Eva Dolan
@evadolan.bsky.social
Sunday Times bestselling author of the Zigic & Ferreira series. Grand Prix des Lectrices winner. Cambridge. Agent - Nicola Barr at Rye Literary
Reposted by Eva Dolan
"Your pattern of reluctance cannot hold; the dam will break at some point. Every year, you read 'backgammon set' as one of my lovely gift suggestions, and every year you scroll right past it as if you know better than me. Let’s be clear: you don’t."
I’m a Holiday Gift Guide Writer, and I Really Need You Pricks to Start Playing Backgammon
On the whole, I love my job writing holiday gift guides. I get to curate beautiful lists designed to help you, the consumer, bring joy to your love...
buff.ly
November 30, 2025 at 9:03 PM
"Your pattern of reluctance cannot hold; the dam will break at some point. Every year, you read 'backgammon set' as one of my lovely gift suggestions, and every year you scroll right past it as if you know better than me. Let’s be clear: you don’t."
Reposted by Eva Dolan
There should be book clubs for babies. "I enjoyed the crinkliness of this one but I have to say the little mirror at the end was a bit predictable."
November 26, 2025 at 5:40 PM
There should be book clubs for babies. "I enjoyed the crinkliness of this one but I have to say the little mirror at the end was a bit predictable."
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
Reposted by Eva Dolan
It was an absolute honour to chat with Elif Shafak for the @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social podcast. Full of insight and fun, I hope! @annmorgan.bsky.social @orendabooks.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3a98...
open.spotify.com/episode/3a98...
November 9, 2025 at 1:52 PM
It was an absolute honour to chat with Elif Shafak for the @royalliteraryfund.bsky.social podcast. Full of insight and fun, I hope! @annmorgan.bsky.social @orendabooks.bsky.social
open.spotify.com/episode/3a98...
open.spotify.com/episode/3a98...
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Sheila Roberts explores shapeshifting secret-keepers in Daphne du Maurier, Oscar Wilde, Margaret Mitchell, and more! crimereads.com/the-power-of...
The Power of Creating Fictional Characters Who Aren’t What They Seem
Have you ever met a fictional character who turned out to be very different from what that character first appeared to be? We often refer to them as shapeshifters because of how they can change. Or…
crimereads.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Sheila Roberts explores shapeshifting secret-keepers in Daphne du Maurier, Oscar Wilde, Margaret Mitchell, and more! crimereads.com/the-power-of...
Reposted by Eva Dolan
©Vivian Maier
New York, 1953
New York, 1953
November 10, 2025 at 4:49 PM
©Vivian Maier
New York, 1953
New York, 1953
A great guide to the second worst job after writing a synopsis!
The latest Not-So-Secret Agents Substack from @tpbagency.bsky.social written by me, on comparison titles: why they’re a thing, how they’re used in queries, what pitfalls to avoid, and how to master them.
open.substack.com/pub/thenotso...
open.substack.com/pub/thenotso...
Comparison Titles – The No-Nonsense Guide
By Ed Wood
open.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:59 PM
A great guide to the second worst job after writing a synopsis!
Reposted by Eva Dolan
A few months ago I was asked to give the after-dinner speech at the CWA Daggers. I chose to talk about AI, and the bravery and humanity involved in reading and writing. Afterwards a lot of people asked me to post the speech online, so here it is. I hope you like it ruthware.com/daggers-spee...
Daggers Speech
The following is a lightly edited version of a speech I was asked to give at the 2025 Daggers – the prestigious crime fiction awards administered by the Crime Writer’s Association of the UK.
ruthware.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:54 PM
A few months ago I was asked to give the after-dinner speech at the CWA Daggers. I chose to talk about AI, and the bravery and humanity involved in reading and writing. Afterwards a lot of people asked me to post the speech online, so here it is. I hope you like it ruthware.com/daggers-spee...
‘This habit of hearing only flawless synchronization conditions us to experience other humans as sources of disagreement and delay. The aesthetic normalization of perfect time translates directly into diminished tolerance for the temporal and affective plurality on which democracy depends.’
Yes & this has been going on in music for decades. The gridification of performances- using algorithms to make performances 'perfect'- teaches us to reject difference & unlearn how to move together in time, making democratic coordination much more difficult.
medium.com/the-riff/doe...
medium.com/the-riff/doe...
October 31, 2025 at 5:12 PM
‘This habit of hearing only flawless synchronization conditions us to experience other humans as sources of disagreement and delay. The aesthetic normalization of perfect time translates directly into diminished tolerance for the temporal and affective plurality on which democracy depends.’
Reposted by Eva Dolan
It's Halloween and the last day for Love and Other Poisons (no ghosts but it does have a murder!) on the Amazon Kindle deal - grab it now!
October 31, 2025 at 10:27 AM
It's Halloween and the last day for Love and Other Poisons (no ghosts but it does have a murder!) on the Amazon Kindle deal - grab it now!
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Children have an innate sense of which trees are possessed by Wood Sprites. It's a faculty not ever adult loses. Some of us still hear trees whisper with withered bark voices in our minds. Still see their wooden bones as alphabet. We know they watch. – Joanna Vickers #VOH
October 30, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Children have an innate sense of which trees are possessed by Wood Sprites. It's a faculty not ever adult loses. Some of us still hear trees whisper with withered bark voices in our minds. Still see their wooden bones as alphabet. We know they watch. – Joanna Vickers #VOH
Lovely surprise in the post today, a gorgeous proof of @dauntbookspub.bsky.social reissue of THE BOTTLE FACTORY OUTING. So great to see Beryl Bainbridge prepped to find a new audience.
Big thanks @marigoldatkey.bsky.social this is right up my alley!
Big thanks @marigoldatkey.bsky.social this is right up my alley!
October 30, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Lovely surprise in the post today, a gorgeous proof of @dauntbookspub.bsky.social reissue of THE BOTTLE FACTORY OUTING. So great to see Beryl Bainbridge prepped to find a new audience.
Big thanks @marigoldatkey.bsky.social this is right up my alley!
Big thanks @marigoldatkey.bsky.social this is right up my alley!
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Isabelline Shrike is the new fashion editor at The Telegraph.
Isabelline Shrike sp. at Woods Mill, West Sussex this afternoon always distant but a great bird for the county #Ukbirding 🪶
October 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Isabelline Shrike is the new fashion editor at The Telegraph.
Reposted by Eva Dolan
These little tools are apple scoops. They date from the 1800s and are made of sheep bone. They were common in apple-growing districts. The marrow has been hollowed out to allow the user to scrape off pieces of apple if they had few teeth and couldn’t afford dentures.
October 24, 2025 at 11:03 AM
These little tools are apple scoops. They date from the 1800s and are made of sheep bone. They were common in apple-growing districts. The marrow has been hollowed out to allow the user to scrape off pieces of apple if they had few teeth and couldn’t afford dentures.
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Mycenaean bull's head. I mean, just look at it...
October 23, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Mycenaean bull's head. I mean, just look at it...
Loved this book and it’s FREE right now!
Today and tomorrow (the 24th) is your last chance to get my 2008 debut, THE GOOD SON for FREE on Kindle even without Kindle Unlimited! Get clicking, get reading, and while you're at it consider getting some of my other books, too! www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Son-McN...
The Good Son (J McNee Book 1) eBook : McLean, Russel D: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
The Good Son (J McNee Book 1) eBook : McLean, Russel D: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store
www.amazon.co.uk
October 23, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Loved this book and it’s FREE right now!
‘I have read of other cat burglars who work in the dead of night, and all I can tell you is they are not French. Miss a night of passionate lovemaking to steal some jewels that will still be there the next morning at a reasonable hour? C’est impossible!’
In France, we pride ourselves on enjoying life’s simple pleasures: food, drink, and the occasional grand larceny. To rush through these things would not just disrupt our leisurely schedule; it would be a sin. One must savor the moment, not run from robbery to robbery like a buffoon.
I, a French Jewel Thief, Refuse to Rob the Louvre Before Mid-Morning
“Thieves in balaclavas broke into Paris’ Louvre museum on Sunday morning, using a crane to smash an upstairs window, then stealing priceless object...
buff.ly
October 23, 2025 at 4:47 PM
‘I have read of other cat burglars who work in the dead of night, and all I can tell you is they are not French. Miss a night of passionate lovemaking to steal some jewels that will still be there the next morning at a reasonable hour? C’est impossible!’
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Enormously proud to be the new UK home of Beryl Bainbridge. In March 2026, we kick things off in earnest by publishing AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE, with an intro by Yiyun Li, and THE BOTTLE FACTORY OUTING, with an intro by A. K. Blakemore. Ruthlessly smart, darkly comic, her novels are sharp-edged gems
Daunt Books has acquired 13 books by five-time Booker-shortlistee Beryl Bainbridge 👇 #BookSky
Daunt Books acquires 13 books by Beryl Bainbridge
ebx.sh
October 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Enormously proud to be the new UK home of Beryl Bainbridge. In March 2026, we kick things off in earnest by publishing AN AWFULLY BIG ADVENTURE, with an intro by Yiyun Li, and THE BOTTLE FACTORY OUTING, with an intro by A. K. Blakemore. Ruthlessly smart, darkly comic, her novels are sharp-edged gems
A warm-hearted and incredibly sensible piece of writing
making a living vs making a life
here is the best advice I have about making your life in the creative arts. it's advice from my mum. it has made my whole life better and if you want to be an artist I think it'll make yours better too:
naomialderman.substack.com/p/the-best-a...
here is the best advice I have about making your life in the creative arts. it's advice from my mum. it has made my whole life better and if you want to be an artist I think it'll make yours better too:
naomialderman.substack.com/p/the-best-a...
making a living vs making a life
or "can you earn money from your art?" (and is that even the right question?)
naomialderman.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:53 PM
A warm-hearted and incredibly sensible piece of writing
Reposted by Eva Dolan
'Avatar Reef' teapot by UK based ceramicist Delfina Emmanuel, who creates work often inspired by marine life #WomensArt
October 21, 2025 at 4:55 AM
'Avatar Reef' teapot by UK based ceramicist Delfina Emmanuel, who creates work often inspired by marine life #WomensArt
If ever a book was made to be read in a single, hypnotic sitting it’s this one.
Groundhog Day for lovers of chilly precision, slow disintegration and the uncanniness of repeated domestic detail.
In awe of Solvej Balle.
Groundhog Day for lovers of chilly precision, slow disintegration and the uncanniness of repeated domestic detail.
In awe of Solvej Balle.
October 21, 2025 at 7:26 PM
If ever a book was made to be read in a single, hypnotic sitting it’s this one.
Groundhog Day for lovers of chilly precision, slow disintegration and the uncanniness of repeated domestic detail.
In awe of Solvej Balle.
Groundhog Day for lovers of chilly precision, slow disintegration and the uncanniness of repeated domestic detail.
In awe of Solvej Balle.
This is always a really fun festival - had the most severe hangover of my life at NN! - so if you haven’t been yet make this the year
***#NN2025 ticket update***
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who bought weekend passes to the festival 🖤
Today we were able to release a few more. So if you haven't got yours yet, don't worry, more tickets available here:
www.tiny.cc/nnoir2025
We look forward to sharing #newcastlenoir with you 🕵♀️💀🪦📓✨️
A huge THANK YOU to everyone who bought weekend passes to the festival 🖤
Today we were able to release a few more. So if you haven't got yours yet, don't worry, more tickets available here:
www.tiny.cc/nnoir2025
We look forward to sharing #newcastlenoir with you 🕵♀️💀🪦📓✨️
Newcastle Noir 2025
Newcastle Noir International Crime Writing Festival at Newcastle City Library
www.tiny.cc
October 20, 2025 at 3:48 PM
This is always a really fun festival - had the most severe hangover of my life at NN! - so if you haven’t been yet make this the year
Reposted by Eva Dolan
Chatbots and AI slop are going to ruin countless brains. Yours doesn't have to be one of them. Study history. Read poetry. Get acquainted with Bach, Shakespeare, George Eliot. In a time when people are rapidly getting dumber, we need communities devoted to the life of the mind.
October 8, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Chatbots and AI slop are going to ruin countless brains. Yours doesn't have to be one of them. Study history. Read poetry. Get acquainted with Bach, Shakespeare, George Eliot. In a time when people are rapidly getting dumber, we need communities devoted to the life of the mind.
Reposted by Eva Dolan
*SUBMISSION WINDOW NOW OPEN 5 DAYS ONLY*
We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.
More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...
We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.
More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...
October 8, 2025 at 4:06 PM
*SUBMISSION WINDOW NOW OPEN 5 DAYS ONLY*
We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.
More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...
We're open to unagented subs from 6-12 Oct. For this submission period we are looking for novellas only (35K-50K). We're specifically looking for novellas that play w horror, mystery, weird & the unusual.
More info 🐐
www.wildhuntbooks.co.uk/blog/pop-up-...
‘You want to use words like “mouthfeel.” And you want your mouth to feel bad.’
The memory of that 100% Lindt I tried still haunts me. Can almost taste it now just typing this.
The memory of that 100% Lindt I tried still haunts me. Can almost taste it now just typing this.
"If you’re hoping for chocolate that’ll show up outside your bedroom window with Peter Gabriel on a boombox, go buy some Godiva from a Kohl’s. Pick up some matching CZ wedding rings while you’re there, you pathetic fucking romantic."
This Chocolate Will Kick Your Teeth In
Are you looking for sweet, melty chocolate that makes you feel comforted—or are you a fucking adult? Are you grown up enough to appreciate that eve...
buff.ly
October 6, 2025 at 8:03 PM
‘You want to use words like “mouthfeel.” And you want your mouth to feel bad.’
The memory of that 100% Lindt I tried still haunts me. Can almost taste it now just typing this.
The memory of that 100% Lindt I tried still haunts me. Can almost taste it now just typing this.