Will Wiles
@willwiles.bsky.social
"The Anechoic Chamber & other weird tales" (Salt) is out now! Author of several novels, most recently "The Last Blade Priest" (Angry Robot), which won best novel at the 2023 Kitschies. Its sequel, "The Dead Man's Empire", coming 2026. He/him
Pinned
Will Wiles
@willwiles.bsky.social
· Dec 8
If you are still looking for a "stocking filler" please bear in mind that "The Anechoic Chamber" is a slimline A-format paperback, so it fits snugly in a standard men's sock or the pocket of a winter coat. This also means savings on wrapping paper, postage, etc. and it's only £9.99.
Reposted by Will Wiles
Paging @willwiles.bsky.social
Engineer here. I've stayed in 14 Travelodges over the past couple of years for work. In every room I've stayed in, I've unscrewed the bland corporate art over the bed and rehung it upside down.
January 22, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Paging @willwiles.bsky.social
The Pingheritors by William Golding
Head canon:
Pingu is clearly seen interacting with a polar bear. Pingu therefore can only be a northern hemisphere penguin - aka the great auk, aka the OG penguin.
Pingu is amongst the last survivors of a species thought to be extinct.
Pingu is clearly seen interacting with a polar bear. Pingu therefore can only be a northern hemisphere penguin - aka the great auk, aka the OG penguin.
Pingu is amongst the last survivors of a species thought to be extinct.
January 21, 2026 at 5:32 PM
The Pingheritors by William Golding
Q: How do I unlock Sunglasses Macron?
A: It's very difficult to unlock Sunglasses Macron in the course of a normal game because it requires a specific and unlikely sequence of events. While default Macron is ruler of France, the USA must choose the monarchy path and then lay claim to Greenland.
A: It's very difficult to unlock Sunglasses Macron in the course of a normal game because it requires a specific and unlikely sequence of events. While default Macron is ruler of France, the USA must choose the monarchy path and then lay claim to Greenland.
January 20, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Q: How do I unlock Sunglasses Macron?
A: It's very difficult to unlock Sunglasses Macron in the course of a normal game because it requires a specific and unlikely sequence of events. While default Macron is ruler of France, the USA must choose the monarchy path and then lay claim to Greenland.
A: It's very difficult to unlock Sunglasses Macron in the course of a normal game because it requires a specific and unlikely sequence of events. While default Macron is ruler of France, the USA must choose the monarchy path and then lay claim to Greenland.
The words "auto-brewery syndrome" draw you in and you find you cannot stop reading and then it's too late, you read the words "super donor"
A man with auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which gut microbes produce intoxicating levels of alcohol, has been successfully treated with faeces from a super donor
Man whose gut made its own alcohol gets relief from faecal transplant
A man with auto-brewery syndrome, a rare condition in which gut microbes produce intoxicating levels of alcohol, has been successfully treated with faeces from a super donor
www.newscientist.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:15 AM
The words "auto-brewery syndrome" draw you in and you find you cannot stop reading and then it's too late, you read the words "super donor"
The slight retreat of Reform also increases the possibility of the ultimate comedy chaos poll: five parties all on 19%
It’s by no means impossible that Reform could fall back somewhat in the polls and be overtaken by the Conservatives - at which point it will be fascinating/priceless to watch the response of all the defectors.
January 18, 2026 at 10:32 PM
The slight retreat of Reform also increases the possibility of the ultimate comedy chaos poll: five parties all on 19%
Reposted by Will Wiles
Reposted by Will Wiles
Hey, cool cats! This is to let you know that A Personal Anthology is back, baby! Yes: back! Back! BACK!
Today's anthology features a dozen favourite short stories picked and introduced by Mike Fox (@polyscribe70.bsky.social), and hits inboxes at 2pm.
Sign up here, and RT if you already subscribe!
Today's anthology features a dozen favourite short stories picked and introduced by Mike Fox (@polyscribe70.bsky.social), and hits inboxes at 2pm.
Sign up here, and RT if you already subscribe!
About - A Personal Anthology
A weekly guest-editor picks and introduces a personal anthology of twelve favourite short stories. Click to read A Personal Anthology, by Jonathan Gibbs, a Substack publication with thousands of subsc...
apersonalanthology.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 9:54 AM
Hey, cool cats! This is to let you know that A Personal Anthology is back, baby! Yes: back! Back! BACK!
Today's anthology features a dozen favourite short stories picked and introduced by Mike Fox (@polyscribe70.bsky.social), and hits inboxes at 2pm.
Sign up here, and RT if you already subscribe!
Today's anthology features a dozen favourite short stories picked and introduced by Mike Fox (@polyscribe70.bsky.social), and hits inboxes at 2pm.
Sign up here, and RT if you already subscribe!
Even the explanation of this extraordinary police goof-up raises an eyebrow. A Google search is not a source.
Lovely stuff here because the addition of AI has produced a genuine error in a case that was legitimately entirely cut and dried - this club had a history of violence and anyone could tell you why the cops would have wanted them kept away.
In the letter he says “I had, up until Friday afternoon, understood that the West Ham match had only been identified through the use of Google”. The fictional match was included in a report to the local safety advisory group about the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv game
January 14, 2026 at 10:55 AM
Even the explanation of this extraordinary police goof-up raises an eyebrow. A Google search is not a source.
Tremendous evening at SRFC listening to Peter F Hamilton and EJ Swift, an unmissable combination
SFRC's Caroline Mersey @liwella.bsky.social has found yet another way to say how much she absolutely loves EJ Swift's @catamaroon.bsky.social novel When There Were Wolves Again
January 13, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Tremendous evening at SRFC listening to Peter F Hamilton and EJ Swift, an unmissable combination
Reposted by Will Wiles
Thinking about that time the My Little Pony comics, of all things, absolutely bodied Scott Adams.
March 26, 2024 at 9:35 AM
Thinking about that time the My Little Pony comics, of all things, absolutely bodied Scott Adams.
Few people have heard of the original British version of "Breaking Bad", "Chicanery Among The Engraving Profession" (1864)
January 13, 2026 at 9:17 AM
Few people have heard of the original British version of "Breaking Bad", "Chicanery Among The Engraving Profession" (1864)
Reposted by Will Wiles
My new novel, Loss Protocol, is due to be published in 5 weeks, and I may be mentioning it here from time to time. Meanwhile, it's available for prerorder from yr favourite bookshop, eg
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Loss Protocol
Eight years after the catastrophic downfall of the cult his sister Izzy had joined, Marc Winters has at last found a refuge from unwanted attention. The wildlif
blackwells.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 11:17 AM
My new novel, Loss Protocol, is due to be published in 5 weeks, and I may be mentioning it here from time to time. Meanwhile, it's available for prerorder from yr favourite bookshop, eg
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/pro...
Reposted by Will Wiles
So. We need to fill our feed out a little. Tell us who we should be following for the good genre and genre adjacent stuff. Authors, reviewers, commentators, all the good people.
Fun, serious, wry, excitable - bring them all.
Fun, serious, wry, excitable - bring them all.
January 8, 2026 at 3:46 PM
So. We need to fill our feed out a little. Tell us who we should be following for the good genre and genre adjacent stuff. Authors, reviewers, commentators, all the good people.
Fun, serious, wry, excitable - bring them all.
Fun, serious, wry, excitable - bring them all.
Delighted to have received a grant from a submerging writers foundation, which supports mid-career authors while they age, procrastinate and feel their early promise ebb away. Grants like this are essential to the production of unmarketable work of limited appeal.
January 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Delighted to have received a grant from a submerging writers foundation, which supports mid-career authors while they age, procrastinate and feel their early promise ebb away. Grants like this are essential to the production of unmarketable work of limited appeal.
Speaking as a reader, I love a good epigraph. A little sip of something to set the mood. However there are rules. Some writers are off limits owing to overuse. Nonfiction sources preferable to fiction. Maximum of two. And I dislike the serious-then-unserious gag. (e.g. Lévi-Strauss + Britney Spears)
Settle an argument: I told my wife I never read epigraphs in books because they are pointless and she was outraged. Who's right?
January 7, 2026 at 6:03 PM
Speaking as a reader, I love a good epigraph. A little sip of something to set the mood. However there are rules. Some writers are off limits owing to overuse. Nonfiction sources preferable to fiction. Maximum of two. And I dislike the serious-then-unserious gag. (e.g. Lévi-Strauss + Britney Spears)
Reposted by Will Wiles
We do solicit the majority of our posts, but we're always open for walk-ins!
A reminder we are eagerly looking for new #Shelfies for 2026 and now have a proper submission page if you would like to contribute!
Share your shelf
We'd love to see your shelfie. Here are the guidelines.
shelfies.beehiiv.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:06 PM
We do solicit the majority of our posts, but we're always open for walk-ins!
At this time of year I like to turn my attention to the really big, thorny questions: what day of the week is it, what the hell am I going to do about dinner, when did the children last shower
January 1, 2026 at 6:41 PM
At this time of year I like to turn my attention to the really big, thorny questions: what day of the week is it, what the hell am I going to do about dinner, when did the children last shower
Reposted by Will Wiles
Lots of excellent weird fiction from British writers around at the moment, enjoyed all of these hugely this year
(@willmac23.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social
@raynewman.bsky.social
@willwiles.bsky.social)
(@willmac23.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social
@raynewman.bsky.social
@willwiles.bsky.social)
December 30, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Lots of excellent weird fiction from British writers around at the moment, enjoyed all of these hugely this year
(@willmac23.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social
@raynewman.bsky.social
@willwiles.bsky.social)
(@willmac23.bsky.social @unheimlichmanvr.bsky.social
@raynewman.bsky.social
@willwiles.bsky.social)
Reposted by Will Wiles
I read some more amazing Simenons this year
And another shout out to @willwiles.bsky.social whose weird collection absolutely rocked
3/4
And another shout out to @willwiles.bsky.social whose weird collection absolutely rocked
3/4
December 30, 2025 at 11:15 AM
I read some more amazing Simenons this year
And another shout out to @willwiles.bsky.social whose weird collection absolutely rocked
3/4
And another shout out to @willwiles.bsky.social whose weird collection absolutely rocked
3/4
Reposted by Will Wiles
Including: @elizachanwrites.bsky.social @macarrick.bsky.social @orbitbooks.bsky.social @kaileepedersen.bsky.social @willwiles.bsky.social @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social @mathildazeller.bsky.social @torbooks.bsky.social @deenahelm.bsky.social @hollyrace.bsky.social @boneysoups.bsky.social (+)
December 29, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Will Wiles
What a better way to start a Monday than with the third part of "A Jam's list to 2026 releases"?
Third part of my most awaited titles for 2026 and that I hope to cover in the blog (depending on review copies and all):
jamreads.com/articles/a-j...
💙📚
Third part of my most awaited titles for 2026 and that I hope to cover in the blog (depending on review copies and all):
jamreads.com/articles/a-j...
💙📚
JamReads - Making your TBR closer to infinite
In JamReads you will find content about books, and why you should read them more. This content may include reviews, interviews and occasionally, some news of the literary world
jamreads.com
December 29, 2025 at 11:02 AM
What a better way to start a Monday than with the third part of "A Jam's list to 2026 releases"?
Third part of my most awaited titles for 2026 and that I hope to cover in the blog (depending on review copies and all):
jamreads.com/articles/a-j...
💙📚
Third part of my most awaited titles for 2026 and that I hope to cover in the blog (depending on review copies and all):
jamreads.com/articles/a-j...
💙📚
Reposted by Will Wiles
The subject of this painting by Marie Laurencin was actually a French film star, but the work will always have a strong family connection for @willwiles.bsky.social
‘It’s not Grandma. But it also is’: Will Wiles on a family portrait of sorts
The subject of this painting by Marie Laurencin was actually a French film star, but the work will always have a strong family connection for Will Wiles
buff.ly
December 27, 2025 at 8:45 AM
The subject of this painting by Marie Laurencin was actually a French film star, but the work will always have a strong family connection for @willwiles.bsky.social
"Inferior artists are continually trying to escape from the necessity of sound work, and either indulging themselves in their delights in subject, or pluming themselves on their noble motives for attempting what they cannot perform ... 1/2
December 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
"Inferior artists are continually trying to escape from the necessity of sound work, and either indulging themselves in their delights in subject, or pluming themselves on their noble motives for attempting what they cannot perform ... 1/2
Reposted by Will Wiles
The contents of Frederic Leighton’s Holland Park house were sold after the artist’s death. Now Annemarie Kloosterhof has remade the most elusive of these in paper – and Will Wiles finds her spectral creations well suited to the festive season
The long-lost collection of Frederic Leighton
The contents of the artist’s house were sold after his death and the artist Annemarie Kloosterhof has remade the most elusive of these in paper – to wonderfully spooky effect, writes Will Wiles
buff.ly
December 23, 2025 at 10:00 PM
The contents of Frederic Leighton’s Holland Park house were sold after the artist’s death. Now Annemarie Kloosterhof has remade the most elusive of these in paper – and Will Wiles finds her spectral creations well suited to the festive season
Reposted by Will Wiles
A huge thank you to @nicholasroyle.bsky.social & @saltpublishing.com, @thelincolnreview.bsky.social, @vikshirley.bsky.social & @sublunary.bsky.social for publishing (nominating) my work in 2025. To Rossi Contemporary & Claire Oberst, for exhibiting it & @lauradavispoems.bsky.social for carrying it!
December 23, 2025 at 4:13 PM
A huge thank you to @nicholasroyle.bsky.social & @saltpublishing.com, @thelincolnreview.bsky.social, @vikshirley.bsky.social & @sublunary.bsky.social for publishing (nominating) my work in 2025. To Rossi Contemporary & Claire Oberst, for exhibiting it & @lauradavispoems.bsky.social for carrying it!