Dr Jean Menzies's Avatar

Dr Jean Menzies

@jeansthoughts.bsky.social

PhD in Ancient History 🏺 Nonfiction author for children with DK; YA/Teens with Wren & Rook; and adult with 404 Ink. Debut medieval fantasy retelling for adults coming May 2025 with Michael Joseph, Penguin. Agent: Emily Glenister

752 Followers  |  152 Following  |  56 Posts  |  Joined: 17.11.2024  |  1.9442

Latest posts by jeansthoughts.bsky.social on Bluesky

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It’s sapphic September so allow me to recommend to you some of my favourite sapphic books in every genre: youtu.be/2jEQQHAW0ww?...

18.09.2025 07:28 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Lady Of The Lake (Signed Edition Hardcover) IN A LAND OF KNIGHTS AND KINGS, TWO WOMEN WILL REWRITE THE RULES OF LOVE AND MAGIC A spellbinding sapphic reimagining of the myths of Camelot from award-winning historian and YouTube sensation Jean Me...

Fun fact!

I signed 100 copies of The Lady of the Lake for @forbiddenplanet.bsky.social and you can now purchase one via their website: forbiddenplanet.com/464628-the-l...

11.07.2025 07:41 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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I couldn’t stop thinking about Femgore aka Feminist Body Horror in books and films… so, I filmed an entire video exploring the genre: youtu.be/943MmUuMr2U?...

21.06.2025 10:11 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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New YouTube Video 🧚

This one is for fans of fantasy academia, fairy scholars, and magical libraries: youtu.be/dqg5Wo22q7c?...

29.05.2025 15:42 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Oh wow what an honour! Thank you so much for stocking The Lady of the Lake 😭β™₯️

24.05.2025 12:42 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks so much!!!

18.05.2025 13:07 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Lady of the Lake is officially out!

Think medieval fantasy, Arthurian legend, courtly drama, female rage, and sapphic romance.

If that sounds like your cup of tea check it out: scifier.com/the-lady-of-...

18.05.2025 09:06 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you so much!!!

16.05.2025 09:57 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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This was waiting for me when I got home today ☺️ happy publication day @jeansthoughts.bsky.social !
#booksky #reading

15.05.2025 18:34 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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NEW VIDEO!

Let’s talk about the ancient story that bears a striking resemblance to Cinderella: youtu.be/OUwWN7amSx4?...

05.05.2025 10:43 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yup, four!

20.03.2025 18:17 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Search LibGen, the Pirated-Books Database That Meta Used to Train AI Millions of books and scientific papers are captured in the collection’s current iteration.

It’s genuinely heartbreaking to discover multiple of the books you poured your heart & soul into writing have been stolen in order to train generative AI.

Seriously, if you support gen AI you do not support authors. End of.

This has left a pit in my stomach:
www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...

20.03.2025 18:14 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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New YouTube Video! πŸ’ƒ

I thought I’d give you a tour of my office and desk setup - aka where all the writing happens: youtu.be/fnTcRFELPnc?...

14.03.2025 08:49 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Super cool news #BookSky!

For this weekend only @waterstones.bsky.social are running their first ever 25% off preorder event on a wide range of titles INCLUDING The Lady of the Lake. So if you were thinking of preordering from Waterstones… now is the time 😜

Preorder link: tidd.ly/4h5rgYO

22.02.2025 09:39 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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All the Violet Tiaras: Queering the Greek Myths | Proud Geek - LGBTQ+ Bookshop For a period in time that gave us Sappho and the love affair of Achilles and Patroclus, the Ancient Greek relationship with queer folk is more complicated that at first glance. Tales as old as antiqui...

'All the Violet Tiaras'
by Dr Jean Menzies @jeansthoughts.bsky.social

Queering the Greek Myths

an Inkling from @404ink.bsky.social

is on sale @proud-geek.co.uk

πŸ“– sample to peek inside and share
www.proud-geek.co.uk/product-page...

14.02.2025 15:34 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Ooh I’ll give it a shot but still dang that’s ridiculous you have to add an extra step for every search and not just disable it!

06.02.2025 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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You probably don’t need me to tell you this but do not trust Google AI (I need them to make this feature optional cause I hate it).

And here is a β€˜fun’ demonstration of why - these results are from two different searches made back to back:

06.02.2025 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Lot of British folks thinking that what’s happening in the US couldn’t possibly happen here and I want you all to pay close attention to how people like Wes Streeting are already dog whistling for β€˜anti-DEI’ shit.

04.02.2025 21:35 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Group of Labour MPs urge No 10 to be tougher on migration to fend off threat from Reform Exclusive: Pressure group of MPs from constituencies where Reform came second at last election call for Labour to β€˜shout louder’ about action on immigration

Labour could decide to fend off discontent by actually addressing the crises core to it or they can deflect attention on the far right like so many have before

It's lazy, cowardly and dangerous and that's the status we are asked to support blindly
www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

04.02.2025 19:18 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3
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There is something in the air this February I swear, because there are so many exciting books coming out that I cannot wait to read!

What’s on your anticipated release list? These are mine.

#BookSky

30.01.2025 12:57 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Join a union.

That is all.

30.01.2025 09:59 β€” πŸ‘ 50    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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I will forever take issue with this kind of flippant assessment of sexual violence in Ancient Greece - nowhere else is this logic used even in jest. The gods did heinous, violent, and just absurd things all of the time - yet do we extrapolate that the Greeks considered those things sanctioned? No.

29.01.2025 12:20 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"If you're interested in antiquity and mythology ... this is really important background to have."

Is it dead white men all the way down? Not quite. Thank you,
@jeansthoughts.bsky.social, for featuring Donna Zuckerberg's Not All Dead White Men in your latest video!

Read: tinyurl.com/2ur6chs2

23.01.2025 16:55 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Sylvanian fans obviously have the best taste aha! I loved Night Terrors so much. Thank you for writing it ☺️

23.01.2025 10:29 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Loved Jean’s description of what reading Hellebore feels like: squeezing through a tiny church window of folk horror and occult themes and suddenly finding yourself in a massive cathedral.
Thank you so much! πŸ–€

22.01.2025 17:04 β€” πŸ‘ 27    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Do you know what you need?

Some niche aka super specific nonfiction books!

And luckily for you I’ve got some recommendations: youtu.be/Rb-CLo4Q6H0?...

22.01.2025 15:24 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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Sign the Petition Save the Latin Excellence Programme - keep teaching Latin in state schools

It is the last day the Save the Latin Excellence Programme Petition is open. It needs only 5 signatures to 2,800. Please Share and sign at chng.it/tSYnmxZ4Rd

16.01.2025 07:16 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
A section of the Ara Pacis showing (probably) the earth and mother goddess,Terra. The goddess is seated, holding two young children on her knee. There are animals at her feet.

A section of the Ara Pacis showing (probably) the earth and mother goddess,Terra. The goddess is seated, holding two young children on her knee. There are animals at her feet.

Roman religion had distinct religious rituals, practices, festivals, and deities. @aimeehindsscott.bsky.social will lead an 8-week online course from 30th Jan at 7.30pm (GMT). Learn about Roman gods, ritual, imperial cult & more
Info here: helenmcveigh.co.uk/product/romanreligion

#Ancientbluesky πŸΊπŸ“š

15.01.2025 20:02 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

🏺 It’s really cool that a field which is has become basically impossible to be part of as an immigrant due to low wages and frankly a lack of care from too many citizen practitioners is now also lending credence to anti-immigrant rhetoric in an already hostile country.

15.01.2025 08:15 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

@jeansthoughts is following 20 prominent accounts