Bob Johnston
@bobjohnstonbooks.bsky.social
'Our Big Day' LGBTQ+ award-winning picturebook published 2022. Currently subbing agents w/ a gay novel for adults. Husband, dog lover, cat misser, biscuit eater, previously @gutterbookshop ... he/him. linktr.ee/bobjohnstonbooks
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Seems a bit much for one clumsy guy
November 26, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Seems a bit much for one clumsy guy
Reposted by Bob Johnston
This was a difficult publishing year - things went wrong, a publisher went under, rights didn’t sell, my agent left that side of the business, and it felt miserable. But things change. Now you have THREE books from me in 2026 & with @liverpool-lit.bsky.social we’re about to go on submission!
November 26, 2025 at 10:37 AM
This was a difficult publishing year - things went wrong, a publisher went under, rights didn’t sell, my agent left that side of the business, and it felt miserable. But things change. Now you have THREE books from me in 2026 & with @liverpool-lit.bsky.social we’re about to go on submission!
Reposted by Bob Johnston
This is a great piece. It’s the most basic of questions.
Why Did So Many People in Epstein’s Circle Look the Other Way?
First of all, in order to ask questions about the young women he preyed on, they’d need to see them as people.
www.thenation.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:19 AM
This is a great piece. It’s the most basic of questions.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
I met a UCC student here last night paying €2k/month for private accommodation in Cork city
I learnt students are paying gentrified prices for damp mouldy houses, not fit for purpose with landlords difficult to deal with
Time to get involved in Cork Student Housing Cooperative
#DerelictIreland
I learnt students are paying gentrified prices for damp mouldy houses, not fit for purpose with landlords difficult to deal with
Time to get involved in Cork Student Housing Cooperative
#DerelictIreland
November 21, 2025 at 12:39 PM
I met a UCC student here last night paying €2k/month for private accommodation in Cork city
I learnt students are paying gentrified prices for damp mouldy houses, not fit for purpose with landlords difficult to deal with
Time to get involved in Cork Student Housing Cooperative
#DerelictIreland
I learnt students are paying gentrified prices for damp mouldy houses, not fit for purpose with landlords difficult to deal with
Time to get involved in Cork Student Housing Cooperative
#DerelictIreland
Reposted by Bob Johnston
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:16 PM
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
"You've been kidnapped! The characters from the last TV show you watched are your only hope for rescue. Who's coming to save you?" (Hurry up and kidnap me someone... #Andor #DontMindIfIDo)
November 25, 2025 at 4:00 PM
"You've been kidnapped! The characters from the last TV show you watched are your only hope for rescue. Who's coming to save you?" (Hurry up and kidnap me someone... #Andor #DontMindIfIDo)
Reposted by Bob Johnston
By the way, it's National Editor Appreciation Day.
Nobody ever reads a great article and thinks, "Dang, that was some tight editing." But editing is a big part of how it got to be great.
So writers, if you've ever worked with a good editor, shout 'em out.
Nobody ever reads a great article and thinks, "Dang, that was some tight editing." But editing is a big part of how it got to be great.
So writers, if you've ever worked with a good editor, shout 'em out.
November 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
By the way, it's National Editor Appreciation Day.
Nobody ever reads a great article and thinks, "Dang, that was some tight editing." But editing is a big part of how it got to be great.
So writers, if you've ever worked with a good editor, shout 'em out.
Nobody ever reads a great article and thinks, "Dang, that was some tight editing." But editing is a big part of how it got to be great.
So writers, if you've ever worked with a good editor, shout 'em out.
Treated myself to a new Lumie Vitamin L SAD lamp to get me through the long Irish Winter... Along with some High Strength Vit B Complex... My old SAD lamp was nearly 20 years old & the size of a suitcase! Great to see SAD technology moving on (& getting cheaper!) www.lumie.com/en-ie/produc... #SAD
November 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Treated myself to a new Lumie Vitamin L SAD lamp to get me through the long Irish Winter... Along with some High Strength Vit B Complex... My old SAD lamp was nearly 20 years old & the size of a suitcase! Great to see SAD technology moving on (& getting cheaper!) www.lumie.com/en-ie/produc... #SAD
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Husband: I wish you’d look at me with the same loving, longing look you give your coffee
Me: here, hold my mug
Me: here, hold my mug
November 25, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Husband: I wish you’d look at me with the same loving, longing look you give your coffee
Me: here, hold my mug
Me: here, hold my mug
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Applied for a creative opportunity where the organisers used a randomiser to pick a longlist from the applicants.
So now I not only waste my time only to have my work rejected on its own merit, but also by Fate in some digital roulette wheel.
So now I not only waste my time only to have my work rejected on its own merit, but also by Fate in some digital roulette wheel.
November 25, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Applied for a creative opportunity where the organisers used a randomiser to pick a longlist from the applicants.
So now I not only waste my time only to have my work rejected on its own merit, but also by Fate in some digital roulette wheel.
So now I not only waste my time only to have my work rejected on its own merit, but also by Fate in some digital roulette wheel.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Might be time to activate the Grift Klaxon.
The US Space Force has awarded several sub-$9 million contracts to undisclosed companies to build early prototypes of space-based missile interceptors for Trump’s Golden Dome defence program, Bloomberg reports.
All names kept secret.
The US Space Force has awarded several sub-$9 million contracts to undisclosed companies to build early prototypes of space-based missile interceptors for Trump’s Golden Dome defence program, Bloomberg reports.
All names kept secret.
November 25, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Might be time to activate the Grift Klaxon.
The US Space Force has awarded several sub-$9 million contracts to undisclosed companies to build early prototypes of space-based missile interceptors for Trump’s Golden Dome defence program, Bloomberg reports.
All names kept secret.
The US Space Force has awarded several sub-$9 million contracts to undisclosed companies to build early prototypes of space-based missile interceptors for Trump’s Golden Dome defence program, Bloomberg reports.
All names kept secret.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
A starter pack of More Novelists on BlueSky featuring @bobjohnstonbooks.bsky.social @caitlinannette.bsky.social @cauverymadhavan.bsky.social and many more. Please follow and repost if you can #writingcommunity #booksky
November 25, 2025 at 8:56 AM
A starter pack of More Novelists on BlueSky featuring @bobjohnstonbooks.bsky.social @caitlinannette.bsky.social @cauverymadhavan.bsky.social and many more. Please follow and repost if you can #writingcommunity #booksky
Reposted by Bob Johnston
looking at a poetry anthology from 1947 at the British Library, obscure enough that I had to ask them to cut some of the pages (!)
here’s a poem by Oswell Blakeston and Max Chapman, artists and writers who were pretty much a lifelong couple
here’s a poem by Oswell Blakeston and Max Chapman, artists and writers who were pretty much a lifelong couple
November 20, 2025 at 5:10 PM
looking at a poetry anthology from 1947 at the British Library, obscure enough that I had to ask them to cut some of the pages (!)
here’s a poem by Oswell Blakeston and Max Chapman, artists and writers who were pretty much a lifelong couple
here’s a poem by Oswell Blakeston and Max Chapman, artists and writers who were pretty much a lifelong couple
Reposted by Bob Johnston
I'm not going to die on any hills but it microwaves my urine that the phrase "bad apple" has flipped meaning in my lifetime.
November 24, 2025 at 10:03 AM
I'm not going to die on any hills but it microwaves my urine that the phrase "bad apple" has flipped meaning in my lifetime.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Reposted by Bob Johnston
OK, folklore and mythology people, I’m looking for Merlin analogues/equivalents in European history, any suggestions?
November 24, 2025 at 8:37 AM
OK, folklore and mythology people, I’m looking for Merlin analogues/equivalents in European history, any suggestions?
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Thanks so much for sharing this, Maria. On top of my ex-publishers descending into hell with over £20,000 of my earnings, it's been pretty awful and scary. Especially as I'm supporting a disabled partner and paying the rent alone.
Horrifying tale of penalties and fines imposed on a self-employed writer who left Substack:
"this month, I couldn’t afford to pay my rent without going into some savings I was trying desperately not to touch. I started to get truly scared about the impact it was having on my livelihood."
Vile.
"this month, I couldn’t afford to pay my rent without going into some savings I was trying desperately not to touch. I started to get truly scared about the impact it was having on my livelihood."
Vile.
This has lost me thousands of pounds (not to mention book sales) and put me in a state of terror and panic. I urge anyone thinking of moving their list from Substack, or wanting to know more about how Substack works, to read it....
November 24, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Thanks so much for sharing this, Maria. On top of my ex-publishers descending into hell with over £20,000 of my earnings, it's been pretty awful and scary. Especially as I'm supporting a disabled partner and paying the rent alone.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
This is partly for a @gnofhorror.com review and partly just a lost media request.
Anyone who was a kid in the 80s, do you remember a kids series where they filmed animals doing natural behaviour and then added human voice-overs, different animals and story each time? 1/
Anyone who was a kid in the 80s, do you remember a kids series where they filmed animals doing natural behaviour and then added human voice-overs, different animals and story each time? 1/
November 24, 2025 at 9:27 AM
This is partly for a @gnofhorror.com review and partly just a lost media request.
Anyone who was a kid in the 80s, do you remember a kids series where they filmed animals doing natural behaviour and then added human voice-overs, different animals and story each time? 1/
Anyone who was a kid in the 80s, do you remember a kids series where they filmed animals doing natural behaviour and then added human voice-overs, different animals and story each time? 1/
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Please rise for the national anthem
Lipps Inc. - Funkytown (1980)
YouTube video by Musikladen
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Please rise for the national anthem
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Reposted by Bob Johnston
Officially asking now for author folks (and reader folks) to tell me about the new queer holiday romances coming out this year—I don’t know why I’m having trouble finding them this year, but I am.
Drop 'em here, please.
(Bonus if low-angst; also happy for sapphic—this is not just a dude zone).
Drop 'em here, please.
(Bonus if low-angst; also happy for sapphic—this is not just a dude zone).
November 23, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Officially asking now for author folks (and reader folks) to tell me about the new queer holiday romances coming out this year—I don’t know why I’m having trouble finding them this year, but I am.
Drop 'em here, please.
(Bonus if low-angst; also happy for sapphic—this is not just a dude zone).
Drop 'em here, please.
(Bonus if low-angst; also happy for sapphic—this is not just a dude zone).
Reposted by Bob Johnston
This is a really interesting, wide-ranging conversation about the purpose of music criticism — much deeper than the headline suggests
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/p...
When Did Music Critics Get So Nice?
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This is a really interesting, wide-ranging conversation about the purpose of music criticism — much deeper than the headline suggests
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/p...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/p...
Next Sat (29th Nov 1pm) there is a National March for #InternationalDayOfSolidarity with #Palestine in #Dublin. Israel's attacks on Palestinians haven't stopped with the ceasefire & Israel continues to kill & to take Palestinian lands w/ impunity. Please support the Dublin (or a local) March.
November 23, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Next Sat (29th Nov 1pm) there is a National March for #InternationalDayOfSolidarity with #Palestine in #Dublin. Israel's attacks on Palestinians haven't stopped with the ceasefire & Israel continues to kill & to take Palestinian lands w/ impunity. Please support the Dublin (or a local) March.
Reposted by Bob Johnston
New, hard data from nearly ten years of evidence: Brexit has cut UK GDP by 6–8%. The experts who were dismissed as “Project Fear”? They were too optimistic.
eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
New: Boris Johnson’s ‘Brexit Titanic success’ was half right
Nearly ten years on, the first full assessment of Brexit confirms what millions warned: Britain made itself poorer
eastangliabylines.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 11:00 AM
New, hard data from nearly ten years of evidence: Brexit has cut UK GDP by 6–8%. The experts who were dismissed as “Project Fear”? They were too optimistic.
eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...
eastangliabylines.co.uk/news/brexit/...