fionajanemack@bsky.social

Bjorn Andresen, Reluctant ‘Most Beautiful Boy,’ Dies at 70

This makes me so sad. His beauty was magnetic in Death in Venice, one of my all-time favorite films, but what a difficult life he led, full of exploitation and loss. Rest in peace Tadzio.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/m...

I stand by that statement! x

Robert Redford on the phone, plus Dustin Hoffman. From All the President’s Men

When journalism was cool. And risked everything to challenge power.

Having had a recent airing on Inverness Hospital Radio, my Tahitian Princess in Scotland story is now re-published in the stellar (and very kind!) @bulbculture.bsky.social as of today! My grateful thanks to them for being such stalwart supporters of my writing. 🙏

Thanks so much for your very kind words, @bulbculture.bsky.social! And for re-publishing my story. 💖

Hooray! It’s Friday! Which means there are 2 ways to listen to Sherry’s Shorts today: live at 12 noon UK time on HHR.scot or use the Listen Again anytime link below for brilliant stories from @fionajanemack.bsky.social @Lindy biller & me.

Deluxe Scrabble - Cutleaf Journal When I was a kid, I had this friend named Sunshine. Sunshine’s house was filthy, and if I walked barefoot on her family’s tile floors, the soles of my feet would turn gray-black.

Cutleaf Journal will be open in Sept for collaboratively written short fiction up to 4k words. Guest editors for this call are @kimmagowan.bsky.social & Michelle Ross, who wrote a collab story in Cutleaf which you can check out here. Also included: an interview with them abt their process.

An Inn-to-Inn Walk on Scotland’s Idyllic East Coast

The NY Times has a new article on the Fife Coastal Path. Pic 1 shows the Isle of May, the setting for my novel in progress As Birds to Sky, and pic 2 shows the beach in Anstruther where we scattered my mum's ashes in 2022. 💞https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/05/travel/scotland-hiking-fife-trail.html

Delighted to have my story The Other Half of the Sky featured on Sherry's Shorts on Inverness Hospital Radio. It's about a young Tahitian Princess who marries a Scottish merchant and finds herself the subject of unwelcome attention in her new home town (which is also mine!). 🌏

Thanks for this. I've checked out your page and will follow you here as well. Right now I have a couple of leads for people with first hand experience of Down syndrome so I'm going to approach them first over the next couple of weeks, but I'll get back to you if they fall through. All the best!

Many thanks for responding. Do you have a website I could check out?

Awww. And it's preeetty! x

Oof.

I appreciate it. It's a very long novel though the character in question is probably only in half of it, but that's still a major chunk.

Thank you for reposting.

Thank you!

Can any of my fellow writers on here recommend a sensitivity reader (for a historical novel) who specializes in disability issues (Down's syndrome)? Someone you've worked with personally and liked their work? Thanks!

I hope it looks better than the one in Shanghai! 😮

Woman looking up at flowering cherry trees at Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park.

I'm sorry to be missing the cherry blossoms in DC, but I found some at Isabella Plantation in Richmond Park instead. 🌸🌸🌸🌸

These stories are gorgeous, Fiona Mc! xxx

Bubble chart of follower counts for top right-leaning versus left-leaning online shows

As more and more Americans get their news from online shows and streamers, our analysis found that this expanding media ecosystem is overwhelmingly right-leaning. 🧵: www.mediamatters.org/google/right...

Lots! Most recent stellar read was Sally Rooney's "Intermezzo."

Kidnapping an activist and jailing him in the middle of the night is a brazen act of authoritarianism.

Punishing dissent by revoking legal status is a dangerous precedent to set.

Thanks dear. Right back at you! xxxx

Thanks Jane. It's pretty gruesome over here right now - and we've infected the rest of the world, it seems. xxx

This is beautifully written, and you're so right about walking being the solution. Sending hugs for this difficult time, dear girl. xxx

a girl is reading a book with a sign that says 20 % off in the background Alt: Anime girl is reading a book very fast.

I don't know what world y'all are living in, but every day is #worldbookday in this house. 📚📚📚📚😱

Many thanks to the amazing @fictivedream.bsky.social for reposting my Arizona otter story from a year ago. 🌵🦦

Female of the Species by Fiona J. Mackintosh  For Gladys Louise Smith THREE MONTHS AFTER Mother dies, Mary Pickford cuts off her hair. The cameras flash as the barber snips and Mary drapes each long sausage curl ac…

“Even now, with more wealth than she could ever need, Mary hears the scratch of the wolf at her door and feels the stir and fret of Baby Gladys deep within her.”

@fionajanemack.bsky.social and Mary Pickford in @fictivedream.bsky.social fictivedream.com/2025/02/25/f...

Thanks a million for the repost, Pat! x