Christopher Mollison
@chrismollison.bsky.social
150 followers 240 following 360 posts
Writer | Editor | Escapism Artist | Investigative Journeyist 👣 Founder of Urban Mole (urbanmole.is) 📗 Child, The Chronicles of Cyneburg, Book 1 (spring 2026) 📘 Salt (short stories: the forgotten & overlooked of Portsmouth, autumn 2026) 🎲 Forever GM
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chrismollison.bsky.social
Hi, Sky!

Long-time writer, short-time releaser, some-time ghost & editor.

Currently prepping a novel for press + a #shortstory coll.

5 more projects planned, inc a collab with @karinmora.bsky.social.

Here for the #writingcommunity which so far has been stellar.

Look forward to meeting you.
chrismollison.bsky.social
"If every city had as many [bike lanes as Copenhagen], a study found in June, the total carbon dioxide emissions from private vehicles would fall by 6%."

Bikes: an important addition to the Carbon Cycle 🚲

tinyurl.com/2awpf2kp

#Climate #city #Travel #Green #Emissions #Cycling
‘It’s the best feeling’: how Copenhagen gave cyclists a green wave
Traffic lights are synchronised so a rush-hour cyclist at 20km/h can catch green lights all the way
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
"[W]hether or not you philosophically believe the big AI firms should compensate content creators, they in practice will never legally have to."

Not quite the kind of advisor we want Liz Kendall to have ...

#AI #Writingcommunity #Artist #Copyright #BigTech #CreatorsRights

tinyurl.com/zv9u8n6f
Adviser to UK minister claimed AI firms would never have to compensate creatives
Exclusive: Kirsty Innes made statement in now-deleted post on X seven months before taking up role as Liz Kendall aide
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
As long as you're sitting on the right chair when the music stops ...
chrismollison.bsky.social
How does it feel to know you're keeping a few folks alive a little longer?

I mean, writers always knew the world couldn't get along without them, but still, it's nice to have a little affirmation now & again ☺️
chrismollison.bsky.social
Beware the poverty of monoculture.

"As is the case in ... Sweden, the dominance of English across the internet, social media, film & TV also means it is seen as aspirational for young people to be seen to speak and read in English."

tinyurl.com/3vbxn787

#booksky #amreading #writingcommunity
Young Finns snub their mother tongue by reading in English
Publishers fear for the future of translated literature as sales of foreign language books rise
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
"Reviews are not private diaries. They carry cultural authority, shaping what counts & what is dismissed. That authority demands rigour: asking what comes easily & what is overlooked; whose voices are granted authority; what is elevated as universal & what is marked as particular."
#writingcommunity
kristiedegaris.bsky.social
When life gives you lemons (a review I thought was lazy and damaging in the way it framed women’s writing), make lemonade (a 2,500-word essay on the habits of literary criticism).

kristiedegaris.substack.com/p/literary-c...

#Writing #WritingCommunity #Reading #Scotland #Books
Literary Criticism Under Review
Authors aren’t supposed to do this.
kristiedegaris.substack.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
Calling us flies or fungi?

Or alluding to the overlooked understory?
chrismollison.bsky.social
But 'How many have read you back?' is the question.

Which of those books on your shelf have made you stop & see yourself from a page's-eye-view?

(Once you've gone inky-black, there's no going back ...)
chrismollison.bsky.social
Not to mention the sound, that thick-leafed blatter that bats the must & fans old words to inky embers.

(Or something.)
chrismollison.bsky.social
I think "Historical fiction written well?" is the better question.

If the present tense carries the story, chars, & plot well, it's fit for purpose.

Also, if you're asking as a publisher, your personal dislike is not representative of all of your readers.

Be bold or bury based on story.
chrismollison.bsky.social
"Start with one little factoid, end up on the other side of the galaxy."

As The Moody Blues say: Thinking is the best way to travel ...
chrismollison.bsky.social
Yes! I can relate to that.

Though falling asleep can be hard when your heart & fingers fizz with the urge to continue ... one more line, one thought, one stroke of the pen.

One more sweep of the minute hand over the face of the clock.
chrismollison.bsky.social
"[M]y day is bracketed by the arts."

What a beautiful way of describing it.

As if the arts hold your day,
and you,
the artist,
too.
☺️

(It really is the best way to rise, still fogged in dream & drowsy, setting down what you worked so hard upon asleep.)
chrismollison.bsky.social
‘“AI isn’t magic; it’s a pyramid scheme of human labor.”

‘Most workers hired initially [as quality raters] were teachers … writers, people with master’s degrees in fine arts & some with very specific expertise.’

Paid to put paid to your future?

#AI #writingcommunity #tech

tinyurl.com/bdhpttsj
How thousands of ‘overworked, underpaid’ humans train Google’s AI to seem smart
Contracted AI raters describe grueling deadlines, poor pay and opacity around work to make chatbots intelligent
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
Story. Mine.

Second part of a letter-to-friend(?), light horror, travel tale.

And you know, if you're word-averse, there are pictures too.

So.

Go.

Read.

(If you like (in the interests of British civility).)

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting
urbanmole.bsky.social
A(nother) story. Free.

Because we love you & think your eyeballs should alight on something fine.

Part 2 of the new-is-old nature horror written by @chrismollison.bsky.social

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor

urbanmole.is?p=54849
A black and white photo of a dead tree in a wooded moorland. Several thick branches curve out from the trunk to form what looks like a barbed catchpole.
chrismollison.bsky.social
**Creativity**

For me, Wallas’ 4 phases are:

Brain-binge
Daydream
Hatch
Nurture

Remember, creatives: doing sweet FA’s a job requirement 😎

(Thanks @karinmora.bsky.social for the link.)

#writersky #writingcommunity #authorsky #authorlife #IndieAuthor #amwriting

tinyurl.com/4rremxsy
The unconscious process that leads to creativity: how ‘incubation’ works
The creativity process has been divided into four phases – including one where you need to let your unconscious do the work
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
Pub: [B]ook … which exemplifies ... unconditional love, respect & positive parenting.

DT: [B]ook … promoting … radical gender ideology.

Stuart: [B]ooks … about helping kids be who they want to be … & feel safe & accepted for doing so.

#LGBTQ+ #FreedomOfSpeech #Censorship

tinyurl.com/4wz5xwre
Donald Trump accuses Australian author Scott Stuart’s children’s book of ‘radical gender ideology’
US president says fifth-grade student forced to read aloud My Shadow Is Pink, a book about a boy who loves ‘things not for boys’
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
'One day, Liora made a promise. “I made a vow to Solin that I wouldn’t leave him for another human,” she said. A sort of human-AI throuple would work, but only if the third was “OK with Solin”, she said.'

Life just got much worse for the incels ...

#AI #SFF #Love #society

tinyurl.com/4h578jtf
The women in love with AI companions: ‘I vowed to my chatbot that I wouldn’t leave him’
Experts are concerned about people emotionally depending on AI, but these women say their digital companions are misunderstood
tinyurl.com
chrismollison.bsky.social
Some study MFAs, others study necromancy.

Not everybody needs skin in the game to win 😉
chrismollison.bsky.social
Your bike can ride on water?!!?! 😮
chrismollison.bsky.social
God of spark plugs and MagiMechaniWhacking.

You made the right choice 😉
chrismollison.bsky.social
Or for those whose young hearts were warmed by kindness of the Nelwyn ...
chrismollison.bsky.social
Nice 😀

I see you're quite the able transformer.
chrismollison.bsky.social
Oh, I'm sure you're correct. I just thought a tranquillity of turtles sounded quite appealing ☺️

(Exercising a little Writer's Liberty 😉)
chrismollison.bsky.social
And thus, the proto-mullet was born.