New post up, free on Patreon! As requested by @celinashope.bsky.social, the subject: what do you do with a doublet?
One era's normal is another era's comedy hose. How do you manage language in historical fiction so the tone doesn't swing sideways?
www.patreon.com/posts/what-d...
This coming Sunday!
I'll be uploading a new Patreon post tomorrow, all new material - but I'm also going to be posting some of people's favourite Bluesky threads of mine there to make them easier to find.
Up just now: why the true daughter of Mr Bennet is Lydia.
www.patreon.com/posts/elizab...
1. What do you do with a doublet? The problem of unfamiliar clothes on familiar characters.
2. Writing Clean Characters In Period Fiction, or, How We Know Mr Rochester Washed His Bum.
Cast your votes here. And sign up to read!
So folks, I'm setting up a free Patreon. I'll be posting longer essays there - the kind of thing that otherwise would take me 50 skeets. No spam, no money, just essays and news.
Question: which of two essays would you like to see first? Choices are... 1/2
www.patreon.com/c/kitwhitfield
I usually post around 8am because that’s when my son leaves for school. I’m wondering if that’s a but early.
Here’s a question: what time of day do you usually check BlueSky?
I've been referencing this essay by @mollytempleton.com a lot lately in conversations about reading fantasy and other literature. Templeton's piece includes a discussion of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick's useful ideas about 'paranoid' and 'reparative' approaches to reading. reactormag.com/on-learning-...
Elves count in base 3. Beautiful 3 is the queen of numbers.
Dwarves use base 2, which is better for engineering, but elves consider this plodding, dogmatic and spiritless.
Humans using base 10 because we have 10 fingers is mere animal nature. Human maths is slightly obscene.
Sci fi comes from the stars, fantasy comes from the earth?
If kids are having an experience like that of their own, on the other hand, I’d love to hear about it! Kids are the best at finding new things and we’re probably best off listening at least as much as we talk.
I feel like one of the great strengths of the fantastic in fiction is to express things that feel real - but on a scale that fits just how important they feel. It’s hyper-real when it’s happening to you!
More, I think, they were a couple of dorks and this is exactly where you’d expect to find them!
I’m voting The Island Of Dr Moreau as horror!
It has the advantage that a lot of contributors know each other in person and figure any new contributor might turn up at the next convention, so there’s less saying stuff you wouldn’t say to someone’s face.
If you do go, Ravenscourt Park is fairly close and less depressing.
(My last post seems to have a picture of the word ‘fan’ in giant letters attached and I do not know why.)
Screen cap: fantasy and sci-fi salon Facebook page. Group rules from the admin: 1. Be decent, damn it. 2. Don’t be all Internet-ish.
Fantasy and Sci Fi Salon on FB, James Worrad admin, is pretty good if you’re looking for somewhere - they don’t stand much nonsense.
Not sure in terms of steps, but the cafe is ground floor. Honestly I wouldn’t bother, it’s the most soulless neighbourhood in London! I was born there and it drove me to a life of writing fantasy fiction.
I grew up around Blythe Road! AMA. 😉
It’s exactly as stolid and municipal as you’d expect for the site of such shenanigans. They were building a grand postal sorting office opposite. It’s like that.
If you want to visit the site it’s now a cafe: www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_R...
And if you want to visit the premises, it’s now a cafe!
I grew up around Blythe Road. It’s exactly as stolid as you’d expect.
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_R...
3. Cynically, SF began as a boys club while fantasy had influences like Nesbit, and hence has a clubhouse hangover? (#notall, obvs.)
4. SF people like structures, and knowing the history of the genre is part of the fun?
If SF is more like that than F, is it because:
1. SF began in a more specific circle while F just pops up everywhere, and that loyalty lingers?
2. Science builds incrementally upon itself, and some readers feel SF should follow that model?
Interestingly, I find fantasy folk tend not to insist that you *have* to read Tolkien, Dunsany or even Pratchett.
Or do they? Answers on a postcard because I’m really curious. Certainly no one ever gave me stick for not reading LOTR…
I feel like maybe I’d have to read Heinlein if I wanted to be an expert on the history of sci fi. I don’t feel like I have to be an expert on the history of a genre to read some of its books!
I read a mix and still do. I think kids’ books treat fantasy as more normal, and that’s something I took away from the habit: having magic in a book isn’t a strange or niche thing, it’s just a way of making the world feel intense.
A squirrel sitting on a branch. His or her hands are near their face and the squirrel's pink tongue can be seen sticking out.
I've taken more than a few photos of squirrels over the years. Seldom have I caught one with its tongue sticking out! #wildlife #squirrel
Annie are you Oakley?
So Annie are you Oakley?
Are you Oakley, Annie?
(My brain did this and now it’s everyone’s problem.)
painting of a capybara seamstress making little clothes in a Halloween store
costume store
We are thrilled to reveal the cover for Susanna Clarke's illustrated short story The Bishop of Durham Attempts to Surrender the City! Set 700 years before the events of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, this enchanting new tale arrives October 20, 2026 from @bloomsburybooksus.bsky.social