Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 23h

Like Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? The Lady, The Tiger, and the Girl Who Loved Death weaves together magic, political spectacle, and the power of storytelling in a world where reality and illusion blur dangerously together. Out from @titanbooks.bsky.social now!

#DarkFantasy #CircusBooks

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 2d

Catch me Thursday at the Brisbane Writers Festival for “Dark Imaginings”!

Fairytales and historical myths are often readers’ first encounter with the darkness of human nature. In these stunning novels, fable and archetype are reworked in dazzling ways.

brisbanepowerhouse.org/events/dark-...

#BWF

Dark Imaginings - Brisbane Powerhouse

Fairytales and historical myths are often readers’ first encounter with the darkness of human nature. Explore more at Brisbane Writers Festival.

brisbanepowerhouse.org

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 7d

ICYMI: We're hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in #CreativeWriting at UQ!
-looking for literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games!
-international applications welcome
Apply: uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo... #HigherEd #AcademicJobs

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

School of Communication and Arts – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Full-time (100%), Permanent position Position can be offered at Level B or C: Academic level B will be in the ...

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 7d

Fire as cleansing, fire as transformation. The Bulgarian fire festivals—where dancers walk barefoot across burning coals—shaped how I imagined ritual and renewal in THE LADY, THE TIGER, AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH.

#Fantasy #Folklore #Inspiration #AmWriting

Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 12d

Life is just one tiny fright after another, isn't it?

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 15d

"Why can't AI just do my research?" Because creative research isn't information retrieval. I'm working on a new academic article showing how research methods produce the distinctive textures of literary prose, looking at Octavia Butler, William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson and Andy Weir.

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 15d

Thinking about Octavia Butler's #writingadvice in Furor Scribendi today: "Forget talent. If you have it, fine. Use it. If you don't have it, it doesn't matter. As habit is more dependable than inspiration, continued learning is more dependable than talent."

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 15d

While writing The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death, I found myself captivated by haunting photographs of abandoned circuses across Eastern Europe. #WritingInspiration #DarkFantasy #EasternEurope #Circus #AuthorLife #FantasyFiction #WritingProcess

Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 19d

ICYMI: We're hiring a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in #CreativeWriting at UQ!
-looking for literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games!
-international applications welcome

Apply: uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo...
#HigherEd #AcademicJobs

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

School of Communication and Arts – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Full-time (100%), Permanent position Position can be offered at Level B or C: Academic level B will be in the ...

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 20d

HUGE news! We're hiring in Creative Writing at UQ!

Looking for an amazing writer working in literary fiction, poetry, graphic novels, comics, digital storytelling, new media, or games! International applications welcome.

This is going to be AWESOME

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo...

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing

School of Communication and Arts – Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (HASS) Full-time (100%), Permanent position Position can be offered at Level B or C: Academic level B will be in the ...

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 21d

“Toward the end of a book, the state of composition feels like a complex, chemically altered state that will go away if I don’t give it what it needs. And what it needs is to write all the time.” I feel that, William Gibson — is this universal among writers?

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 22d

Alexievich's The Unwomanly Face of War inspired my writing by revealing the erased stories of women in conflict. A masterpiece. #TheUnwomanlyFaceOfWar #Alexievich #WritingInspiration #UntoldStories (The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death is out now from @titanbooks.bsky.social !)

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Reposted by Helen Marshall

British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · Aug 7

A beautifully written Slavic fantasy featuring the circus and a tiger from @titanbooks.bsky.social. The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death by Helen Marshall #BFSReview britishfantasysociety.org/review/the-l...

The cover of The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death is bright, with many colours and the three titular characters represented in a modern almost pop art style

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 27d

Romanian bear dancers inspired the haunting folklore in my novel THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH--ancient rituals of rebirth and demons bleeding from bear skins.

Now out from @titanbooks.bsky.social (edited by the brilliant @cathtrechman.bsky.social) #DarkFantasy #FolkHorror

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 28d

Brilliant Guardian piece on how Big Tech is systematically stealing books, music & films to train AI without consent or payment. This isn't innovation. It's digital colonialism threatening our entire creative ecosystem.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Tech companies are stealing our books, music and films for AI. It’s brazen theft and must be stopped | Anna Funder and Julia Powles

If we don’t refuse and resist, not just our culture but our democracy will be irrevocably diminished

www.theguardian.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · 29d

These are some of my favorite films and if you love them too, my novel is absolutely made for you! THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH has all the magic, drama, and political edge you crave🔥

Out from @titanbooks.bsky.social (and thanks to @cathtrechman.bsky.social for the fab edits!)

Featuring The Death of Stalin, The Prestige, La Strada and Moulin Rouge!

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 9

ICYMI! Amazing review from Locus: “I rate Marshall...as one of the best fantasists working in the field....At its core, THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH is a story about stories.” @mondyboy74.bsky.social reviews @titanbooks.bsky.social

locusmag.com/2025/08/the-...

The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death by Helen Marshall: Review by Ian Mond

The Lady, the Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death, Helen Marshall (Titan 978-1-80336-951-8, $18.99, 368pp, tp) June 2025. I’m a big fan of Helen Marshall’s fiction, both short and long, including he…

locusmag.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 8

Thinking about wildness today and why it matters to us. 🐅

94-year-old Peggie remembers the last thylacine's cries at Hobart Zoo—a loneliness that still haunts her decades later. "We didn't realise it was the last one until it was too late."

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Peggie saw a thylacine as a child. She wouldn't ever want to 'go back and see it'

Even after a long life, Peggie Bassett can still remember the guttural growl and striking scent of the last known thylacine as it prowled its concrete enclosure.

www.abc.net.au

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 6

Best birthday ever! 🎂 Friends, Blood on the Clocktower, and live sketching by the talented @tanaudel.bsky.social . Special shoutout to the masterpiece of Leah reading her character notes while tiny Spiderman creeps around. We all survived the night! #BirthdayGames #BloodOnTheClockTower

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Reposted by Helen Marshall

Adam Roberts @adamroberts.bsky.social · Sep 4

Samuel Hume's graph: words that indicate a document is more likely to be written by AI
.

Words include "Chatgtp", "showcasing" "underscore" "excels" "grappling" "aligning". But not, or not yet, "clench" or "futtock".

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 4

Putin & Xi caught on hot mic discussing immortality & living to 150. Writing my 2067 novel about AI & eternal life and thinking about when power seeks permanence how high the cost can be www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/...

Putin and Xi caught on hot mic talking about living to 150

Putin confirms the conversation, saying modern medicine gives hope for longer, healthier lives.

www.aljazeera.com

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 4

A reader told me they want more book clubs discussing The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death and debating whether Irenda is a good person in a bad system or should be first against the wall when the revolution comes. This is exactly the kind of moral chaos I live for.

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 3

I haven’t! I am on Persepolis Rising so I still have a couple of months of commutes left!

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 3

I have just been listening to all The Expanse on audiobook so I am curious about The Mercy of Gods!

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Helen Marshall @manuscriptgal.bsky.social · Sep 3

I hope you enjoy it!!!

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