Alex Harford
@alexharford.bsky.social
#ShortStory & flash writer of spec fic, fantasy, weird, horror, literary. Poet. Making Bluesky my social network writing home. Travel photographer of outdoors & places that don't seem real. Loves live music, film, running, and more.
https://AlexHarford.uk
https://AlexHarford.uk
I think it's harder to be one.
(no pun intended if that actually seems it could've been intended)
(no pun intended if that actually seems it could've been intended)
November 10, 2025 at 3:21 PM
I think it's harder to be one.
(no pun intended if that actually seems it could've been intended)
(no pun intended if that actually seems it could've been intended)
Wow! It'd be amazing to see that view once in my life, never mind wake up to it every day.
November 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Wow! It'd be amazing to see that view once in my life, never mind wake up to it every day.
Urgh. Not surprising.
I started translating one of my flash fictions from English to Spanish and gave up after two sentences. If was difficult enough finding the right words, never mind flow etc.
I started translating one of my flash fictions from English to Spanish and gave up after two sentences. If was difficult enough finding the right words, never mind flow etc.
November 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Urgh. Not surprising.
I started translating one of my flash fictions from English to Spanish and gave up after two sentences. If was difficult enough finding the right words, never mind flow etc.
I started translating one of my flash fictions from English to Spanish and gave up after two sentences. If was difficult enough finding the right words, never mind flow etc.
Either way, it sounds like you were alarmed by something.
November 7, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Either way, it sounds like you were alarmed by something.
I read it at my local writing group, and they loved it too.
November 7, 2025 at 12:20 PM
I read it at my local writing group, and they loved it too.
And how is it random if you thought about it? Surely you'd have to pick about 50 facts then randomly pick 5 of them.
October 8, 2025 at 6:37 PM
And how is it random if you thought about it? Surely you'd have to pick about 50 facts then randomly pick 5 of them.
I think I was just very wordy.
Or I should say:
I was wordy.
Or I should say:
I was wordy.
October 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I think I was just very wordy.
Or I should say:
I was wordy.
Or I should say:
I was wordy.
An editor made me cut 10% of a 10,000 word story.
It took me 30 hours.
It was a great lesson though!
It took me 30 hours.
It was a great lesson though!
October 1, 2025 at 6:11 PM
An editor made me cut 10% of a 10,000 word story.
It took me 30 hours.
It was a great lesson though!
It took me 30 hours.
It was a great lesson though!
A couple of dystopian futures. One where most music is banned and teens try to summon ABBA from the past (written before hologram ABBA) and another where punk silence gigs are a respite from a noisy world.
Others where the story is driven by music or it plays an important part in a scene or two.
Others where the story is driven by music or it plays an important part in a scene or two.
September 27, 2025 at 6:09 PM
A couple of dystopian futures. One where most music is banned and teens try to summon ABBA from the past (written before hologram ABBA) and another where punk silence gigs are a respite from a noisy world.
Others where the story is driven by music or it plays an important part in a scene or two.
Others where the story is driven by music or it plays an important part in a scene or two.
I didn't follow the account back because of its "AI" generated banner.
September 27, 2025 at 8:14 AM
I didn't follow the account back because of its "AI" generated banner.
"...an artist in a midsize city whose particular artform is creating beasts out of synthetic meat and animating them with jazz recordings..."
I'm in! Many of my own stories revolve around music but nothing like yours. I'm looking forward to reading. I happen to be listening to jazz right now.
I'm in! Many of my own stories revolve around music but nothing like yours. I'm looking forward to reading. I happen to be listening to jazz right now.
September 26, 2025 at 6:08 PM
"...an artist in a midsize city whose particular artform is creating beasts out of synthetic meat and animating them with jazz recordings..."
I'm in! Many of my own stories revolve around music but nothing like yours. I'm looking forward to reading. I happen to be listening to jazz right now.
I'm in! Many of my own stories revolve around music but nothing like yours. I'm looking forward to reading. I happen to be listening to jazz right now.
Speaking from a UK perspective, tying state pension age to life expectancy and being proactive rather than reactive in healthcare should go a long way towards that.
September 8, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Speaking from a UK perspective, tying state pension age to life expectancy and being proactive rather than reactive in healthcare should go a long way towards that.
Yep, by Oliver Sacks! My mum is a big fan of his work, and I keep meaning to read more by him. I've read a few of his patient stories that are fascinating.
September 6, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Yep, by Oliver Sacks! My mum is a big fan of his work, and I keep meaning to read more by him. I've read a few of his patient stories that are fascinating.
So most people visualise images when they imagine things? I feel like I have a good imagination, but I don't think I see images when I'm imagining things unless I'm forming something from a memory.
I wonder if that's why my writing was so white room when I started.
I wonder if that's why my writing was so white room when I started.
September 6, 2025 at 8:55 PM
So most people visualise images when they imagine things? I feel like I have a good imagination, but I don't think I see images when I'm imagining things unless I'm forming something from a memory.
I wonder if that's why my writing was so white room when I started.
I wonder if that's why my writing was so white room when I started.
I have a mild prosopagnosia. I used to think I was in my own world when family members & friends thought I'd ignored them, but in recent years I realised I probably didn't recognise them sometimes.
I met someone recently who doesn't recognise himself in the mirror.
Our brains are fascinating.
I met someone recently who doesn't recognise himself in the mirror.
Our brains are fascinating.
September 6, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I have a mild prosopagnosia. I used to think I was in my own world when family members & friends thought I'd ignored them, but in recent years I realised I probably didn't recognise them sometimes.
I met someone recently who doesn't recognise himself in the mirror.
Our brains are fascinating.
I met someone recently who doesn't recognise himself in the mirror.
Our brains are fascinating.
Massive respect. As a writer who has been trying to break through for years, I think I would have begrudgingly accepted the contract.
I doubt I'll submit to them in future unless something changes.
I doubt I'll submit to them in future unless something changes.
September 4, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Massive respect. As a writer who has been trying to break through for years, I think I would have begrudgingly accepted the contract.
I doubt I'll submit to them in future unless something changes.
I doubt I'll submit to them in future unless something changes.
My favourites tend to be comedy horrors like One Cut of the Dead (I know Lesley likes this one) and Tucker & Dale vs Evil.
Black Swan for psychological horror.
The Innocents and Psycho for classics.
Black Swan for psychological horror.
The Innocents and Psycho for classics.
September 4, 2025 at 5:16 PM
My favourites tend to be comedy horrors like One Cut of the Dead (I know Lesley likes this one) and Tucker & Dale vs Evil.
Black Swan for psychological horror.
The Innocents and Psycho for classics.
Black Swan for psychological horror.
The Innocents and Psycho for classics.
Is there a key I can plug into my face to control my whole life?
September 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Is there a key I can plug into my face to control my whole life?
"not enough children being born" is also propaganda. It's the obsession with growth that's killing our planet and widening the gap between poor and rich.
Good overall points from the guy though, assuming this isn't a deepfake video.
Good overall points from the guy though, assuming this isn't a deepfake video.
September 4, 2025 at 7:52 AM
"not enough children being born" is also propaganda. It's the obsession with growth that's killing our planet and widening the gap between poor and rich.
Good overall points from the guy though, assuming this isn't a deepfake video.
Good overall points from the guy though, assuming this isn't a deepfake video.
I've been meaning to transfer from IMDB to Letterboxd for ages, and thanks to your link, I finally did!
It's great to see a fellow Banshees of Inisherin fan - it's probably my favourite 2020s film so far. As you like sci-fi and climate stuff, have you watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?
It's great to see a fellow Banshees of Inisherin fan - it's probably my favourite 2020s film so far. As you like sci-fi and climate stuff, have you watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?
September 2, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I've been meaning to transfer from IMDB to Letterboxd for ages, and thanks to your link, I finally did!
It's great to see a fellow Banshees of Inisherin fan - it's probably my favourite 2020s film so far. As you like sci-fi and climate stuff, have you watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?
It's great to see a fellow Banshees of Inisherin fan - it's probably my favourite 2020s film so far. As you like sci-fi and climate stuff, have you watched Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind?
Ah, I think Voila was still generative AI? But from long before what we now know. 😭
September 2, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Ah, I think Voila was still generative AI? But from long before what we now know. 😭