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Jenny Barber

@jenqoe.bsky.social

Writer, anthology editor, bookaholic (she/her) Never have enough spoons. Hiding in my cave learning fibre-craft stuff. (You may know me from Fox Spirit, Alchemy Press, BFS or Fantasycon.) All things me can be found at www.jennybarber.co.uk

375 Followers  |  531 Following  |  89 Posts  |  Joined: 06.09.2023  |  2.3275

Latest posts by jenqoe.bsky.social on Bluesky

Six steps climbed to the dais; he took them two at a time, more spring than stretch, while his pages scampered to keep up. On the dais stood what was often described as the most uncomfortable chair in the world, for all its padding and cushions. Its arms and back were gilded, its upholstery once more in the imperial colour, but it was still very much a chair and not a throne. He wouldn’t have sat a throne, this man, any more than he’d have worn a crown, even if either one had traditionally come with the role. He might head the most powerful nation in the world—there was some debate about it, mostly from Clath, who held that Feremendas’ star was in decline, while theirs was rampant—but his predecessors had established a low-key imperial style, and he’d embraced it wholeheartedly.

Six steps climbed to the dais; he took them two at a time, more spring than stretch, while his pages scampered to keep up. On the dais stood what was often described as the most uncomfortable chair in the world, for all its padding and cushions. Its arms and back were gilded, its upholstery once more in the imperial colour, but it was still very much a chair and not a throne. He wouldn’t have sat a throne, this man, any more than he’d have worn a crown, even if either one had traditionally come with the role. He might head the most powerful nation in the world—there was some debate about it, mostly from Clath, who held that Feremendas’ star was in decline, while theirs was rampant—but his predecessors had established a low-key imperial style, and he’d embraced it wholeheartedly.

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'colour'. In Of the Emperor's Kindness by Chaz Brenchley, we first meet that titular monarch. #BookQW
wizardstowerpress.co...

05.11.2025 17:21 — 👍 0    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
Promo image showing the cover of The Dead Man, A Mennik Thorn Prequel Novella, by Patrick Samphire. Image includes the text: Some mages heard magic as music, some felt it as fingers drumming on skin. For myself, when I unfocused my eyes, I saw magic as patterns of different coloured lines and shapes. It was a better way than most. I had once known a mage who sensed magic as different combinations of constipation and bladder infections. Needless to say, she hadn’t lasted long. Last I’d heard, she’d left Agatos to go and live as a hermit as far from any magic as she possibly could. 13 days to go.

Promo image showing the cover of The Dead Man, A Mennik Thorn Prequel Novella, by Patrick Samphire. Image includes the text: Some mages heard magic as music, some felt it as fingers drumming on skin. For myself, when I unfocused my eyes, I saw magic as patterns of different coloured lines and shapes. It was a better way than most. I had once known a mage who sensed magic as different combinations of constipation and bladder infections. Needless to say, she hadn’t lasted long. Last I’d heard, she’d left Agatos to go and live as a hermit as far from any magic as she possibly could. 13 days to go.

It's Book Quote Wednesday, and today the word is "colour" (or "color", if you prefer). Because it's only 13 days until The Dead Man is out, let's have a quote from that, and we're talking about how mages perceive magic in the Mennik Thorn series.

books2read.com/thedeadman

#BookQW #Booksky

05.11.2025 10:59 — 👍 11    🔁 9    💬 1    📌 0
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It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is COLO(UR). Ark Royal has survived history's first full pitch space battle, but now it's time to check out the damage sustained. #bookqw #spaceopera www.benjeapes.com/index.php/no...

Hear me read a longer version at benjeapes.substack.com

05.11.2025 09:46 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. Book extract reads: ‘Dan?’ Fin spoke quietly. The back door was locked and the closed window was double-glazed. The monster still spun around as if it had heard her. Dropping onto all fours, it came past the bench on the grass. I could see its face more clearly. Its muzzle was like a dog’s, though its rounded ears looked more like a bear’s. Its nose was more ape-like, though, and so were its broad cheekbones and heavy brow. The hair on its pallid face was barely there. As its dark grey lips drew back in a snarl, I saw viciously sharp teeth. I couldn’t see the colour of its eyes at this distance. ‘Come on, shuck,’ I muttered. ‘Where are you?’ The bear-dog-ape thing turned to the apple trees. It reared up on its hind feet and raked claws like a handful of knives down the closest trunk. Strips of bark torn from great gouges in the sapwood fluttered in the breeze. The monster turned around to stare at the house. It raised those fearsome talons and stepped closer to the other tree. It was challenging me, no doubt about it. A moment later, it started ripping into the second tree’s trunk.

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. Book extract reads: ‘Dan?’ Fin spoke quietly. The back door was locked and the closed window was double-glazed. The monster still spun around as if it had heard her. Dropping onto all fours, it came past the bench on the grass. I could see its face more clearly. Its muzzle was like a dog’s, though its rounded ears looked more like a bear’s. Its nose was more ape-like, though, and so were its broad cheekbones and heavy brow. The hair on its pallid face was barely there. As its dark grey lips drew back in a snarl, I saw viciously sharp teeth. I couldn’t see the colour of its eyes at this distance. ‘Come on, shuck,’ I muttered. ‘Where are you?’ The bear-dog-ape thing turned to the apple trees. It reared up on its hind feet and raked claws like a handful of knives down the closest trunk. Strips of bark torn from great gouges in the sapwood fluttered in the breeze. The monster turned around to stare at the house. It raised those fearsome talons and stepped closer to the other tree. It was challenging me, no doubt about it. A moment later, it started ripping into the second tree’s trunk.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'colour' #BookQW #Booksky
Whatever this bear-dog-ape thing might be, it seems to know how to make Dan Mackmain see red.
The Green Man's Holiday is now available. Check Wizard's Tower Press for links to your preferred retailer.
wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/book...

05.11.2025 10:29 — 👍 13    🔁 8    💬 0    📌 1
Matthew had been called to the dairy of Middle Latchton because something had developed a habit of getting into the creamery and turning things a range of startling colours. Nobody minded the churns themselves being decorated, but their contents were another matter: you cannot sell blue butter, and the visitor had a very decided preference in that direction. Dogs had been set, guards had stood over the door, and all that anyone could report was a shimmer of light that skimmed up through the brass keyhole, and a little voice piping through the door, a sweet, strange tune along the theme that, ‘Blue is blue, so blue is blue.’

Matthew had been called to the dairy of Middle Latchton because something had developed a habit of getting into the creamery and turning things a range of startling colours. Nobody minded the churns themselves being decorated, but their contents were another matter: you cannot sell blue butter, and the visitor had a very decided preference in that direction. Dogs had been set, guards had stood over the door, and all that anyone could report was a shimmer of light that skimmed up through the brass keyhole, and a little voice piping through the door, a sweet, strange tune along the theme that, ‘Blue is blue, so blue is blue.’

#booksky #bookqw word: COLOUR/COLOR

Matthew is a fairy-smith, and obliged to sort out uncanny trouble. This was the mission on which he met his wife.

05.11.2025 10:26 — 👍 4    🔁 5    💬 0    📌 0
Wolf's Path by Joyce Chng | Waterstones Buy Wolf's Path by Joyce Chng from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

I think you can actually order Wolf's Path in.

www.waterstones.com/book/wolfs-p...

09.09.2025 10:22 — 👍 9    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Indigenous Author Submissions On November 3rd, we will be opening for speculative fiction stories written by Indigenous authors. We will be capping submissions at 500.

The sub call for Indigenous writers is now open! strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

03.11.2025 18:06 — 👍 64    🔁 66    💬 1    📌 0
We all make our way downstairs slowly. We offer each other tea, french toast, board games. It feels like an election night, after we’ve put in all the work we can and are waiting on the news—except that we’ve left NPR off, find ways to avoid our phones. I’m afraid to check social media, because I don’t have the bandwidth to handle it if there’s been a school shooting today, or if I’ve somehow missed an ugly case in the Supreme Court. If the mountain turns out to work by Twitter doxing, I’m going to be completely blindsided. Only Chloe scrolls compulsively, texting friends who don’t seem to know the details of her fight with her parents, but who send her memes about Australian wildlife that she shares with forced cheerfulness. At about 3—I think still too early for our official deadline—there’s a knock on the door. The fire leaps to life. Fiaslet stiffens, and I drop my cards from the resource management game I’ve been playing badly. I touch the wall, sense readiness and tension.

We all make our way downstairs slowly. We offer each other tea, french toast, board games. It feels like an election night, after we’ve put in all the work we can and are waiting on the news—except that we’ve left NPR off, find ways to avoid our phones. I’m afraid to check social media, because I don’t have the bandwidth to handle it if there’s been a school shooting today, or if I’ve somehow missed an ugly case in the Supreme Court. If the mountain turns out to work by Twitter doxing, I’m going to be completely blindsided. Only Chloe scrolls compulsively, texting friends who don’t seem to know the details of her fight with her parents, but who send her memes about Australian wildlife that she shares with forced cheerfulness. At about 3—I think still too early for our official deadline—there’s a knock on the door. The fire leaps to life. Fiaslet stiffens, and I drop my cards from the resource management game I’ve been playing badly. I touch the wall, sense readiness and tension.

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'miss'. In 'The Sheltering Flame' by Ruthanna Emrys from Wiz Duo #3, there is palpable tension in the air. #BookQW
wizardstowerpress.co...

29.10.2025 16:19 — 👍 10    🔁 11    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Coins for the Ferryman: Fundraiser For 2026 - PSYCHOPOMP.COM Another October has arrived, crispy around the edges with a coolness that sinks into your bones. One season folds into another we rarely see, the ground

the deadlands

COINS for the ferryman

come but ONCE a year

get yours

WHILE YOU CAN 👻

psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

29.10.2025 14:58 — 👍 12    🔁 10    💬 0    📌 0
‘That’s the fellow your Aunt Agnes stayed with, is he not?’ Stan said. ‘Pagan man, isn’t he?’    ‘Ach, he was baptised well enough,’ put in Walter Stryde; such prejudices as he had were against those who wouldn’t stop and gossip with him, and the affable Tom Attic was not one of them. ‘So was his dada when he settled here; never missed a Sunday sermon, old Mister Attic. Never was a drinking man, mind. Don’t know how they get by so dry, those Moorish lads, for I heard tell their countries are mightily hot.’    ‘Mister Attic’s a good Christian,’ John said, a little formally. ‘He stood godfather to Dada, and Dada said his spiritual counsel was most sensible.’    Stan shrugged this off, evidently not seeing doctrine as an essential aspect of paganism.

‘That’s the fellow your Aunt Agnes stayed with, is he not?’ Stan said. ‘Pagan man, isn’t he?’    ‘Ach, he was baptised well enough,’ put in Walter Stryde; such prejudices as he had were against those who wouldn’t stop and gossip with him, and the affable Tom Attic was not one of them. ‘So was his dada when he settled here; never missed a Sunday sermon, old Mister Attic. Never was a drinking man, mind. Don’t know how they get by so dry, those Moorish lads, for I heard tell their countries are mightily hot.’    ‘Mister Attic’s a good Christian,’ John said, a little formally. ‘He stood godfather to Dada, and Dada said his spiritual counsel was most sensible.’    Stan shrugged this off, evidently not seeing doctrine as an essential aspect of paganism.

#booksky #bookqw word: MISS

The Gyrford fairy-smiths forge cold iron to protect folks from fey.

Folk fantasy can have an 'everyone is white' problem, so challenge accepted. Old Mister Attic (formerly Atiq) was a North African Moor who converted for the sake of a quiet life.

tinyurl.com/nvvetupj

29.10.2025 10:04 — 👍 6    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: My mobile started ringing not far from the motorway. I let it go to voicemail. The last thing I needed was a fine and points on my licence for taking a call when I was driving. I didn’t want to get into an accident either. My phone rang again though, and a third time. A few minutes later, the phone told me I had a text. And another text. This couldn’t be good. I saw a safe place to stop and pulled over. I turned off the engine and checked my phone. Three missed calls from Eleanor, and two texts saying ‘Call me AT ONCE’. Shit. Had something happened to Fin? Fin and Blanche? Otherwise Blanche would be calling, wouldn’t she, or Iris? Wouldn’t Zan have turned up? My heart was pounding as I returned Eleanor’s call. ‘Hi. What’s—ʼ ‘Daniel, good.’ She spoke over me, crisp and official. ‘What time do you think you’ll be back?’ ‘Some time between seven and eight, depending on the traffic.’ I heard Eleanor repeat that to someone else. At least two people were with her. ‘Tomorrow morning will be fine,’ one of the voices said.

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: My mobile started ringing not far from the motorway. I let it go to voicemail. The last thing I needed was a fine and points on my licence for taking a call when I was driving. I didn’t want to get into an accident either. My phone rang again though, and a third time. A few minutes later, the phone told me I had a text. And another text. This couldn’t be good. I saw a safe place to stop and pulled over. I turned off the engine and checked my phone. Three missed calls from Eleanor, and two texts saying ‘Call me AT ONCE’. Shit. Had something happened to Fin? Fin and Blanche? Otherwise Blanche would be calling, wouldn’t she, or Iris? Wouldn’t Zan have turned up? My heart was pounding as I returned Eleanor’s call. ‘Hi. What’s—ʼ ‘Daniel, good.’ She spoke over me, crisp and official. ‘What time do you think you’ll be back?’ ‘Some time between seven and eight, depending on the traffic.’ I heard Eleanor repeat that to someone else. At least two people were with her. ‘Tomorrow morning will be fine,’ one of the voices said.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'miss' #BookQW
Right now, Dan's worried that something he hasn't thought of is about to derail his plans.
And if you haven't already taken advantage of this month's Amazon UK ebook offer, make sure you don't miss out on that.
www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Mans-W...

29.10.2025 10:45 — 👍 17    🔁 13    💬 1    📌 1
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. A knock at the door startled us both. I looked at Fin. She looked at me. Whoever was outside knocked again. ‘Mr Mackmain? Miss Wicken?’ I went to open the door. I did my best to look discouraging. ‘Yes?’ ‘Good morning. I hope I’m not interrupting your breakfast. I just wanted to check you hadn’t been disturbed in the night?’ It was the woman who’d worn the loose shirt, denim skirt and sandals yesterday. She looked a lot more business-like in smart brown trousers and a beige jacket today. She carried a zipped leather bag on one shoulder, held close to her side with her elbow. ‘We’re fine, thanks.’ I didn’t move out of the doorway. She showed me her police warrant card with a pleasant smile. ‘May I come in?’ I wanted to say no, but that wouldn’t be very sensible. I stepped back and opened the door wider. I wondered if one of our temporary neighbours had seen us get into the Toyota and rung the cops to tell them we were trying to leave.

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. A knock at the door startled us both. I looked at Fin. She looked at me. Whoever was outside knocked again. ‘Mr Mackmain? Miss Wicken?’ I went to open the door. I did my best to look discouraging. ‘Yes?’ ‘Good morning. I hope I’m not interrupting your breakfast. I just wanted to check you hadn’t been disturbed in the night?’ It was the woman who’d worn the loose shirt, denim skirt and sandals yesterday. She looked a lot more business-like in smart brown trousers and a beige jacket today. She carried a zipped leather bag on one shoulder, held close to her side with her elbow. ‘We’re fine, thanks.’ I didn’t move out of the doorway. She showed me her police warrant card with a pleasant smile. ‘May I come in?’ I wanted to say no, but that wouldn’t be very sensible. I stepped back and opened the door wider. I wondered if one of our temporary neighbours had seen us get into the Toyota and rung the cops to tell them we were trying to leave.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'miss' #BookQW #Booksky
Unwanted visits from the police were something Dan was hoping to get away from on this holiday. No such luck.
This time tomorrow, you can find out what's going on...
www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Mans-H...

29.10.2025 11:04 — 👍 15    🔁 11    💬 1    📌 0
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It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is MISS. The time travelling correspondent realises he has been royally screwed over by his Home Time masters, and intends to take measures.
#bookqw #timetravel www.benjeapes.com/index.php/no...

Hear me read a longer version at benjeapes.substack.com

29.10.2025 09:31 — 👍 5    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
illustration of an otter with a tie, a namebadge saying 'Steve' and a cup of coffee. Text reads: Do not seize the day. That only startles it, and nobody wants to deal with an aggressive day before coffee. Approach it slowly. Avoid eye contact. Maybe offer a polite nod. Act casual. If the day growls, starts making demands, or mentions shenanigans back away quietly and return to bed.

illustration of an otter with a tie, a namebadge saying 'Steve' and a cup of coffee. Text reads: Do not seize the day. That only startles it, and nobody wants to deal with an aggressive day before coffee. Approach it slowly. Avoid eye contact. Maybe offer a polite nod. Act casual. If the day growls, starts making demands, or mentions shenanigans back away quietly and return to bed.

Advice to live by.

29.10.2025 08:17 — 👍 305    🔁 126    💬 2    📌 0
Hares by Adam Oehlers

Hares by Adam Oehlers

In Cumbrian dialects, 'yar' is hare

a symbol of femininity and rebirth, and a messenger, moving by moonlight between this world and The Otherworld

more: Folklore of the Lake District
bardofcumberland.com/folklore/

#nature #folklore #lakedistrict
art: Adam Oehlers

23.10.2025 07:46 — 👍 32    🔁 11    💬 0    📌 0

Some days I feel like I need a subgenre of the internet with a contractually implied HEA.

23.10.2025 07:29 — 👍 10    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0
He had married his own Minnie because he needed a good cheesemaker for his ewes’ milk and Minnie’s were the best in the market; he had proposed at the selling table after a thorough tasting of wares all around the square, with the explanation that he had a house and a flock, and if he only had the face God gave him, at least it’d be something to look at if a woman ever needed a laugh. Minnie, who’d been raised a foundling and spent most of her life in a cold, damp dairy, had fallen in love with the good Providence that offered her such a chance, if not exactly with the man himself, and the two of them engaged in marriage with the spirit of two workers hired to do a proper job upon the project.

He had married his own Minnie because he needed a good cheesemaker for his ewes’ milk and Minnie’s were the best in the market; he had proposed at the selling table after a thorough tasting of wares all around the square, with the explanation that he had a house and a flock, and if he only had the face God gave him, at least it’d be something to look at if a woman ever needed a laugh. Minnie, who’d been raised a foundling and spent most of her life in a cold, damp dairy, had fallen in love with the good Providence that offered her such a chance, if not exactly with the man himself, and the two of them engaged in marriage with the spirit of two workers hired to do a proper job upon the project.

#booksky #bookqw word: SELF.

Our heroes are fairy-smiths whose cold iron protects folks from the People.

This being a #ruralgothic community, there are many minor characters. This is Bobs, inspired by fun facts told me by a food historian friend.

Buy here: tinyurl.com/nvvetupj

22.10.2025 10:06 — 👍 9    🔁 5    💬 2    📌 0
Cover art shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: Eleanor was on my right as we crossed the gravel in front of the manor house. She turned left to take the wide central path through the knot garden towards the gate and the ticket office. ‘Is she still following us?’ ‘Give me a minute.’ Fin found her phone and flipped the camera around as if she was going to take a selfie. She moved the phone so she could see behind us. When we paused by the gate to let a group of new arrivals in, she nodded. ‘She’s there.’ We went out through the gate and took the path to the car park. The skin on the back of my neck was crawling. I really hated this.

Cover art shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: Eleanor was on my right as we crossed the gravel in front of the manor house. She turned left to take the wide central path through the knot garden towards the gate and the ticket office. ‘Is she still following us?’ ‘Give me a minute.’ Fin found her phone and flipped the camera around as if she was going to take a selfie. She moved the phone so she could see behind us. When we paused by the gate to let a group of new arrivals in, she nodded. ‘She’s there.’ We went out through the gate and took the path to the car park. The skin on the back of my neck was crawling. I really hated this.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'self' #BookQW
#Booksky 📚💙
Dan used to be a self-sufficient loner and he's still content with his own company. Facing these current threats though, he's glad to have friends and allies.
A 99p Kindle book deal for October 2025
www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Mans-W...

22.10.2025 10:29 — 👍 16    🔁 12    💬 1    📌 0
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It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is SELF. What is space opera without a little mystery also? A plucky survival story may be just a little too pat. #bookqw #spaceopera www.benjeapes.com/index.php/ph...

Hear me read a longer version at benjeapes.substack.com.

22.10.2025 08:36 — 👍 8    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 1
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. Book extract reads: With Fin scanning and me packing, we got quickly through the self-checkout. I retraced our route through the retail park’s roundabouts. Back on the main road, I realised we were heading pretty much straight due west. I lowered the windscreen visor to cut the glare when the late-afternoon sun shone through gaps in the clouds. Fin took her sunglasses out of the lightweight backpack she uses instead of a handbag. ‘Where are your shades?’ ‘In the boot, in my hiking backpack with my water bottle and the map.’ If I’d thought about that, I could have got the sunglasses out when we stopped at the superstore. ‘Do you want to pull up somewhere?’ Fin looked ahead for a lay-by or a parking spot. ‘I’ll be okay. Let’s get on.’ The traffic had slowed dramatically, and I wondered why. Then I spotted signs to Stonehenge,and as the road narrowed to a single carriageway, we saw the ancient monument straight ahead through the windscreen.

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those. Book extract reads: With Fin scanning and me packing, we got quickly through the self-checkout. I retraced our route through the retail park’s roundabouts. Back on the main road, I realised we were heading pretty much straight due west. I lowered the windscreen visor to cut the glare when the late-afternoon sun shone through gaps in the clouds. Fin took her sunglasses out of the lightweight backpack she uses instead of a handbag. ‘Where are your shades?’ ‘In the boot, in my hiking backpack with my water bottle and the map.’ If I’d thought about that, I could have got the sunglasses out when we stopped at the superstore. ‘Do you want to pull up somewhere?’ Fin looked ahead for a lay-by or a parking spot. ‘I’ll be okay. Let’s get on.’ The traffic had slowed dramatically, and I wondered why. Then I spotted signs to Stonehenge,and as the road narrowed to a single carriageway, we saw the ancient monument straight ahead through the windscreen.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'self' #BookQW
#Booksky 📚💙
Dan Mackmain's on holiday with his girlfriend Fin and seeing Stonehenge with his own eyes for the first time. He's going to see a whole load of new things...
Out on 30th October from Wizard's Tower Press
wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/book...

22.10.2025 09:47 — 👍 14    🔁 14    💬 0    📌 0
Preview
Get Ready for Rogue Star Magazine From Tonya R. Moore - Get Ready for Rogue Star Magazine

Campaign started for @roguestarmag.bsky.social. If we meet our $1200 goal, we'll be able to pay authors SFWA pro rates for fiction (one previously unpublished story quarterly) starting January 2026. www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti... (re-posted w/corrected link) #signalboost #writers #authors

22.10.2025 01:47 — 👍 32    🔁 27    💬 1    📌 4
A green graphic showing the cover of Daughters of Nicenvin and text. Book cover - two women in 18th century highland dress stand back-to-back, surrounded by men made of straw. The atmosphere is threatening. Text reads: Out November 11th from Flame Tree Press. "A story of love, community and responsibility that weaves together the heartening and heart-breaking to spellbinding effect." - Andrew Knighton

A green graphic showing the cover of Daughters of Nicenvin and text. Book cover - two women in 18th century highland dress stand back-to-back, surrounded by men made of straw. The atmosphere is threatening. Text reads: Out November 11th from Flame Tree Press. "A story of love, community and responsibility that weaves together the heartening and heart-breaking to spellbinding effect." - Andrew Knighton

Available for pre-order now: www.flametreepublishing.com/daughters-of...

22.10.2025 08:47 — 👍 8    🔁 7    💬 0    📌 2

Hey folks -- Signal Boost time for this week's #TheFullLid. If you have a creative project to promote, leave the details in a reply. Include the title and a link please, so folks can find it. For pre-launch crowdfunders let us know about 2 weeks in advance.

22.10.2025 08:38 — 👍 11    🔁 11    💬 8    📌 0
Oh, so when YOU grab a Danish for a quick snack, it's a guilt-free, tasty little treat. But when I, Grendel,

Oh, so when YOU grab a Danish for a quick snack, it's a guilt-free, tasty little treat. But when I, Grendel,

20.10.2025 01:36 — 👍 2328    🔁 711    💬 11    📌 14
Post image Post image Post image Post image

The big shop update! It's finally live! I've added so many artworks and designs to my online store that I've made since the start of the year, including new items that I've never had before like tote bags 💙

18.10.2025 17:28 — 👍 13    🔁 4    💬 1    📌 0
In the centre of the image is the beautifully illustrated British cover image for Enchanting the Fae Queen, by Stephanie Burgis. It shows a green background with a frame of climbing roses and branches rising through a night sky full of stars. In the center of the image, just beneath the moon, stands a massive, ominous castle with a hedge maze before it. A blonde woman in a long gown scattters sparkles in her wake as she leads her tall. uniformed male companion through the moonlit hedge maze at a run, while giant butterflies flutter overhead. The tag line reads: “All’s fae in love and war” and a blurb from Sarah Beth Durst reads: “Full of charm, wit and magic.” Around the image, against a yellow background, are various pieces of text connected to it by arrows. They read: She's a scandalous seductress; he's famously moral, virtuous and chaste; “Yes, I may kill him, but I’ll kill anyone else who tries”; Enemies to lovers; 25% off at Waterstones code ORDER25 .

In the centre of the image is the beautifully illustrated British cover image for Enchanting the Fae Queen, by Stephanie Burgis. It shows a green background with a frame of climbing roses and branches rising through a night sky full of stars. In the center of the image, just beneath the moon, stands a massive, ominous castle with a hedge maze before it. A blonde woman in a long gown scattters sparkles in her wake as she leads her tall. uniformed male companion through the moonlit hedge maze at a run, while giant butterflies flutter overhead. The tag line reads: “All’s fae in love and war” and a blurb from Sarah Beth Durst reads: “Full of charm, wit and magic.” Around the image, against a yellow background, are various pieces of text connected to it by arrows. They read: She's a scandalous seductress; he's famously moral, virtuous and chaste; “Yes, I may kill him, but I’ll kill anyone else who tries”; Enemies to lovers; 25% off at Waterstones code ORDER25 .

And a quick reminder for my British readers: you can preorder Enchanting the Fae Queen - today or tomorrow ONLY - for 25% off at Waterstones with the code ORDER25: www.waterstones.com/book/enchant...

#romancelandia

16.10.2025 17:13 — 👍 22    🔁 7    💬 1    📌 0
An old looking skull lays on a cement path covered lightly in brown leaves.

An old looking skull lays on a cement path covered lightly in brown leaves.

did you know that right now, we're only a partial skeleton? we're not fully funded, and so we're missing some critical bones.

this is truth

and sadly not sustainable

help us be a full skeleton?

patreon 🖤 www.patreon.com/c/the_deadla...

our coin fundraiser 💀 psychopomp.com/the-deadland...

15.10.2025 02:38 — 👍 50    🔁 45    💬 0    📌 3
Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: ‘This is some place.’ He stopped on the gravel to admire the manor. He’s right. Blithehurst’s not huge but it is impressive. The limestone masonry has weathered over the centuries to soft grey or gold, depending on whether or not the sun is shining. The two floors have tall leaded and mullioned windows which look out over ornate gardens at the front, and across the valley to the wooded pastures on the other side of the river at the back. The steep roof has russet tiles which run down to fake battlements along the tops of the walls. Those are purely for show. This house was built to impress, not to be defended in battle. The Roundheads had thought that meant they would easily seize the house from Eleanor’s Royalist, Catholic ancestors in the English Civil War. They were in for a surprise. The dryads got them so thoroughly lost that they never arrived. Not that any of the attackers could know what had really happened.

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws. Book extract reads: ‘This is some place.’ He stopped on the gravel to admire the manor. He’s right. Blithehurst’s not huge but it is impressive. The limestone masonry has weathered over the centuries to soft grey or gold, depending on whether or not the sun is shining. The two floors have tall leaded and mullioned windows which look out over ornate gardens at the front, and across the valley to the wooded pastures on the other side of the river at the back. The steep roof has russet tiles which run down to fake battlements along the tops of the walls. Those are purely for show. This house was built to impress, not to be defended in battle. The Roundheads had thought that meant they would easily seize the house from Eleanor’s Royalist, Catholic ancestors in the English Civil War. They were in for a surprise. The dryads got them so thoroughly lost that they never arrived. Not that any of the attackers could know what had really happened.

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'gold' #BookQW
You can save yourself some money with this month's Kindle ebook offer for The Green Man's War.
Dan Mackmain's a peaceable chap, but after his experiences in last few years he's ready to meet trouble head on.
www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Mans-W...

15.10.2025 09:39 — 👍 11    🔁 8    💬 0    📌 1
An open e-reader shows the gorgeous UK cover of Wooing the Witch Queen in color on its screen. The e-reader is set on a rustic wooden table beside candles and a pine cone and a cup of hot chocolate with marshallows. A bubble reads: 99p!

An open e-reader shows the gorgeous UK cover of Wooing the Witch Queen in color on its screen. The e-reader is set on a rustic wooden table beside candles and a pine cone and a cup of hot chocolate with marshallows. A bubble reads: 99p!

A quick reminder for everyone in the UK (and mainland Europe, too!) that Wooing the Witch Queen's British edition is currently on sale in ebook for 99p!

Snap it up: www.panmacmillan.com/authors/step...

#romancelandia

11.10.2025 09:23 — 👍 40    🔁 19    💬 2    📌 4

Just finished TJ Klune's The House in the Cerulean Sea - so so good. Found families, escaping evil orgs and a life of blah for something better, kids finding a safe place to belong, gentle (and oblivious) romance. Just lovely all the way.

11.10.2025 09:47 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

@jenqoe is following 20 prominent accounts