Stephen Cox
@stephencoxauthor.bsky.social
Novelist+comms. London, bi, Quaker, parent. Spooky? THE CROOKED MEDIUM's GUIDE TO MURDER. "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
Also Our Child of the Stars/Our Child of Two Worlds.
https://stephencox.co.uk/ https://linktr.ee/stephencoxauthor
Pinned
"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...
The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Out worldwide!
#womensleuths #mystery #sapphic #spooky #books #booksky #LGBT+ #Victorian
stephencox.co.uk/books/upcomi...
Yeah I wish I'd left when they introduced the app
substack has been trying to create a platform that makes it hard for writers to leave and incentivizes readers to just stay in their substack app, which i am opposed to on principle!!!
Full disclosure: I’ve lost nearly 40 paid subscribers since leaving Substack and this newsletter is 2/3 of my income. If you want to support an independent trans journalist, this is a great way to do so. bit.ly/ooylsagseaso...
November 25, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Yeah I wish I'd left when they introduced the app
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Fuck that noise. 'AI' is neither necessary nor inevitable. It brings nothing to the creative process, turns everything to shit and makes us all less capable. Its sole reason for existence is to syphon off as much cash to the tech companies as they can get.
AI will reshape publishing jobs, from editorial and production to marketing, sales and operations. The question is not whether this happens, but who shapes these changes, says Bec Evans 👇 #BookSky
Knowledge is power
ebx.sh
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Fuck that noise. 'AI' is neither necessary nor inevitable. It brings nothing to the creative process, turns everything to shit and makes us all less capable. Its sole reason for existence is to syphon off as much cash to the tech companies as they can get.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Watching the numbers tick up is giving me life. Who can tip this over 6 large?
November 25, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Watching the numbers tick up is giving me life. Who can tip this over 6 large?
Reposted by Stephen Cox
We're all in favour of taking action, too, against the lawyers who abuse the law and their professional status to make meritless legal threats.
November 25, 2025 at 9:39 AM
We're all in favour of taking action, too, against the lawyers who abuse the law and their professional status to make meritless legal threats.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
“The conception of duty, speaking historically, has been a means used by the holders of power to induce others to live for the interests of their masters rather than their own.”
November 25, 2025 at 11:38 AM
“The conception of duty, speaking historically, has been a means used by the holders of power to induce others to live for the interests of their masters rather than their own.”
Do you want tax record searching, nosy, well written actual news from London, viewed as a place real people live. Check out these guys.
I guess it’s a compliment that the top story on BBC London’s TV/online output today is a direct lift of a month-old London Centric story? But once again the BBC is consistently the worst news outlet for actually remembering to credit others.
November 25, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Do you want tax record searching, nosy, well written actual news from London, viewed as a place real people live. Check out these guys.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
1. A landmark study was just published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.
It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.
Transgender care saves lives.
It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.
It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.
Transgender care saves lives.
Study In The Journal Of Pediatrics Finds Trans Youth Care Lowers Suicidality, Few Detransition
The groundbreaking study found that suicidality dropped for transgender youth receiving hormone therapy by nearly 70%, with only 7 patients of 432 discontinuing treatment.
www.erininthemorning.com
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
1. A landmark study was just published in The Journal of Pediatrics.
It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.
It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.
Transgender care saves lives.
It found a 68% reduction in suicidality for trans youth getting HRT.
It also found only 7 of more than 400 stopped taking HRT... and of those that did, 4 still identified as gender-diverse.
Transgender care saves lives.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Reposted by Stephen Cox
There's been a real attitude shift in the second half of this year, and the overarching belief suddenly is that piracy is good especially if it's the little guy getting fucked over.
Good luck finding books to read after we've all died I guess.
Good luck finding books to read after we've all died I guess.
November 24, 2025 at 5:37 PM
There's been a real attitude shift in the second half of this year, and the overarching belief suddenly is that piracy is good especially if it's the little guy getting fucked over.
Good luck finding books to read after we've all died I guess.
Good luck finding books to read after we've all died I guess.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Excuse me I’m a reporter from the New York Times, tell me more about these “trans” steamers and how they ruined Britain?
November 24, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Excuse me I’m a reporter from the New York Times, tell me more about these “trans” steamers and how they ruined Britain?
Non-alcoholic drinks are real drinks. There are countless reasons (*) and EXACTLY zero are any of your business.
* in recovery, health/diet, medication, religion, personal witness, driving, not in mood, whim...
* in recovery, health/diet, medication, religion, personal witness, driving, not in mood, whim...
Just a friendly reminder as we go into the holidays:
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
Folks don't have to explain to you why they don't drink.
If you offer them a drink and they decline, don't ask them why. It's not your business.
Just offer them something without alcohol to drink instead. And move on.
November 24, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Non-alcoholic drinks are real drinks. There are countless reasons (*) and EXACTLY zero are any of your business.
* in recovery, health/diet, medication, religion, personal witness, driving, not in mood, whim...
* in recovery, health/diet, medication, religion, personal witness, driving, not in mood, whim...
Reposted by Stephen Cox
it just didn't have the legs 😢
Turns out interest in Metaverse had about a ~9 month half life.
November 24, 2025 at 9:55 AM
it just didn't have the legs 😢
Reposted by Stephen Cox
A great investigative piece by @translucent.org.uk brilliant work.
translucent.org.uk/how-many-com...
translucent.org.uk/how-many-com...
How Many Complaints About Trans Women Using Toilets? - TransLucent
Data from local authorities representing over 16.5 million people reveals that complaints about trans women using toilets are virtually non-existent
translucent.org.uk
November 21, 2025 at 5:06 PM
A great investigative piece by @translucent.org.uk brilliant work.
translucent.org.uk/how-many-com...
translucent.org.uk/how-many-com...
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I know a number of writers who draft in pen and I consider them like I would someone who insists on making bread by first planting the wheat
And if you're already quite mad, like Neal Stephenson, you might write upwards of 3500 pages with a fountain pen.
November 22, 2025 at 7:20 PM
I know a number of writers who draft in pen and I consider them like I would someone who insists on making bread by first planting the wheat
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Handing power to transphobes is handing power to abusers. Always.
Under new NHS puberty blocker trial protocols, trans youth are being subjected to more than 50 assessments, intrusive exams, and over 13 hours of intrusive testing - just to access lifesaving healthcare
It demands young people re-live distress & undergo intimate examinations
#ConversionPractices
It demands young people re-live distress & undergo intimate examinations
#ConversionPractices
Trans Young People Face 50+ Tests and Hours of Intrusive Assessments in the PATHWAYS Puberty…
The publication of the PATHWAYS puberty blocker trial protocols reveals how trans young people are required to complete more than fifty…
medium.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Handing power to transphobes is handing power to abusers. Always.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Cis people, how many times have you been asked to describe how you masturbate, and what you think about when you do, to access healthcare on the NHS?
November 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Cis people, how many times have you been asked to describe how you masturbate, and what you think about when you do, to access healthcare on the NHS?
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Racism is not justified by immigration levels or rising poverty, unemployment or crime.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
The Home Secretary explaining that the rise in racist violence is, actually, the natural response to higher levels of immigration is a state of affairs that can't exist without the government having largely decided that racist violence is, if not legitimate, at least understandable.
November 22, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Racism is not justified by immigration levels or rising poverty, unemployment or crime.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
It is not justified, period.
I see the rising wave of voices & arguments justifying the rising levels of racism as the most sinister political development in 2025 on the British landscape.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I apologise for this, but I need everyone to join me in a rousing internal chorus of Where's the money from? to the tune of chirpy chirpy cheep cheep.
Because I shouldn't suffer alone and the Mail's last bid for the telegraph was funded by Qatar and Abu Dhabi I think
Because I shouldn't suffer alone and the Mail's last bid for the telegraph was funded by Qatar and Abu Dhabi I think
Daily Mail's parent company agrees a deal to buy Telegraph for £500m! Media consolidation, let's go, ya gonna blink and stop this competition regulators? Over to you, Nandy? Strong potential everyone just waves the sale through to STOP HAVING TO READ OR THINK ABOUT IT. www.ft.com/content/cd8e...
Daily Mail owner strikes £500mn deal for Telegraph
Tie-up would create one of the most powerful right-leaning media groups in Britain
www.ft.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:33 AM
I apologise for this, but I need everyone to join me in a rousing internal chorus of Where's the money from? to the tune of chirpy chirpy cheep cheep.
Because I shouldn't suffer alone and the Mail's last bid for the telegraph was funded by Qatar and Abu Dhabi I think
Because I shouldn't suffer alone and the Mail's last bid for the telegraph was funded by Qatar and Abu Dhabi I think
The biggest reason for a rise in cancer rates is, drumroll, people don't die younger of something else. Without modern medicine my mum would have died in the late 90s and not lived to get cancer in in 2024.
Prevalence rates are no guide as to whether a condition is 'real' or overdiagnosed. 1 in 8 men get diagnosed with prostate cancer. Incidence rates have risen 55% since 1990. We accept this is due to better awareness & screening, & people surviving other conditions, not a fad or medical overreach.
November 22, 2025 at 10:40 AM
The biggest reason for a rise in cancer rates is, drumroll, people don't die younger of something else. Without modern medicine my mum would have died in the late 90s and not lived to get cancer in in 2024.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I recall contract clauses years ago specifically allowing for novels to be recorded as Talking Books for the Blind.
November 22, 2025 at 10:33 AM
I recall contract clauses years ago specifically allowing for novels to be recorded as Talking Books for the Blind.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
YOU FUCKING WHAT
![Social media screenshot:
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
In a normal world, this should be an immense scandal in Europe.
Le Monde has a long article describing the hellish life of Nicolas Guillou, a French judge at the ICC in The Hague, due to U.S. sanctions punishing him for authorizing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant for war crimes in Gaza.
Guillou's daily existence has been transformed into a Kafkaesque nightmare. He cannot: open or maintain accounts with Google, Amazon, Apple, or any US company; make hotel reservations (Expedia canceled his booking in France hours after he made it); conduct online commerce, since he can't know if the packaging is American; use any major credit card (Visa, Mastercard, Amex are all American); access normal banking services, even with non-American banks, as banks worldwide close sanctioned accounts; conduct virtually any financial transaction.
He describes it as being "economically banned across most of the planet," including in his own country, France, and where he works, the Netherlands.
That's the real shocking aspect of this: the Americans are:
- punishing a European citizen
- for doing his job in Europe
- applying laws Europe officially supports
- at an institution based in Europe
- that Europe helped create and fund
and Europe is not only doing essentially nothing to protect him, they're actively enforcing America's sanctions against their own citizen - European banks closing his accounts, European companies refusing him service, European institutions standing by while Washington destroys a European judge's life on European soil.
Again, in a normal world, European leaders and citizens should be absolutely outraged about this. But we've so normalized the hollowing out of European sovereignty that the sight of a European citizen being economically executed on European soil for upholding European law is treated, at best, as an unfortunate technical complication in transatlantic
[further text missing]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:jrzyao2holfkgrsfbq2tue27/bafkreiga2xugyfyqaagrd3essidr6sktmwm72xodvy7aatg3yebuvygiyi@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 12:52 PM
YOU FUCKING WHAT
Reposted by Stephen Cox
For #MothFaceFriday, here's a picture of a Silver Y from the summer, when I was able to walk through my garden at night and see them nectaring. #teammoth
November 21, 2025 at 8:26 PM
For #MothFaceFriday, here's a picture of a Silver Y from the summer, when I was able to walk through my garden at night and see them nectaring. #teammoth
Reading the Wikipedia page, well sourced, takes 99% of what I thought about Abagnale and feeds it into the Truth Grinder.
For instance, Frank Abagnale's claims to be a master con-artist who had posed as a doctor/pilot, rather than a petty scammer who targeted families who trusted him, were exposed repeatedly - in the Louisiana Advocate in 1980, the San Francisco Chronicle in 1978, the Daily Oklahoman in 1978.
November 21, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Reading the Wikipedia page, well sourced, takes 99% of what I thought about Abagnale and feeds it into the Truth Grinder.
Piece on BBC London yesterday about how the City supports IIRC 700,000 jobs and provides £100bn to the economy so we must sit up and do tricks when asked. The creative sector, on these figures bigger in jobs, bigger in economic value, and also, MORE FUN AND LIFE AFFIRMING, will get diddly squat.
November 21, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Piece on BBC London yesterday about how the City supports IIRC 700,000 jobs and provides £100bn to the economy so we must sit up and do tricks when asked. The creative sector, on these figures bigger in jobs, bigger in economic value, and also, MORE FUN AND LIFE AFFIRMING, will get diddly squat.