helen Marshall: «El juego del ahorcamiento». La historia con la que esta interesante y galardonada autora canadiense se estrena en el blog y en nuestro idioma. …

cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com

Just finished reading this gorgeous magical heartbreaking book by @manuscriptgal.bsky.social Been on my to read pile since the launch in, when was it, July last year (?) Anyway, far too long. But worth the wait.

February 2026 brings a new standalone novel from the Queen of Speculative Fiction: Arthur C. Clarke award-nominated Aliya Whiteley! Here's what @oliverklangmead.bsky.social @manuscriptgal.bsky.social @timjmajor.bsky.social & @catamaroon.bsky.social thought of it! Preorder geni.us/misheardw

Christmas is coming and I'm officially on leave! Taking a break from socials to enjoy the season. But one last book post before I go: if you're looking for some dark fantasy reading over the holidays, try a story with teeth!

Just finished "When There Are Wolves Again" by E. J. Swift and I'm still thinking about it. Fierce, gorgeous climate fiction that somehow manages to be genuinely hopeful—not in a naive way, but in a way that feels earned and necessary. This is the kind of story we need right now.

World Fantasy Con 2015, Saratoga Springs, Kelly Link, me, and Helen Marshall. @manuscriptgal.bsky.social reposted this today and it is a gleeful thing. @kellylink.bsky.social A DECADE AGO.

Davey: “What’s that rattling sound in my ear? Is it my adult teeth?”

I was looking up some old horror business and stumbled across this fun interview I did with @manuscriptgal.bsky.social a decade ago! youtu.be/WMdYdLF5w8E?...

Interview with Helen Marshall

YouTube video by Arkham Horror Book Club

youtu.be

📢 Call for Papers: Creative Futures We want to reimagine futures thinking with creative methodologies as rigorous frameworks for anticipating change! Papers due September 2026! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal... #FuturesStudies #Foresight

FUTURES & FORESIGHT SCIENCE Call for Papers - Creative Futures: Imagination-Based Methodologies

FUTURES & FORESIGHT SCIENCE is a methods journal publishing advances on the applications & uses of particular methods in future studies, scenario planning & more.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

In honour of getting the chance to attend World Fantasy in Brighton, I’ve been reading up on my fellow authors. There are some brilliant resonances between the work of Amal El-Mohtar and my own. #StoriesAboutStories #LyricalProse

Just received Monsters in the Archives: My Year of Fear with Stephen King by Caroline Bicks in the mail! Really looking forward to diving into this one. I had my own experience researching King's archive, which I wrote about here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Spotted at the Brisbane Writers Festival! #bwf #nounderstanding

Like Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? The Lady, The Tiger, and the Girl Who Loved Death weaves together magic, political spectacle, and the power of storytelling in a world where reality and illusion blur dangerously together. Out from @titanbooks.bsky.social now! #DarkFantasy #CircusBooks

Catch me Thursday at the Brisbane Writers Festival for “Dark Imaginings”! Fairytales and historical myths are often readers’ first encounter with the darkness of human nature. In these stunning novels, fable and archetype are reworked in dazzling ways. brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/dark-... #BWF

Dark Imaginings - Brisbane Powerhouse

Fairytales and historical myths are often readers’ first encounter with the darkness of human nature. Explore more at Brisbane Writers Festival.

brisbanepowerhouse.org

ICYMI: We're hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in #CreativeWriting at UQ! -looking for literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games! -international applications welcome Apply: uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... #HigherEd #AcademicJobs

Fire as cleansing, fire as transformation. The Bulgarian fire festivals—where dancers walk barefoot across burning coals—shaped how I imagined ritual and renewal in THE LADY, THE TIGER, AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH. #Fantasy #Folklore #Inspiration #AmWriting

Life is just one tiny fright after another, isn't it?

"Why can't AI just do my research?" Because creative research isn't information retrieval. I'm working on a new academic article showing how research methods produce the distinctive textures of literary prose, looking at Octavia Butler, William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson and Andy Weir.

Thinking about Octavia Butler's #writingadvice in Furor Scribendi today: "Forget talent. If you have it, fine. Use it. If you don't have it, it doesn't matter. As habit is more dependable than inspiration, continued learning is more dependable than talent."

While writing The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death, I found myself captivated by haunting photographs of abandoned circuses across Eastern Europe. #WritingInspiration #DarkFantasy #EasternEurope #Circus #AuthorLife #FantasyFiction #WritingProcess

ICYMI: We're hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in #CreativeWriting at UQ! -looking for literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games! -international applications welcome Apply: uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... #HigherEd #AcademicJobs

HUGE news! We're hiring in Creative Writing at UQ! Looking for an amazing writer working in literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games! International applications welcome. This is going to be AWESOME uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo...

“Toward the end of a book, the state of composition feels like a complex, chemically altered state that will go away if I don’t give it what it needs. And what it needs is to write all the time.” I feel that, William Gibson — is this universal among writers?

Alexievich's The Unwomanly Face of War inspired my writing by revealing the erased stories of women in conflict. A masterpiece. #TheUnwomanlyFaceOfWar #Alexievich #WritingInspiration #UntoldStories (The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death is out now from @titanbooks.bsky.social !)

A beautifully written Slavic fantasy featuring the circus and a tiger from @titanbooks.bsky.social. The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death by Helen Marshall #BFSReview britishfantasysociety.org/review/the-l...

Romanian bear dancers inspired the haunting folklore in my novel THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH--ancient rituals of rebirth and demons bleeding from bear skins. Now out from @titanbooks.bsky.social (edited by the brilliant @cathtrechman.bsky.social) #DarkFantasy #FolkHorror

Brilliant Guardian piece on how Big Tech is systematically stealing books, music & films to train AI without consent or payment. This isn't innovation. It's digital colonialism threatening our entire creative ecosystem. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tech companies are stealing our books, music and films for AI. It’s brazen theft and must be stopped | Anna Funder and Julia Powles

If we don’t refuse and resist, not just our culture but our democracy will be irrevocably diminished

theguardian.com