Kate Barker

Frankly amazed by Bloomsbury’s position here. Indefensible!

a woman is sitting at a table and says the plot thickens ... ALT: a woman is sitting at a table and says the plot thickens ...

#Crimewriters are you ready to make your move?
Would you like 15 mins of #Agent121 time with a #literaryagent who loves your genre? Then book at www.iaminprint.co.uk/agent121 with:

3 Sept - @litagentfran.bsky.social
4 Sept - @katebarker.bsky.social
16 Sept - Nicky Lovick
17 Sept - Clare Coombes

A screen grab of the Latitude app page about our event on Saturday 1pm on the Apollo Stage. More than a Mushroom: Psychedelics 101.

Hey up @latitudefestival.bsky.social goers. I'll be on the Apollo Stage on Saturday lunchtime with @garwboy.bsky.social @robinince.bsky.social and @reggiewatts.bsky.social talking all things psychedelics. Join us at 1pm!

Why the antagonism over the rise in autism diagnoses? It’s actually good news | Gina Rippon A ninefold increase is the result of huge advances in our understanding – and brings the hope of fulfilling lives to many more people, says author Gina Rippon

@ginarippon.bsky.social incisive as ever on autism and "over-diagnosis" www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Sophie Berry and Andrew Miller

Writers 11 to 19, the #YoungWalterScottPrize is open for your entries! You could win a £500 travel grant, see your work in print, and visit one of the UK's best book festivals. Learn more at https://loom.ly/gr8Lmfk

#ywsp #creativewriting #writingcompetition #AndrewMiller #SophieBerry

I do hope that the next DCMS/DSIT working group on #copyright and #AI will include some creators' representatives. The attendees at yesterday's meeting were just big tech and big publishers.

In war, incentives matter more than courage Economics is a useful tool for understanding conflict, as a new book shows

Lovely review of Blood & Treasure in the Economist.

economist.com/culture/2025...

In war, incentives matter more than courage Economics is a useful tool for understanding conflict, as a new book shows

‘Victory, in popular myth, depends on the exceptional courage and skill of the nation to which the mythmaker happens to belong. Mr Weldon offers more convincing explanations’.

economist.com/culture/2025...

RSL Scriptorium Awards - Royal Society of Literature Ten writer residencies presented to professionally active writers in need of a place to write.The 2025 Prize This year marks the inaugural presentation of the RSL Scriptorium Awards, inviting applicat...

This looks like a wonderful opportunity for writers:
rsliterature.org/rsl-scriptor...

I'm sorry about your mother-in-law. There seems to be a lot going on in this case (!). But shouldn't we give them the benefit of the doubt over the diagnosis? Misdiagnoses are not uncommon - and people often misunderstand what doctors tell them.

Everyone is assuming he actually gets booked for that money (or at all). The level of bullshit in the speaking industry is extreme.

As I keep saying: if it's truth you want, read fiction, not 'true stories'. Fiction writers are honest liars. They're not out to con you. If you want to read a redemption narrative about going on a long walk, read The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry.

Commentators: 'Labour's wasted its first year in office'.
Ed Miliband:

Worth a watch:

Head of Signal, Meredith Whittaker, on so-called "agentic AI" and the difference between how it's described in the marketing and what access and control it would actually require to work as advertised.

Today is the last day you can register books for PLR (money for library loans of your books in the UK and Ireland). They have to be already published. If you have unregistered books, you'll miss out on this year's income. It adds up! Illustrators and audio narrators are also entitled to a share.

Worthy cri de cœur

Rather than Glastonbury, can we watch a livestream of Jeff Bezos’s wedding with @dieworkwear.bsky.social doing the outfits?

Spent the day at such an interesting forum on #GenAI and the novel. Too much to report on here but follow @clemicollett.bsky.social for when she publishes her research at the end of the year.

Blood and Treasure - Chelsea Heritage Quarter Duncan Weldon explores the important role of economics in all aspects of warfare from the age of the Vikings to the present-day war in Ukraine.

Chelsea History Festival 2025 tickets have gone on sale for September.
Loads of great talks & events - with multiple event booking discounts available.
Can imagine how quickly I responded to an email asking ‘do you want to talk about Blood & Treasure at the National Army Museum?’

I did love it! More fantastic psych suspense by @kathrynsharman@bsky.social coming your way some time next year. It’s extremely satisfying when book 2 is just as good as book 1. #TheFamilyatNo.23 #Notsurewhatbook2iscalledyet

Day 10 of the 'I can't believe it's not Covid' cold. Son has two more A'level papers. Next week, it will all be better.

Fantastic, well done!

So do I!

I think swifts are nesting in my roof. Unfortunately one of the eggs has fallen out.

Disney, Universal sue image creator Midjourney for copyright infringement Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.

Walt Disney and Comcast's Universal filed a copyright lawsuit against Midjourney on Wednesday, calling its popular AI-powered image generator a "bottomless pit of plagiarism" for its use of the studios' best-known characters.

#Google, I have watched your video about the added AI features in Google Workspace and don't think these will be useful to me. How do I decline the package and revert to the previous subscription price?

Can you get buses back from ?? Mumbles to Swansea? Thank you!

Ah, interesting. I want to do this with my son post-A’levels. Have you walked the stretch west of Swansea yet? That looked most accessible by train from London.

There's more!