Tim Clare
@timclare.bsky.social
(he/him) Author, podcaster & tabletop games writer. Books: The Game Changers, Coward, The Honours & The Ice House.
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-game-changers-how-playing-games-changed-the-world-and-can-change-you-too-tim-clare/7687024
https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-game-changers-how-playing-games-changed-the-world-and-can-change-you-too-tim-clare/7687024
Pinned
Tim Clare
@timclare.bsky.social
· Oct 12
Intro post to pin to profile:
I'm an author & podcaster. I've written 2 gothic Fantasy novels, The Honours & The Ice House, a book on the science of anxiety & panic called Coward, & a book on how boardgames make us human, The Game Changers.
I make a podcast for writers called Death of 1000 Cuts.
I'm an author & podcaster. I've written 2 gothic Fantasy novels, The Honours & The Ice House, a book on the science of anxiety & panic called Coward, & a book on how boardgames make us human, The Game Changers.
I make a podcast for writers called Death of 1000 Cuts.
I've wondered this a lot! In one sense I'm glad I didn't, because it meant I cast a much broader net in terms of the universal human emotion of anxiety. Also I wonder whether it would have tempted me to collapse a lot of the complexity down to 'AuDHD' as the solution or punchline.
I'd love to hear how much different Coward would be if you'd known you were neurodivergent. I read it after The Game Changers so I was armed with information you yourself might not have had at the time.
February 8, 2026 at 12:25 PM
I've wondered this a lot! In one sense I'm glad I didn't, because it meant I cast a much broader net in terms of the universal human emotion of anxiety. Also I wonder whether it would have tempted me to collapse a lot of the complexity down to 'AuDHD' as the solution or punchline.
I have the pieces for a 3rd book that would somewhat bring the events of the first two to a resolution. It's a question of finding time & impetus to write it & feeling there would be an audience & publisher who wanted it.
Are you planning to write anything further in the same setting as The Honours and The Ice House? Or do you not plan these things ahead of time and then inspiration strikes?
February 8, 2026 at 11:31 AM
I have the pieces for a 3rd book that would somewhat bring the events of the first two to a resolution. It's a question of finding time & impetus to write it & feeling there would be an audience & publisher who wanted it.
Reposted by Tim Clare
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?
Are you asking me to do that now, or is this a request for something to address in the book? I want to say straight up that constructs like 'the Neurotypical Mind' vs 'the Autistic Mind' are useful, to me, only as rhetorical frames for a very loose kind of cultural analysis, not as real things.
Can you please help explain neurotypical perspectives/desires to autistic people? Not expecting autistic people to change in anyway, but just so they know what's usually going on in neurotypical minds? (I realise, you might have to play your 'I'm an author' card to get some interviews on this topic)
February 8, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Are you asking me to do that now, or is this a request for something to address in the book? I want to say straight up that constructs like 'the Neurotypical Mind' vs 'the Autistic Mind' are useful, to me, only as rhetorical frames for a very loose kind of cultural analysis, not as real things.
If by 'you' you mean 'one', many people - especially men - present at A&E believing they're having a heart attack, or occasionally a stroke or even a psychotic episode. Not knowing it's a panic attack in those cases contributes to the fear that stokes it. But it's more complicated than that...
Do you know you’re having a panic attack while you’re in it, and if so, does that help to come out of it any quicker?
What’s the best board game to come out of Australia?
What’s the best board game to come out of Australia?
February 8, 2026 at 9:20 AM
If by 'you' you mean 'one', many people - especially men - present at A&E believing they're having a heart attack, or occasionally a stroke or even a psychotic episode. Not knowing it's a panic attack in those cases contributes to the fear that stokes it. But it's more complicated than that...
Thank you! I'm not sure there is one. I can cobble together throughlines after the fact (fastidious deep dives, crunchy detail, outsider narratives, humour) but you could find patterns in any cluster of books. I just try to pursue whatever question sincerely grabs me, & commit with my 'whole ass'
I've read your novels and Coward (all of which I enjoyed immensely) - just wondering, given your writing on a wide variety of topics, how you maintain a TC 'brand? What do you think makes a TC book?
February 8, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Thank you! I'm not sure there is one. I can cobble together throughlines after the fact (fastidious deep dives, crunchy detail, outsider narratives, humour) but you could find patterns in any cluster of books. I just try to pursue whatever question sincerely grabs me, & commit with my 'whole ass'
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?
Playing like my life depends on it
February 7, 2026 at 10:23 PM
Playing like my life depends on it
I don't believe that all mental health challenges are downstream of politics but I've been finding it increasingly rough, watching autism & ADHD turned into a new theatre of the culture wars. The hit pieces on SEN kids, the endless badly-researched columns on 'overdiagnosis' - I feel really crushed.
February 7, 2026 at 4:26 PM
I don't believe that all mental health challenges are downstream of politics but I've been finding it increasingly rough, watching autism & ADHD turned into a new theatre of the culture wars. The hit pieces on SEN kids, the endless badly-researched columns on 'overdiagnosis' - I feel really crushed.
You may think a funny post is someone's attempt to spread a little light humour but you are Wrong. They wrote it to tee me up to respond with a less funny iteration of the same joke, or a tangentially-related pun. It's called Riffing, & it's the foundation of comedy, you rubes.
February 7, 2026 at 12:27 PM
You may think a funny post is someone's attempt to spread a little light humour but you are Wrong. They wrote it to tee me up to respond with a less funny iteration of the same joke, or a tangentially-related pun. It's called Riffing, & it's the foundation of comedy, you rubes.
I wrote a tiny bit today - more nibbled around the edges of an existing part. But I quite like it. Trying to resist the temptation of writing that bit where the nonfiction book apologises for itself & explains what it's hoping to do rather than getting on with it & treating the reader like a grownup
February 6, 2026 at 5:46 PM
I wrote a tiny bit today - more nibbled around the edges of an existing part. But I quite like it. Trying to resist the temptation of writing that bit where the nonfiction book apologises for itself & explains what it's hoping to do rather than getting on with it & treating the reader like a grownup
I don't know if it came across to people who read my last book, but to me there's something moving & heartbreaking about people choosing to play boardgames in warzones, hospital wards, care homes. This ritual in times of extreme crisis, when the human experience becomes almost unbearable.
February 6, 2026 at 10:40 AM
I don't know if it came across to people who read my last book, but to me there's something moving & heartbreaking about people choosing to play boardgames in warzones, hospital wards, care homes. This ritual in times of extreme crisis, when the human experience becomes almost unbearable.
It was tough growing up as a chunky, unfashionable teen under Britpop, when the model for how to be a sexy man was Jarvis Cocker being rake-thin, rolling his eyes back like a beatified saint & whispering shit like 'ooh baby I'm in your airing cupboard, with the Findus... Crispy... Pancaaaaakes'
February 6, 2026 at 10:24 AM
It was tough growing up as a chunky, unfashionable teen under Britpop, when the model for how to be a sexy man was Jarvis Cocker being rake-thin, rolling his eyes back like a beatified saint & whispering shit like 'ooh baby I'm in your airing cupboard, with the Findus... Crispy... Pancaaaaakes'
Tabletop people. I have written about analogue games for a while now but I am also a dumdum. Where do you find definitive release dates for a game for a particular country (like the UK?). BGG seems random or hard to figure out which edition appears where. Retailers preorder dates lie.
February 5, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Tabletop people. I have written about analogue games for a while now but I am also a dumdum. Where do you find definitive release dates for a game for a particular country (like the UK?). BGG seems random or hard to figure out which edition appears where. Retailers preorder dates lie.
I genuinely have no idea how much of what I'm writing will make it into a final book or if there will be a book at all but I'm writing plenty, it's just all little islands of interrelated stuff that feels connected to me, that interrogates & explains autistic experience through pop culture
February 5, 2026 at 2:16 PM
I genuinely have no idea how much of what I'm writing will make it into a final book or if there will be a book at all but I'm writing plenty, it's just all little islands of interrelated stuff that feels connected to me, that interrogates & explains autistic experience through pop culture
If you're going to Airecon in March, I'll be doing another new talk, this time a deep dive into - god help me - Monopoly & the Game of Life. There will be murder, starvation, fraud & multiple nested critiques of Capitalism as we reckon with the loudest & most hideous head of the boardgaming hydra
February 5, 2026 at 11:20 AM
If you're going to Airecon in March, I'll be doing another new talk, this time a deep dive into - god help me - Monopoly & the Game of Life. There will be murder, starvation, fraud & multiple nested critiques of Capitalism as we reckon with the loudest & most hideous head of the boardgaming hydra
I am basically an atheist, materialist, rationalist, whatever, but I also yearn for the cosmos to be spookier & weirder than it is. Just some goblins hiding out in the woods, some aliens, a few ghosts here & there, the occasional clash between warring factions of time travellers, cunning folk etc
February 4, 2026 at 10:25 PM
I am basically an atheist, materialist, rationalist, whatever, but I also yearn for the cosmos to be spookier & weirder than it is. Just some goblins hiding out in the woods, some aliens, a few ghosts here & there, the occasional clash between warring factions of time travellers, cunning folk etc
Hardly anything done yet. Just an incredibly slow start. We'll see. Naming this as a state of emotional turbulence. Hoping, hoping it gets better.
Oof. Feeling really weird at the moment. So many emotions. Going to try to focus enough to write. I really wish for everyone who needs it, a reprieve, a refuge, a moment of grace or wonder, a surprise good outcome, some tenderness or praise from someone that you weren't expecting, a rest.
February 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Hardly anything done yet. Just an incredibly slow start. We'll see. Naming this as a state of emotional turbulence. Hoping, hoping it gets better.
Oof. Feeling really weird at the moment. So many emotions. Going to try to focus enough to write. I really wish for everyone who needs it, a reprieve, a refuge, a moment of grace or wonder, a surprise good outcome, some tenderness or praise from someone that you weren't expecting, a rest.
February 4, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Oof. Feeling really weird at the moment. So many emotions. Going to try to focus enough to write. I really wish for everyone who needs it, a reprieve, a refuge, a moment of grace or wonder, a surprise good outcome, some tenderness or praise from someone that you weren't expecting, a rest.
I'm pretty sure this guy is getting a writeup in the book I'm working on so any pretence that this is going to be anything but the most nakedly autistic thing I've ever written is gone. You could say I'm going... mask off. Seriously I think this guy has something to teach us.
February 3, 2026 at 11:01 PM
I'm pretty sure this guy is getting a writeup in the book I'm working on so any pretence that this is going to be anything but the most nakedly autistic thing I've ever written is gone. You could say I'm going... mask off. Seriously I think this guy has something to teach us.
Just an astonishingly bad mental health day, stemming in part from real problems, but really taken aback by the kindness of friends & acquaintances who have reached out to check in, talk to me, offer words of hope, etc. It doesn't magically fix stuff but it has massively helped me survive the day.
February 2, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Just an astonishingly bad mental health day, stemming in part from real problems, but really taken aback by the kindness of friends & acquaintances who have reached out to check in, talk to me, offer words of hope, etc. It doesn't magically fix stuff but it has massively helped me survive the day.
I *think* 3 if you include the one I wrote when I was 15. Obviously many more ones where I've written 5-15k & run out of steam/gas/nuclear fission. I try not to think too much about it while writing, otherwise I would be even less mentally resilient than I am
Hey authors -- I'm curious. For various reasons, we usually only see the highlight reals on social media, but how many novels have you trunked over your career? Especially post first published book?
February 2, 2026 at 7:51 AM
I *think* 3 if you include the one I wrote when I was 15. Obviously many more ones where I've written 5-15k & run out of steam/gas/nuclear fission. I try not to think too much about it while writing, otherwise I would be even less mentally resilient than I am
That story about Jesus & the footprints in the sand except it's Shigeru Miyamoto & when I ask why sometimes there was only one set of footprints he says 'it was then that it was Mario time'
According to Motoi Okamoto, Mini-Game Director for Super Mario 64 DS, Shigeru Miyamoto would start midnight crunch sessions for the game's development by walking into the office and announcing "It's Mario time."
February 1, 2026 at 5:11 PM
That story about Jesus & the footprints in the sand except it's Shigeru Miyamoto & when I ask why sometimes there was only one set of footprints he says 'it was then that it was Mario time'
Just went for my first run in ages. Really rough weekend of anxiety & RSD. Hate being this person. Sometimes the lack of structure & certainty feels like being on fire. Such stupid intensity of feeling for what amounts to basically boring normal days where nothing has gone wrong!
February 1, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Just went for my first run in ages. Really rough weekend of anxiety & RSD. Hate being this person. Sometimes the lack of structure & certainty feels like being on fire. Such stupid intensity of feeling for what amounts to basically boring normal days where nothing has gone wrong!
Reposted by Tim Clare
‘Your problem is not lack of ideas. It’s not lack of originality. It’s about commitment.’
lauriepenny.substack.com/p/how-to-pic...
lauriepenny.substack.com/p/how-to-pic...
How to Pick the Perfect Idea Every Single Time.
The Tyranny of Potential.
lauriepenny.substack.com
February 1, 2026 at 12:08 PM
‘Your problem is not lack of ideas. It’s not lack of originality. It’s about commitment.’
lauriepenny.substack.com/p/how-to-pic...
lauriepenny.substack.com/p/how-to-pic...