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Stephen Cox

@stephencoxauthor.bsky.social

2.3K followers 1.2K following 5.8K posts

Novelist+comms. London, bi, Quaker, parent. Spooky? THE CROOKED MEDIUM's GUIDE TO MURDER out 1st Sept. "A pleasure from start to finish" Also Our Child of the Stars/Our Child of Two Worlds. https://stephencox.co.uk/ https://linktr.ee/stephencoxauthor

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · Sep 1

"A book I've been looking for all my life. Queer found family all wrapped up in a supernatural murder mystery. Absolute perfection.”

The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Out worldwide!

#womensleuths #mystery #sapphic #spooky #books #booksky #LGBT+ #Victorian

stephencox.co.uk/books/upcomi...

Stephen Cox - genial guy with grey beard and hair, holding copies of The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder. Outdoors, trees in background. Book description A striking book cover with the title and author name dominating.
A rich dark blue background, and a touch of mist. The text appears in gold in a gold rectangular frame, the font is old fashioned implying C19th century. The frame has three rondels or cameos each containing a picture. Top right is a golden bee brooch with the body and one wing streaked with red blood. Middle left is foxgloves, spires of small bell flowers in pink, white and purple. Bottom right is a dark brown medicine bottle, with a pale label. The word LAUDANUM is just visible.
There are pink highlights on some of the letters.
Taken together it is bold, mysterious, and Victorian.

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Reposted by Stephen Cox

Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcc.bsky.social · 10h

Higgledy piggledy
Timothée Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design

Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme

tweet from childish branzino @absflora:
timothée chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 12h

Oddly, tech and business people are looking at big increases in computing power, (hence cost, energy power and water) being met with much less improvement in product. AI may not be economically scalable.

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 12h

Announced 7/10 unverified passages about Melania Trump removed from "Entitled: the Rise and Fall of the House of York" published by Harper Collins UK. That edition withdrawn and an apology made.
No clue if connected

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 13h

Crooked Wakefield argued for splitting the vaccine in three, the paper didn't say that and the other authors on the paper didn't agree with that recommendation.

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 13h

DO you have source?

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 13h

Agree that the Golden Age writers overrated, agree Bradbury is an exception, and it's in the poetic power/heart/ space. He didn't think the Martian Chronicles was really SF.

Reposted by Stephen Cox

Sam Missingham @samatlounge.bsky.social · 14h

I think there should be an imprint called Star Fucker Books that only signs celebrities and social media stars. I mostly think the purpose is for big 5 publishers to have the odd famous person at their events and for their corporate promos.

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 14h

Sam, @samatlounge.bsky.social did you see this?

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Reposted by Stephen Cox

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 16h

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 259:
Failure is nothing to be ashamed of. It means you tried something. No-one succeeds without failures: it’s a necessary part of the process.

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 16h

Well, their attacks on the T bodes ill for the LGB, and the far right hates the peace settlement so... grim

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 18h

The actual fuck.

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 18h

Has reach disappeared?

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 18h

Not sorry if this offends.

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman @josie.zone · 4d

It is morally wrong to want a computer to be sentient. If you owned a sentient thing, you would be a slaver. If you want sentient computers to exist, you just want to create a new kind of slavery. The ethics are as simple as that. Sorry if this offends

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Reposted by Stephen Cox

Amanda Rutter @alrutter.bsky.social · 19h

Today my grandma has reached the impressive age of 95. Heartbreakingly, she hasn't really known who I am for the last few years, and I've stopped visiting because I hated that look of confusion on her face as she tried and failed to place me. Dementia is a cruel, cruel disease. Hug your family ❤️

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 19h

The right wing assholes at uni in the 80s got their way except on ? LGBT rights and Northern Ireland.

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Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · 20h

For anyone who needs context, the burning of Cork in 1920 was in no way a ‘mystery’. British troops went from building to building, setting fires and then hung around to hold back fire-fighters, including cutting their hoses. The city centre looked like London after the Blitz.

Stephanie Rains 🪼 @acidrains.bsky.social · 20h

The British Pathe title card for this film of the 1920 burning of Cork describes it as a “mystery fire” 🤔

Ireland’s Agony

The Burning of Cork by British forces took place on the night of December 11th and 12th 1920 during the Irish War of Independence. It followed

ifiarchiveplayer.ie

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 20h

Agreed. There's a bid to liberalise Sunday trading as well.

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 22h

Cleg is a Scottish word for a vicious bloodsucking fly.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Great session with Reading Writers Group - wide ranging talk #trad #indie #plotting #fiction etc. The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder went down well.

Someone asked if AI was useful. My response in the picture. I was calm.

A Victorian painting showing fire and water and lightning destroying a city, with two small white clad figures on a cliff.

Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Includes 'you have an agent but they're not representing this novella. which is handy for some people.'

Reposted by Stephen Cox

Ariell Cacciola @ariellcacciola.bsky.social · 1d

Keeping everyone on their toes with this wee drive by submission window

I'm open to unagented manuscripts until Sunday evening

#mswl #booksky #writingoppurtunity

Wild Hunt Books @wildhuntbooks.bsky.social · 1d

*SUBMISSION WINDOW NOW OPEN 5 DAYS ONLY*

We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.

More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Pay artists and bankrupt crooks?? Don't threaten me with a good time.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

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Stephen Cox @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 1d

Captain Teach and Blackbeard say asking bullion carrying ships for permission to board them would kill the pirating business.

Reposted by Stephen Cox

The Green Party of England & Wales @greenparty.org.uk · 1d

20,000 new members have joined the Green Party in the past month.

This is the Green surge.

Want to be part of it? Join the Green Party today ⤵

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Reposted by Stephen Cox

Joanne Harris @joannechocolat.bsky.social · 1d

Why? Because your readers do. The literary world is full of people wanting to write children’s books, who haven’t looked at a children’s book since the 60s. Or people who want the sales associated with romantasy (or cosy crime, or sci-fi), but don’t actually know the genre, or want to read any.

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