Jon Sparks
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jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Jon Sparks
@jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
1.7K followers 1.8K following 2K posts
After more than 30 years, and 60 books, as an outdoor writer and photographer, I’m now fully focused on fiction with the Shattered Moon series. AI-free (and I mean free).
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jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Just revisited and gently updated my Post on Jane Austen and her possible influence on my work.
The Austen Connection
Where 'Austen meets Earthsea'… or something.
open.substack.com
December 4, 2025 at 3:23 PM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 4/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 19 instances of 'city'; two in this extract.
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"Well," said Master Hasson, "Next let me draw your attention to this drawing." She indicated the wider view that Tor had produced, and drew her pointer along the scatter of strokes, briskly scrubbed in with the side of the pencil-point then softened with a thumb: the banner of smoke. "What exactly are you adding to the air of our city?" Cledril frowned. "No more’n what any fireplace or stove or furnace does, I’d reckon, Dawnsinger." "Well, is that so? Do we know for sure? Doesn’t your firebox burn hotter than a domestic fireplace or kitchen stove?" "S’pose it might, Dawnsinger. But… respeckfully, don’t you have furnaces here? Mebbe a forge?" "You’re right, of course. And the Healers tell me there’s always a surge in respiratory complaints when we have smog… Is that not so, Master Berrivan?" "Quite true, Master Hasson. It’s never so bad up here, but still nights in the lower city, along the waterfront, in winter when everyone who can afford fuel has their fires blazing… you’d feel it in your lungs just walking the streets for half an hour."
December 4, 2025 at 7:30 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 4/12: What would you like to see explored in prompts for this hashtag game?
I don’t know, mostly I like the fact that they’re coming from someone else’s imagination. I suppose I might like to see more about influences and sources of…
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December 4, 2025 at 7:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 4/12: What’s the worst thing about the world of your story?
Inequality. It’s most obvious in the Five Principalities, with the persistence of slavery and the lack of opportunity for women, but it’s a problem in the Sung Lands too. The…
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December 4, 2025 at 7:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 3/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'dominant'. And ‘ruler’ only in the sense of a measuring tool. ‘Powerful’ is the best I can do.
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Felgin, she found, was shorter than herself, but heavy-shouldered and barrel-chested; a powerful man now slipping into softness. His voice when he chose was a resonant bass, but in close conversation it was softly husky. They exchanged some observations on the success of the voyage and the investigation of the Spire Isles; he sympathised with her experience of sea-quease. No doubt he didn’t mean to patronise, and no doubt he did have vastly more experience under sail than she did. They both knew this was all inconsequential, and Jerya was sure he was as keen as she was to get to the meat. "Seyeur Felgin, I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting you haven't at least suspected what this is about. I've spent five weeks on a ship or on a small island with Seyeur Harran. You'll hardly be surprised that I learned a few things about him. I know he’s been very keen to acquire two of your slaves. I have to wonder why why you've been so adamant about not selling."
December 3, 2025 at 8:40 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 3/12: What’s the best thing about the world of your story?
What keeps me going with the world and the series is a sense of possibility; there’s a lot of world to discover, a lot of history to unearth, and many people striving for progress.
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December 3, 2025 at 8:32 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 3/12: Do genre conventions provide an essential framework, or stifle original storytelling?
’Genre, a concept which could have served as a useful distinction of various kinds of fiction, has been degraded into a disguise for mere…
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December 3, 2025 at 8:32 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
I have my name on the cover of a lot of books (counting everything, over 70); but an image of me only appears on 3 covers—and only 2 of those are in this 70+.

And the only one in which you can see my face (albeit tiny) is the one for which I have no responsibility.
Just an odd observation.
Two tiny figures on a steep rock climb in the lower right, with a backdrop of woods, green valley, a lake, and distant mountain (Skiddaw). Title reaads 'Borrowdale' and in bottom right is 'F&RCC Guide'. Cover of the guidebook to the Lancashire Cycleway, by Jonsparks, published by Cicerone. Image shows a cyclist in black tights and red top, starting the descent of a lonely moorland road. Cover of 'Off-Road Rides in the Lake District', by Jon Sparks. Main image shows rear view of a cyclist in black shorts, dark top, and red helmet, following a narrow green trail on grassy moorland. Inset picture shows two female cyclists on another moorland trail with heather in flower in the foreground and bracken on the slopes behind.
December 2, 2025 at 3:58 PM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Continuing this serialised novel of murky goings-on in the great outdoors. Free to read.

Sorry it’s a day late this week: hope the suspense hasn’t been too much!
The Kanchenjunga Manifesto—Chapter Thirteen
Continuing this serialised novel of murky goings-on in the great outdoors.
open.substack.com
December 2, 2025 at 8:46 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 2/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has just one instance of 'percent'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Evisyn shrugged. "Would I ever have become Master Prime without that shake-up we all got, the summer you came back for the first time?" "Some people still blame me for everything that happened that summer, I dare say." "One or two, maybe. I don't know; it's all pure speculation, isn't it? It's fun, but it can't prove anything. But I think very likely you've done far more good for the Guild being here than you would have done in Carwerid." Yes, you didn't say I'd have been a good Master Prime… She said only, "You omit the third possibility." "What's that?" 'I'd have spent ninety percent of my time in the Library and the rest rehashing the argument about whether the Journal-keeper was female or not. Which is what got me off on the wrong footing with Brinbeth, all those years ago." A swift calculation. "Twenty-nine years. Twenty-nine years I've spent here, against less than twenty in the Sung Lands. Draff, I’ll soon have been twenty years at Skilthorn; it’s almost beginning to feel like home…"
December 2, 2025 at 7:19 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 2/12: What does your MC’s home smell like?
There’s one smell that’s followed Jerya all her life. As a girl one of her tasks was tending the beehives; ever since she’s been attuned to the scent of beeswax, which is common both in candles & in…
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December 2, 2025 at 7:15 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 2/12: What do you dislike as a reader and thus avoid in your own work?
Stories that read like they were written according to ‘rules’ or simplistic precepts (e.g. ‘you must have conflict);
Stories where I don’t care about any of the…
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December 2, 2025 at 7:13 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 1/12
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has (to my surprise ) just one instance of 'belong' (and one of ‘belongings’.)
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
She stopped, drained her glass in one convulsive move, laid it down and leaned toward the girls. "I’ve got some ways used to it since, been there close on a dozen times. I know how it goes now… but even so, every time, I go hot and cold and shaky when I think… they’re talkin’ about more money for writin’ one book than His Lordship’d get if he sold me." There was another curdled silence. Mavrys poured Vireddi a little more wine; even the sound of the liquid curling into the glass seemed unduly loud. Torvyn lifted her own glass, took a slow sip, almost inhaling more than she drank. "Vireddi," she said at last, "You’ve rendered us all speechless again. And, speaking for myself, I’m a little ashamed. I’ve been thinking how marvellous it is that you can write your books and be so successful, be a best-seller… and I guess I just never stopped to think how some of it might still be hard for you." Vireddi smiled at her. "Don’t yow go frettin’ yowrself about it, m’lady—Miss. It was hard, that first time; I just felt so much like I didn’t belong there, like I shouldn’t even ha’ been sittin’ in that fancy leather chair. And like… like no one was goin’ to buy the book and everyone was goin’ to say I’d wasted their time. Now…"
December 1, 2025 at 8:49 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 1/12: From where did the inspiration for your current WIP come?
Other than coming from the previous six books in the series…? As for the origins of that, I tried to untangle some of the history in a Substack post, which turned into two…
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A Long Road (Part 1)
Originally published on my email newsletter some time ago.
theshatteredmoon.substack.com
December 1, 2025 at 8:43 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 1/12: In an alternative universe, you are the opposite of who you are. What's your story like there?
I find the premise as dubious as Star Trek’s ‘mirror universe’, where everyone is just a nasty version of themselves. It doesn’t hold water…
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
December 1, 2025 at 8:42 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 30/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has 12 instances of 'number'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
"He then said that the Zenzile is registered and owned in Sessapont—but I observed that for the duration of the voyage she was under charter by a citizen of Denvirran, a member of one of our leading families. Lord Selton has, in fact, sponsored all the exploration out to the Spire Isles since the very first sighting. "But I’m sure Your Highness is well aware of all the background. I’ll come to the point. We did bring back a number of artefacts, and we—Master Evisyn, Meister Harran, and myself, as the discoverers—we are prepared to place these in your custody, or that of a suitable institution such as the University of Sessapont… under certain conditions." The Prince leaned forward, interested enough to betray himself as such. "And what might those conditions be?"
November 30, 2025 at 9:23 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 30/11: When writing, do you consider your topics to avoid book bannings or fallout of any sort?
No, because when I look at the people banning books and the kind of books that are being banned, I know which company I’d rather be in.
I have,…
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November 30, 2025 at 9:13 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 30/11: Share some good things about how your work went this month.
Like Old Man River, it keeps on rolling.
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November 30, 2025 at 9:13 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
Probably the first time most Torygraph readers even heard of D&D, but now they’re angry about it.
jamiesmart.bsky.social Jamie Smart @jamiesmart.bsky.social · 4d
A game where you can do anything and they’re mad that people are doing anything.
November 30, 2025 at 9:12 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 30/11: Share some good things about how your work went this month.
Like Old Man River, it keeps on rolling.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
November 30, 2025 at 9:11 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 29/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has three instances of 'delicate'.
#books #writing #WriteSky #writingcommunity
Another thought came to her. "I wonder… do you want to try something?" To demonstrate, she gathered crumbs of bread and cheese from her plate—she doubted chaffinches would be drawn to raw onion—and dropped them into her palm, then stretched her arm across the table. Wide-eyed, Mirendi copied her. With her free hand, Jerya shifted the plates as far aside as she could reach. Just as she’d hoped, a couple of the birds were eyeing up the booty in the outstretched palms. It was almost as if they’d agreed to take it in turns to hop a wary fraction closer. Then the bolder of the two—a female, she noted with modest satisfaction—hopped the last handsbreadth, right into Mirendi’s palm. The girl made a small sound, a soft gasp, but she did not flinch. Her eyes never strayed from the chaffinch as it delicately pecked at a breadcrumb, a crumb of cheese. And when the bird, perhaps sated, took flight, she released a quiet sigh.
November 29, 2025 at 7:26 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 29/11: When writing gets hard, what keeps you going?
It’s never easy; but then I don’t think it’s meant to be. And there’s a lot of truth in the saying that the greater the effort, the greater the reward. I also have decades of experience of…
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November 29, 2025 at 7:21 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WritersCoffeeClub 29/11: What do you need to simplify in your work?
I’ve written a lot of books, including guidebooks and photography manuals, where it’s essential to be as simple as possible… but fatal to over-simplify. And in the case of…
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November 29, 2025 at 7:20 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 28/11
Book 7 of The Shattered Moon, working title ‘The Principle of Detachment’, has no instances of 'zigzag', but since a sailing vessel when tacking follows a kind of zigzag course, and there are two instances here…
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Evisyn took the binoculars, found her sight-line, fiddled with the focus. Jerya was far-sighted; Evisyn mildly myopic. "Is that the Zenzile?" "Well, I can’t exactly read her name at this distance. But the configuration looks right." "She isn’t heading directly for us, though." "No, but she’ll be tacking. Wind’s about South-East, isn’t it?" "Of course. And it’s not like sailing in a narrow channel, where they’d have to go about every few minutes… How far off are they, do you think?" "She seems to be right on the horizon… If we’re two hundred metres off the sea, that would put her fifty kilometres off. But tacking gives her a lot further to travel. I can’t see her getting here before nightfall, and Bensik’ll never attempt to enter the lagoon in the dark. But it might be a good idea if one of us were down at the shore fairly early tomorrow. Just in case she is coming back, and there’s news."
November 28, 2025 at 7:20 AM
jonsparksauthor.bsky.social
#WordWeavers 28/11: Your MC gets a free bag of candy corn. How do they react?
A bag of what?
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November 28, 2025 at 7:14 AM