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
The Spaniel and the E-boat Barrier.
February 8, 2026 at 4:13 PM
The Spaniel and the E-boat Barrier.
"The dust had formed over him, covering him completely, giving him the form and face of Tom Halfpenny. It had carried the likeness here, all the way from Slew Hill ditch. 'Greot likes that kind of thing,' as my sister had said that morning. Watching, learning, recording, remembering."
February 8, 2026 at 3:19 PM
"The dust had formed over him, covering him completely, giving him the form and face of Tom Halfpenny. It had carried the likeness here, all the way from Slew Hill ditch. 'Greot likes that kind of thing,' as my sister had said that morning. Watching, learning, recording, remembering."
Portal number 111.
February 8, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Portal number 111.
Picked out Steve Earle's Transcendental Blues to play. Bit of a shock to discover that it's a quarter of a century since I bought it on release.
February 8, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Picked out Steve Earle's Transcendental Blues to play. Bit of a shock to discover that it's a quarter of a century since I bought it on release.
"When shall we three meet again?"
February 8, 2026 at 9:46 AM
"When shall we three meet again?"
"You will reach a flaming river
Blazing right across your road:
First there are the fiery falls,
Beneath the falls a blazing island,
On the isle a flaming hill,
On its peak a flaming eagle
Sharpening its beak at night"
Blazing right across your road:
First there are the fiery falls,
Beneath the falls a blazing island,
On the isle a flaming hill,
On its peak a flaming eagle
Sharpening its beak at night"
February 8, 2026 at 9:32 AM
"You will reach a flaming river
Blazing right across your road:
First there are the fiery falls,
Beneath the falls a blazing island,
On the isle a flaming hill,
On its peak a flaming eagle
Sharpening its beak at night"
Blazing right across your road:
First there are the fiery falls,
Beneath the falls a blazing island,
On the isle a flaming hill,
On its peak a flaming eagle
Sharpening its beak at night"
Reposted by Simon Spanton
I've written books on boardgames, anxiety & panic attacks, dreaming of being an author, & 2 novels. I'm working on a book about autism, wonder & monsters. Answering questions on topics I'm interested in makes me very happy. Can you ask me some questions you'd like answered on any of these subjects?
February 8, 2026 at 8:50 AM
I've written books on boardgames, anxiety & panic attacks, dreaming of being an author, & 2 novels. I'm working on a book about autism, wonder & monsters. Answering questions on topics I'm interested in makes me very happy. Can you ask me some questions you'd like answered on any of these subjects?
Reposted by Simon Spanton
February 7, 2026 at 9:11 AM
Cooked roasted butternut squash curry for tea music.
Often my favourite album of theirs.
Often my favourite album of theirs.
February 7, 2026 at 6:10 PM
Cooked roasted butternut squash curry for tea music.
Often my favourite album of theirs.
Often my favourite album of theirs.
One of Charles Keeping's illustrations for The God Beneath the Sea, Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen's collection of retellings of Greek Myths. For children...
February 7, 2026 at 4:29 PM
One of Charles Keeping's illustrations for The God Beneath the Sea, Leon Garfield and Edward Blishen's collection of retellings of Greek Myths. For children...
The old "A" format as it used to be in the UK.
Cheap or not, what I really miss is the genuine "fit in your pocketness" of them.
Cheap or not, what I really miss is the genuine "fit in your pocketness" of them.
The mass market paperback, light in the hand and on the wallet, once filled airport bookstores and supermarket media aisles. You may never buy a new one again.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/b...
So Long to Cheap Books You Could Fit in Your Pocket
www.nytimes.com
February 7, 2026 at 1:35 PM
The old "A" format as it used to be in the UK.
Cheap or not, what I really miss is the genuine "fit in your pocketness" of them.
Cheap or not, what I really miss is the genuine "fit in your pocketness" of them.
Had tickets for Neil Young in Glasgow. Tour has just cancelled. Hope the grand old man is ok. Did see him in the 1990s but was imagining this upcoming tour was going to be "a last chance to see."
Here's hoping not. One of my longest standing heroes.
Here's hoping not. One of my longest standing heroes.
February 7, 2026 at 9:56 AM
Had tickets for Neil Young in Glasgow. Tour has just cancelled. Hope the grand old man is ok. Did see him in the 1990s but was imagining this upcoming tour was going to be "a last chance to see."
Here's hoping not. One of my longest standing heroes.
Here's hoping not. One of my longest standing heroes.
Making breakfast music.
February 7, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Making breakfast music.
"To endure a deadly dint and deal no more with blade."
Have added a fifth Green Knight to my collection. The Prof. this time.
Comes with commentaries, his Green Knight lecture and his translations of Pearl and Sir Orfeo.
Have added a fifth Green Knight to my collection. The Prof. this time.
Comes with commentaries, his Green Knight lecture and his translations of Pearl and Sir Orfeo.
February 6, 2026 at 7:26 PM
"To endure a deadly dint and deal no more with blade."
Have added a fifth Green Knight to my collection. The Prof. this time.
Comes with commentaries, his Green Knight lecture and his translations of Pearl and Sir Orfeo.
Have added a fifth Green Knight to my collection. The Prof. this time.
Comes with commentaries, his Green Knight lecture and his translations of Pearl and Sir Orfeo.
I care not about the Super Bowl but this lot are awesome. A joy to behold.
Need a mood boost?
Watch the Pacific Northwest Ballet celebrate the Seattle Seahawks being in the Super Bowl
Watch the Pacific Northwest Ballet celebrate the Seattle Seahawks being in the Super Bowl
February 6, 2026 at 4:15 PM
I care not about the Super Bowl but this lot are awesome. A joy to behold.
Post of the Week.
February 6, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Post of the Week.
"How Sophie recognised the Witch would be hard to say. Her face was different. Her hair, instead of being orderly chestnut curls, was a rippling mass of red, hanging almost to her waist, and she was dressed in floating flutters of auburn and pale yellow. Very cool and lovely she looked."
February 6, 2026 at 2:51 PM
"How Sophie recognised the Witch would be hard to say. Her face was different. Her hair, instead of being orderly chestnut curls, was a rippling mass of red, hanging almost to her waist, and she was dressed in floating flutters of auburn and pale yellow. Very cool and lovely she looked."
Hamlet | Official Film Trailer
YouTube video by Universal Pictures UK
youtube.com
February 6, 2026 at 2:23 PM
"He looked up at the vast, vast sky, and she flew along with him, flew high up into the black cloud, and the storm rumbled and roared, as if it were singing ancient ballads...Beneath them rushed the cold wind. The wolves howled, the snow sparkled, and over it flew shrieking black crows."
February 6, 2026 at 12:23 PM
"He looked up at the vast, vast sky, and she flew along with him, flew high up into the black cloud, and the storm rumbled and roared, as if it were singing ancient ballads...Beneath them rushed the cold wind. The wolves howled, the snow sparkled, and over it flew shrieking black crows."
The only ammonite I ever found was barely there at all.
February 6, 2026 at 9:19 AM
The only ammonite I ever found was barely there at all.
Quality content.
Some fun things about The Book of Sir Thomas More, which the internet has been talking about of late.
74% of the surviving text is written by Anthony Munday. Literally. He might have worked on it with someone else, say Chettle, but he LITERALLY wrote it out.
Then the text had some rewrites...
74% of the surviving text is written by Anthony Munday. Literally. He might have worked on it with someone else, say Chettle, but he LITERALLY wrote it out.
Then the text had some rewrites...
February 6, 2026 at 8:38 AM
Quality content.
Sweet dreams.
"A figure in pale, fluttering draperies, ill-defined. There was something about its motion which made Parkins very unwilling to see it at close quarters. It would stop, raise arms, bow itself towards the sand, then run stooping..."
Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You My Lad, M.R. James
Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You My Lad, M.R. James
February 5, 2026 at 11:18 PM
Sweet dreams.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
Join the STW Society in London on 29th-30th May for a conference celebrating 100 years of Lolly Willowes. Keynote address by Adam Mars-Jones. Early bird tickets till 31st March. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lolly-will...
Lolly Willowes at 100
An international conference to mark the centenary of the publication of Warner's first and still her best-known novel, Lolly Willowes.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
February 5, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Join the STW Society in London on 29th-30th May for a conference celebrating 100 years of Lolly Willowes. Keynote address by Adam Mars-Jones. Early bird tickets till 31st March. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lolly-will...
"But in a Miyazaki movie, the possibility that what we've seen is a dream, or dream-related, is not grounds for disappointment that it isn't real. It's confirmation of how real dreams are, and how expansive and deep their realms can be and feel."
February 5, 2026 at 7:37 PM
"But in a Miyazaki movie, the possibility that what we've seen is a dream, or dream-related, is not grounds for disappointment that it isn't real. It's confirmation of how real dreams are, and how expansive and deep their realms can be and feel."
What Will said.
If you review, blog, booktok or cover books in any way, now's the time to request your copy of "The Dead Man's Empire"! I can't wait for people to get their hands on this book.
A new epic fantasy by @willwiles.bsky.social?
Click if you'd like the chance to see if you agree...
"I haven't been as surprised and enthralled by a fantasy series in years."
Francis Spufford
"Fantasy is rarely as smart, immersive or scintillant."
Adam Roberts
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Click if you'd like the chance to see if you agree...
"I haven't been as surprised and enthralled by a fantasy series in years."
Francis Spufford
"Fantasy is rarely as smart, immersive or scintillant."
Adam Roberts
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
February 5, 2026 at 6:06 PM
What Will said.