Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
"I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself."
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Pinned
Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
· Nov 26
"Out on the pale criss-crossed sand, high-stepping, fringed, gauntleted, stalked some fantastic leviathan..."
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
"Like many of those who give their lives in loyalty to a cause or banner, these people were also betrayed by their banner. The great Austrian myth of the servant faithful to his master teaches us that the servant is indeed faithful, but the lord is often faithless."
February 5, 2026 at 8:11 AM
"Like many of those who give their lives in loyalty to a cause or banner, these people were also betrayed by their banner. The great Austrian myth of the servant faithful to his master teaches us that the servant is indeed faithful, but the lord is often faithless."
Portalage alone.
A gate in the woods with no wall or fence either side of it is surely some mysterious portal. @simonguy.bsky.social ?
February 5, 2026 at 7:35 AM
Portalage alone.
"the act of ever-tightening categorisation is one that haunts and harms the genre and all who sail in it" @chloroformtea.bsky.social
PREACH
PREACH
I promised ducks, quacking: well! @chloroformtea.bsky.social (not a duck) provides Thursday's essay on knowing genre when you see it.
"We need a more expansive approach to any attempt at definition today. The genre can and plainly does sit alongside other genres which operate on different axes."
"We need a more expansive approach to any attempt at definition today. The genre can and plainly does sit alongside other genres which operate on different axes."
Quacking Like A Genre
What is SF? Idk, vibes.
strangehorizons.com
February 4, 2026 at 9:57 PM
"the act of ever-tightening categorisation is one that haunts and harms the genre and all who sail in it" @chloroformtea.bsky.social
PREACH
PREACH
Muddy spaniel in the curtains and all's well.
February 4, 2026 at 7:42 PM
Muddy spaniel in the curtains and all's well.
Cooking tea music.
February 4, 2026 at 6:04 PM
Cooking tea music.
Of all the covers on all the books I own this has the weirdest cover.
Plus it has a story called The Inspired Chicken Motel ("a motel straight out of revelations").
Plus it has a story called The Inspired Chicken Motel ("a motel straight out of revelations").
February 4, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Of all the covers on all the books I own this has the weirdest cover.
Plus it has a story called The Inspired Chicken Motel ("a motel straight out of revelations").
Plus it has a story called The Inspired Chicken Motel ("a motel straight out of revelations").
Black and white portalage.
When a dry stone wall inadvertently becomes a piece of art - Working Landscape - Lake District Observations
📷Pentax 17
🎞️Ilford HP5 developed with DDX
#believeinfilm #filmphotography
📷Pentax 17
🎞️Ilford HP5 developed with DDX
#believeinfilm #filmphotography
February 4, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Black and white portalage.
"Riddley Walkers ben to show
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
February 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
"Riddley Walkers ben to show
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Riddley Walkers on the go
Dont go Riddley Walkers track
Drop Johns ryding on his back
Stil I wunt have no other track."
Happy birthday Russell Hoban.
Charles Keeping was a genius. A short thread of just some examples. All from Neil Philip's The Tale of Sir Gawain.
Illustrations by Charles Keeping for Neil Philip, THE TALE OF SIR GAWAIN (Philomel Books, 1987). Post 1 (of 3).
February 4, 2026 at 10:14 AM
Charles Keeping was a genius. A short thread of just some examples. All from Neil Philip's The Tale of Sir Gawain.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
A massive loss to the folklore, myth and literary community.
Although fascinated by & knowledgeable about a wide range of religions, Neil did not adhere to a particular one. His ingrained belief was that of William Blake: “The world of imagination is the world of eternity.”
V sorry to hear of the death of Neil Philip. The obit he prepared will follow #KidLit
V sorry to hear of the death of Neil Philip. The obit he prepared will follow #KidLit
February 3, 2026 at 8:37 PM
A massive loss to the folklore, myth and literary community.
A massive loss to the folklore, myth and literary community.
Although fascinated by & knowledgeable about a wide range of religions, Neil did not adhere to a particular one. His ingrained belief was that of William Blake: “The world of imagination is the world of eternity.”
V sorry to hear of the death of Neil Philip. The obit he prepared will follow #KidLit
V sorry to hear of the death of Neil Philip. The obit he prepared will follow #KidLit
February 3, 2026 at 8:37 PM
A massive loss to the folklore, myth and literary community.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
Neil was a kind soul with an endless passion for the power of folk tales and mythology. I was proud and thrilled to have helped his book of English Folktales back into print in a new edition with Watkins. So sad that he won't see the upcoming reissue of Scottish Folktales
What a legacy he leaves.
What a legacy he leaves.
Very sorry to say, Neil Philip has died. He has posted on X about his passions for folk story and traditional literature but more recently he posted about his illness.
His last book 'The Watkins Book of English Folktales' is excellent.
His last book 'The Watkins Book of English Folktales' is excellent.
February 3, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Neil was a kind soul with an endless passion for the power of folk tales and mythology. I was proud and thrilled to have helped his book of English Folktales back into print in a new edition with Watkins. So sad that he won't see the upcoming reissue of Scottish Folktales
What a legacy he leaves.
What a legacy he leaves.
"'It isn't fair,' she said. A stone hit her on the side of her head.
Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
February 3, 2026 at 1:36 PM
"'It isn't fair,' she said. A stone hit her on the side of her head.
Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
Old Man Warner was saying, 'Come on, come on, everyone.' Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.
'It isn't fair, it isn't right,' Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her."
Quick brown fox darts away from the put out bins.
February 3, 2026 at 7:35 AM
Quick brown fox darts away from the put out bins.
The Best Grover.
The Most Tentative Yet Brave Grover.
The Ur-Grover.
The Most Tentative Yet Brave Grover.
The Ur-Grover.
February 2, 2026 at 6:08 PM
The Best Grover.
The Most Tentative Yet Brave Grover.
The Ur-Grover.
The Most Tentative Yet Brave Grover.
The Ur-Grover.
"And I never heard from Brand again. None of the others seem to have heard from him either. Odds are he's dead by now—I'd say. And that is the story I never got to tell you. You figure out what it all means."
February 2, 2026 at 3:37 PM
"And I never heard from Brand again. None of the others seem to have heard from him either. Odds are he's dead by now—I'd say. And that is the story I never got to tell you. You figure out what it all means."
"She prowled round the bed, growling, snuffing at his wound that does not smell like her wound. Then, she was pitiful as her gaunt grey mother; she leapt upon his bed to lick, without hesitation, without disgust, with a quick tender gravity, the blood and dirt from his cheeks and forehead."
February 2, 2026 at 12:31 PM
"She prowled round the bed, growling, snuffing at his wound that does not smell like her wound. Then, she was pitiful as her gaunt grey mother; she leapt upon his bed to lick, without hesitation, without disgust, with a quick tender gravity, the blood and dirt from his cheeks and forehead."
Happy birthday Les!
(Also Coates is awesome - and worth a follow both for more inspired silliness like this and for strange facts and stories from history._
(Also Coates is awesome - and worth a follow both for more inspired silliness like this and for strange facts and stories from history._
Just made this. I’m a widely respected intellectual, you know
February 2, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Happy birthday Les!
(Also Coates is awesome - and worth a follow both for more inspired silliness like this and for strange facts and stories from history._
(Also Coates is awesome - and worth a follow both for more inspired silliness like this and for strange facts and stories from history._
Reposted by Simon Spanton
In progress.
Based on a tree @simonguy.bsky.social shared.
Based on a tree @simonguy.bsky.social shared.
February 1, 2026 at 8:12 PM
In progress.
Based on a tree @simonguy.bsky.social shared.
Based on a tree @simonguy.bsky.social shared.
Cooking salmon and spinach curry for tea music.
February 1, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Cooking salmon and spinach curry for tea music.
Earlier, the thirty-five curlews of the mild sun on the Police Scotland headquarters playing fields.
February 1, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Earlier, the thirty-five curlews of the mild sun on the Police Scotland headquarters playing fields.
Welcome...to the picnic of the weird.
February 1, 2026 at 1:56 PM
Welcome...to the picnic of the weird.