I know every country is set up differently/has different cultural norms/all that - but if I was a world leader I would 100% be copying any good idea I could!

This is just such a no-brainer win for everybody that I hope that it gets rolled out in a much bigger way.

I'm ignoring emails from one of those freelance book promoters, and they're really hitting me where it hurts - 'Dave, you're not good at communicating, just respond to say no.'

Which I know is just a tactic, but man am I susceptible to GUILT

So sad to hear of Manchán's passing. His works are always on my desk, just reading a line or two is enough to lift you and remind you of the ground beneath your feet at the same time.

'They rode to the fugitives’ bed at Waermund Hill – a white stone square as flat and smooth as a quilt. In some tales the beds were for lovers, in others they were for thieves, and in a few they were for both, the besotted boys and heart-crazed girls who stole each other from disapproving hearths.'

The CONN OF THE DEAD audiobook has been released!

This was such a blast to read so if you've got a horror-lover aged 9 - 11 (particularly one who's neurodivergent) this is the peril-packed few hours for them.

There's even a sample here to check out!

rbmediaglobal.com/audiobook/97...

I also saw that rumour, and despite never having played a single game of Warhammer Quest, BSF and CC have been a wealth of proxies and kitbashes for me, so there's no way I won't try and pick it up!

Somewhere in Iceland.

Film criticism is an environment where straight, white, cisgender, and male voices have dominated for over a century. Now we FINALLY have an influx of diverse voices who offer more context, expertise and analysis! And now, of course, people say critics are worthless now. What a fucking coincidence.

Politely withdrawing from a book prize isn’t cancelling anyone. When the Women’s Prize said it had no problem incl transgender women, the “gender critical” novelist Lissa Evans, for example, said she’d no longer allow her books to be submitted for it. I wonder where the substacks were about that?

I was in Edinburgh and saw a battered burger on JustEat.

Reader, they had battered the buns.

(you could also order cigarettes)

"He said: "Wouldn't it be great testament to [Sean Rocks] and to Michael D who's going to finish up this year, if there was a dedicated section in the six o'clock news for an artistic segment the same way as there is for sport."

Very sorry to have to cancel my gigs in Malahide Library today due to a wretched stomach bug - we are looking to reschedule and I'll yell about dates here when we do!

Absolutely - characters show you who they are in those moments, and if everyone acted like Hicks then there'd be no weight to anything. I saw Hobbes & Shaw (for some reason) and I don't think there's a single moment of anything other than wry resignation in any character for the whole movie.

It's a target-rich environment if you're comparing JURASSIC PARK to its successors with an eye toward what's changed in blockbuster filmmaking, but a big one that stood out to me this time around is little things like Sattler collapsing against a fence and sobbing after an escape from the raptors.

This is such a great point! Or the various Marines freaking out in different ways in Aliens, that provided such character to all of them.

One of the unexpected joys of parenting has been discovering just how many great books are now available for the confident middle grade reader, and indeed the useful existence of middle grade for labelling books with plenty of action/peril but not much emphasis on the relationships side.

I've added another Publishing Information Session as the first one has been snapped up - your support is greatly appreciated and I'd love to help your book find a home!

Find out more at the link below.

www.ruthennis.com/irish-kidlit...

@rurooie.bsky.social @sineadohart.bsky.social

My new book with @facetpublishing.bsky.social is out soon! It’s aimed at new D&D dungeon masters, especially school staff that have less time than they’d like! You can pre order here!

facetpublishing.co.uk/page/detail/...
#ttrpg #ttrpgcommunity

Show your support: buy Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward, Bloodsongs by Mae Diansangu, Impossible Heat by Ciara Maguire, Revolutionary Acts: Love & Brotherhood in Black Gay Britain by Jason Okundaye, Spoilt Creatures by Amy Twigg

By my count this makes 5 out of 12 authors on the Polari First Book longlist who have withdrawn. It's hard to understate the moral courage this involves, esp for folk launching their first book into the world. As so often, those with the most to lose end up showing the most moral fibre. Solidarity x

Washington Post: “Is fascism bad? The answer may surprise you”

Teen Vogue: “Here are three fun tips you can use this summer to disable an armored personnel carrier”

These are so gorgeous, congratulations!