Olivia Wylie

@susankayequinn.bsky.social @vsholmes.bsky.social ;)

(Also, I slightly blame you for the fact that I went and read Ben O Bills The Luddite after I read Blood in the Machine. Ouch. I think that many pages of dialect writing may have done serious damage...)

Thank you for writing the best book out there on the Luddites! After your book I tried to get more, and what's out there...is not great. Your book filled a yawning hole in the accessible historical picture!

Side note: after I read his book I grabbed other stuff on the Luddites and OH MAN am I glad he wrote his book because what's out there is...not great. And I read the novel he mentioned, Ben O' Bills the Luddite. It is written ENTIRELY IN THE REGENCY YORKSHIRE DIALECT. I think my brain bled a little.

I would love to meet him one of these days and basically say the same thing (and, y'know, fangirl a bit)

Nicole Cardiff is a genius! www.artofnicolecardiff.com/covers.html

I like the idea of reclaiming the word luddite. It never meant 'scared of what's new.' That's reactionary. No. Luddite means 'refusing to knuckle under when you're told to bow the head to the wealthy'

The Luddites were never afraid. They were resolute men who had one statement to make: 'play by the rules and coexist with us on equal terms. Or we will resist you. We have the right to dignity in work and in life. We will fight you when you try to take it from us.'

And the mill owners laughed at them.
They went to the officials, these proud crafstmen. And the corrupt officials told them to get with the new program.
It was only then that they brought out the hammers. And then those who wanted to disempower them said they were afraid of the machines. (next)

And they got ignored. So they went to meetings with the consolidators and said 'look, there are laws about prices. Laws about apprenticeship. You're breaking them. We all play by the rules, and that way we all have a good living. If you want to change the rules, at least do it fairly.'
(Next)

I think the other important thing about this book is that it shows us with visceral clarity how narrative warfare works. The Luddites didn't start with the hammer. They didn't hate tech. They went to those consolidating capital and said 'excuse me, you're not following the rules'. (see next comment)

This is due out, hopefully, next November.

Ooh yes. I read this two years ago, and last autumn it mixed with a lot of other stuff in the disaster-blender we're living in, and out poured an idea. So I'm writing about it now. Aside from being fascinating and important and infuriating, I'm grateful because it gave me a way to write the feels.

Art by Charles Vess

In a good year, I often work on two projects. In spring I start something forward-facing, usually scifi. In the cold, I work on something history-facing and deep, usually fantasy.
As the first of the cold nights draw in, I'm starting on my autumn project. And this one is making me grin.
#sff

Art by Sam Cannon
#smallbeauties

Ray Bradbury really understood October
#booksky

Hey @adamcsharp.bsky.social , is there a chance you could do versions of the concept 'campy' in different languages sometime? It's such a nebulous and yet universal concept that I'd love to see how other people describe something being trite and overacted but in a somehow pleasant way.

Aw wow, thanks for letting me know!

Parlor Poetry: A Victorian Versification Abecedary Amazon.com: Parlor Poetry: A Victorian Versification Abecedary eBook : Holuta, Lori Alden, Wylie, Olivia, Holuta, Kenneth: Kindle Store

Looking for a fun little read to cozy up with as the nights draw in? @lorialdenholuta.bsky.social gave me the chance to illustrate this fun little book, and it's the perfect read for an autumn afternoon!
#booksky #reading #steampunk

www.amazon.com/Parlor-Poetr...

Today's a big old writing day. AKA, self-enforced peace and quiet taken to new levels

A legend has passed. Keep her alive by speaking her name. Keep her alive by carrying on her work.

yeeah. She was a great lesson in what not to do...great cautionary tale though ;)

I used to have an elder coworker who would regularly eat white bread sandwiches, and her fingertips were so cracked from sticking bare hands in wet dirt that she bled on the bread. That horror image of red blood on white bread has stuck with me, and made sure I NEVER FORGET MY GLOVES

so, tangent: part of my jobs is training our baby gardeners, and I keep a spare box of old work gloves and socks that I hand out when the kiddos look like kicked dogs in early spring/late autumn, with the admonition 'so next time the weather is like this, bring extra socks. Bring extra gloves'.

Perfect <3

It's a particular nastiness. I usually wear gloves to make sure I still have skin when I'm 60 (I work in horticulture) and when your gloves get wet on a cold day you feel like a puppy in the rain. I always keep 3 sets of work gloves in my truck!

I'll add it to my Samhain reads!

There is something particularly miserable about the items that were supposed to protect you perpetrating a betrayal and making you *even more uncomfortable*. Gloves and socks are the worst offenders.