August's newsletter is out: buttondown.com/dragonfly.ec.... See an interview with Wildfire Verses author Sakiru Adebayo, news about The Dog Stars movie and the upcoming Season 2 of 3 Body Problem, plus more. #ecofiction #climate #summertime

I believe climate change and the Sixth Great Mass Extinction are the stories of our time

Films of the month The entire quote is “I believe climate change and the Sixth Great Mass Extinction—which we are in the middle of, and which has been caused...

buttondown.com

These are the 'parch marks' of my novel. But instead of the outlines of a garden or building foundations, the archaeologists are mystified by a patter of uncoiling ferns Pre-orders open now. Release September. www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-p...

Parch Marks

gold.ac.uk

Rebecca Lambert (She/Her) ♾️🐭🍉@reblambert.bsky.social · 3w ago

apple.news/AXq5nY76rTqi...

No donations for 4 days. 0/800 dollars. Can we shift that today? Amal really needs to settle her debt so she can start preparing for her new baby. ❤️🍉🙏

Anna Orridge@anna-orridge.bsky.social · last mo.

Amal writes: "We are still struggling to cover Naser's treatment, food, basic necessities, and the pharmacy debt that has been accumulating because of his medications. Any support or sharing would mean so much to us right now. Thank you for always standing by us and helping us." gofund.me/32bda5e44

Terrible news: the Court of Appeal has just ruled that the Government’s ban on Palestine Action is lawful. PA is now likely to lodge an appeal before the Supreme Court. So the mass arrests of peaceful people sitting with cardboard signs will continue. Because that is what terrorism looks like ...

The 50 richest families own more wealth than 34 million people. A handful have everything. Millions are struggling. End Rip Off Britain. Wealth tax. Now.

I know it’s practically blasphemy to say so, but society should not require everyone to work. Some people can’t. Some people shouldn’t. Some people contribute more by *not* working than they would by working. Work isn’t that important.

"If you’re a fan of Alastair Reynolds’ Chasm City or James S.A. Corey’s gritty Expanse, The Twisted Road will feel right at home." A murder mystery, a political thriller set against humanity's push to the stars. @elsewhen.press #booksky #sciencefiction #writing books2read.com/TheTwistedRoad

#booksky Always nice to get a lovely review of the book from a random stranger on GR Anyone want indie press magical realism and eco fiction summer? That features orchids, mushrooms, metamorphosis, crab ghosts + more? Book by @elsewhen.press Thanks to @authoramyorrell.bsky.social for the graphic

Disability history has been widely suppressed to the extent it rarely even gets mentioned when talking about the past. Huge congrats to Prof. David Turner for his groundbreaking deep dive, A History of Resistance. Out this week: www.waterstones.com/book/disabil...

I haven't invented languages but I do have a WIP where the adolescents of a fictional town have a deeply peculiar slang that seems to have developed at least partly from the eccentric nursery rhymes of the region. #SFFChat

SFFChat@sffchat.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#SFFChat Q2: Have you invented words, phrases, slang, or even whole lexicons for any languages in your work? OR, if you haven’t, do you have favourite conlangs/fiction languages from other SFF worlds?

My favourite invented language is the degraded English that constitutes the entire book and the voice of MC (and all characters speak it) in Russell Hoban’s dystopian Riddley Walker. Apparently he kept all these cards with bits of language on it to ensure consistency as he was writing.

SFFChat@sffchat.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#SFFChat Q2: Have you invented words, phrases, slang, or even whole lexicons for any languages in your work? OR, if you haven’t, do you have favourite conlangs/fiction languages from other SFF worlds?

I write magical realism and dystopian fiction. I lived in Spain yesrs ago and speak some Spanish - I quite often have Spanish speaking secondary characters in my fiction. I am trying to learn Arabic for my WIP as a secondary character is Iraqi.

SFFChat@sffchat.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Good morning, #SFFChat! Sorry for missing the evening one. We're back today with a focus on language, as suggested by the wonderful @mkmartinwriter.com ! Intro: Introduce yourself & tell us what language(s) you speak! And/or what language(s) you'd love to learn.

The point of these attacks is twofold: 1. Flood people with nonsense until it feels true. 2. Grind people down until they lose hope. We know the answer to that: fight back - with hope & a plan for change. There is absolutely no way they win this. Join.greenparty.org.uk

**WIN A FREE SPOT ON ONE OF MY SUMMER WORKSHOPS** To get your name in the hat, quote-post with the workshop you'd like to attend (details in thread below). I'll pick a couple of winners on Sunday 31st May at midday BST. www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-worksho... www.mattkendrick.co.uk/live-worksho...

A Snow Globe on an Iceberg: World-building in short fiction | MattKendrick.co.uk

mattkendrick.co.uk

Matt Kendrick@mattkendrick.bsky.social · 3mo ago

My summer workshop series is now open for bookings. Two in-depth workshops full of writing craft tips and techniques, and exercises to get you embedding new skills. "A Snow Globe on an Iceberg" and "What is Learnt in the Cradle" Full details below...

What some of us have been warning of for decades is happening, faster and fiercer than most imagined, even in the mildest and most temperate corners of the world. #ClimateBreakdown

MetJam@metjam.co.uk · 3mo ago

34.8ºC at Kew Gardens breaks its May AND June records by OVER 4ºC for its May record set in 1922 and by 0.2ºC for its June record set in 1976. Unprecedented heat for the UK in late May, and likely to be bettered tomorrow. A rounded 35ºC temperature should not happen in May.

We’re in the dealers’ room at Satellite9. come and say hello.

"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."

It's stormy weather for making media covering international disability rights. See how we cover global disability news and make a platform for new stories on disability. And please help us continue: www.disabilitydebrief.org/debrief/weat...

Weathering the storm

Help Disability Debrief sail against strong winds

disabilitydebrief.org

🩵On #MEAwarenessDay we are sending an open letter to @rcpsych.bsky.social calling for alignment with current evidence. Supported by 20 organisations. +35 advocates, clinicians & academics! In democratic spirit we are offering a public sign-on opportunity 🔗👇️ #RCPsychIC #Garner

🚨 Major funding secured for Sequence ME & Long Covid, a DecodeME project. On #WorldMEDay, we’re thrilled to share that the study has received £4.75 million from the UK government, signalling a transformative step towards uncovering the biological roots of ME/CFS and Long Covid.

Voted @greenparty.org.uk in local elections. Looking forward to loads more Green councillors

If rain promotes culture why are the English so stupid.

Check out the catalogue from @elsewhen.press and 'escape from the daily grind into exciting new worlds...' 😍 #indiepressday #LoveElsewhen ##booksky

Elsewhen Press@elsewhen.press · 3mo ago

So let me acquaint you with our authors and their books. Look through our catalogue of fantastic titles, escape from the daily grind into exciting new worlds populated by the most imaginative writers around. https://elsewhen.press/lets-escape/ #IndiePressDay #SpeculativeFiction

It’s Indie Press Day, a day when you can help ensure that great books continue to be published by indie presses. The rest of the year it’s the big faceless corporate publishers who dominate the media. If you’ve loved a book, post about it today with #IndiePressDay …

Indie Press Day, when we can all consider the wonders that indie presses provide. Holding out against the encroachment of AI ‘slop’ into publishing, indie presses pride themselves on their close relationships with authors developed over the editing process… #IndiePressDay

As it’s Indie Press Day, here are my four novels published by Elsewhen Press! elsewhen.press/index.php/ca... #indiepressday #books #urbanfantasy #fantasy #scotland

#indiepressday #booksky How about a pacy, intelligent sci-fi thriller with high stakes and astute characterisation, set in London in two time periods and reflecting on climate change with no less than a cronod, a person of mixed era origins? @elsewhen.press @authoramyorrell.bsky.social

#indiepressday #may1st How about a story, the offspring of Dr Who and Tom Sharpe? With portals, personified Cambridge colleges, archaeological mysteries, a fight with giant gargoyles and copious cups of tea. There is nothing quite like King Street Run @vrling.bsky.social @elsewhen.press

Two of my favourite short story collections of all time by indie presses on #indiepressday #indiepress by @dumb-belles.bsky.social and @clairedean.bsky.social

What’s special about Indie Press Day? Indie presses have limited resources & little, if any, marketing budget, so indie authors are keen to encourage readers to help promote presses, authors and books. If you’ve loved a book, write a review, tell your friends, post about it with #IndiePressDay