Ailsa Ross
@ailsaross.bsky.social
Author by a frozen lake
Hovel, a novel, out with Strange Light / Penguin Random House March 2026
Holy Fools substack
Ailsaross.com
Hovel, a novel, out with Strange Light / Penguin Random House March 2026
Holy Fools substack
Ailsaross.com
Monks through history have been warned to fear solitude – have been told that if they saw no danger in solitude they were done for.
I'm just saying I just wrote about solitude on my Substack (ailsawrites dot substack dot com)
I'm just saying I just wrote about solitude on my Substack (ailsawrites dot substack dot com)
January 26, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Monks through history have been warned to fear solitude – have been told that if they saw no danger in solitude they were done for.
I'm just saying I just wrote about solitude on my Substack (ailsawrites dot substack dot com)
I'm just saying I just wrote about solitude on my Substack (ailsawrites dot substack dot com)
I recommend no longer using the words sunrise and sunset.
The polymath R. Buckminster Fuller disliked the words "sunrise" and "sunset" because they connote an Earth-centric universe in which the Sun is moving around us.
He preferred the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse."
The polymath R. Buckminster Fuller disliked the words "sunrise" and "sunset" because they connote an Earth-centric universe in which the Sun is moving around us.
He preferred the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse."
January 23, 2026 at 12:44 PM
I recommend no longer using the words sunrise and sunset.
The polymath R. Buckminster Fuller disliked the words "sunrise" and "sunset" because they connote an Earth-centric universe in which the Sun is moving around us.
He preferred the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse."
The polymath R. Buckminster Fuller disliked the words "sunrise" and "sunset" because they connote an Earth-centric universe in which the Sun is moving around us.
He preferred the terms "sunsight" and "sunclipse."
Just published the 'very exciting' story of what happened when I lost my sunglasses (nothing good) on Ailsa Ross Dot Substack Dot Com
January 22, 2026 at 12:40 PM
Just published the 'very exciting' story of what happened when I lost my sunglasses (nothing good) on Ailsa Ross Dot Substack Dot Com
I mean I have been saying it is the Year of the Cabbage every year since 2017, Vogue.
January 20, 2026 at 1:23 PM
I mean I have been saying it is the Year of the Cabbage every year since 2017, Vogue.
Thank you from someone with a case of viral pink eye.
January 19, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Thank you from someone with a case of viral pink eye.
Can anyone help me freeze an ARC of my novel HOVEL properly?
Air bubbles are getting the better of me, and my book.
Air bubbles are getting the better of me, and my book.
January 19, 2026 at 2:06 PM
Can anyone help me freeze an ARC of my novel HOVEL properly?
Air bubbles are getting the better of me, and my book.
Air bubbles are getting the better of me, and my book.
HOVEL is on this list!
January 19, 2026 at 2:03 PM
HOVEL is on this list!
The physicist Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau in 1829 happily gazed directly at the sun for 25 seconds, for he was fascinated by the luminous impressions looking made on his retina.
Of course many years later he did, in fact, lose his eyesight.
Of course many years later he did, in fact, lose his eyesight.
January 19, 2026 at 12:38 PM
The physicist Joseph Antoine Ferdinand Plateau in 1829 happily gazed directly at the sun for 25 seconds, for he was fascinated by the luminous impressions looking made on his retina.
Of course many years later he did, in fact, lose his eyesight.
Of course many years later he did, in fact, lose his eyesight.
Often I am having dreams about what I would serve in my dream cafe (dark bread, almond cream apple tarts, oatcakes), but really, Patti Smith already created my dream cafe in M Train.
"No music no menus. Just silence black coffee olive oil fresh mint brown bread."
"No music no menus. Just silence black coffee olive oil fresh mint brown bread."
January 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Often I am having dreams about what I would serve in my dream cafe (dark bread, almond cream apple tarts, oatcakes), but really, Patti Smith already created my dream cafe in M Train.
"No music no menus. Just silence black coffee olive oil fresh mint brown bread."
"No music no menus. Just silence black coffee olive oil fresh mint brown bread."
All through my twenties, I purposely did not take photos and I did not learn video, because it was writing that I loved. Yet here I am, a ridiculous age, and still the need to take photos is creeping up on me, even after learning how to write.
Here is a fox I once photographed.
Here is a fox I once photographed.
January 12, 2026 at 11:30 AM
All through my twenties, I purposely did not take photos and I did not learn video, because it was writing that I loved. Yet here I am, a ridiculous age, and still the need to take photos is creeping up on me, even after learning how to write.
Here is a fox I once photographed.
Here is a fox I once photographed.
I don't think for a second that if I start posting on Substack or wherever with some consistency that I will suddenly get a following and I will be able to help move the needle on my book, HOVEL.
There are so many people in the world, but I cannot reach them.
There are so many people in the world, but I cannot reach them.
January 9, 2026 at 4:31 PM
I don't think for a second that if I start posting on Substack or wherever with some consistency that I will suddenly get a following and I will be able to help move the needle on my book, HOVEL.
There are so many people in the world, but I cannot reach them.
There are so many people in the world, but I cannot reach them.
There is a scholar’s apartment at the Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum that is available to artists, researchers and other guests. It’s available year round.
January 6, 2026 at 12:01 PM
There is a scholar’s apartment at the Icelandic Folk and Outsider Art Museum that is available to artists, researchers and other guests. It’s available year round.
Do you have the flu? have you tried these cures?
January 5, 2026 at 2:36 PM
Do you have the flu? have you tried these cures?
Did a Substack before I contracted flu. Now help me understand Bluesky?
January 4, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Did a Substack before I contracted flu. Now help me understand Bluesky?
The naturalist and bear whisperer Charlie Russell said of animal tracks:
“Tracks are amazing. It’s so wonderful when there’s a fresh skiff of snow and you can see tracks. They show the animal’s history, his biography, at least for a few miles..."
I’ve written about him in my latest Substack post.
“Tracks are amazing. It’s so wonderful when there’s a fresh skiff of snow and you can see tracks. They show the animal’s history, his biography, at least for a few miles..."
I’ve written about him in my latest Substack post.
January 3, 2026 at 1:30 PM
The naturalist and bear whisperer Charlie Russell said of animal tracks:
“Tracks are amazing. It’s so wonderful when there’s a fresh skiff of snow and you can see tracks. They show the animal’s history, his biography, at least for a few miles..."
I’ve written about him in my latest Substack post.
“Tracks are amazing. It’s so wonderful when there’s a fresh skiff of snow and you can see tracks. They show the animal’s history, his biography, at least for a few miles..."
I’ve written about him in my latest Substack post.
I’ve started a Substack about hermits and artists and adventurers.
It is about complex people who are sometimes railing against their loneliness, who are sometimes in love with their solitude.
It's called Holy Fools.
Maybe it could have a better name?
It is about complex people who are sometimes railing against their loneliness, who are sometimes in love with their solitude.
It's called Holy Fools.
Maybe it could have a better name?
January 3, 2026 at 10:30 AM
I’ve started a Substack about hermits and artists and adventurers.
It is about complex people who are sometimes railing against their loneliness, who are sometimes in love with their solitude.
It's called Holy Fools.
Maybe it could have a better name?
It is about complex people who are sometimes railing against their loneliness, who are sometimes in love with their solitude.
It's called Holy Fools.
Maybe it could have a better name?
Defile the plots of envy
We're not worthless worms
I love these two lines, attributed to the Cynics of ancient Greece, and to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – a woman who’s lived in a mountain cave for twelve years.
We're not worthless worms
I love these two lines, attributed to the Cynics of ancient Greece, and to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – a woman who’s lived in a mountain cave for twelve years.
January 2, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Defile the plots of envy
We're not worthless worms
I love these two lines, attributed to the Cynics of ancient Greece, and to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – a woman who’s lived in a mountain cave for twelve years.
We're not worthless worms
I love these two lines, attributed to the Cynics of ancient Greece, and to Jetsunma Tenzin Palmo – a woman who’s lived in a mountain cave for twelve years.
In winter I miss lettuce; in summer I miss the stars.
On balance, it is lettuce I miss more.
On balance, it is lettuce I miss more.
January 2, 2026 at 3:30 PM
In winter I miss lettuce; in summer I miss the stars.
On balance, it is lettuce I miss more.
On balance, it is lettuce I miss more.
Pickling dandelion buds is not so easy. They want to blossom into flowers so fast.
May 6, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Pickling dandelion buds is not so easy. They want to blossom into flowers so fast.
Yesterday the lake where I live unfroze
April 25, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Yesterday the lake where I live unfroze
We are going out at dusk
February 26, 2025 at 2:25 PM
We are going out at dusk
I think I took these pictures about two weeks ago. This was a nice day.
December 5, 2024 at 5:11 PM
I think I took these pictures about two weeks ago. This was a nice day.
December 5, 2024 at 4:39 PM
A fox for you @chrisgpackham.bsky.social
December 2, 2024 at 6:33 PM
A fox for you @chrisgpackham.bsky.social