Allyson Shaw

A win for authors? - The Society of Authors The latest on the US Anthropic case

"...a landmark $1.5bn settlement of this copyright class action brought by a group of US authors against Anthropic over the use of their works in the training of Anthropic’s large language model, Claude." societyofauthors.org/2025/09/26/a... #GenAI #AI #Anthropic #WritingCommunity

My train from Inverness to Glasgow ran into some issues resulting in a 2 hour delay, so the extra time sitting on the track meant I was able to get through half of Ashes & Stones by @allysonshaw.bsky.social 🧹🐈‍⬛ (bought at Leakey's in Inverness!)
#booksky #scotland

Ah, brilliant, Nichole. Thanks for posting. Leakey's so cool. I hope you got home ok!

How Did Alice Become a Symbol of Surrealism and Feminist Reimagination? | TheCollector Published in 1865, Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland unleashed a nonsensical world that challenged Victorian norms and introduced readers to an enigmatic heroine: Alice.

Fantastic piece on the influence of Alice in Wonderland on writers and artists. It made me consider the influence of that story on my own writing.
www.thecollector.com/alice-symbol... #Feminism #Surrealism #Writing

A drawing of two hands drawing each other. The hands are very realistic, and each holds a pencil drawing the minimal lines of the cuffs below the wrists--as if the hands are surfacing from the drawing, coming alive

Drawing Hands, M C Escher. This image encapsulates #dyslexia for me--the good side of being #neurodiverse in this way is that even two dimensional things like text are three dimensional, or spacial in a way that is nonlinear. It feels a lot like the visual puzzle of Escher's work. #neurospicy

Memory foam pillows are being marketed to M and I on social media. I said, I don’t know why memory foam freaks me out. And M says, ‘I mean what else is it remembering?’

A small stone figure with a round head and square body. She has two eyes, a unibrow line across her forehead and two lines for a nose.

The Westray Wifey is giving you the Monday side-eye. This #Neolithic figure from the Stone Age found on Westray #orkney is the first depiction of a face found in the UK to date. #FavouriteThings

😹

I actually thought you had happened upon a makeshift bong gone wrong.

Sounds like a great technique!

That sounds amazing. I help writers with worldbuilding and character building, and if anyone needs it I also create maps, character illustrations or even book covers for them.

Hi Scottie! the story has shaped the map in the novel. It’s basically a fairy-drawn map of Scotland. So the names are different and the topography is distorted. This is my first draft. I feel like it should be weirder! Do you draw maps when you write?

A pencil sketch of a map of Scotland but weird

Sketching a preliminary map. I love second world maps-once I get something down that works I’ll ink it. Does anyone else draw maps for their books? (This the map of the world of my novel. Do you recognise it?) #WritingCommunity #cartography #maps #fantasy

Six circular drawings of a serpent with a book, a dragon headed torc a seal an eye and two crows.

Little doodles, big plans. Images for chapter headings for a novel I have just finished. Once I’m happy with them I’ll ink them up with some pilot carbon black & a zebra G nib. #booksky #FountainPens

An illustration of a large troll woman wearing rings beside her ears

I believe this illustration is by Kay Neilson-it’s a bit distorted but I love her troll bling-complete with temple rings!

This photograph by European Elopement and Wedding Photographer Sturmsucht shows an arctic fox in its summer coat - a rich, dark brown fur that contrasts beautifully with the vibrant Greenlandic landscape. The compact fox stands alertly on a thick carpet of bright green moss, its pointed ears erect and dark eyes focused. Scattered throughout the mossy terrain are delicate Arctic wildflowers in brilliant magenta and purple hues, likely fireweed or purple saxifrage blooming during the brief summer season. The background features characteristic weathered granite boulders and rocky formations typical of Greenland's tundra. The scene captures the surprising abundance of life and color that emerges in the Arctic summer, with the dark-coated fox serving as a striking focal point against the lush green moss and colorful wildflowers in this harsh but beautiful northern wilderness.

A close encounter of this little fellow during our dinner camp fire one day in Greenland. Turned out he stole our cheese from one of our bags while we prepared the food a few meters away.

#greenland #arcticfox #wildlife #wildlifephotography

The US Republican Administration expects other countries to collect tariffs on its behalf; it doesn’t have the infrastructure to do it. Royal Mail stopped shipping to the US. This tariff is a body blow to the business I have built over the last 13 years. (already kneecapped by Brexit) I’m scared.

Three dolls dressed in aprons and kerchiefs stand on a shelf behind barrels of tiny, knitted fish.

From heritage museum in Sanday, #orkney Gutter dolls (one complete with knife) and knitted herring in tiny barrels #knitting

😹 We are truly doomed.

Power your workflows with AI | Tines Build, run, and monitor your most important workflows with secure, private AI in Tines.

www.tines.com/platform/ai/ should we tell them?

YES. Exactly!

I think that’s part of it-the preparation of the thing to be shared-making it tidy or dramatic-is a different process than a devotional one when it’s for social media. Maybe for some it is the same! Thanks for commenting. Merry meet!

BROAD-CASTING MAGIC 🌚 Selkies & silence at the new moon

How do you decide what to share online? What is off limits? Read
The Altar I Did Not Photograph: allysonshaw.substack.com/p/broad-cast... #witchsky

made ‘soup’ from bouillon cubes while wearing sweatpants.

Saros #5 is open for submissions! Send us your 500-2,500 word fiction themed around sound(s), silence(s), and the spectrum in between: Music, speech, singing, unbearable (enticing?) noise(s), and/or auditory nothingness.

Reading one star Tripadvisor reviews

😱

A photo of a dramatic landscape of cliffs and a pebble beach with a small stone cottage and drystone wall

#flashbackFriday to the last time I was on Hoy. (2024). Rackwick is beautiful. #orkney

I could, but it’s BLOOD MONEY.

This looks great--thanks for posting about it.