I bought my very first home laser printer to do my round of submissions, because they were still mostly required on paper. That was in 2009!

YES. I've never second-guessed my writing harder than since I got published.

In this house, every day is Tea Day!

Splendid! I look at the robins in my garden and go "bolshy little sods".

Actually, it doesn't say who is going to regret the trouble I'm about to cause ;)

NEVER.

MrC has been removing dying/unwanted trees from the border so it's left a some open space, and you know how nature abhors a vacuum . . . 😈

Only a little bit, honest guv.

As an aside, I have just downloaded a sample of the book "Regrettably, I Am About to Cause Trouble" which seems very on-brand for me.

I like coffee-flavoured things (coffee & walnut cake, ice cream, chocolates etc) but actual coffee in my mouth sent me running to the sink to spit it out - and then I had to brush my teeth!

*waves*

Good lord I should not be left unattended on a garden centre website *hides credit card bill*

Done! I had to answer "neither agree nor disagree" to the coffee question because there was no radio button for "coffee is Satan's mouthwash and I will die on this hill".

That face!

Morning, Womble! On paper I've just started Angel Maker by Elizabeth Bear - I adore Karen's voice. On digital I'm getting my space Western on with Stark Holborn's Ten Low, which has all the atmospheric, spare prose I loved in Triggernometry & Nunslinger.

MrC is currently ~75% into this and adoring every word - he loved Piranesi too. Might have to move it up my TBR too.

Brown cardboard box containing Bird and Blend teas. Adventures in taste start now.

It begins. @birdandblendtea.bsky.social #tea #WriterFuel

I intend to - with a tea called "Chocolate Digestives" how could I not?

Been feeling the need to up my tea game lately, so I've just put in an order with Bird & Blend, on the strength of many recs here. Adventures in taste await! #tea #WriterFuel

All manner of tit species here, blue, great, coal & long-tailed. BTs nesting in next-door's boxes. Bumblebees aplenty too - spring is happening!

A red book on a blue wallpaper background framed but antlers filled with stars. The cover has the silhouette of a stag's head and horns filled with a night sky. The text has CL HELLISEN at the top in gold, and between the stag horns the title is in gold. The Shape of Monsters. Below the book it says 24th September 2026

For those who don't use Instagram, here's the image from Tor UK's post of The Shape of Monsters cover reveal!

The hardback comes out 26th September 2026.

That much axey goodness should not be contained, imho.

Nice axe!

"How's your day going, Ellie?"

Oh fine, fine, I've just learned 204k into bk4 that I've written 3 chapters of river journey to a port named after said river, using the name of a river already established in bk1 as flowing westwards, not east to the sea. ::headdesk::

Is it gin o'clock yet?

Fantastic news! This book sounds like an absolute delight - I can't wait to read it 🤩

Honestly, most contact form spam is so badly formatted that it's something of a treat to get one written in proper English :)

Nope, not me. At least the last spam I got of this "fulsome review" type mentioned one of my actual books!

Starting the week with contact form spam from someone claiming to be E L "Fifty Shades" James, wanting to discuss the themes in a book I didn't write.

Makes a change from AI and crypto spam, I suppose.

He is a bit of a bruiser. We think he belongs to the care home whose back garden adjoins ours catty-corner (heh) and comes for a kip under our hedge whenever he needs a break!

I do not like this gen AI
I do not like what it implies
I do not want it in my art
I do not think it makes you smart
I do not want it in my games
I do not like its goals and aims
I do not want it in my books
I do not like the way it looks
I do not like it, I don't care
I do not want it anywhere

A large orange tabby and white cat fast asleep on its side underneath a conifer hedge at the end of the lawn. It is flaunting excellent rear toe beans.

Here is a cat. It is not my cat. I have no cat, but this large orange boi under my hedge seems to be auditioning for the part. #CatDistributionSystem