Amy Lord
@tenpennydreams.bsky.social
Northern writer. Author of The Disappeared. Stories in The London Reader, Reflex Press, Palm-Sized Press. Finalist: Mslexia Short Story Comp/Dinesh Allirajah Prize. Arts marketer. Writer in residence Durham Writes & Crossing the Tees. amylordauthor.com
Periodic reminder that I wrote a book about an authoritarian government snatching people off the streets, banning books, restricting universities and the media. Who knew it would turn out to be quite this on the nose. It's called The Disappeared. srlpublishing.co.uk/product/the-...
Book news! New ghost story coming 15 October in this collection from @confingopublishing.bsky.social, inspired by Britain's concrete landscapes www.confingopublishing.uk/product-page...
The Tees Valley film festival has The Parmo D'Or as its biggest prize 😂 love it
Our May blog is by Julia Forster on 'Writing a work-in-progress over the long haul'. Julia share 5 things she did to finish her WIP, and framed some coaching questions to ask yourself to help you keep going. Read more: literaryconsultancy.co.uk/2026/05/work...
Writing a work-in-progress over the long haul - The Literary Consultancy
Have you been writing your work-in-progress for more years than you care to remember? If so, the good news is that you are among friends.
literaryconsultancy.co.uk
We're delighted to say that our 2026 prize is now OPEN FOR ENTRIES! If you're a UK-based Black or Asian woman writer with an unpublished fiction manuscript, this could be an opportunity to kick start your writing career. Please help spread the word! www.sileedsliteraryprize.com #WritingCommunity
Writers who use AI *really* need everyone else to do the same. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I wrote a novel using AI. Writers must accept artificial intelligence – but we are as valuable as ever | Stephen Marche
Mastery of banal style is losing its usefulness – but language is more powerful than ever. It’s up to the writer to do what machines can’t
theguardian.com
This is utterly jaw-dropping. A school that bans Atwood, Zadie Smith, Terry effing Pratchett and *literal George Orwell* is actively harming its pupils. www.indexoncensorship.org/2026/03/scho...
School book banning escalates in the UK as Greater Manchester secondary school censors scores of books - Index on Censorship
A school librarian faced a disciplinary hearing and scores of books were removed from her school library after she stocked Laura Bates’ Men Who Hate Women
indexoncensorship.org
I'm running an online writing workshop next week exploring what makes a story memorable. We’ll think about some of things that make your story stand out from the crowd (good and bad!) and use this as the foundation to strengthen your work in progress. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo...
A new documentary about the mass die-off of crustaceans off the Tees coast had its world premiere yesterday at a film festival in Copenhagen. Here's a review... "Man of the people Houchen is, it turns out, only a man of the people who agree with him."
‘All Rivers Spill Their Stories To The Sea’ review: Jeanie Finlay follows ‘Your Fat Friend’ with empathetic portrait of a community in turmoil
This CPH:DOX premiere follows the beleagured fishing communities of England's north east coast
screendaily.com
✨ GIVEAWAY TIME ✨ We’ve got 5 proof copies of #MalcsBoy by @smwwriting.bsky.social up for grabs, and trust us, you're going to want to get your hands on it ASAP! To enter: 📚 Like & repost this post 📚 Tag a friend (each tag = an extra entry) 🇬🇧 #UK entries only ⏰ #Giveaway closes 23rd March
Feel quite emotional at the idea that Middlesbrough could be City of Culture 🥰 Blackpool, Ipswich, Milton Keynes among nine finalists for UK City of Culture 2029 - BBC News share.google/XF2BmcQmuHAG...
Blackpool, Ipswich, Milton Keynes among nine finalists for UK City of Culture 2029
The nine-strong longlist of cities will receive a £60,000 boost of funding to develop a full bid plan.
share.google
As an author whose work was used in training datasets for LLMs without permission or compensation, I'm happy to have signed my name as part of this project that asks the UK government not to weaken copyright laws to benefit AI companies. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Thousands of authors publish ‘empty’ book in protest over AI using their work
About 10,000 writers including Kazuo Ishiguro, Philippa Gregory and Richard Osman join copyright campaign
theguardian.com
Today, we're publishing Don't Steal This Book - a (mostly) empty book from almost 10,000 authors, protesting the theft of their work by AI companies. 🧵 1/3
Periodic reminder that I wrote a book about an authoritarian government snatching people off the streets, banning books, restricting universities and the media. Who knew it would turn out to be quite this on the nose. It's called The Disappeared. srlpublishing.co.uk/product/the-...
Once on holiday in Iceland, I booked a solo day trip horse riding. Driver turned up at our hotel reception looking for Amy. That's me! Got on the tour bus and started chatting to a couple who were going dog sledding. Hmm...
Patrick Ness@patricknessbooks.bsky.social · 6mo agoI once greeted a director at BBC Wales named Philippa. I said “Philippa?”, she said “Philip?”, I somehow took this as a yes and took her to meet the entire cast and crew of Class, before I realized she was actually a cleaner who was there to meet our 3rd AD. Named Philip. Who she thought I was.
This month's #FromTheCoursesMouth includes wonderful-sounding stuff from @stillsquirrel.bsky.social @sagetyrtle.bsky.social @pleomorphic2.bsky.social @taniahershman.bsky.social @jmgatford.bsky.social @tenpennydreams.bsky.social fromthecoursesmouth.substack.com/p/mar-apr-26...
Mar / Apr 26: Upcoming courses, workshops & events
Here’s what’s coming up from your your friendly neighbourhood freelancers, lit mags and awesome independents over the next couple of months.
fromthecoursesmouth.substack.com
This month, I'm leading an online writing workshop that's all about building realistic characters. Come along! 📆 Wed 18 Feb, 7pm-8.30pm GMT www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo... #WritingCommunity
Writing workshop: Making Your Characters Human
Work on editing your fictional characters and making them more realistic.
eventbrite.co.uk
Q for writer friends: when querying lit agents, how fast do full manuscript requests come in? Mine generally arrive within 24 hours of the query, which probably isn't typical, but does mean that I write off anyone who doesn't respond within a few days. Would love to know what others experienced!
This month, I'm leading an online writing workshop that's all about building realistic characters. Come along! 📆 Wed 18 Feb, 7pm-8.30pm GMT www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo... #WritingCommunity
Writing workshop: Making Your Characters Human
Work on editing your fictional characters and making them more realistic.
eventbrite.co.uk
Running my first workshop of the year tomorrow on Zoom, when we'll be focusing on writing a great beginning for your story! I'd love to get a couple more people booked on if you fancy joining me 🥰👇 www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo... #WritingCommunity
Writing workshop: In the beginning...
In this online writing workshop, we'll explore how you write a story that will hook the reader from the first line.
eventbrite.co.uk
Amy Lord@tenpennydreams.bsky.social · 8mo agoMy first writing workshop of 2026 is coming up! 📆Wed 28 Jan We’ll look at some famous story openings and think about why they might appeal to a reader, and consider some of the common mistakes with writing beginnings, before working on our own stories. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo...
Why do I insist on writing these multi character/timeline/ alternate life novels that are impossible to describe in a one-line pitch?! 😫
My first writing workshop of 2026 is coming up! 📆Wed 28 Jan We’ll look at some famous story openings and think about why they might appeal to a reader, and consider some of the common mistakes with writing beginnings, before working on our own stories. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo...
My first writing workshop of 2026 is coming up! 📆Wed 28 Jan We’ll look at some famous story openings and think about why they might appeal to a reader, and consider some of the common mistakes with writing beginnings, before working on our own stories. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/writing-wo...
NEW! I'm running another season of online writing workshops, this time with a focus on editing. We'll be exploring beginnings, writing realistic characters, making your story stand out from the crowd, and delving into underlying meaning and themes. www.amylordauthor.com/events #WritingCommunity
Lovely way to finish the year with a chilly walk by the sea 🌊
Beautiful day for a visit to Saltburn with @tenpennydreams.bsky.social 🌊 #NewYearsEve #SaltburnByTheSea
