Every few years in dive into my old bookmarks and rediscover this wonderful short story from (15? 20?) years or so ago and think “I need to track this guy down” and who knows maybe this time I’ll actually do it. Read it. It’s great! www.robotmelon.com/issueten/wci...

Stop writing your stupid novel and get on this

@Galleybeggars@galleybeggars.bsky.social · 2w ago

The Galley Beggar Press Short Story Prize 2026-2027 is now open for submissions: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize

Okay, current project is finished and going out (soonish). Publishers: it’s up to you now. Or not. Now I need to write another one. Anybody got any ideas?

Just fabulous

Nettlecake@nettlecake.bsky.social · 2d ago

Brilliant letter from Stuart Thompson to Jeremy Clarkson about his comments that benefit claimants should write weekly thank you letters to tax payers detailing how they spend their benefits each week.

I see all your favourite journalists are writing *that* eulogy again…

Some very good book recommendations in this thread if you’re after a holiday read…

Owen Booth@owenbooth.bsky.social · 3d ago

Fuck’s sake somebody recommend me a good book that I’ll actually finish or I’m going to have to re-read The Radetsky March for the tenth time

Would literally read an entire novel written like this (have literally written entire short stories written like this)

Anthony Oliveira@meakoopa.bsky.social · 3d ago

I am going through Bram Stoker’s earliest notes on DRACULA today - they include a list of the powers and features of the Count (then named “Wampyr” before Stoker stumbled on “Dracula”), many of which are never elucidated in the book…

Fuck’s sake somebody recommend me a good book that I’ll actually finish or I’m going to have to re-read The Radetsky March for the tenth time

Damn... 300% higher yields for peppers 200% for tomatoes. 65% lower water use for jalapenos. #agsky #agrivoltaics ,🌱🌞🔌..

hoergen@hoergen.bsky.social · 4d ago

*American farmers slid solar panels over 62,000 acres of farmland, and the biggest payoff had almost nothing to do with electricity* #Erneuerbare #Renewable #Solar #Photovoltaik energiesmedia.com/solar-panels…

In the future there will be no movies... There'll only be people quote posting people quote posting people quote posting people quote posting people quote posting people (and on and on) talking about what the right way to make and view art is.

David Sims@davidlsims.bsky.social · 4d ago

if I ever taught film criticism lesson one would be “you being smarter than the movie is not interesting to anyone”

The basic job of a storyteller is to make people fucking care. If we can’t do that, we need to pack up our manuscripts.

You have to say that's magnificent

I just gave up on a book three pages from the end. Just to make a point. & because i really didn’t think I was going to miss anything by not finishing it. If we’re going to out-compete AI we really need to be upping our game, folks. (The book in question was not written by anyone I follow on here)

I see that you’re all happy to agree with anyone saying we should “get rid of AI” - but when I ask for your help getting rid of a bunch of *actual people* who’ve wronged me over the years, suddenly I’m the bad guy

For some of us, every day is Yorkshire Day. And to you I say…now then.

Imagine having to decide what to have for tea every single day for the rest of your life…

christ if that’s not a metaphor for our times

You will, of course, already have your copy of this lovely thing from @hookland.bsky.social - but if by any chance *you haven’t* then you need to sort that out right away. I would happily give up whatever remnants of a literary career i have left to read another nine volumes of this instead…

This is not about the OP, but honestly, I think the constant harping on "no do THIS not THAT as a consumer" is designed to make you give up on climate. This is a job for good old fashioned government, one that regulates pollution, including greenhouse gases.

Nick Harkaway@nickharkaway.com · last wk.

I'm getting dietary fatigue at this point. This is an OLD reality, but the solutions aren't as straightforward as some of the coverage would have you believe. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Everything we can manage to do or make right now is a triumph over AI and the oligarchy pushing passivity

The wonderful @treadwells-books.bsky.social have signed copies of 'Hookland Fragments Volume One' with a free Right To Reside card back in stock if you want to buy from one of my favourite bookshops. www.treadwells-london.com/product-page...

Hookland Fragments Volume One - David Southwell | Treadwells

Discover the Fortean mysteries and folkloric history of Hookland, England's lost county. Created by David Southwell and documented extensively on social media for many years, the fictional Hookland ha...

treadwells-london.com

This is great!

Neither fish nor foul 📖@neitherfishnorfoul.com · last wk.

… my hair grows out pink, a candy floss I will pile high and sticky on my head, a Kate Pierson, B-52s beehive. My husband will be delighted, tasting my marzipan skin when we kiss, reaping the benefits of my persistent buzz. www.neitherfishnorfoul.com/issue-7-oldh... @marijean.bsky.social

Going to call that a good post day, @hookland.bsky.social fragments vol.1 & the how-bloody-big-is-that Delinquent Elementals by @philh.bsky.social & @rodneyorpheus.bsky.social

Disappointed not to see you on the Booker long list. Again.

My 17-yr-old went to see The Odyssey, twice. He says the first 45 minutes are boring, the rest of the film is good, and it’s even better on the second viewing. That’s all the Odyssey content I currently have to share.

Deep in my heart, though, this is MY cyclops.

Anyone who’s seen The Odyssey: is Matt Damon more ripped than, less ripped than, or equally as ripped as Ralph Fiennes was in The Return?

It would help a lot if a lot of journalists and pundits weren't using Twitter as their assignment editor, several years into its transition into Stormfront.

Adam Serwer@adamserwer.bsky.social · 2w ago

It is genuinely bizarre that we’ve become acclimatized to right wingers throwing a tantrum every time a black person (particularly a black woman) is cast in something, but are also supposed to pretend that this is not racism but related to some other substantive concern.

That 'net zero madness/wildfires ravage Europe' front page is good, but it's no