Rae Cowie

Check out the fabulous selection of photo books and indie publications by photographers from around the globe at the University of Cambridge Shutter Hub Pop-up Photobook library (including Haddo Reimagined 🥳) … on until 2nd April,2026 … #cambridgeuniversitylibrary #haddoreimagined #shortstories

Big thanks to ‪@freeflashfiction.bsky.social for running this great comp, to ‬judge Caroline McKenzie for choosing my story, and to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social, and September Cardio Group 2 at Smokelong Fitness for their help with it.

So pleased to see this one out there. Thank you to @penmenreviewsnhu.bsky.social for picking it, to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social & @finnegag.bsky.social for their help with it, and to the redoubtable @mattkendrick.bsky.social for prompting it on his famous Colourful Characters course.

Delighted to feature in the lovely @templeinacity.bsky.social. Big thanks to EIC @eireneeleni.bsky.social for selecting my story and to @raecowie.bsky.social and @norami.bsky.social for their help with it.

Big thanks to ‪@freeflashfiction.bsky.social for running this comp, to ‬judge @nishxhegde.bsky.social for choosing my story, and to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social, and the wordsmiths of Smokelong Fitness ‬October Cardio Group 3 for their help with it.

Ho,ho, ho! Can’t wait for the Trend Christmas Fayre, Marcliffe Hotel, Pitfodels, Aberdeen, where I’ll be signing copies of Haddo Reimagined. Please swing by and say ‘hello’. … #whatsonaberdeen #scottishcreatives #aberdeen #aberdeenshirewriter

World Book Club - Silvia Moreno-Garcia - Mexican Gothic - BBC Sounds Harriett is joined by Silvia Moreno-Garcia to discuss her bestseller Mexican Gothic.

Happy Halloween! We have some fabulously spooky recommendations for our global community of book lovers. First up, you can listen to Silvia Moreno-Garcia's interview about Mexican Gothic - www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
#booksky #horrorlit #halloween #mexicangothic #worldbookclub

6 tips to help you research your historical novel Bestselling historical novelist S J Parris shares six tips to help you research your story as you bring history to life on the page.

'Every historical novelist will have a different approach to how much research they do before writing. I would say it depends very much on the scope of your story.'

Bestselling author, @stephmerritt.bsky.social (S J Parris), shares 6 tips to help you research your historical novel 🔎

-
i found you
skipping stones at dawn

your laughter tangled
in the cattails

you promised nothing
but trouble

your libertine heart
would never be contained

i just smiled
watching ripples ebb and fade
-

#vss365 #poetry #read

Love all Liane Moriarty’s books, but this one stayed with me for a long time.

The last bus home left hours ago, before the haar crawled in. Stubble crunches beneath my boots. Beyond the field and drop of the cliffs, a lonely foghorn lows. Cold mist claws at my cheeks. I whistle a desolate tune.
A pheasant screams.
I stop.
The brittle snap of stalks draws closer. #WriteCBC

#WriteCBC task from @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social: Halloween is coming, so let’s introduce a spooky setting! The house lights dim, and the curtain rises on your location: where are we? What small details intrigue us in the opening lines? And why does it make us feel subtly uneasy?

91-year-old author Maureen Duffy wins Pioneer prize launched by Bernardine Evaristo The RSL president has set up a new literary award for female writers over 60 using the £100,000 she herself won through the Women’s prize

'It’s no secret that older women writers tend to be overlooked...'

Bernardine Evaristo awards the first Pioneer prize for British female writers over 60 to Maureen Duffy 🎉

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/s...

Congratulations, Chris. 🥳 This story gets me every time. A brilliant piece. Glad it’s found a great home.

Big thanks to Melissa and Kristin at @epistemiclit.bsky.social for including me in their nostalgia issue; to @sfreligh.bsky.social and her awesome Class of Jan 24 for prompting and nurturing it; and @raecowie.bsky.social & @norami.bsky.social for helping it over the line.

#WriteCBC task from @rowancoleman.bsky.social: One way to imbue authenticity into a character is to discover their secrets. What memento do they keep in their beside drawer? Write a scene involving this memento. What subtle secret does this reveal? What does this tell you about the character?

It's time for the September #WriteCBC guest reveal 🥁

Next month's writing tip and task comes from
@rowancoleman.bsky.social, tutor of our upcoming Writing Romantic & Commercial Fiction course!

Join us next Thursday! Find out more: www.curtisbrowncreative.co.uk/blog/writecb...

For drama and history lovers ... Into Thy Hands at Studio C #EdFringe this week, explores the complex relationship between Mary Queen of Scots, her husband Lord Darnley, and her best friend David Rizzio. Grab tickets while you can ... #ScottishHistory #Edinburgh #EdinburghFringe #NewDrama

✨SCOTLANDSFEST 2025✨

👤 Barbara Henderson
📍St Columba's by the Castle, Edinburgh
📆 13 August
⏰ 1:30pm
🎟 buff.ly/6I1iYyY

#EdinburghWhatsOn #ScotlandsFest25 #Fringe #EdinburghFringe

Big thanks to ‪@freeflashfiction.bsky.social for running this brilliant competition, to ‬judge @sagreene1.bsky.social for choosing my story, and to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social, and the word sculptors of A Smokelong Summer Flash Group 4 for for their help with it.

How to write fictional friendships Top tips to help you bring get the most out of writing fictional friendships. Friendship is a powerful force in fiction – and its potential to help writers bring protagonists fully to life on the…

'Friendship is a powerful force in fiction – and its potential to help writers bring protagonists fully to life on the page – and indeed to be a driver of story, is often underestimated' 🌻

Our founder Anna Davis shares ways in which your character’s friendships can help move your story forward:

Dark glasses hide my shiner as I limp towards the case that entombs her, wincing as school kids jostle to see the mystical Feejee Mermaid. They gasp at the needle-sharp barbs that twist along her spine. Her scaled tail curls, black as a sea devil.
I bow, and beg her to conjure a tempest. #WriteCBC

So pleased to see this out there, thank you ‪@bnadeauwriter.bsky.social‬ at MoonLit Getaway. Thanks also to @raecowie.bsky.social, @norami.bsky.social & @yalanchang.bsky.social for their help with it.

Love Forms by Claire Adam is a heart-breaking tale set against the beauty and dangers of Trinidad & Tobago. Descriptions of island life – lush countryside, healing power of the ocean, increasing violence – are done with a light touch that draws the reader in #LoveForms #ClaireAdam #faberbooks

Fresh tar shimmered beyond the veranda.
'Darlene!' Her mother waved from the bungalow opposite.
'Drink up,' I said.
Darlene's florid face sweated like the jug on the table.
'What's in it?' she slurred, slurping the dregs.
'Vodka.'
Darlene stood, quivering like heat as her mother glared. #WriteCBC

#WriteCBC task from @abigailj.bsky.social: Secrets are a great way to add intrigue and drama to your story. Write a mini-scene in which a character discovers that someone they know well has been keeping a secret from them. How do they deal with this discovery?

So pleased to appear in @fictivedream.bsky.social today, long a dream journal of mine. Thanks to @raecowie.bsky.social, @finnegag.bsky.social and @yalanchang.bsky.social for their help with this one.

Thrilled to be featuring your tiny gem, Chris. Thank you for sending it our way @chriscottom.bsky.social‬ @raecowie.bsky.social @finnegag.bsky.social @yalanchang.bsky.social #microfiction #MicroMonday

Loved doing this!!

Dark hooded vultures strut, searching the humps and hollows of the beach. Alert. Watchful. A stray dog lolls, roly-poly happy in the sand. It digs. The birds draw close. Dunes shift as she races, crunching on pale slivers of crushed eggshells. A tiny turtle flipper waves. The mutt barks. #WriteCBC