What can screenwriters learn from Christopher Nolan's THE ODYSSEY? In the latest edition of 5AM StoryTalk, I break down the storytelling decisions that transformed a 2,700-year-old myth into a devastating study of our own civilization's collapse. ✍️ Read more at the link in the first comment...

Finally saw THE ODYSSEY last night at @glasgowfilmtheatre.bsky.social and while there were 70mm issues meaning we got the digital print, it's still a GORGEOUS looking movie, and for my money one of Nolan's best. Superb performances, epic scope and utter immersiveness. Loved it.

Odyssey

ALT: Odyssey

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Today's favourite typo in a manuscript what I is editing -- "Scotland's Fist Minister"... which is an absolutely terrifying thought!

Hate the new "trending" section. Interesting to to note that the "trending" summary claims the "viral" post "mocks anti-AI critics" when the fact is that anti-AI critics are the ones doing the righteous mocking of the post. Also, yes, I could get through a workday without AI. I already fucking do.

THE REFORMATORY by @tananarivedue.bsky.social is honestly one of my favourite novels of the last few years -- it grabbed me by the throat and wouldn't let go. Even now, I still find myself thinking about it... if you haven't read it -- or anything by Due -- then you need to do so right now.

Brian Keene@briankeene.bsky.social · yesterday

Good morning. It is day 94 of Women In Horror Year, and we turn our attention to @tananarivedue.bsky.social's The Reformatory, and examine why this book is still going to hit readers right between the eyes thirty years from now. www.briankeene.com/algorithmzer...

New week, new Russel... sort of... last week was horrific (family issues, now more or less sorted) and fell really far behind with work... so trying to start this week with determination, energy and positivity...

Radiate Positivity

ALT: Radiate Positivity

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Bargain! Today on #kindle The Jewel Keepers is 99p. Ideal #holidayread #summerread. I mean, I would say that 😂 but if lost treasure, family secrets and hidden Scottish history is your thing, then nip over to amazon and get it on your device. There are also deals going on #audiobooks. White rabbits!

Any and all joking aside (not that I necessarily was), no copy editor on earth can turn a bad manuscript into a good book, but a good copy editor can certainly pare away a lot of crap and help transform an irritating manuscript into a pleasing read.

(I've never in my copyediting career worked on an eventually brilliant book that wasn't already brilliant when it was handed to me.)

Have you watched our new short film yet? player.stv.tv/summary/sill...

Watch Faithful Online Free | Latest Episodes & Catch Up | STV Player

Watch Faithful free on STV Player. Catch up with the latest episodes and stream full episodes on demand.

player.stv.tv

I had forgotten how tense the bridge scene in SORCEROR (dir. William Freidkin, 1977) was. Watched the @criterion.bsky.social blu ray last night, and it was like seeing the movie for the first time... a crime how much this movie was overlooked on release -- it might be damn near perfect.

Sorcerer: Roy Scheider's Perilous Bridge Scene

ALT: Sorcerer: Roy Scheider's Perilous Bridge Scene

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Did you know writing a play and describing a play are two different skillsets? IT'S TRUE! Playwright Austin Tichenor talks about the challenge of describing his new play PURITANS ahead of its world premiere this September. HEAR HERE (or wherever you get your podcasts)! @americantheatre.org

Describing The Play - Reduced Shakespeare Company

A ghost story...but not. A time-travel tale...but not. Describing Austin Tichenor's new play Puritans accurately and intriguingly reveals that writing the play and describing the play are two complete...

reducedshakespeare.com

Neoclassical econ assumes rationality. The corollary of, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" is "you're rich, so you must be very smart!" Thus, people assume that if powerful, well-compensated CEOs insist that "AI is changing everything," well then, *AI must be changing everything*. 1/

Doctor Who alumni Sylvester McCoy & @sophiealdred.bsky.social will star in our brand new @copsandmonsters.bsky.social audio drama series with @b7media.bsky.social if we reach our goal at www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/8WOke58... Creative Scotland will match all pledges up to £250! Can you help us?

I am actually having trouble thinking of a genuinely poor movie that begins with G right now... Except perhaps the 1990s GODZILLA...

James Alistair Henry@jamesbluecat.bsky.social · 5d ago

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.

Anonymous editor who read it: “… the same flaws other debut novels I’d acquired had: pacing issues, clunky writing, maybe some try-hard metaphors. But nothing that suggested it had been written with AI…” (The Bookseller is doing some really great work at the moment, by the way.)

Author: “I have time-stamped drafts, written notes and dated WhatsApp messages documenting the book’s development.… Within six hours of the rumours, I lost US, UK, translation, and screen opportunities without being given a proper chance to explain my writing process."

The Bookseller has more: www.thebookseller.com/news/genius-...

‘Genius’ novel sold in six and seven-figure deals at auction pulled over suspected AI use

A crime novel has been pulled from sale by an agent after securing major six- and seven-figure deals in the US and the UK due to AI allegations.

thebookseller.com

Not sure if putting "adult" in quotes gives the wrong impression here, but I know what I mean and I hope you do, too.. (those kind of books, though, they definitely need to be fun, I think!)

Russel D McLean/R.D. McLean@russeldmclean.bsky.social · 6d ago

Stories can be meaningful. Or life changing. Or tools of abstract thought. But above all else, stories should be fun. If they're not fun, then none of the other stuff matters. Writing stories is the "adult" form of play; of making sense of the world in your own head. And play should always be fun.

Stories can be meaningful. Or life changing. Or tools of abstract thought. But above all else, stories should be fun. If they're not fun, then none of the other stuff matters. Writing stories is the "adult" form of play; of making sense of the world in your own head. And play should always be fun.

This is why I always put 'AI' in quote marks. It's such a catch-all term as to be utterly meaningless. Might as well say 'computer'. It's 'AI' being forced into every single aspect of our lives that we don't want and don't need.

Hillary Monahan@hillarymonahan.bsky.social · last wk.

Nobody wants predictive data models to stop working for the people in medicine. Or translating ancient Pompeii texts. Or the other ways we were already using it. We want it to stop replacing workers, killing the environment, and stealing from artists. Hope that clarifies.

Director GREG McLEAN (Wolf Creek) deconstructs Ridley Scott's 1979 masterpiece ALIEN - explaining how the sci-fi horror film shaped his career today and what aspiring filmmakers should learn from it. 🎙️🎬 Listen to this conversation with Greg at 5AM StoryTalk: colehaddon.substack.com/p/director-g...

As Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein by Bath's Pump Room, her stepsister Claire Clairmont gave birth to Lord Byron's illegitimate child nearby. THE FRANKENSTEIN EXPERIENCE, with House of Frankenstein, takes you there. And now here's @lesleymcdowell.bsky.social's CLAIRMONT 🎟️ showofstrength.org.uk

The 2026 Best of British SF/F bundle is now available! storybundle.com/bestof w/ @ianmcdonald.bsky.social @julietemckenna.bsky.social @annasmithspark.bsky.social @aptshadow.bsky.social & more! Just $30 for 15 books! Plus supporting @locusmag.bsky.social! Reposts appreciated!

Payment on account is difficult enough in the current system -- doing it this way is going to make freelance work beyond the reach of many people, financially speaking. The MTD scheme is already going to be bad enough.

Mike Brooks@mikebrooks668.bsky.social · 2w ago

All UK self-employed people: you need to read this government proposal, and respond to it. They're looking to shake up self-employed tax to make it monthly, and potentially take it, based on their forecasts, from the PAYE from any salaried employment you have! www.gov.uk/government/c...

There is currently a very angry wasp refusing to leave the office... does it not know I'm trying to work here and have very deliberately opened the window so it can get out? (It's buzzing everywhere BUT the open window...)

Wasp Insect

ALT: Wasp Insect

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This is spot on. I like having some shows drop all at once or watching a bunch after they've "aired" first. but on a more general level, we're just not getting the time for a mass audience to build for shows with the "all or nothing" approach of full-drop seasons (& the lack of urgency in renewal).

Cole Haddon@colehaddon.bsky.social · 3w ago

Netflix’s biggest shows have been losing 30-70% of their audience between seasons 1 and 2. Executives are in a panic because they can’t figure out why, but the answer is probably pretty damn obvious to anyone who’s paying attention.

The irony of this is Lucas's ideas have always been made 100% better when passed on to creative human beings, and somehow whenever he uses new tech to do anything, his work loses impact (the remastered SW cuts, The Phantom Menace, his insistence that Spielberg use aliens in Crystal Skull...)

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 3w ago

George Lucas likens AI sceptics to luddites clinging to horses and carts

And if you have read the book -- and especially if you liked it -- please, please drop a wee review at Amazon or any online site... every little helps to spread the word... #booksky #thefridaygirl #crimefiction #tartannoir #crimewriter (normal service of bad jokes & book recs etc will now resume)

Russel D McLean/R.D. McLean@russeldmclean.bsky.social · 3w ago

Wee bit of a bargain on THE FRIDAY GIRL right now on Amazon UK -- only £6.64? And only 4 left in stock? Grab it while you can, my lovelies, and get to know the darkness of Dundee in the late 1970s, with the werewolf killer on the prowl... amzn.eu/d/01YfjIoE #booksky #crimefiction #tartannoir

Wee bit of a bargain on THE FRIDAY GIRL right now on Amazon UK -- only £6.64? And only 4 left in stock? Grab it while you can, my lovelies, and get to know the darkness of Dundee in the late 1970s, with the werewolf killer on the prowl... amzn.eu/d/01YfjIoE #booksky #crimefiction #tartannoir