Sarah McPherson

Peacehammer 40K: Paintinge litel miniatures of gardeneres, sculptors, academics. Trimminge hedges. Makinge friendes.

The main image shows four arrows; three are pointing up, and coloured white, while the fourth is coloured yellow and pointing to the side

Big news from BFS members (and leaders) @shonak.bsky.social and @davidgreenwriter.bsky.social: A new independent non-profit organisation designed to help creatives thrive in publishing. Here's @divergent-paths.bsky.social

britishfantasysociety.org/divergent-pa...

Still time to sign up for next Thursday's session if you want to read and discuss some fab flashes by @timcraig.bsky.social with us!
#BtesizedBookClub #FlashFiction

If you'd like to check out the readings from previous sessions, you can do that here: theleadedwindow.blogspot.com/p/bite-sized...

#BitesizedBookClub #FlashFiction #Reading

The next block of the #BitesizedBookClub is open for bookings! We'll be meeting on the following Thursdays, 19:15-20:30 (UK time):
25 Sept - Stories by Tim Craig
23 Oct - Fairy Tale/Myth Retellings
27 Nov - Ekphrastic Stories

Link to book: theleadedwindow.blogspot.com/p/bite-sized...

#FlashFiction

The book 'It Felt Like Everything' by K.S. Dyal lying on a red satin throw. The cover is grey, with black and grey text, and has a drawing of two people's legs in the top right, one wearing a short black skirt, white socks, and black and white trainers, and the other wearing skinny-fit black trousers, black socks, and white trainers.

August read (just the one!) 💙📚:
1. It Felt Like Everything by K.S. Dyal (novella-in-flash)

#books #reading #amreading #booklover #novellainflash #2025reads

It could have made her too powerful for the party, but in practice everything else about that character meant she was a liability more often than she was any kind of useful 😄

Years ago in a VtM game, I played a Malkavian who (among other things) was a paranoid amnesiac, & I made her blind via the 'merits & flaws' mechanic but didn't fancy any of the merits that would balance it, so the GM (my other half) gave me L5 auspex for free, & she 'saw' in auras the whole time.

😍 So teeny!

Come and read lovely NiFs with us! 📚 (I'm in the Sunday group)

I like Daysleeper a lot, but I love Nightswimming. And also Find the River.

Oxford-Bloomsbury Fantasy Summer School 2025 Online Offering an insight into the past, present and future of the fantasy genre from leading scholars, writers and publishing team in the field.

Free online attendance at The Fantasy Summer School 2025, organised by the University of Oxford, and Bloomsbury Publishing, that brings together the expertise of scholars, publishers working with fantasy authors.

Link here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/oxford-blo...

Please share :)

"Kathy, Ich am lost," Ich seyde, thogh methoughte she was sleepinge,
"Ich am hollowe and hurtinge and knowe not wherfor"
Countinge the cars on the Newe Jersey Turnpyke
Thei have all come to looke for America

My NIF ‘William Prichard & Co’ is a year old today! To celebrate I am giving away a free copy. To be in with a chance of winning, please retweet & DM me with your name. I will pick a name out of the hat on Wed 20th. Sorry, UK only.

A brown tabby cat with white socks sleeping on a black sofa. His front half is twisted one way and his back half is twisted the other way, with his back feet in the air, so it looks like he has no spine.

Floki here is the epitome of 'Spine? What spine?' (There are any number of photos I could have used to illustrate this...!)

I'm so glad WHQ retreats have restarted in a place I can easily attend (Leeds) - they are the MOST productive days! ⭐️

Two books roughly stacked on a black table: 'Aerth' by Deborah Tomkins, and 'Mrs Caliban' by Rachel Ingalls. 'Aerth' (on the bottom) has a black and cream spine. 'Mrs Caliban' (on the top) has a pink spine and a white cover with handwritten stye lettering in black, pink, and green, and two sketched figures swimming in a circle. The male figure is green and the female figure is pink. It has a green 'Faber Editions' banner down one side.

July reads 💙📚:
1. Aerth by Deborah Tomkins (novella-in-flash)
2. Mrs Caliban by Rachel Ingalls (novella)

#books #reading #amreading #booklover #novella #novellainflash #2025reads

Image Edgar Allen Poe sits with his head in his hands, his sad face lit by the glow of a laptop. On his desk are piles of books, a guttering candle and a bust. Atop the bust sits a raven who is animatedly talking to Poe. Caption The Raven, having seen the general state of the world, realised that quothing "Nevermore." was only going to add to the gloom, and instead tried to cheer things up with a few bawdy limericks and an amusing anecdote about two badgers and a turnip.

A cartoon for @theguardian.com books.

'as her light-burned silhouette echoes on the kitchen ceiling for priests to mutter at'

3rd place: 'Lucille Ascends' by @jmgatford.bsky.social - a brilliant example of anadiplosis (breaking out a word I learnt from a @mattkendrick.bsky.social workshop!)
flash500.com/flash-fictio...

'I know about crying like I know about rivers and their tributaries.'

2nd place: 'I Search Her Eyes for Rivers' by Hannah Retallick - love the use of geography metaphors for grief.
flash500.com/flash-fictio...

'you could leave post-it notes in strange places that describe things you like about me, and they’d probably be things I don’t like about me at all'

1st place: 'Ways to Say that Thing You've Never Said' by Letty Butler - a fab list story
flash500.com/flash-fictio...

Catching up on the latest winning stories from @flash500.bsky.social and they're all great - well worth a read!

The next #BitesizedBookClub session is coming up in a couple of weeks, on Thursday 28 August, and you can still book to come and read some teeny-tiny micro fiction with us! More info and booking details here: theleadedwindow.blogspot.com/p/bite-sized...

#flashfiction #microfiction #reading

I think it's helpful for writers to know the history of their genre, but that doesn't mean having to read/enjoy/recommend it all! And I'm guilty of grumbling if a book is lauded by non-genre people as innovative/unique when it's really not 🙄 But my position is always let folks read what they enjoy!

I did read (& largely enjoy) a lot of 'classic/canon' SF as a teen in the 90s, trawling through my parents' bookcases, & even then, naïve little me saw some of the dated/problematic aspects. But I also read a lot of more recent/contemporary SFF that was just as influential to me, if not more so!

Welkin Enter An annual competition for microfiction up to 100 words. It is free to enter and aims to be a welcoming space for all writers. The competition is open to all forms of narrative prose. There is a whole ...

Want some nice news for a Friday?
This is your early warning that the Welkin Writing Prize WILL BE BACK! A long way to go until entries open in December, but I'm committing now so there's no backing out later in the year 😀 Bigger prize fund too!! 🥳
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...

If you missed this discussion on Tuesday night & would like to catch up with all the wisdom shared by @mynachang.bsky.social & @sharontelfer.bsky.social about historical & speculative fiction, the recorded version is now available for the bargain price of £4:

www.mattkendrick.co.uk/workshop-rec...

Past workshops include using folktales & myth or modern & future folklore (e.g. urban legends), speculative flash (fantasy & science fiction), speculative hermit crabs, connecting with nature in writing, & using journeys to create story.

Would there be interest if I ran any of these independently?

Currently musing on the possibility of teaching some more writing workshops... the ones I've done so far have been well received, but all delivered through an established provider/organiser. I'm not sure I have the reach/clout to strike out on my own without that - worried no-one would sign up!

As a fantasy nerd with an MA in Landscape Archaeology, I found this a fascinating read!