Unsolicited writing advice, no. 187:
Small details often speak loudest. Don't focus on the car crash: look for the child's shoe in the road.

John Simpson on wars: ‘Why I've never seen a year like 2025' It has been a year of multiple major conflicts - and there are geopolitical implications of unparalleled importance

‘If you thought World War Three would be a shooting-match with nuclear weapons, think again. It's much more likely to be a collection of diplomatic and military manoeuvres, which will see autocracy flourish. It could even threaten to break up the Western alliance.’

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hardcover A Neighbour’s Guide to Murder by Louise Candlish

Currently loving A Neighbour’s Guide to Murder by Louise Candlish! Absolute masterclass in voice. #amreading

A second NOVELIST starter pack, inc @cauverymadhavan.bsky.social @angelshartz.bsky.social & many more. If you’re a novelist & I follow you, chances are you’re in one of the two packs. If not, then let me know & I’ll add you. Everyone else, please follow the packs & repost #booksky #writingcommunity

Sometimes (in my case, often) all a writer needs is to scramble up a mountain… #amclimbing #amwriting

Kirsten with her mum and dad on her graduation day

In 2019 I embarked upon my PhD in Creative Writing.

In the years that ensued I ran a hospitality business, held down full time jobs and went through the pandemic.

Some people thought I was mad. But the truth is, I enjoyed it. Doing a PhD let me live a more authentic version of myself.

It’s summer, so this means I double down on reading thrillers.
Something about long insomniac summer nights. Currently racing through a couple of Louise Candlish novels, first The Other Passenger and now The Only Suspect. I love how she builds a layered story.
#amreading #thrillers

This actually a maths book for my daughter but looks like I’m already contemplating my retirement!

The window cleaners waterlogged it spraying water jets full pelt at the letterbox. Thanks guys.

#seniorproblems #firstworldproblems

Seems like good advice to me.

Main issue with tech is the humans using it. We’re shaping it? An interstellar view on the radio 4 Moral Maze programme being recorded at the @hayfestival.bsky.social today.

Does AI refine what it means to be human?

Listening to the Moral Maze being recorded live now at the @hayfestival.bsky.social and going out later on Radio 4.
Fascinating. Are we face the same questions we faced 25 years ago with the birth of the internet?

Just attended @mikebernerslee.bsky.social’s session on climate change at the @hayfestival.bsky.social. Now pondering on the triumvirate of business, media and politics and the need to work on all three together. The same levers that are pushing ever-increasing inequality.

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 1837:
Starting to write is like starting to run. It helps to get into a routine. Little and often is easier than trying to do hours at once, and small, manageable goals are easier to achieve - and therefore more motivating - than trying to imagine the finished work.

Loving Black Mirror S7. It has so many of the themes I explore in my own work: consciousness that lives on in VR (and AI), quantum parallel realities, the evil capitalism + tech has the potential to wreak upon us. As usual, Charlie Brooker does it better. Too good!

#dystopia #speculative

A book with print layered on top that says 'No two persons ever read the same book'. Quote by Edmund Wilson.

True

here's an interesting Starter Pack for the hybrid types among us, hosted by @edgeoerin.com

go.bsky.app/96Bq1BU

Rose/House is going straight on my TBR list!

Donate to Dr Anna Vaught: Curae Writing Bursaries for unpaid carers, organised by Anna Vaught Hello everyone, I am Anna (aka Dr Anna Vaught - and you may kno… Anna Vaught needs your support for Dr Anna Vaught: Curae Writing Bursaries for unpaid carers

Today I launch a fundraiser to support the 2025 #Curae prize for unpaid carers who are also writers or would like to be. Anything you can add to the pot will go directly towards bursary funds for our three winners (announced 1st June).
gofund.me/1d8c6564
All in, we can transform lives here x

Wide horizon and small sailing boat in colours of blue and grey

Making an effort to repost (not just like) all the posts on goodness, kindness, beauty, optimism. Be the change you want to see in the world (or at least on BlueSky) 😊

I’m reading Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister.

Highly recommended!

This Is What a Digital Coup Looks Like | Carole Cadwalladr | TED YouTube video by TED

My PhD in creative writing looked what could happen if a fictional UK government combined VR tech with the threat to society Cadwalladr has been warning us of. The more I researched it, the more worrying it became.

Such an important message. Worth a watch.

youtu.be/TZOoT8AbkNE?...

‘If you want dystopia, look out your window!’ Black Mirror is back – and going beyond tech hell After years of creating dark, disturbing, thought-provoking TV, Charlie Brooker is changing it up. The creator and star-studded cast of Black Mirror talk about why this season is the most moving and v...

I cannot wait for this!

Interesting that Brooker says:

‘…technology is neutral. It might be misused, but it might also be something that gets us out of this fucking mess.’

Meanwhile, why is he such a genius!? What hope for the rest of us working in this genre?

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

For some reason this has made the Massive Attack version of One Love pop into my head! Probably because of the chorus.

Adolescence. Terrifying.

I can relate.

To
- the bad temper that’s not as bad as the last generation
- the idea your child is safe at home
- the monster within (the internet)
- the struggling schools
- the utter shame. It’s your fault. Society doesn’t work together

There for the grace of god…

Facebook ‘worked hand in glove’ with China, claims ex-director Social media company considered letting Beijing control content for access to its lucrative market, BBC told.

Definitely need to move away from Meta. I worked in UK gov in social media 2014/15 and agree with the comments here that Meta would not share their workings with us. And yet they shared them with CHINA?

Facebook was 'hand in glove' with China, BBC told www.bbc.com/news/article...

Bluesky CEO: imagine a 'world without Caesars' Jay Graber dunks on Mark Zuckerberg without mentioning his name.

the feminine urge to

Hi gang. My films ‘In The Loop’ and ‘The Death of Stalin’ are on #BBCFour this evening, at 9pm and 10.40pm. Do enjoy if you’re a fan of repeated threat.

Katya Adler: Can Europe provide a credible answer on Ukraine? Europe is scrambling to react effectively to the relentlessness and pace of change in Washington, writes Europe editor Katya Adler.

‘Most European countries believe the security of all of Europe, not only the sovereignty of Ukraine, is at stake.’

Seeds sown by Brexit. It was in neither the USA nor Russia’s interests to see the UK remain in the EU.

www.bbc.com/news/article...

A reminder for these times.

If you think the world’s going mad, just remember, Steve Bannon once said, ‘The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.’