📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
@kateem.bsky.social
Fantasy writer at peachfieldpress.uk. Latest story out now! https://houseoflongshadows.substack.com/p/hls-no-44-the-rules-about-knives Also at katemacdonald.net and @OxfordBrookes. Recorder of🏺finds, organiser, Q clerk, knitter, frog fosterer.
Pinned
The Handheld Diaries | Kate Macdonald | Substack
We published 48 books in seven years to recover forgotten fiction and lost authors. This is how we did it. Click to read The Handheld Diaries, by Kate Macdonald, a Substack publication with hundreds o...
katemacdonald.substack.com
Greetings, all those who wander in the Bluesky! I write SFF fiction at peachfieldpress.uk, I write about how I set up a small but doughty publishing house at katemacdonald.substack.com, I move words around, I measure excavated things and I organise. 💙📚🧶🏺🐸🌱🍫
Signed! Click on the link and you (UK citizens only) can too.
🚨BOOM!! The Petition calling for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy has now rocketed past 50,000 signatures! Let’s get it to 100,000. If a petition is what it’s going to take let’s get this done!
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 26, 2025 at 6:58 AM
Signed! Click on the link and you (UK citizens only) can too.
Castles. What's your preferred mighty bastion of stone from the past?
Here's Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, in the north east of Scotland, a truly splendid ruin with good rockpooling on the basalt slabs of the beach below. Scene of terrible crimes in the 17thC. Film set for Hamlet.
Here's Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, in the north east of Scotland, a truly splendid ruin with good rockpooling on the basalt slabs of the beach below. Scene of terrible crimes in the 17thC. Film set for Hamlet.
November 25, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Castles. What's your preferred mighty bastion of stone from the past?
Here's Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, in the north east of Scotland, a truly splendid ruin with good rockpooling on the basalt slabs of the beach below. Scene of terrible crimes in the 17thC. Film set for Hamlet.
Here's Dunnottar Castle, Stonehaven, in the north east of Scotland, a truly splendid ruin with good rockpooling on the basalt slabs of the beach below. Scene of terrible crimes in the 17thC. Film set for Hamlet.
I really really like Libro.fm. I buy an audiobook from them each month. They donate some of that paynent to a local bookshop that I chose. Their history selection is terrific. And when one of my books had an incomplete edit, they hustled the publisher to release a corrected version. Use them!
November 25, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I really really like Libro.fm. I buy an audiobook from them each month. They donate some of that paynent to a local bookshop that I chose. Their history selection is terrific. And when one of my books had an incomplete edit, they hustled the publisher to release a corrected version. Use them!
Bought a 'Glow in the Dark Star' with a Plants by Post gift voucher. Thought it would be an interesting pale echeveria.
It's been spray-painted. Paint is already peeling off. It'll probably die. What an absolute con. 🌱🌵
It's been spray-painted. Paint is already peeling off. It'll probably die. What an absolute con. 🌱🌵
November 24, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Bought a 'Glow in the Dark Star' with a Plants by Post gift voucher. Thought it would be an interesting pale echeveria.
It's been spray-painted. Paint is already peeling off. It'll probably die. What an absolute con. 🌱🌵
It's been spray-painted. Paint is already peeling off. It'll probably die. What an absolute con. 🌱🌵
Husband wrote notice for parish council about needing more volunteers.
Edited it for him, it's fine.
He sent it to another parish councillor.
'Do you want me to run it through ChatGPT in case the language can be improved?'
Considering murder.
Edited it for him, it's fine.
He sent it to another parish councillor.
'Do you want me to run it through ChatGPT in case the language can be improved?'
Considering murder.
November 24, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Husband wrote notice for parish council about needing more volunteers.
Edited it for him, it's fine.
He sent it to another parish councillor.
'Do you want me to run it through ChatGPT in case the language can be improved?'
Considering murder.
Edited it for him, it's fine.
He sent it to another parish councillor.
'Do you want me to run it through ChatGPT in case the language can be improved?'
Considering murder.
Excellent analysis of the romantasy boom and the positive things that can be said about this for the SFF industry. Even if you're not interested in that subgenre! 💙📚
Science fiction now is a far smaller part of the industry, and if it wants to regain its prominence and remain relevant, publishers and readers are going to have to find new approaches and stories.
I jotted down some thoughts: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/romantasy-sc...
I jotted down some thoughts: transfer-orbit.ghost.io/romantasy-sc...
Cross-genre takeover
A new report points to 2025 being the biggest year for speculative fiction ever, thanks to the ongoing boom in romantasy fiction
transfer-orbit.ghost.io
November 23, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Excellent analysis of the romantasy boom and the positive things that can be said about this for the SFF industry. Even if you're not interested in that subgenre! 💙📚
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
It’s so important to understand- as Arthur explains here - that the so called peace plan is not only a disaster for Ukraine but a threat to all of Europe
Moscow's guilty men in the White House are trying to destroy Ukraine and weaken Europe.
open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...
open.substack.com/pub/arthursn...
Another Day, Another Russian-US Attempt to Betray Ukraine and Destroy Europe
The Putin-Trump surrender plan will lay the groundwork for Russia to expand its attacks on other parts of Europe
open.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
It’s so important to understand- as Arthur explains here - that the so called peace plan is not only a disaster for Ukraine but a threat to all of Europe
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
The plan was leaked by the Russians and no one in America’s historically inept administration knew what anyone else was doing so people started getting behind it because they thought it was official policy.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
November 22, 2025 at 11:15 PM
The plan was leaked by the Russians and no one in America’s historically inept administration knew what anyone else was doing so people started getting behind it because they thought it was official policy.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
Editor. PhD. Editor. Postdoc research. Freelance journalist. University lecturer. Editor. Author. Publisher. Here we are.
November 23, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Editor. PhD. Editor. Postdoc research. Freelance journalist. University lecturer. Editor. Author. Publisher. Here we are.
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round ...
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round ...
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round
November 23, 2025 at 7:36 AM
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round ...
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round ...
My sweetheart and my parents
I left in my old hometown
I'm out to do the best I can
As I go ramblin' round
I wrote a story, and here it is published. 💙📚🪄 A bit ghost, a bit Gothic. houseoflongshadows.substack.com/p/hls-no-44-...
HLS No. 44: The Rules About Knives
Postwar Gothic from Kate Macdonald
houseoflongshadows.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I wrote a story, and here it is published. 💙📚🪄 A bit ghost, a bit Gothic. houseoflongshadows.substack.com/p/hls-no-44-...
I wrote about The Hunt again.
katemacdonald.net/2025/11/22/t...
katemacdonald.net/2025/11/22/t...
The Hunt: looking for complications in Portland
This week’s ‘The Hunt’ in The New York Times was a bit different. Normally we get to read about a couple retiring and wanting to downsize (or, recently, upsize), or a single perso…
katemacdonald.net
November 22, 2025 at 1:37 PM
I wrote about The Hunt again.
katemacdonald.net/2025/11/22/t...
katemacdonald.net/2025/11/22/t...
Settling down to a nice wet day of knitting indoors while watching the livestream of the @cymerafestival.co.uk Writers' Conference!
November 22, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Settling down to a nice wet day of knitting indoors while watching the livestream of the @cymerafestival.co.uk Writers' Conference!
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
altermag.com
November 22, 2025 at 6:11 AM
Finally out into the world, the labour of many months. My long essay in the inaugural edition of the Alter Magazine on the pasts, presents, and futures of Indian science fiction.
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
“The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction” —
altermag.com/articles/the...
Sublime exhibition of Paul Kidby's artwork for Terry Pratchett's Discworld, at Worcester Art Gallery.
www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk/museums/worc...
www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk/museums/worc...
November 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Sublime exhibition of Paul Kidby's artwork for Terry Pratchett's Discworld, at Worcester Art Gallery.
www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk/museums/worc...
www.museumsworcestershire.org.uk/museums/worc...
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Proud to be sponsoring this event next summer.
November 20, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Proud to be sponsoring this event next summer.
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Pine marten
November 19, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Pine marten
This was brought in today for recording on @findsorguk.bsky.social Massive bronze palstave axe head, found in Staffordshire some months ago. The blue stuff is apparently a bronze disease. It's 3500 years old.
November 19, 2025 at 6:36 PM
This was brought in today for recording on @findsorguk.bsky.social Massive bronze palstave axe head, found in Staffordshire some months ago. The blue stuff is apparently a bronze disease. It's 3500 years old.
My mouse is so venerable and elderly it now makes a sound like a quiet raven when I'm scrolling for wisdom.
November 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
My mouse is so venerable and elderly it now makes a sound like a quiet raven when I'm scrolling for wisdom.
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Yesterday off Bainbridge Island, Wa.
November 18, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Yesterday off Bainbridge Island, Wa.
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Our statement on the government’s abhorrent plans for people seeking safety.
Politicians are dividing communities, when they could be building affordable homes and strengthening them.
Politicians are dividing communities, when they could be building affordable homes and strengthening them.
November 17, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Our statement on the government’s abhorrent plans for people seeking safety.
Politicians are dividing communities, when they could be building affordable homes and strengthening them.
Politicians are dividing communities, when they could be building affordable homes and strengthening them.
I finished it. Decided that I didn't think Mum would like it for Christmas (I made her a cowl last year). My husband has been drooling over the colours for the 5 weeks it took to knit it. So it'll be for his Christmas instead, and he'll have to wait till he can unwrap it. #knitting #showmeyourknits
November 18, 2025 at 6:52 AM
I finished it. Decided that I didn't think Mum would like it for Christmas (I made her a cowl last year). My husband has been drooling over the colours for the 5 weeks it took to knit it. So it'll be for his Christmas instead, and he'll have to wait till he can unwrap it. #knitting #showmeyourknits
This Govt minister is making sweeping assertions about asylum seekers coming to the UK *already with* cars and ebikes, which are to be confiscated and sold to cover their benefit claims. This is mad. Have these people actually met any asylum seekers? He could so easily be a Reform spokesman.
Govt minister Alex Norris is asked if the govt will take jewellery from people [fleeing war and persecution]. Norris says the govt won't be taking peoples wedding rings but they will seize assets.
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
This Govt minister is making sweeping assertions about asylum seekers coming to the UK *already with* cars and ebikes, which are to be confiscated and sold to cover their benefit claims. This is mad. Have these people actually met any asylum seekers? He could so easily be a Reform spokesman.
Reposted by 📚 🍫 Kate Macdonald 🧶 🐸
Have to say I find the proposals to take away the route to permanent settlement of refugees both shocking and repulsive. It's code for 'whatever you do and contribute you can never become one of us so we won't allow you to try.' Racism, pure and simple.
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
Have to say I find the proposals to take away the route to permanent settlement of refugees both shocking and repulsive. It's code for 'whatever you do and contribute you can never become one of us so we won't allow you to try.' Racism, pure and simple.
I've started a new series reviewing the New York Times house-hunting column 'The Hunt' because I adore it. katemacdonald.net/2025/11/15/r...
Reviewing ‘The Hunt’: a new series
I’m going to start sharing my enthusiasm for The New York Times’ occasional house-hunting column, ‘The Hunt’. I’ve moved house myself three times in the past ten years…
katemacdonald.net
November 15, 2025 at 7:58 AM
I've started a new series reviewing the New York Times house-hunting column 'The Hunt' because I adore it. katemacdonald.net/2025/11/15/r...