Wow, #Edinburgh News, thank you! Quite committed to getting out the Scottish vote for our garden, the only finalist from #Scotland in the Garden of the Year People's Choice Award from BBC Gardeners' World. Voting is open until 18 December. www.gardenersworld.com/news/gardens...

Photo: Jason Ingram

Those wildflower mixes are so alluring but the results are hard to achieve! My garden is open for Scotland's Gardens Scheme in April. You and husband are welcome/ encouraged to come! Friday 24- 25 April in East Lothian

Your pitch made such an impression on me because it made me care for your protagonist immediately and that is the magic skill. Delighted you have the rights back and excited to see what is next!

@emilytomshep.bsky.social Thank you so much for sharing that Emily

@roygill.bsky.social Roy, thank you so much for sharing that. Btw I mention you you in my recent book because of the masterful way you described The Daemon Parallel to me so long ago.

Sally, I so appreciate your vote. Thank you very much

Gardens of the Year Competition 2025 – People’s Choice Vote Vote now for your favourite garden in the Gardens of the Year 2025 People's Choice award. Voting closes at midday on 18 December

Will you vote for my garden? BBC Gardeners' World Magazine has shortlisted it for Garden of the Year 2025!The garden is listed as Sheila Averbuch, Edinburgh:

>> Please share - voting closes 18 Dec!

www.gardenersworld.com/news/gardens...

#edinburgh #eastlothian #gardenersworld #gardening #scotland

The Children’s Booker Prize will be a boon to young readers everywhere The announcement has sparked great excitement in the realm of children’s literature, with the prize sure to shine a light on some of the best stories available for young and eager readers, writes Deir...

The new children's prize from @thebookerprizes.com is the best news in years for those who love reading or writing #middlegrade. Thanks to @irishexaminer.bsky.social and journalist Deirdre McArdle for this feature: www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/ar... #booksky

Judge approves $1.5 billion copyright settlement between AI company Anthropic and authors A federal judge on Thursday approved a $1.5 billion settlement between artificial intelligence company Anthropic and authors who allege nearly half a million books had been illegally pirated to train ...

"About 465,000 books are on the list of works pirated by Anthropic" apnews.com/article/anth...

#Writers, the Hilary Mantel Prize offers an exceptional new opportunity. The late author, who twice won the #WalterScottPrize, was committed to championing emerging talent, and the winner receives a cash award plus mentoring. Submissions are open through 31 December. See https://loom.ly/NFsTZjE

What Authors Need to Know About the $1.5 Billion Anthropic Settlement  - The Authors Guild Today, Anthropic agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle claims that it downloaded pirated books to train its AI systems—the largest U.S. copyright settlement in history. The parties in Bartz v Anthropic...

Thanks @authorsguild.org for this vital update on the #Anthropic settlement. As Authors Guild CEO Mary Rasenberger says, these are billion-dollar companies stealing from people with a median income of barely $20,000 a year. Learn more authorsguild.org/news/what-au....

A glorious day with friends helping me welcome PITCH YOUR BOOK into the world! We had gorgeous weather here in Pencaitland and took shelter in the on-brand orange umbrella. Thanks to Louise Kelly especially for the phenomenal chocolate orange cake!

#PitchYourBook #amwriting

Rosa James Galway with an unnamed delphinium, possibly the Pacific Giant series. This rose doesn't have much fragrance, but each mesmerising head has over a hundred petals.

#floweraday

Luscious Oriental poppy I've waited years to see flower: tissue paper petals and gloriously fuzzy wuzzy buds.

#floweraday

Writers looking for a literary agent, if you'd like to be hand-held through the process of writing a query letter, you can now take an on-demand masterclass with me -- including a review of your query. www.sheilamaverbuch.com/downloads/pi...

#GetAnAgent #GetPublished #queryletter #amwriting

Great to see you there!

Joanne does SO MUCH to support books and authors-- thank you for this feature about PITCH YOUR BOOK!

A crowd of 150 people and great ideas and camaraderie today at #NoTyrants protest at #Edinburgh US Consulate: including calling out racism, voting with your purchases, writing to reps, using Resist Bot and Five Calls, & above all remembering that PROTESTS WORK.

#notyrants #nokings #Scotland #resist

I love this

Rose de Rescht having its moment of flawlessness, with linaria pupurea Canon de Went, which isn't purple but rather pink.

#floweraday

Reader reviews of PITCH YOUR BOOK are starting to come in. Thomas, a querying author, says this on Goodreads. Read the full review: www.goodreads.com/book/show/22...

#PitchYourBook #amwriting #amquerying

Double white peony, here with geranium Patricia planted for my mum, and wild Maine lupins.

#floweraday

It's the red cabbage that I find most bewitching right now, even though the rest of the garden is taking off.

#growyourown

I'm going to be closing to queries for the summer starting this Friday, so if you want to query me, now's the time! #amquerying @andreabrownlit.bsky.social

Join the celebrations for Libraries Week Libraries Week: Libraries Change Lives 2025, running this week until Sunday 8 June, celebrating the vital role libraries play in transforming lives and strengthening communities. This year's theme,…

Please share your case studies of impact, including about how libraries of all types sustain economic growth #LibrariesChangeLives dcmslibraries.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/04/j...

I know that pain

My top tip is don't give anyone a proper name apart from your two POV characters. Call other people by their roles, for example the brother, the bully etc.

This!

Wendy, thanks for spreading the word! It's not your imagination, writing that query letter is really one of the hardest things we'll ever do as writers.

It's #PITCHYOURBOOK publication day! I owe so much to the literary agents who gave me their time and expertise during our interviews, as well as everyone else who supported me and this project. Learn more: bit.ly/SMApitchorder