Erica Wagner

A man asked me last night what publishing needs to do for literary fiction to begin appealing to men again. I said, as nicely as I could, that, with over 2,000 books published every Tuesday, of which many would appeal to men, it’s not a publishing problem, it’s a men problem.

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I hate them too. But I think Sam makes a good distinction between them and rigour — thin on the ground, to say the least.

Terrific piece. Thank you, Sam.

This is really tremendous.

Home - Queen of Swords Press Queen of Swords is an independent small press specializing in swashbuckling tales of derring-do, bold new adventures in time and space, mysterious stories of the occult and arcane and fantastical tale...

#Booksky 1/3 Okay, real small press talk for a minute here: we depend on book sales to keep publishing cool and fun books for our lovely readers. Jan & Feb are generally not great for sales and locally (Minneapolis/St. Paul), most event organizing is in emergency mode. queenofswordspress.com

Still true...

hahahaha. Long week!!!

... and, I know there's a lot going on the world, but hey, it's Friday, and so it's the LAST DAY to preorder my book from @waterstones.bsky.social for 25% off! 😜

Can we start a political party on a single issue: KNOBS KEYS SWITCHES

.... would love to know the name and sing. great cover designers deserve it! rare skill. really is great

Wash by Erica Wagner | Waterstones Buy Wash by Erica Wagner from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

Ruthless self promotion! Okay, I’m really proud of Wash, my novel coming from @saltpublishing.com in May… and this week there’s a preorder deal from @waterstones.bsky.social ! Till Friday only! Roll up! www.waterstones.com/book/wash/er...

Join us for an Observer Book Club evening with @naomialderman.bsky.social, award-winning author, as she discusses her latest book, Don’t Burn Anyone at the Stake Today.

Book your tickets here:
https://bit.ly/4adkMqg

Have a question about our events? Reach out to us at events@observer.co.uk

... I despair of the term 'paywall', which I think in itself does a lot of damage. Sainsbury's doesn't have a 'paywall'. It sells goods which ought to be paid for. Has always seemed to me.

Yikes! I’m so sorry!

My hygienist once said “You keep a nice mouth” and OBVIOUSLY it is the greatest thing anyone has ever said to me

Everywhere we look in the press we read of violence, degridation and corruption.
Kindness, thoughtfulness, and moral courage doesn’t make good copy.
Happily I see humanity, compassion and good friendship all around me and I never take that forgranted.

Ken Burns: ‘Things don’t work out for tyrants in the end’ On a short, freezing walk through New York’s streets, the film-maker discusses the power of narrative, the importance of facts and his own history of telling America’s story to itself

"I think we should call it the Minneapolis massacre, and Paul Revere should come back from the dead and do an engraving showing our guy being shot" — how fortunate I was to talk to the great Ken Burns for @theobserveruk.bsky.social
observer.co.uk/news/interna...

Farewell to the Backlisted pod, where I have discovered so many great books & had my eyes opened onto ones I thought I knew. It was such a joy going on to discuss Werner Herzog's On Walking In Ice live at End Of The Road festival many moons ago, tune in thus:

www.backlisted.fm/episodes/101...

You could start here. And there is great grandeur in this episode. But you could also start anywhere. @backlisted.bsky.social is a real national treasure, I don't say that lightly. If you need inspiration to read, you'll always find it here. Bravo Andy, and all the team. Heroic, heroic stuff.

How about a go-to Cary film?

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Hello from 58. I know that PE horror. It feels like an active triumph to have shed it. And: whatever you feel like.
Dancing in your kitchen counts!

The point of the AI project is to provoke despair in creative people. They haven’t produced profits or anything anyone wants, just a steady stream of articles about how us artistic types can’t do the thing we’re already doing, making art. Jokes on them, we’re even better at despair than they are.

Happy 50th, Muppets! As a child, answering their fan mail... My extraordinarily lucky childhood spent sorting mailbags helped me understand the power of creativity and kindness

You might enjoy the piece I wrote in @theobserveruk.bsky.social Claire…

Happy 50th, Muppets! As a child, answering their fan mail taught me so much observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

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I hope my dear colleagues at @theobserveruk.bsky.social will forgive me if I say, it's so much fun working at the paper, but nothing, nothing, compares to my Muppet days... 😉

The DLR, known in our house as 'Mum's roller coaster'. Love it.

Book extract showing excerpt from a letter: “I am still just as frightened of bombs, & guns going off, as I was at the beginning. I turn bright red and my heart hammers, in fact I’m a beastly coward but I do believe that a lot of people are, so I don’t mind! Well darling I must stop, and I do feel sure that all your present work is useful, and if you can put in a little refresher in nursing – well all the better. Tinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis always your loving Peter

That splendid sign-off of the Queen Mother’s – “Tinkety tonk old fruit, & down with the Nazis” – celebrates its 85th anniversary today