Shona Ray
@shonaraywrites.bsky.social
Writer of gothic/horror/weird. Jericho Friday Night Live SL 2024. Thinker, wanderer, ex-anthropologist. London lawyer in my spare time. #amwriting #books #art #pwme
Pinned
Shona Ray
@shonaraywrites.bsky.social
· Nov 9
Hello Bluesky! Here's to new horizons 💙
#WritingCommunity
#WritingCommunity
Reposted by Shona Ray
At the moment, I’m regrettably not reading Edgar Allan Poe whilst having cappuccinos and croissants in a dimly-lit quaint café on a cobblestone street in Prague during a snowstorm, so no, I’m afraid your email did not “find me well.”
November 25, 2025 at 6:06 PM
At the moment, I’m regrettably not reading Edgar Allan Poe whilst having cappuccinos and croissants in a dimly-lit quaint café on a cobblestone street in Prague during a snowstorm, so no, I’m afraid your email did not “find me well.”
Reposted by Shona Ray
Who will wear the 👑?
There are now just eight maids-a-milking until the #WelkinWritingPrize is open for entries once again. Hope you're busy scribbling your stories.
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
www.mattkendrick.co.uk/welkin-prize...
November 24, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Who will wear the 👑?
Reposted by Shona Ray
A huge bookstore with a tiny/nonexistent horror section is a shitty, incomplete bookstore. I said what I said.
November 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
A huge bookstore with a tiny/nonexistent horror section is a shitty, incomplete bookstore. I said what I said.
Reposted by Shona Ray
If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
A reminder that the median book deal for a debut author in the UK is £7000, paid over 12-18 months. (from 2022 Society of Authors report). Some of your favourite writers are struggling. societyofauthors.org/2022/12/06/a....
A profession struggling to sustain itself - The Society of Authors
ALCS report on author incomes shows 60% drop in median incomes since 2006
societyofauthors.org
November 24, 2025 at 5:39 PM
If you like an author's work, the best thing you can do is buy it. The second best thing you can do is ask your local library to buy it. Or, do both!
Reposted by Shona Ray
You can buy my out-of-print portal fantasy, Pseudotooth, directly from me, all signed and doodled in. This book made at least two readers miss their stops on the train.
ko-fi.com/s/7292dd0671
ko-fi.com/s/7292dd0671
Pseudotooth paperback (signed) - Verity Holloway's Ko-fi Shop
The debut novel from Verity Holloway, Pseudotooth is an adult take on ‘portal fantasy’, boldly tackling issues of trauma responses, social difference ...
ko-fi.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:00 PM
You can buy my out-of-print portal fantasy, Pseudotooth, directly from me, all signed and doodled in. This book made at least two readers miss their stops on the train.
ko-fi.com/s/7292dd0671
ko-fi.com/s/7292dd0671
Reposted by Shona Ray
Winter conducts its slow seduction. It has disrobed the trees, its cold kisses make them shiver. Revelation of their wooden bones offers us a new, intimate language. They speak of swelling dark and coming ice. They speak their lover's secret names. – #EmilyCBanting, 1981 #Winter
November 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Winter conducts its slow seduction. It has disrobed the trees, its cold kisses make them shiver. Revelation of their wooden bones offers us a new, intimate language. They speak of swelling dark and coming ice. They speak their lover's secret names. – #EmilyCBanting, 1981 #Winter
So can anyone recommend the right lit mag for a satirical dystopian fairy tale told in the form of legislation? No? Oh. Well, it seems I wrote it anyway 🙄 #WritingCommunity #writersky #litmags
@chillsubs.bsky.social
@chillsubs.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 4:21 PM
So can anyone recommend the right lit mag for a satirical dystopian fairy tale told in the form of legislation? No? Oh. Well, it seems I wrote it anyway 🙄 #WritingCommunity #writersky #litmags
@chillsubs.bsky.social
@chillsubs.bsky.social
Reposted by Shona Ray
She is still here.
November 22, 2025 at 3:47 PM
She is still here.
Reposted by Shona Ray
Stop what you're doing and watch these sleepy chaps.
One of the reasons why Finland is the happiest country in the world is that the public broadcaster Yle sends a live feed of the first 8 weeks of a pack of puppies every fall. It’s already the fifth edition of ”Finland’s most therapeutic live feed”.
This is what I call value for my tax money
This is what I call value for my tax money
Pentulive 24/7 | Pentulive
Pentuliven pikkuiset kehittyvät vauhdikkaasti ja jokainen pentu on saanut nimensä! Kahdeksan viikkoa kestävässä suorassa lähetyksessä seurataan englanninspringerspanieli Murua ja tämän pentuetta.
areena.yle.fi
November 9, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Stop what you're doing and watch these sleepy chaps.
Reposted by Shona Ray
November’s early darkness enfolds us. The smell of applewood fires and rot is a constant companion at twilight. We hurry between home and evensong, home and pub. Ghosts crowd the lanes, our folklore becomes filled with tales of cold teeth. Winter begins to growl. - #CLNolan
November 9, 2025 at 5:33 PM
November’s early darkness enfolds us. The smell of applewood fires and rot is a constant companion at twilight. We hurry between home and evensong, home and pub. Ghosts crowd the lanes, our folklore becomes filled with tales of cold teeth. Winter begins to growl. - #CLNolan
Reposted by Shona Ray
Our forthcoming #BeyondandWithinWitchcraft hits Forbidden Planet for pre-order. Link below 🧙
forbiddenplanet.com/476966-beyon...
forbiddenplanet.com/476966-beyon...
November 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Our forthcoming #BeyondandWithinWitchcraft hits Forbidden Planet for pre-order. Link below 🧙
forbiddenplanet.com/476966-beyon...
forbiddenplanet.com/476966-beyon...
Reposted by Shona Ray
Here’s some (more, I shared her work back in May) Dead Seagull art to make your Saturday a little better.
November 9, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Here’s some (more, I shared her work back in May) Dead Seagull art to make your Saturday a little better.
Reposted by Shona Ray
My staff picks are up on the website!! The northern weird Project by @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social
includes books by @talkscaredpod.bsky.social
and @jodierobins.bsky.social
was my favorite thing in publishing this year, and @rachelharrison.bsky.social
Play Nice is in my top five of the year!
includes books by @talkscaredpod.bsky.social
and @jodierobins.bsky.social
was my favorite thing in publishing this year, and @rachelharrison.bsky.social
Play Nice is in my top five of the year!
November 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
My staff picks are up on the website!! The northern weird Project by @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social
includes books by @talkscaredpod.bsky.social
and @jodierobins.bsky.social
was my favorite thing in publishing this year, and @rachelharrison.bsky.social
Play Nice is in my top five of the year!
includes books by @talkscaredpod.bsky.social
and @jodierobins.bsky.social
was my favorite thing in publishing this year, and @rachelharrison.bsky.social
Play Nice is in my top five of the year!
While being ill this past year, I listened to Florence's entire back catalogue, two songs at a time, which frankly was the best possible use of my very limited energy
#florenceandthemachine #fatm #pwme #everybodyscream
#florenceandthemachine #fatm #pwme #everybodyscream
a woman is sitting on a couch clapping her hands and smiling .
Alt: Florence Welch is wearing a black lace dress, sitting on a couch clapping her hands and smiling.
media.tenor.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:48 PM
While being ill this past year, I listened to Florence's entire back catalogue, two songs at a time, which frankly was the best possible use of my very limited energy
#florenceandthemachine #fatm #pwme #everybodyscream
#florenceandthemachine #fatm #pwme #everybodyscream
Reposted by Shona Ray
The blackbird sings to him, 'Brother, brother,
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing.'
-Julian Grenfell
@signemaene.com welcomes you to #BookWormSat.
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing.'
-Julian Grenfell
@signemaene.com welcomes you to #BookWormSat.
November 8, 2025 at 7:58 AM
The blackbird sings to him, 'Brother, brother,
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing.'
-Julian Grenfell
@signemaene.com welcomes you to #BookWormSat.
If this be the last song you shall sing,
Sing well, for you may not sing another;
Brother, sing.'
-Julian Grenfell
@signemaene.com welcomes you to #BookWormSat.
Reposted by Shona Ray
'A Bram Stoker Award winning novel, The Fisherman is a masterpiece of cosmic horror that contains elements of Lovecraft, Moby Dick and the ghost stories of M.R. James.'
#JohnLangan's The Fisherman is No 16 in The Quietus 25 best pieces of #Horror Fiction of the 21st Century so far
buff.ly/C4B49ZM
#JohnLangan's The Fisherman is No 16 in The Quietus 25 best pieces of #Horror Fiction of the 21st Century so far
buff.ly/C4B49ZM
November 7, 2025 at 9:01 PM
'A Bram Stoker Award winning novel, The Fisherman is a masterpiece of cosmic horror that contains elements of Lovecraft, Moby Dick and the ghost stories of M.R. James.'
#JohnLangan's The Fisherman is No 16 in The Quietus 25 best pieces of #Horror Fiction of the 21st Century so far
buff.ly/C4B49ZM
#JohnLangan's The Fisherman is No 16 in The Quietus 25 best pieces of #Horror Fiction of the 21st Century so far
buff.ly/C4B49ZM
Reposted by Shona Ray
There's still time to participate in this month's #WriteCBC 🙂
#WriteCBC task from @jessicabull.bsky.social: Write an exchange in which a character says one thing but communicates something else entirely. Allow your narrator to draw their own conclusions as to what is really being said. Extra points if you make it festive!
November 6, 2025 at 3:32 PM
There's still time to participate in this month's #WriteCBC 🙂
Reposted by Shona Ray
For the witch, there are times when the river becomes a fluid scrying, a constant flow of omens. It's tutelary spirit whispers wisdom in her ears, its magics ripple across her psychic skin. She becomes one with its shaping song. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #WitchSky
November 5, 2025 at 4:23 PM
For the witch, there are times when the river becomes a fluid scrying, a constant flow of omens. It's tutelary spirit whispers wisdom in her ears, its magics ripple across her psychic skin. She becomes one with its shaping song. – #EmilyCBanting, 1982 #WitchSky
I'm Shona Ray, and I write weird stories inspired by anthropology. My Terrible Truth? Great horror doesn't always need the supernatural. Humanity has plenty of its own. #horrorwriterschat #horror #booksky
November 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I'm Shona Ray, and I write weird stories inspired by anthropology. My Terrible Truth? Great horror doesn't always need the supernatural. Humanity has plenty of its own. #horrorwriterschat #horror #booksky
Currently DEVOURING The Lamb @lucyrosecreates.bsky.social! Delicious 😋
November 5, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Currently DEVOURING The Lamb @lucyrosecreates.bsky.social! Delicious 😋
Reposted by Shona Ray
Tonight!
Come chat it up with me as a chair a discussion between @jodierobins.bsky.social, Gemma Fairclough and Katherine Clements as part of the @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social Northern Weird Novella Project:
houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author...
Come chat it up with me as a chair a discussion between @jodierobins.bsky.social, Gemma Fairclough and Katherine Clements as part of the @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social Northern Weird Novella Project:
houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author...
November 5, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Tonight!
Come chat it up with me as a chair a discussion between @jodierobins.bsky.social, Gemma Fairclough and Katherine Clements as part of the @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social Northern Weird Novella Project:
houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author...
Come chat it up with me as a chair a discussion between @jodierobins.bsky.social, Gemma Fairclough and Katherine Clements as part of the @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social Northern Weird Novella Project:
houseofbooksandfriends.com/event/author...
Reposted by Shona Ray
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 430: Read. Read widely. Read what you love, and what you don't. Read what you know, and what you don't yet know. The wider your reading, the better your chance of avoiding the limitations of being influenced by only one author, one genre, one culture, one time.
November 5, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 430: Read. Read widely. Read what you love, and what you don't. Read what you know, and what you don't yet know. The wider your reading, the better your chance of avoiding the limitations of being influenced by only one author, one genre, one culture, one time.
Reposted by Shona Ray
Watching workplaces during the pandemic quickly adapt to the remote working solutions disabled people have been pleading for for years, and then watching those same workplaces whip those accommodations away now abled people no longer need them has been... suboptimal.
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
UK ‘sliding into avoidable crisis’, major review into workplace sickness warns
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
www.independent.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Watching workplaces during the pandemic quickly adapt to the remote working solutions disabled people have been pleading for for years, and then watching those same workplaces whip those accommodations away now abled people no longer need them has been... suboptimal.