Rachel Deering

Mouse with bow and arrows. Illustration.

Hello Wednesday.
🖼️ Lily Seika Jones

Deer grazing on melting snow on hillside, cloudy sky and tree in background, painting.

🖼️ Eugen Ludwig Hoess

Collage of red geranium on black background.

🖼️ Mary Delany

Photo of wren. Description from ebird: ‘A very small, dark grayish-brown bird with a short tail, a reddish-brown throat, and a black-and-white scalloped pattern on the belly. Inconspicuously feeds in low, thick vegetation, where it is very hard to see. Similar to Rufous-throated Wren-Babbler, but Mishmi Wren-Babbler is darker overall, with a distinctive white chin and a white edge to the throat. The song is a strong, melodic burst of notes repeated 2-4 times and often followed by a short trill.’

Wren of the Day:
Mishmi Wren-Babbler
Near Threatened
📷 Sam Woods

It sounds like a good book!

The Rambling Botanist by Shirley Hibberd, Green cover with gold lettering, black borders, gold decoration of foliage.

Book Cover of the Day:

Hares boxing Linocut, trees and birds in flight in background.

March Hares, Celia Hart.

Two starlings perched on stone in front ruins and bridge and water in distance. Painting.

🖼️ Cornelis van Hardenbergh, c.1800.

Rook, head and upper body, portrait.

Morning.
Rook, Watching, Catherine Hyde.

Yes!

Ahhh, you’re welcome 🤗

bert from sesame street is wearing a striped shirt and a white scarf around his neck ALT: bert from sesame street is wearing a striped shirt and a white scarf around his neck

Nightjars are too much.

🖤 And you.

Goodnight!

Night Samantha x

Night! x

Night night!

Full moon above cottage on hill with smoke coming from a chimney, trees in silhouette either side. Lights are on in the windows of the cottage. The painting is a very deep teal blue.

Goodnight.
🖼️ Moonlight, Thomas Lamb.

Oh thank you! That’s so good of you! Am chuffed! 🩵

In the Shadow of Gods Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

Correct link for Goodreads, kindly alerted to the fact that I’m not Bill Bryson. Don’t look like him either. Thanks to kind soul who pointed it out: www.goodreads.com/book/show/21...

Meet Danny in this first part of a brilliant story from Lille Dante, which is Pick of the Day! Please do share if you can, and there are two more parts posted for you to enjoy
www.abctales.com/story/lille-...

Cover of my collection, In the Shadow of Gods Rachel Deering

A little reminder that you can buy my last collection on link below and / or review it on Amazon or Goodreads if you’ve been wonderful enough to buy it already. www.goodreads.com/book/show/21... In the Shadow of Gods amzn.eu/d/gRaCt0j

On mania and creativity. I have some new glasses.

On Mania and Creativity.

New substack up.

Written before work, dogs staring at me, wanting walk. The usual.

open.substack.com/pub/drewgumm...

Islanders' Book Club • Join Bob Inasip • 29 Apr 2025 • O Drew Gummerson's previous novel, Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel was a laugh riot. My sense of humor is quite strange so, generally, a book which is said to be funny and makes me laugh once is a feat. Seven Nights had me going on continuously. I'm glad to say that Saltburn, Drew Gummerson's latest has made me do the same. As an added bonus every single page just had me going on non stop. That's not only a good sign, it's a near miracle. The second I read the line about a group of kids covering themselves in ketchup in order to pretend that they have suffered from radiation burns set me off.

Saltburn is a collection of interconnected short stories. All take place in the aforementioned actual town (and a couple in France) Although each story features a different character. lots of details crop up, Namely a ruling business family called Evans, a carnival, an aquarium and a gift shop where the store owner displays an ever shifting list of prices. In the meantime you have seals, mermaids, an endless amount of surreal TV shows, one particular is called You Can Beat it - which consist of people running naked in a forest. Suspicious fishermen, Muppets and deep sea divers. I'm just skimming the surface. This is the kind of wall to wall wackiness seen in Voltaire and Isabel Waidner.

However. like the two authors above, there is a method to Drew Gummerson's madness, Underneath the yuks (and some yucks) there are some pretty serious topics being examined. The first story may be a surreal coming of age story but there are weighty topics like gay aversion theory, parental loss and mental illness. Other stories will focus on mass consumerism, homophobia, social class and media manipulation. As l mentioned though, these issues are heavily disguised under dollops of slapstick. This is first class satire. Saltburn is an absolute pleasure to read. I cannot help but mention the humor but it does take a lot to make me laugh, and yet this was done so effortlessly. I've always stated that humour, when used properly, is a powerful weapon. In this case Drew Gummerson has created one bazooka of a book.

As Saltburn’s 1st birthday approaches here’s a pretty fine review.

“This is the kind of wall to wall wackiness seen in Voltaire and Isabel Waidner.”

renardpress.com/books/saltbu...

A tiny woollen flamingo stands on a shelf holding a sign. Positive Flamingo I may be a tiny flamingo, but 1 believe in you! Go do your thing Stand Tall and Be Flamazing

"Drew Gummerson is one of the funniest writers around - the PG Wodehouse of the flophouse. Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel is a riot. A crazy pink tribute - the most under of underdogs." Rónán Hession, author of Leonard and Hungry Paul ٨٠٨ "A gut-wrenching masterpiece of booze-sodden tragicomedy and a genuine cult classic. Drew Gummerson is an incredibly skilful and versatile writer, coming across in Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel like the ghost of Charles Bukowski with a rainbow flag hanging out of his arse pocket." Stu Hennigan, author of Ghost Signs "Probably the most original, exciting and creatively invigorating book I've read this year - like On The Buses meets lain Banks." Jamie Mollart, author of Kings of a Dead World DREW GUMMERSON SEVENNIGHTS# FLAMINGO HOTEL "This is it. You are awake. Hotel Flamingo's resident dishwasher."

If you missed it the first time, the flamingo is back.

Be more flamingo.

Seven Nights at the Flamingo Hotel

Bookings open:

www.beardedbadgerpublishing.com/online-store...

‘D is for Deficiency’ from my latest pamphlet, Circulaire 💛

If poetry about the joy and messiness of existing in a body is your jam, then you can grab a copy here: writtenoffpublishing.com/shop/p/circu...

I also have signed author copies available, just drop a comment! £10 via PayPal) ☕️

Walrussey, my debut pamphlet of ecopoetry, is now back in stock at the @blackcatpress.bsky.social shop! 🌊

Each copy is signed and you can grab yours here: www.blackcatpress.co.uk/product-page... 😘

Artwork of a woman with black hair in a bright yellow dress holding flowers. Leafless tree in the background.

Spring's Promise, Marjorie Miller (circa 1925).

A spectral black dog with a luminosity surrounding it, leaps forward. meanwhile hiding behind the small hill are two bowler-hatted gentlemen.

Scottish legend tells of the Blood Dogs which haunted battlegrounds to drink the blood of the fallen. They would manifest from morning mist, digging deep into the earth to find the blood and feast. Their breath could scorch but their paws left no prints... #MorbidMarch 🖌️Paget

So EXCITED that my poem "Toxic Blue" will be published in Issue 29 of the beautiful @theshorepoetry.bsky.social 💙

🔗 www.theshorepoetry.org