Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
🏳️🌈 Historical fiction | Queer history | Theatre history | Early modernist | USian in Spain.
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Pinned
Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
· Feb 27
Coming to the UK 6th March 2025, the gorgeous new trade paperback edition of #Lightborne, from @atlanticbooks.bsky.social
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
"Because hell doesn't exist, humanity had to invent it."
As ads become increasingly micro-targeted and personalized, things like this are probably going to become increasingly common. We're already seeing AI-induced psychosis in people with no history of psychosis. What's next?
As ads become increasingly micro-targeted and personalized, things like this are probably going to become increasingly common. We're already seeing AI-induced psychosis in people with no history of psychosis. What's next?
This Pluribus ad on a fridge caused a schizophrenic woman named Carol to be hospitalized.
December 4, 2025 at 7:56 AM
"Because hell doesn't exist, humanity had to invent it."
As ads become increasingly micro-targeted and personalized, things like this are probably going to become increasingly common. We're already seeing AI-induced psychosis in people with no history of psychosis. What's next?
As ads become increasingly micro-targeted and personalized, things like this are probably going to become increasingly common. We're already seeing AI-induced psychosis in people with no history of psychosis. What's next?
If you're in Madrid between now and 8 March, do not miss this exhibition. An immersive, dreamlike (sometimes nightmarish) walk through the death throes of fascism and old world colonialism in Spain and Portugal.
This is the story we cannot afford to forget.
This is the story we cannot afford to forget.
Inquietud Libertad Y Democracia | La Casa Encendida
La Casa Encendida es un centro social y cultural de la Fundación Montemadrid, un espacio abierto y dinámico, para todos los públicos, donde conviven algunas de las expresiones artísticas más vanguardi...
www.lacasaencendida.es
December 4, 2025 at 7:34 AM
If you're in Madrid between now and 8 March, do not miss this exhibition. An immersive, dreamlike (sometimes nightmarish) walk through the death throes of fascism and old world colonialism in Spain and Portugal.
This is the story we cannot afford to forget.
This is the story we cannot afford to forget.
Calling all #Boston #writingcommunity! This 👇 is the program that took a neurotic little ball of insecurity with a bunch of manuscripts in a drawer to someone who could proudly and without hesitation call themself a WRITER.
(It's me. I'm talking about me.)
(It's me. I'm talking about me.)
Curious about Grub's Novel Incubator? Now in its 15th year with 50+ published books
12/10: grubstreet.org/event/novel-...
"In no other writing program will you have 10 dedicated novelists read your complete manuscript (twice!) & work with you to make it the best book possible." - Stephanie Gayle
12/10: grubstreet.org/event/novel-...
"In no other writing program will you have 10 dedicated novelists read your complete manuscript (twice!) & work with you to make it the best book possible." - Stephanie Gayle
GrubStreet | Novel Incubator Info Session
The nation's leading and largest center for creative writing for over 25 years, GrubStreet offers classes and events for writers from all stages and…
grubstreet.org
December 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Calling all #Boston #writingcommunity! This 👇 is the program that took a neurotic little ball of insecurity with a bunch of manuscripts in a drawer to someone who could proudly and without hesitation call themself a WRITER.
(It's me. I'm talking about me.)
(It's me. I'm talking about me.)
This play. If I hadn't stumbled across *this fckin play* in college, and found it so fascinating, infuriating, brilliant, and cruel, I wouldn't have spent the next 20-odd years of my life trying to write a book about it, which ended up being a book about its author. God DAMN Marlowe. Ya got me.
December 3, 2025 at 4:16 PM
This play. If I hadn't stumbled across *this fckin play* in college, and found it so fascinating, infuriating, brilliant, and cruel, I wouldn't have spent the next 20-odd years of my life trying to write a book about it, which ended up being a book about its author. God DAMN Marlowe. Ya got me.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
I... I find vultures... *cute* now?
Yolo often stands with his little back toes crossed, which I find ridiculously cute!
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
You can see vultures don't have bulky feet and talons built for grasping/carrying like other raptors. Their more chicken-like feet are meant for bracing on food to pull at it with their powerful beaks, instead.
December 3, 2025 at 8:11 AM
I... I find vultures... *cute* now?
There are multiple reasons that I will probably never move back to the US, but not least among them is the fact that neither I nor any normal person can now afford to live in my former city.
1-bedroom rents around Greater Boston right now:
Cambridge $3,000
Boston $2,920
Somerville $2,650
Medford $2,580
Newton $2,480
Portsmouth $2,390
Quincy $2,380
Revere $2,370
Framingham $2,280
Melrose $2,250
Malden $2,170
Beverly $2,120
Chelsea $2,100
Dover $1,900
Lawrence $1,880
Cambridge $3,000
Boston $2,920
Somerville $2,650
Medford $2,580
Newton $2,480
Portsmouth $2,390
Quincy $2,380
Revere $2,370
Framingham $2,280
Melrose $2,250
Malden $2,170
Beverly $2,120
Chelsea $2,100
Dover $1,900
Lawrence $1,880
December 2, 2025 at 4:34 PM
There are multiple reasons that I will probably never move back to the US, but not least among them is the fact that neither I nor any normal person can now afford to live in my former city.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Do you consider yourself an intuitive writer? Does the writing of a mystery or thriller require you to change your ways? Check out my latest interview with author Emily Ross her newest novel: SWALLOWTAIL.#writingcommunity
open.substack.com/pub/7amnovel...
open.substack.com/pub/7amnovel...
Emily Ross: The Chicken or the Egg of Character and Plotting
Her latest thriller, SWALLOWTAIL, releases this month
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Do you consider yourself an intuitive writer? Does the writing of a mystery or thriller require you to change your ways? Check out my latest interview with author Emily Ross her newest novel: SWALLOWTAIL.#writingcommunity
open.substack.com/pub/7amnovel...
open.substack.com/pub/7amnovel...
I call Bedroom 4, which is actually just a closet with a sink in it.
“Architects are cooked, AI is coming for your job” and it’s the most ass floor plan you have ever seen with rooms like a Master Roisn and a Coat Bath.
December 2, 2025 at 12:09 PM
I call Bedroom 4, which is actually just a closet with a sink in it.
All of the below should go without saying, btw. Wth do people think alt text is *for?*
Also, check the automatically generated alt text on images and gifs sourced from Bsky before you post. It's often worse than trash.
Also, check the automatically generated alt text on images and gifs sourced from Bsky before you post. It's often worse than trash.
I did an accessibility course today at work re digital content, and was reminded that alt text replaces the image, & is not description—& wow. More of that.
Not “this is x poem” but the poem text.
Not “a painting” but what the viewer sees.
Not “a graph of x” but what information is communicated.
Not “this is x poem” but the poem text.
Not “a painting” but what the viewer sees.
Not “a graph of x” but what information is communicated.
December 2, 2025 at 8:40 AM
All of the below should go without saying, btw. Wth do people think alt text is *for?*
Also, check the automatically generated alt text on images and gifs sourced from Bsky before you post. It's often worse than trash.
Also, check the automatically generated alt text on images and gifs sourced from Bsky before you post. It's often worse than trash.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Applications for the our 2026 National Mentoring Programme are now open!
This is an opportunity open to all writers across the island of Ireland to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer.
irishwriterscentre.ie/national-men...
This is an opportunity open to all writers across the island of Ireland to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer.
irishwriterscentre.ie/national-men...
December 1, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Applications for the our 2026 National Mentoring Programme are now open!
This is an opportunity open to all writers across the island of Ireland to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer.
irishwriterscentre.ie/national-men...
This is an opportunity open to all writers across the island of Ireland to receive sustained creative and professional mentoring from an established Irish writer.
irishwriterscentre.ie/national-men...
That canceled show you'll never stop thinking about.
This show was on its way to being one of the earliest and most thoughtful portrayals of a trans child on US TV, when the Writer's Strike killed it. Also Susie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I'm still BEREFT.
This show was on its way to being one of the earliest and most thoughtful portrayals of a trans child on US TV, when the Writer's Strike killed it. Also Susie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I'm still BEREFT.
December 1, 2025 at 8:40 AM
That canceled show you'll never stop thinking about.
This show was on its way to being one of the earliest and most thoughtful portrayals of a trans child on US TV, when the Writer's Strike killed it. Also Susie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I'm still BEREFT.
This show was on its way to being one of the earliest and most thoughtful portrayals of a trans child on US TV, when the Writer's Strike killed it. Also Susie Izzard and Minnie Driver. I'm still BEREFT.
It's early, but I'm calling it: this is the best thread about writing of the day, and it's only two posts long. 👇
I'm always confused when writers change the plot because a reader figured out what was coming. Surely that's good? Surely that means the breadcrumbs have been laid out appropriately?
December 1, 2025 at 8:19 AM
It's early, but I'm calling it: this is the best thread about writing of the day, and it's only two posts long. 👇
I am the kind of weirdo whose favorite movie as a kid was, for a while at least, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Annoy your parents by reciting out-of-context metaphysical ramblings on the nature of art/ existence. Flip lots of coins and call Heads even when it's Tails. RIP Tom Stoppard.
two men are standing next to each other in a room and one of them is holding something in his hand
Alt: Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, or possibly Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, watch a pinwheel spin at supernatural speed and look concerned.
media.tenor.com
November 30, 2025 at 9:55 AM
I am the kind of weirdo whose favorite movie as a kid was, for a while at least, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead. Annoy your parents by reciting out-of-context metaphysical ramblings on the nature of art/ existence. Flip lots of coins and call Heads even when it's Tails. RIP Tom Stoppard.
If there were any justice in the world we, uh, would not fucking be here, not remotely, what the hell are we even doing?
November 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM
If there were any justice in the world we, uh, would not fucking be here, not remotely, what the hell are we even doing?
I'm so happy I took a picture of this before my wife and I housed it bc it was DELICIOUS. Leftover ramen noodles with gochujang, leftover adobo pork, eggplant, and cabbage stir-fried with a packet of kimchi and topped with a fried egg.
November 28, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I'm so happy I took a picture of this before my wife and I housed it bc it was DELICIOUS. Leftover ramen noodles with gochujang, leftover adobo pork, eggplant, and cabbage stir-fried with a packet of kimchi and topped with a fried egg.
Very excited - almost TOO excited - to be virtually meeting with this year's International Debut Novel Competition winners at @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social later today! I know "sitting very still and staring at a fixed point on the wall" doesn't *look* very excited, but inside I'm all fireworks.
a close up of a woman with curly hair and a hair clip in her hair .
Alt: Clip from Rocky Horror as Doctor Frank-N-Furter says "Antici...........................pation."
media.tenor.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Very excited - almost TOO excited - to be virtually meeting with this year's International Debut Novel Competition winners at @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social later today! I know "sitting very still and staring at a fixed point on the wall" doesn't *look* very excited, but inside I'm all fireworks.
Reposting for the morning crowd!
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Research Diaries #2: Hell is empty & all the devils are here.
Hi. This is me poking my head out of my writing cave, wanting to talk about a work-in-progress for a minute. It’s Schrodinger’s book, as it stands. But with any luck – and a lot m…
hessephillips.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposting for the morning crowd!
IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
[Sings drunkenly.]
November 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Research Diaries #2: Hell is empty & all the devils are here.
Hi. This is me poking my head out of my writing cave, wanting to talk about a work-in-progress for a minute. It’s Schrodinger’s book, as it stands. But with any luck – and a lot m…
hessephillips.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:55 PM
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Can you sum up your gender in 4 fictional characters?
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
November 27, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Can you sum up your gender in 4 fictional characters?
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
'Ere's yer Chrissmas shoppin' sorted then 👇
PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! Do not ask me how my writing is going.
Because @lollardfish.bsky.social says we should promote our books: utpress.utexas.edu/9781477313138/
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
'Ere's yer Chrissmas shoppin' sorted then 👇
Wow. Just wow.
November 27, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Wow. Just wow.
Cosigned. Same goes for the "don't describe the protag physically in any way bc if they don't look like me I can't relate to them" people. And the "don't give the protag a personality or quirks or foibles bc then I can't see myself in them" people.
Like, what are you, six?
Like, what are you, six?
"I DNF first-person books if I can't relate to the protagonist" is a kind of illiteracy.
The point of first person is not to insert yourself into a narrative. You are supposed to experience and empathize with the perspective of a character that is intended to be fully fleshed out.
The point of first person is not to insert yourself into a narrative. You are supposed to experience and empathize with the perspective of a character that is intended to be fully fleshed out.
November 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Cosigned. Same goes for the "don't describe the protag physically in any way bc if they don't look like me I can't relate to them" people. And the "don't give the protag a personality or quirks or foibles bc then I can't see myself in them" people.
Like, what are you, six?
Like, what are you, six?
I have vivid memories of showing this to a class of undergrads in "Gay & Lesbian Film & Theatre" and just watching them all slowly turn into the 80s Maxell Cassette guy over the course of the movie.
We've had a few monochrome sketches in a row, so here's some bright, colourful, camp dopamine hits from the film "Pink Narcissus", by James Bidgood, 1963, screened at the Hammer Museum at UCLA in March 2025 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums
November 26, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I have vivid memories of showing this to a class of undergrads in "Gay & Lesbian Film & Theatre" and just watching them all slowly turn into the 80s Maxell Cassette guy over the course of the movie.