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Words From Darran

@shinraalpha.bsky.social

180 followers 92 following 690 posts

Punk-ass book jockey. Smol science writerer. Invisible ghost in the streets, visible ghost in the sheets. they/them

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · Nov 17

hello followers i am Darran and i write kids books. specifically the 17 books in this picture. i talk about dnd/ttrpgs, science, music and deeply weird & unsettling things. all pronouns are accepted at this store but they/them is easiest. i'm in a queer rock band called Pigeon Lips we're on spotify.

A pile of children's non-fiction books on an array of subjects, from maths and physics to maps and mindfulness.

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hux | aka Lizzie Huxley-Jones @littlehux.bsky.social · 5h

The news is official! I can finally tell you that my next romcom Reality Check will be out in April next year!

A sunny selfie of Hux, a white person with auburn hair and green glasses, holding up a postcard to their face. The postcard is pink and purple and says Reality Check.

A screenshot of the Bookseller announcement for my new novel. Simon and Schuster UK swoons for Lizzie Huxley-Jones’
‘escapist’ reality show romance
RIGHTS
OCT 9, 2025
BY CASSIDY BAILEY.

The photo shows Hux a white person with light auburn hair sitting on a couch in a green lead patterned suit, eyes closed and laughing.

Simon & Schuster UK has acquired two new novels by Lizzie Huxley-Jones, who was previously published by Hodder & Stoughton. Deputy publishing director Molly.
Crawford acquired world all-language rights in a two-book deal from Abi Fellows at DHH Literary Agency.
The first of the two novels, Reality Check, is a "funny, escapist" romance between two women who share a kiss behind the scenes of a reality TV show and find themselves choosing between on-screen fame or true love. Reality Check will publish in all formats in April 2026.
Crawford said: "I've long been obsessed with Lizzie's Christmas romances so am absolutely thrilled to be able to welcome them to the S&S list. Reality Check satiates a universal need for realistic romance elevated by unusual circumstance rather than narrative necessity.
Lizzie captures the chaos and charm of reality TV, weaving a love story that delivers kick-your-feet romance alongside punch-in-the-gut relatable detail. It centres and celebrates queer love, living with chronic illness and freeing ourselves from life's filters. It's a novel you can't help but press into the hands of friends and I'm so excited to take it to market."

Huxley-Jones is the author of the queer holiday romcoms Make You Mine This Christmas and Under the Mistletoe with You, the young adult summer romance Hits Different co-written with Tasha Ghouri, and the Waterstones Children's Book Prize-shortlisted fantasy series Vivi Conway and the Sword of Legend. Reality Check is their third adult romance novel.
Huxley-Jones said: "Reality Check brings together my deep fascination with reality television, with the concept of persona and masking, through the experiences of two queer women who just cannot seem to escape each other. There's hijinks and fake-dating arrangements and an autistic girl unravelling 'comphet' all within the bounds of a wedding-themed dating show. It's been a book in my heart for years and I'm so glad it will reach readers next year.
"It is such a thrill and honour to bring my romcoms to the incredible team at Simon & Schuster, especially my wonderful editor Molly Crawford. They are not only a team who understand and respect commercial romance fiction, but one that deeply cares for their authors. It's been such a joy to work with them on Reality Check, my most ambitious romcom to date, and to see their enthusiasm at every step. I'm so thankful for my agent Abi Fellows finding my work such an enriching home."

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 1d

"Tories will scrap stamp duty on primary residences, Kemi Badenoch tells conference"

okay but will the residences be affordable or nah?

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Marc Morris @marcmorris.bsky.social · 1d

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Lucy Lapinska / LD Lapinski 💛🤍💜🖤 @ldlapinski.bsky.social · 2d

I never do this and don’t even feel obligated to click the link (shares would be nice!) but our first fur baby needs dental surgery and, I won’t lie, I am climbing the walls with anxiety about it.

gofund.me/b8fa10852

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 3d

tonight DMing i rolled three natural 20s in a row which i am informed is a 0.0125% chance lmao

Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 4d

A screenshot of an Onion Article headline that reads "HEARTBREAKING: the worst person you know just made a great point"

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Three pumpkins in a trenchcoat @robotpinemarten.bsky.social · 6d

😞

The top images show Hyacinth from keeping up appearances holding her have up to a bucket with a look of disgust. The bottom images show Hyacinth from keeping up appearances pointing towards a vase of flowers and smiling

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 6d

okay this is worse than the sarah j maas soap.

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 7d

A tumblr screenshot from user clarabosswald that reads: "i asked chatgpt" "i asked grok" well i asked the alethiometer and it said

Followed by a series of emoji representing different symbols on an alethometer

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Sarcophagus Gibbs @sararoseg.bsky.social · 7d

You don’t actually have to both sides this. The Jewish community in the UK is not the Israeli government. You can just condemn the murder of two British Jews killed in their place of worship and you don’t have to say a single other thing.

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 7d

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Greg Jenner @gregjenner.bsky.social · 7d

Farewell to one of the greats
www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...

Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and animal advocate, dies at 91

"Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," the Jane Goodall Institute said in a Wedne...

www.nbcnews.com

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 8d

colleague: Darran is this post-it on the floor yours?
me: what does it say on it?
colleague: it says "ghosts on the brain"
me: .........yes that's mine.

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Ryan Marino, MD @ryanmarino.bsky.social · 8d

This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 10d

⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...

China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes

A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.

interestingengineering.com

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macnult @macnult.com · 9d

bro you look like you drop common items

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 9d

today is my birthday and i spent it being a weird bookish hermit by the seaside, unlike every other day.

A photo of someone reading a book by the sea. The beach is stony. The book is open with a mushroom bookmark resting in the pages, and a cup of coffee on the table behind it. Only just in frame are some fingers holding the book open, fingernails painted black.

A sunset over the sea at Brighton beach.

Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 15d

I will answer to Science Girl, fyi

Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 15d

Rapture's started xx

A photo of the sunset over Brighton beach. Spears of golden sunlight are emerging from a hole in the clouds like the voice of god

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 16d

what kind of frood do you take me for

Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 16d

what do you mean have i got my ticket? is it on the Dice app?

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👻madeline boOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 16d

Can’t explain it but of course they want to take away one of the only painkillers that’s safe for pregnancy, a condition that causes weird and unusual pains. these people WANT pregnancy to be a punishment and handicap. they want to control.

Kinlika @kinlika.bsky.social · 17d

'Tylenol' is known in the civilised world as Paracetamol

2.4 million children born in Sweden between 1995 and 2019. Studied 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol during pregnancy.

news.ki.se/no-link-betw...

No link between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD in children

In the largest epidemiologic study to date of the risk of giving birth to a child with autism, ADHD or intellectual disability following acetaminophen use during pregnancy, researchers found no associ...

news.ki.se

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 16d

listen is the rapture happening before or after lunch because i'm getting peckish but i'll just have toast if we're setting off soon

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Melinda Salisbury @melindasalisbury.com · 16d

Very excited to see how the housing market responds to the Rapture. Maybe I'll finally be able to afford to buy somewhere!

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Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 16d

I'll make you an everything slushie from the machine

Words From Darran @shinraalpha.bsky.social · 16d

when them lot go off to the rapture tomorrow let's all meet at Laser Tag

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