J.A. Haigh

We have a cover! Samantha Bansil's BIRD KING RISING, sequel to BLACK SALT QUEEN, is out on October 13! Now available for preorder!

It's going to be a wonderful, eerie evening!

Hi agents, I’m on the hunt for high-concept layered YA & MG novels! #MSWL

For YA: romantic fantasy; dark academia; mystery/thrillers like We Were Liars or Firekeeper’s Daughter; thought-provoking horror or gothic; romantic coming of age like Aristotle & Dante & Last Night at the Telegraph Club 1/3

Maybe he should try giving it all away to improve the lives of those less fortunate - charity equals feelgood outcomes for all.

Lol, my kid would love this

Large tree at night, in the foreground floating orange lights on water

Orange and white lights float on dark water, among reflections of trees

Back from Japan and back on the work wagon - smashing out a few hours revisions on my YA horror, before heading to the day job to smash out some baguettes.

In a perfect world, one platform to unite them all!
Even the writers stuff had dropped off for me on X. Just dumbness and toxicity.

Oh, lol - you're so lucky! It's crackpot city for me!

But I feel lighter. More hopeful somehow for drawing a simple boundary.
Ready to start afresh.

I actually can't believe how noticable the change was. How quick. How much I was suddenly steered toward right-wing viewpoints or inane videos. Yuck.

I still miss the Twitter of old. The breaking news, balanced feed, the intriguing threads of conversation, knowledge and humour.
Long gone now.

I finally deleted X. What a relief and what a nasty weight off my shoulders!

Because I had an old phone and was crap at updating, I still had the old Twitter app and my feed was more balanced. As soon as I got a new phone a month ago, it updated to X and the feed changed. So TOXIC. Fueled by hate.

Dark book cover: a man's face hidden by claw marks and creeping roses. Titled 'Don't Let the Forest In' by CG Drews

New Year's day with a killer book, a swim in ocean and a kebab. Great start to 2026

Perfect!

A few of my fav main characters of all time:

Ripley - Alien

Vic - NOS4A2

Merricat - We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Shara Thivani - City of Stairs

Sarah Connor - Terminator

*may or may not give similar vibes to the MC's I write

A three-storey red brick building, covered in vines that seep out onto the footpath

A building consumed by the natural world; the slow seep of green across windows, flowing out into the street.

Announcement: PodCastle Is Trialling a Six Month Submissions Window!! We will open in November and close in April. See our announcement on the website for details. All our usual Submissions Guidelines still apply.

podcastle.org/2025/10/17/a...

Battling the tail-end of my manuscript like Sisyphus with that damn boulder.
I will persevere

Young magpie stands on deck in front of a blue water bowl.

Baby magpie has crash landed in the backyard and parents are closely guarding. Fear I may never leave my house again

Just keep waiting for that scene where the Statue of Liberty comes to life, and all of New York is singing 'Higher and higher'
Gimme some of that Ghostbusters goodvibe energy - it's the season!

The Scarlett press logo showing the seal of a “S” within a circle

S&S has launched a romance-forward New Adult imprint, and I am one of the many editors across the S&S Children’s division who is now also acquiring for Scarlett Press! In addition to my kids/teen list, I’m seeking high stakes NA romantasy & thrillers with plenty of spice, yearning, and tension.

Editorial: October 2025 - Nightmare Magazine We always try to pull out the stops in our birthday issues, and this year is no different. There’s no real theme this month---although regret and reparation loom large---but every single piece is out ...

Did you know @nightmare-magazine.com turned 13 this month??!?
www.nightmare-magazine.com/nonfiction/e...

Watched 'Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead' with the kiddos tonight.
Implausible though the whole set-up is, I find myself thinking: this is totally believable in the context of a Gen X childhood.

Why otters always be so cute?

I really hope so! May it be both fun and productive - such a great setting and I loved Futurescapes in the past 😊

I attended Futurescapes (virtually) a few years back and it was such an awesome experience - direct feedback from quality agents, and some of the nicest and coolest spec-fic writers in the world. Definitely worth checking out - they also have some scholarships available.

Fond memories 🥰

Omg, would have loved to go to this, the dream workshop! Hope it's amazing!

Glad you are okay - 😬 scary stuff over there!

Make an observation about your pantry that also sounds like the title of a novel

I Don't Even Like That

Successfully Talking to the Press About Your Art: Plot It, Don't Pants It! - SFWA Techniques and strategies for talking to the press. With preparation and practice, you can turn press interviews into opportunities rather than anxieties. Instead of dreading your next journalist enco...

This week on The SFWA Blog... Successfully Talking to the Press About Your Art: Plot It, Don’t Pants It! by Gideon P. Smith. Read at www.sfwa.org/.../successf...