Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

MK Alexander @smartreads.bsky.social · 14h

🛸 Pioneer Sun… LATEST RELEASE
#Scifi #Wallops #NASA #JPL #Goddard #KU #Amazon
📚💙 NASA’s final mission…

www.amazon.com/dp/B0FBLJGWW5

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MK Alexander @smartreads.bsky.social · 14h

✍️ The Reviewer 99¢
📚💙 #Humor #Satire #ShortStory #WritingCommunity
A short story about a mentally unstable Indie-Author and the review that destroys his life…
www.amazon.com/dp/B01N249E76

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MK Alexander @smartreads.bsky.social · 14h

#amreading Cerealized Authors:

Frosted Kafka Flakes
(best you don’t read the ingredients)

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Tractus Fynn @tractusfynn.bsky.social · 15h

This Day in #History 732
The Battle of Tours: The Umayyad army is defeated by the Frankish-Aquitainian force led by Charles Martel during the invasion of Gaul.

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Tractus Fynn @tractusfynn.bsky.social · 15h

The Dark Knight!
;)

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Tractus Fynn @tractusfynn.bsky.social · 15h

So Cool!
However, I suffer from skelephobia...
;)

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Tractus Fynn @tractusfynn.bsky.social · 15h

Wow!
His arch enemy, the Duke of Wellington...

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Catherine @shadowdogdesigns.bsky.social · 16h

Napoleon was ailurophobic 🤔

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bandersdavidson.bsky.social @bandersdavidson.bsky.social · 4d

Audiobook of The Race can be purchased here:
books2read.com/TheRace?form...
Narrated by Kevin E Green @Kevthegreen
(he did an amazing job bringing the story alive!)

Also, available to order your preferred library for borrowing.
#audiobook #nathaliemlromer

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Louise Blackwick @louiseblackwick.com · 10d

The Princess/Glinda style can be pretty sweet too!👸

But I totally understand your preference for Wednesday & her Victorian-Goth aesthetic.💀🖤 I'm a fan of the Goth aesthetic too (see below) because I'm a little bit kooky/eccentric.🤭

Would love to see your Halloween outfit tho, regardless what it is

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Louise Blackwick @louiseblackwick.com · 3d

#Cloudheim seems right up my alley. I saw some gameplay footage, and it's already shaping up to be an awesome action-adventure RPG game (with an even more awesome soundtrack!)😃

Congrats! Your work on it has been incredible. 🥰♥️

PS: Ik las ook het nieuws over je elleboog. 😢 Veel beterschap!

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Atheistwon @rhaw5n.bsky.social · 19h

#UnionStrong

Democracy Forward @democracyforward.org · 20h

Civil servants show up every day for the American people. That’s why we show up in court to protect them.

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Paul Reeves 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 @paulartreeves.bsky.social · 14d

These incredible books by @louiseblackwick.com arrived today! Each book is signed along with a very cool message. A wee selection of goodies was included that I wasn't expecting 😃
I'll save one of the teas for the start of each book.
Thanks, Louise! I'm going to enjoy these 😎 💙 🖖

Three books by Louise Blackwick on a skull themed desk mat.

Selection of cool themed goodies, sachets of tea, D&D dice, bookmarks, stickers, a little sword/letter opened & thank you message, on a skull themed desk mat.

Signature & message from Lousie Blackwick written in one of her books on a skull themed desk mat.

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Laurie @lauriesart.bsky.social · 28d

Enchanted Halloween Night tote bag
lauriesintuitiveartpixels.com/featured/enc...

#halloweengifts #halloween #blackcat #enchanted #goblins #pumpkins #haunted #giftideas #uniqueart #art #totebag #uniquegifts

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T. M. Shannon 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (he/him) @tmshannonauthor.com · 11d

Okay, it's 30th September and Daylight Savings doesn't start for another 5 days, but here's my October blog post

The topics within? Word crashing on me, the rich walking past the poor, and absolute validation from an ex-AFL player

Enjoy!

#LGBTQIA+
#WritingCommunity
#WriteSky
#ReaderSky
#BookSky

So, I’ve Started a Trend

Hey, look at that, I managed to post in October after September. And you know what? I’m gonna do it again for November. The Bipolar/ADHD likes this!

tmshannonauthor.com

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MK Alexander @smartreads.bsky.social · 15h

😂!
It sounds just like him now...

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Åke Grönholm @akegronholm.bsky.social · 1d

Just finished reading "Vivian Amberville - The Book of Chaos" by @louiseblackwick.com & I am shooketh!😮

Hands-down THE BEST DARK FANTASY STORY I've experienced (including all films, tv series & games). Nothing comes close to this epicness by a longshot. 💙📚

Reading book 1 not obligatory, but helps.

There is a hard limit to human imagination. This story will take you far beyond that limit, beyond the fabric of reality itself.

In this book you will find characters that can:

manipulate luck, odds and circumstances (the ODDS WEAVER, Vivian Amberville)
remove, store and control physical pain (the PAIN PUSHER, Wolfgaar)
strip both objects and subjects of their shadow (the SHADOW STEALER, Djaar)
reduce the physical world to concepts and abstractions (the CONCEPT BREAKER, Gold)
create shifts in perception and/or gravity (the REALITY SHIFTERS, Yuresne and Circense)
pluck sound out of thin air and store it inside containers (the THUNDER BRINGER, Antuun)
absorb, hold and release darkness (the VOID WEAVER formally known as Allspice)

"Vivian Amberville - The Book of Chaos" is the second instalment in the Vivian Amberville fantasy series by Dutch international author, Louise Blackwick. It centers on Vivian’s attendance at the “Alarian School of Thought”, a place where students learn the noble and dangerous art of “Weaving subtle Threads of influence into the fabric of reality”.

Joined by friends and challenged by foes, Vivian will have to master her ability to manipulate odds and circumstances, in a world now complicated by war, disease and political strife.

"The Book of Chaos" also features people who can rewrite history using a special type of "Ink". It includes individuals who manipulate entire nations by putting words into people's heads and watch those exact words take over. We explore the art of imbibing and imbuing one's intention into an object, and many more mind-over-matter powers.

Standing at over 220K+ words “The Book of Chaos” is a complex narrative tapestry that has taken the author over five and a half years to write.

If you're a fan of epic dark fantasy, with a new adult cast of characters, magical realism set in vast psychedelic worlds, rich Jungian themes and just a touch of Cosmic Horror, you're in for a real treat.

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oneleggoalie @oneleggoalie.bsky.social · 16h

#Pride #Atheism #Truth #FreeSpeech #FreeChoice
#nonbinary #pan #laicism #AIart #books #weed #writingcommunity #ebooks #IndieGames
#Fantasy #scifi #booksky
#science
#TFSM #LGBTQ
#TransRights #HumanRights
#NATO #EU
#AI #SnowCrash #SlowHorses
#GideonTheNinth #DUNE #MalazanBookOfTheFallen #Boneshaker⚧️😐

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oneleggoalie @oneleggoalie.bsky.social · 16h

#Pride #Atheism #Truth #FreeSpeech #FreeChoice
#nonbinary #pan #laicism #AIart #books #weed #writingcommunity #ebooks #IndieGames
#Fantasy #scifi #booksky
#science
#TFSM #LGBTQ
#TransRights #HumanRights
#NATO #EU
#AI #SnowCrash #SlowHorses
#GideonTheNinth #DUNE #MalazanBookOfTheFallen #Boneshaker⚧️😐

thoughts-comments.bsky.social @thoughts-comments.bsky.social · 16h

Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: “It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist

The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’

www.theguardian.com

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MK Alexander @smartreads.bsky.social · 15h

Thanks

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Mercedes Rochelle @authorrochelle.bsky.social · 18h

17th-Century Poland was one of Europe’s most powerful nations, due in no small part to her military leaders, the hetmans. Learn more about Koniecpolski, revered as one of Poland’s most brilliant military leaders, over on my blog. griffin-brady.com/hetmans-comm... @griffbrady1588

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Jordan D. River @jordanriverwrites.bsky.social · 14d

This canto is so long it has to be split into two posts.
#WIP #Poetry
#TreasureIsland A Rhythmic Voyage
Third Movement, Passage 8 Comrades in the Caves
Canto 15 Boy In The Shadows
Jim, on the run, finds a surprising new ally.

Treasure Island A Rhythmic Voyage
Third Movement
Passage 8 Comrades In The Caves
Canto 15 Boy In The Shadows

Through branches thick, I forced my flight,
Each vine a claw, each root a bite.
My breath was fire, my chest a drum—
I crashed through green and would not come.

Then from the dark—a sudden shape,
Half man, half beast, in rags of cape.
His hair was wild with twigs and shells,
His face carved thin by island hells.

Cord strung with bones hung round his throat,
His skin burned dark as copper coat.
I stumbled back—my legs near broke,
My throat half-closed, no breath, no spoke.

He raised one hand, not claw, not knife—
But something still that hinted life.
His voice came high, a reedy sound,
Yet rough with years of haunted ground:

"Saw you running,
heard you breathing—
Silver's cutting
what he's needing."

I stumbled back against the tree—
"You know of Silver? How can this be?"
My chest near burst, I could not stand
No safe place in this haunted land.

"Easy, easy—
Silver's poison,
but Ben's harmless,
Ben's your choice, son.
Three years hiding
from his blade—
Three years learning
what he's made."

His ribs stuck sharp beneath his shirt,
His feet were bare, both scarred with dirt.
A lad near-grown, all bone and skin,
Not much older than I had been!
Yet when he spoke, the shadows bent,
As if the jungle gave consent.

The fear still shook me, but his tone
Was gentle, not like Silver's stone.
"Who are you? How do you know
The man who struck that deadly blow?"

He laughed—a sound half-sweet, half-mad,
Then dropped to sit, no longer bad:
"Ben Gunn's my name,
Ben Gunn's my calling—
Flint's old cabin boy
come falling.
They left me here
when sails drew on—
three years alone,
three years gone."

"You saw him kill
the gentle lad—
lad was good,
Ben was sad.
Silver's got plans,
Silver's got schemes—
Silver kills boys
and their dreams."

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I found my voice, though thick with dread:
"I'm Jim. Jim Hawkins," I said.
"Silver smiles, but not for long—
I’ve seen his kindness turn to wrong."

Ben tilted close, his eyes grew bright:
"Jim like the jay,
Jim like the wren—
Jim needs shelter,
Jim needs Ben.
Come quick away,
come quick and follow—
Silver hunts deep,
Silver hunts hollow."

"A boy who sees
is rare as gold,
Most are blind
till they’ve been sold.
Keep those eyes,
lad—sharp and true—
They’ll guard your heart,
they’ll carry you."

He rose and beckoned through the green,
His movements quick, his purpose keen.

"The cave's not far,
the cave's well-hid—
Ben's kept safe
what Flint forbid.
Fire and fruit
and goat's sweet cheese—
Come away, Jim,
come find peace."

Through twisted root and hanging vine,
Ben led me by a path divine.
His bare feet found what mine could not—
Each stone, each turn, each shadowed spot.

The jungle whispered as we passed,
Its secrets held, its die well-cast.
Ben moved like wind through leaf and fern,
While I could only stumble, learn.

"See there the marks?
see there the signs?
Silver's been walking
these same lines.
But Ben knows places
Silver can't—
Ben knows the island's
sacred cant."

We climbed through moss and dripping stone,
through jungle paths thick with loam.
A cave mouth gaped like hungry maw,
With shadows deep and filled with awe.

The cave mouth narrowed, damp with moss.
Inside, the walls were black with smoke.
A driftwood fire caught, then tossed
Its sparks like stars, as Ben half-spoke.

“Here’s Ben’s palace,
here’s Ben’s keep—
safe from danger,
safe for sleep.

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Three years building,
three years gone—
Ben still sings,
though all else’s done.”

The entrance small, but deep within
I glimpsed a world that might have been—
A castle built of driftwood logs,
Of shells and rope and island bogs.

He struck the flint; the branches caught.
The fire flared wide, then burned to red.
And in that glow the cave revealed
More secrets than his words had said.

"Sit you down
and take your rest—
Ben will bring
his island's best."

Behind him, shadows stretched like doors,
Dark tunnels carved in rock and time.
They reached away through unseen floors,
Like roots that burrowed, deep, sublime.

At first I thought them only stone—
Just caverns cut by wind and tide.
But gleams of gold in firelight shone—
A curve, a shine he could not hide.

A cup half-buried in the sand,
A plate pressed flat against the wall.
He set his food with careless hand
Within a silver, tarnished bowl.

No word he gave, no boast, no claim—
The goblet held his goat’s milk plain.
But still I knew the shapes by name,
And shivered at the thought of gain.

He cracked a crab upon the stone,
And pressed a slab of goat’s white cheese.
He laughed to see me gag and groan—
“Island’s bounty, Jim! Try, please!”

“Fruit from shadow,
meat from sand—
fire by night,
goat by hand.
Silver feasts on
blood and lies—
Ben eats truth,
and goat that cries.”

I chewed the cheese, its sour bite
Like salt rubbed raw upon my tongue.
But something in his laughing light
Felt closer than the men I’d sprung.

“Island’s pantry,
strange but true—
gives old dishes,
gives old brew.
Ben eats well where
Flint would feast—
goats don’t care for
gold in least.”

He laughed, and stirred the embers bright.
I dared not press, I dared not ask.

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bandersdavidson.bsky.social @bandersdavidson.bsky.social · 4d

L&L began as a dare. They were investigating the nearby Priory Mansion because of gossip...

"The Mystery of Priory Mansion"
Book 1 of L&L Investigates by @nathaliemlromer

books2read.com/MysteryPrior...
#sleuth #nathaliemlromer

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Tania Carina Pires @taniacarinapires.bsky.social · 11d

I chose a very special day to return to work.👩‍💻

Wishing my fellow #translators a happy #InternationalTranslationDay

It's still the best job in the world!🙌

MACHINES DO WORDS

TRANSLATORS & INTERPRETERS DO LANGUAGE

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