SF Layzell
@sflayzell.bsky.social
I write queer stories & edit books sometimes https://sflayzell.com/
Buy Cottonopolis, a MG set in 1840s Manchester, shortlisted for Little Rebels https://sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Views mine, contact via website
Buy Cottonopolis, a MG set in 1840s Manchester, shortlisted for Little Rebels https://sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Views mine, contact via website
Pinned
SF Layzell
@sflayzell.bsky.social
· Aug 20
My publisher just sent me a video of the Little Rebels shortlist in the window of radical booksellers Housmans, including Cottonopolis!
www.instagram.com/reel/DNkmpTL...
As well as being in the window display (!), the book is also available to order from Housmans:
housmans.com/product/cott...
www.instagram.com/reel/DNkmpTL...
As well as being in the window display (!), the book is also available to order from Housmans:
housmans.com/product/cott...
Reposted by SF Layzell
#KidLitUK a beautiful book, I'm so glad it has been reissued
For those wanting to address the topic of Jesus as a refugee in a gentle, accessible way, especially with younger children, may I signpost Refuge by Anne Booth and Sam Usher. There's a new 10th anniversary edition now out too!
November 26, 2025 at 8:23 AM
#KidLitUK a beautiful book, I'm so glad it has been reissued
Reposted by SF Layzell
A pre-festive thread of my favourite Northodox titles plus a couple on my TBR... All of these are 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS 🎄📚
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
A pre-festive thread of my favourite Northodox titles plus a couple on my TBR... All of these are 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS 🎄📚
Reposted by SF Layzell
You want Cottonopolis. And Cacoethes.
I want the rest because I don't have them yet.
And it's nearly Christmas - what makes a better gift than a book?
I want the rest because I don't have them yet.
And it's nearly Christmas - what makes a better gift than a book?
A pre-festive thread of my favourite Northodox titles plus a couple on my TBR... All of these are 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS 🎄📚
November 25, 2025 at 8:09 PM
You want Cottonopolis. And Cacoethes.
I want the rest because I don't have them yet.
And it's nearly Christmas - what makes a better gift than a book?
I want the rest because I don't have them yet.
And it's nearly Christmas - what makes a better gift than a book?
A pre-festive thread of my favourite Northodox titles plus a couple on my TBR... All of these are 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS 🎄📚
November 25, 2025 at 7:05 PM
A pre-festive thread of my favourite Northodox titles plus a couple on my TBR... All of these are 25% off with the code NORTHODOXMAS 🎄📚
Such a good idea - this is going to be my Christmas present to myself 👀
Announcing our 2026 Subscription!!
Our year of travel through books!
Each title will take you to another country - if not several!
You will receive the following 8 titles 2 weeks before their publication
www.flyonthewallpress.co.uk/product-page...
Our year of travel through books!
Each title will take you to another country - if not several!
You will receive the following 8 titles 2 weeks before their publication
www.flyonthewallpress.co.uk/product-page...
November 25, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Such a good idea - this is going to be my Christmas present to myself 👀
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Not sure I fancy my chances of being rescued but to be fair I probably staged the whole thing to get Lily Tomlin's attention so 🤷
Not sure I fancy my chances of being rescued but to be fair I probably staged the whole thing to get Lily Tomlin's attention so 🤷
November 25, 2025 at 6:37 PM
You’ve been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you. Who’s coming to save you?
Not sure I fancy my chances of being rescued but to be fair I probably staged the whole thing to get Lily Tomlin's attention so 🤷
Not sure I fancy my chances of being rescued but to be fair I probably staged the whole thing to get Lily Tomlin's attention so 🤷
Reposted by SF Layzell
Step 1: Sign up for a FREE library card at your local library today.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
fry from futurama says " and it 's all thanks to the books at my local library .. "
ALT: fry from futurama says " and it 's all thanks to the books at my local library .. "
media.tenor.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Step 1: Sign up for a FREE library card at your local library today.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Step 2: Enter a world of possibilities.
Step 3: Share some of the library joy that is sure to come.
Reposted by SF Layzell
Leave It on the Track — Margot Fisher
A moving queer YA debut about grief, healing, and the power of roller derby. After losing her dads, Moose finds strength, community, and unexpected first love on the track.
queerazon.com/product/leav...
#QueerBooks #YA #ComingOfAge
A moving queer YA debut about grief, healing, and the power of roller derby. After losing her dads, Moose finds strength, community, and unexpected first love on the track.
queerazon.com/product/leav...
#QueerBooks #YA #ComingOfAge
November 24, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Leave It on the Track — Margot Fisher
A moving queer YA debut about grief, healing, and the power of roller derby. After losing her dads, Moose finds strength, community, and unexpected first love on the track.
queerazon.com/product/leav...
#QueerBooks #YA #ComingOfAge
A moving queer YA debut about grief, healing, and the power of roller derby. After losing her dads, Moose finds strength, community, and unexpected first love on the track.
queerazon.com/product/leav...
#QueerBooks #YA #ComingOfAge
Reposted by SF Layzell
November 2025 YA & Middle Grade Horror Roundup: Ghosts, Monsters & Mysteries
Featuring @horrortom.bsky.social @christopheredge.bsky.social
@finbarhawkins.bsky.social
gnofhorror.com/november-202...
@scholasticuk.bsky.social @crystallake.bsky.social @foxandinkbooks.bsky.social
Featuring @horrortom.bsky.social @christopheredge.bsky.social
@finbarhawkins.bsky.social
gnofhorror.com/november-202...
@scholasticuk.bsky.social @crystallake.bsky.social @foxandinkbooks.bsky.social
November 2025 YA & Middle Grade Horror Roundup: Ghosts, Monsters & Mysteries - The Ginger Nuts Of Horror Review Website
Discover the best new Young Adult and Middle Grade horror books of November 2025. This roundup includes in-depth reviews of 9 spooky reads from masters like Cliff McNish and Tom Deady, plus new author...
gnofhorror.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:51 AM
November 2025 YA & Middle Grade Horror Roundup: Ghosts, Monsters & Mysteries
Featuring @horrortom.bsky.social @christopheredge.bsky.social
@finbarhawkins.bsky.social
gnofhorror.com/november-202...
@scholasticuk.bsky.social @crystallake.bsky.social @foxandinkbooks.bsky.social
Featuring @horrortom.bsky.social @christopheredge.bsky.social
@finbarhawkins.bsky.social
gnofhorror.com/november-202...
@scholasticuk.bsky.social @crystallake.bsky.social @foxandinkbooks.bsky.social
Reposted by SF Layzell
Are you looking for a christmas present for a creative person? Hoo boy do we have the auction for you. Hundreds of creatives from 20 countries are raising funds for people fleeing Genocide in El-Fasher, Sudan. Huge names, huge items! Bid here! app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
Art by @raafaye, insta
Art by @raafaye, insta
November 23, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Are you looking for a christmas present for a creative person? Hoo boy do we have the auction for you. Hundreds of creatives from 20 countries are raising funds for people fleeing Genocide in El-Fasher, Sudan. Huge names, huge items! Bid here! app.galabid.com/creatives4su...
Art by @raafaye, insta
Art by @raafaye, insta
Reposted by SF Layzell
We refuse to sink (source of this picture unknown). Please do what you can, donate, share, help. Thank you!
November 23, 2025 at 9:28 AM
We refuse to sink (source of this picture unknown). Please do what you can, donate, share, help. Thank you!
Reposted by SF Layzell
Tremendous call to action to fight book banning from by @maggietokudahall.bsky.social at the ALAN Breakfast as she accepts the ALSN Award on behalf of @authorsabb.bsky.social
“The function of literature is not to instill obedience.”
“The function of literature is not to instill obedience.”
November 22, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Tremendous call to action to fight book banning from by @maggietokudahall.bsky.social at the ALAN Breakfast as she accepts the ALSN Award on behalf of @authorsabb.bsky.social
“The function of literature is not to instill obedience.”
“The function of literature is not to instill obedience.”
Weekend website updates from your friendly neighbourhood author
Where to buy Cottonopolis & support indie bookstores sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Short stories about history, queerness, childhood & the environment
sflayzell.com/short-stories/
What should be next? Audio clips?
🌈✒️ 📚💙 🌈📚
Where to buy Cottonopolis & support indie bookstores sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Short stories about history, queerness, childhood & the environment
sflayzell.com/short-stories/
What should be next? Audio clips?
🌈✒️ 📚💙 🌈📚
COTTONOPOLIS - S F LAYZELL
Read a preview and find ordering options for Cottonopolis, a story of friendship, first love and survival for ages 8+
sflayzell.com
November 23, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Weekend website updates from your friendly neighbourhood author
Where to buy Cottonopolis & support indie bookstores sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Short stories about history, queerness, childhood & the environment
sflayzell.com/short-stories/
What should be next? Audio clips?
🌈✒️ 📚💙 🌈📚
Where to buy Cottonopolis & support indie bookstores sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/
Short stories about history, queerness, childhood & the environment
sflayzell.com/short-stories/
What should be next? Audio clips?
🌈✒️ 📚💙 🌈📚
Reposted by SF Layzell
2 ongoing convos are dovetailing rn:
1. a holiday shopping $ blackout aimed at big business;
2. worry over small presses closing or paring down.
Let's talk direct action: YOU CAN DO BOTH😀
IT'S VITAL TO SUPPORT indie pubs that encourage risk & diversity. Here's a 🧵 of em you can support directly:
1. a holiday shopping $ blackout aimed at big business;
2. worry over small presses closing or paring down.
Let's talk direct action: YOU CAN DO BOTH😀
IT'S VITAL TO SUPPORT indie pubs that encourage risk & diversity. Here's a 🧵 of em you can support directly:
November 22, 2025 at 9:21 PM
2 ongoing convos are dovetailing rn:
1. a holiday shopping $ blackout aimed at big business;
2. worry over small presses closing or paring down.
Let's talk direct action: YOU CAN DO BOTH😀
IT'S VITAL TO SUPPORT indie pubs that encourage risk & diversity. Here's a 🧵 of em you can support directly:
1. a holiday shopping $ blackout aimed at big business;
2. worry over small presses closing or paring down.
Let's talk direct action: YOU CAN DO BOTH😀
IT'S VITAL TO SUPPORT indie pubs that encourage risk & diversity. Here's a 🧵 of em you can support directly:
Reposted by SF Layzell
Sharing this again! I've since added the @saraband-books.bsky.social book 'Peat and Whisky: The Unbreakable Bond' by Mike Billett to this list, as well as 'The Zebra and Lord Jones' by Anna Vaught (and @renardpress.com )😍
As we're coming up to Christmas 🎄 I thought I'd highlight some indie-published books 📚 that I've loved this year, in case you'd like some recommendations for gifts. 🎁
I'll tag the publisher in each one, and then list some indie bookshops at the end.
Please, please add to this 🧵
I'll tag the publisher in each one, and then list some indie bookshops at the end.
Please, please add to this 🧵
November 19, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Reposted by SF Layzell
Buy 👏 some 👏 gifts 👏 from 👏 indie 👏 presses 👏
If you're at a loss, I did a whole thread of some good ones that I'll link below!
If you're at a loss, I did a whole thread of some good ones that I'll link below!
It may well be the case that small, independent presses are the lifeblood of literature, and a vital feature of our cultural landscape, providing an essential service in a complex ecosystem, like wrasses or shrimps. What is undeniably the case is that we have sold a total of five books this month.
November 19, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Buy 👏 some 👏 gifts 👏 from 👏 indie 👏 presses 👏
If you're at a loss, I did a whole thread of some good ones that I'll link below!
If you're at a loss, I did a whole thread of some good ones that I'll link below!
Reposted by SF Layzell
We have books galore in Manchester at House of Books and Friends with some incredible indie publishers!
See you at 11 😍
See you at 11 😍
November 22, 2025 at 10:47 AM
We have books galore in Manchester at House of Books and Friends with some incredible indie publishers!
See you at 11 😍
See you at 11 😍
Reposted by SF Layzell
I adore Gail’s work
It's been a bit quiet lately when it should be picking up for Christmas.
If you're shopping for gifts, have a look at what I do.
Everything I make is designed here in Manchester and manufactured in the UK.
www.gailmyerscough.co.uk
If you're shopping for gifts, have a look at what I do.
Everything I make is designed here in Manchester and manufactured in the UK.
www.gailmyerscough.co.uk
Gail Myerscough | Surface Pattern Designer & Illustrator | Manchester
Discover a world of bold and colourful prints, homewares and stationery by Gail Myerscough, a surface pattern designer and illustrator. Designed in Manchester, made in the UK.
www.gailmyerscough.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I adore Gail’s work
Reposted by SF Layzell
The MEN is now the only local newsroom in Greater Manchester that has more than a handful of staff reporters, but go back 25 years and it would have been one of a dozen.
Our weekend read is the tale of what’s been lost.
manchestermill.co.uk/the-clatteri...
Our weekend read is the tale of what’s been lost.
manchestermill.co.uk/the-clatteri...
The clattering, chaotic, romantic world of Greater Manchester’s lost newspapers
What happens when a community loses its champion?
manchestermill.co.uk
November 22, 2025 at 10:07 AM
The MEN is now the only local newsroom in Greater Manchester that has more than a handful of staff reporters, but go back 25 years and it would have been one of a dozen.
Our weekend read is the tale of what’s been lost.
manchestermill.co.uk/the-clatteri...
Our weekend read is the tale of what’s been lost.
manchestermill.co.uk/the-clatteri...
Manchester! The best event for festive book shopping is happening today. But be warned: last year I needed several extra tote bags...
November 22, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Manchester! The best event for festive book shopping is happening today. But be warned: last year I needed several extra tote bags...
Reposted by SF Layzell
What many politicians don't realise - or want to understand - is that many of the "highly-skilled" immigrants whose labour they crave were raised by the same asylum seekers and refugees they openly despise. They take the racist political rhetoric personally, and act accordingly. Why wouldn't they?
"Record numbers of overseas-trained doctors are quitting the UK, leaving the NHS at risk of huge gaps in its workforce, with hostility towards migrants blamed for the exodus...the NHS is so heavily reliant on doctors from elsewhere – 42% of its entire medical workforce qualified overseas."
All those people, including current government, who falsely claim migrants are to blame for failings with the NHS, along with infrastructure in general, are in for one hell of a shock with how much worse things will get with Labour's anti-immigration policies.
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
www.theguardian.com/society/2025...
November 21, 2025 at 10:04 AM
What many politicians don't realise - or want to understand - is that many of the "highly-skilled" immigrants whose labour they crave were raised by the same asylum seekers and refugees they openly despise. They take the racist political rhetoric personally, and act accordingly. Why wouldn't they?
Reposted by SF Layzell
1/5🧵 How to Make a Book Bow
You will need:
▶️ That book you spilled coffee on
▶️ A ruler and scalpel* or scissors
▶️ Double-sided stickytape or glue (tape is much easier)
*available art/hobby shops
You will need:
▶️ That book you spilled coffee on
▶️ A ruler and scalpel* or scissors
▶️ Double-sided stickytape or glue (tape is much easier)
*available art/hobby shops
December 7, 2024 at 8:05 PM
1/5🧵 How to Make a Book Bow
You will need:
▶️ That book you spilled coffee on
▶️ A ruler and scalpel* or scissors
▶️ Double-sided stickytape or glue (tape is much easier)
*available art/hobby shops
You will need:
▶️ That book you spilled coffee on
▶️ A ruler and scalpel* or scissors
▶️ Double-sided stickytape or glue (tape is much easier)
*available art/hobby shops
Reposted by SF Layzell
“Search history,” a poem (by me)
How to prepare duck breast
In the fall of democracy,
And protect overwintering bees
And immigrants.
De-icing your freezer
And town square,
And saying what you mean
To get a knee off your chest.
Six ways to make casserole
Without health insurance.
(Cont)
How to prepare duck breast
In the fall of democracy,
And protect overwintering bees
And immigrants.
De-icing your freezer
And town square,
And saying what you mean
To get a knee off your chest.
Six ways to make casserole
Without health insurance.
(Cont)
November 21, 2025 at 12:43 AM
“Search history,” a poem (by me)
How to prepare duck breast
In the fall of democracy,
And protect overwintering bees
And immigrants.
De-icing your freezer
And town square,
And saying what you mean
To get a knee off your chest.
Six ways to make casserole
Without health insurance.
(Cont)
How to prepare duck breast
In the fall of democracy,
And protect overwintering bees
And immigrants.
De-icing your freezer
And town square,
And saying what you mean
To get a knee off your chest.
Six ways to make casserole
Without health insurance.
(Cont)
Reposted by SF Layzell
One for kidlit academics, teachers & librarians! Join me, Tammy Mielke & Michelle H. Martin discussing our co-edited book Song of the Land: Celebrating the Works of Mildred D. Taylor
Thurs Dec 4, 11:30 Pacific
Free & open to all
Register: bit.ly/47JHJjH
#kidlit #yalit #mglit #literature #academia
Thurs Dec 4, 11:30 Pacific
Free & open to all
Register: bit.ly/47JHJjH
#kidlit #yalit #mglit #literature #academia
November 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
One for kidlit academics, teachers & librarians! Join me, Tammy Mielke & Michelle H. Martin discussing our co-edited book Song of the Land: Celebrating the Works of Mildred D. Taylor
Thurs Dec 4, 11:30 Pacific
Free & open to all
Register: bit.ly/47JHJjH
#kidlit #yalit #mglit #literature #academia
Thurs Dec 4, 11:30 Pacific
Free & open to all
Register: bit.ly/47JHJjH
#kidlit #yalit #mglit #literature #academia
Reposted by SF Layzell
Take out a @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social subscription for 2016 and, among lots of other goodies, you’ll receive my short story collection 2 weeks early with a 25% discount!
1st October - 'Ice Flower Herborium' by Dzena Andersone. Psychological thriller, translated from Latvian £12.99
2nd December - 'Nice Things' by @ruebaldry.bsky.social Short Story Collection £11.99
2nd December - 'Nice Things' by @ruebaldry.bsky.social Short Story Collection £11.99
November 20, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Take out a @flyonthewallpress.bsky.social subscription for 2016 and, among lots of other goodies, you’ll receive my short story collection 2 weeks early with a 25% discount!