youtu.be/CbMz6kv1JUY?... #astrology of #2026
Reading IS sexy hat
Reading IS sexy ๐ #reading #knowledgeispower #readmore #bookofthemonthclub
A text-heavy graphic celebrates the release of Stewart Hotston's novel Project Hanuman, now available through Angry Robot books
It's a big day for the BFS Exec - our Treasurer @stewarthotston.com is also celebrating the release of his latest novel, Project Hanuman, out now through @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social!
Here's the blurb โฌ๏ธ
Judge rules George R.R. Martin and other authors can sue OpenAI for copyright infringement
โข Said ChatGPT generated 'Game of Thrones' content similar enough to infringe copyright
โข OpenAIโs motion to dismiss was denied
#booksky
Want to see who else is attending WFC 2025? Want to share excitement? Stay in touch?
We have a bluesky list of people who have posted that they are attending. You can use these to follow or set up a dedicated feed. If you want to join the list, just give us a shout!
bsky.app/profile/did:...
3:29am EDT: Mercury stations to go direct at 4 Leo. Hurrah! After 23 days tripping over words and misplacing his devices, the God of Communications pulls himself together. We snap into the present moment with staggering intensity and clarity. This is now we set this to rights.
With the announcement of the Season 13 Blu-ray Collection box set, here's what's going to be included in the PDF Archive this time round - a total of 4027 pages of scripts, production documents, studio floor plans, Radio Times cuttings, ephemera etc.
Terrance Dicks.
Weโre pleased to announce that we will be publishing the first full-length biography of prolific Doctor Who writer and script editor Terrance Dicks, written by Simon Guerrier with the cooperation of Terranceโs family. Written by Terrance Dicks is provisionally scheduled for publication in 2026.
Image 3: Manuscript Page Titled "Similes and gagsโContinued" A third typed manuscript page continuing the list of similes and one-liner gags. Multiple handwritten edits and revisions appear throughout. Transcript: Similes and gagsโContinued. She threw her arms around my neck and nicked my ear with the gunsight As soothing as a piano salesman The only difference between you and a monkey is you wear a hat A salad so fancy it ought to be pinned to the wall for a decoration This is hush-hush. Iโm only telling it to the people I know A little well-bred obscenity never did any harm It was the kind of house where they have a monogram on the toilet paper As exclusive as a mailbox A great long gallows of a man with a ravaged face and a haggard glass eye. (used) His smile was wide, about three quarters of an inch He had a soft water voice As lonely as a lighthouse As much sex appeal as a turtle The day lay ahead of him flat and heavy as a fallen cake Fashion Note: cocoa-colored crepe dress and brown straw hat. Deep blue frock with a matching halo hat, and a waist length veil on the hat. Delphinium colored. Gold-rope wedding ring.
Please let us know if you're able to casually squeeze any of these into conversation today in Raymond's honour (perhaps NOT during working hours).
Thank you also to other donors for making this acquisition possible:
V&A Purchase Grant Fund
Friends of the National Libraries
Friends of the Bodleian
A yellowed typed manuscript page with the title โSimiles, etc.โ at the top. The list contains similes, some with handwritten edits and comments in pencil. Photographed on a black background inside a glass exhibition case. Transcript: css Copy Edit etc SimilesโContinued No more charm than a washtub As limp as a busboyโs shirt As lonely as an old abandoned well (cut) โ.โ โ.โ The caboose of a fifty car freight (used?) As French as a doughnut Smart as a hole through nothing No more personality than a paper cup His face was long enough to wrap twice around his neck As shiny as a clubwomanโs nose Generous as a trade rat As graceful as a Chopin ending Like the little dog who goes around and wets after the big dog Too weak to lift a Scotchmanโs tip Take five minutes of my time and tell me Did you ever see an act of God? I never even saw God So tight his head squeaks when he takes his hat off He sipped like a hummingbird drinking dew from a curled leaf (used) I donโt like your tone. I was hoping you wouldnโt. (Not much) She had a nice cool goddamyou smile Longer than a round trip to (Siam) Take your ears out of my way and Iโll leave. If you donโt leave, Iโll get somebody who will (Wutchie) (used) I left her with her virtue intact, but it was a struggle. She nearly won.
One of the most interesting glimpses into the author's writing process are these lists of similes which he kept, crossing them off as he used them and making a note of the book title in the margin.
#RaymondChandler #DetectiveFiction
A yellowed typed manuscript page with the title โSimiles, etc.โ at the top. The list contains similes, some with handwritten edits and comments in pencil. Transcript: css Copy Edit Similes, etc. As rare as a fat mailman (postman) (cissy) As shallow as a cafeteria tray As meaningless as cheap lacquer As hard as a park bench (use in another sense) As meaningless as a smoke ring As dull as a football interview As cold as a brideโs dinner As cold as a nunโs breeches As clean as Aunt Harriettโs guest room As clean as an angelโs neck (brow?) (Turner? Kay?) As cold as Finneganโs feet (dead) (funeral?) As slippery as a watermelon seed As noiseless as a finger in a glove High enough to have snow on him (head) (bring in the lake) As systematic as a whore As busy as a dirty story in a sorority house As inconspicuous as a privy on the front lawn As comfortable as a chiropractic treatment As tight as a rubber stocking As weak as a Chinamanโs tea As empty as a scarecrowโs pockets (Used) *pencil note here denoting that the simile is in the Big Sleep* As fancy as a Filipino on Saturday night As confidentially as a madam counting the take Too weak to crawl over a worm
๐ Today is Raymond Chandler (1888-1959)'s birthday.
We are lucky enough to have acquired his archives thanks to generous support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.
These archives include literary papers, correspondence, business and personal papers...
8:44am EDT: Venus meets up with Uranus at 29 degrees, 52 minutes Taurus. It's their penultimate Taurus confab . . . at almost the last minute of the last degree of the Goddess of Love's coziest sign. Try a new and different way of caring for your garden . . .
Solar eclipse in Aries today #astrology #solareclipseAries youtu.be/LAd9bqVv5vc?...
rumble.com/v6rde5u-fire...
t.me/AstroLeeD
Printed book with decorative border & capital W - on left page is final paragraphs of Morris's foreword, and on Right is opening section of John Ruskin's chapter from The Stones of Venice.
Remembering John Ruskin, art critic, teacher & activist, born #otd 1819.
He inspired William Morris & the Arts & Craft movement.
As Morris wrote in 1892, his chapter 'On the Nature of Gothic' (reprinted by Kelmscott Press)
'seemed to point out a new road on which the world should travel'.
Map of the British Isles with indie bookshop locations added as pins
You may or may not know but I run a blog highlighting indie bookshops and on it there is an opportunity to do an interview where as a bookshop you answer some questions and get added to the growing directory
#bookshop #IndieBookshop #interview
www.indiebookshops.com/questions-fo...
A blurred glass plate showing people and buildings on a jetty.
Probably the oldest glass plate I have. Great Yarmouth old port, a crowd, not quite frozen, blurred by movement under a slow shutter. A date scratched into the emulsion โ 29th of May 1856, celebrating the end of the Crimean War, nearly 170 years ago. #throughglass
Jupiter and its moon Io | NASA
Happy #DoctorWhoDay everybody! The show was first broadcast on 23 November 1963. And to celebrate, lets look back at a slightly forgotten part of its history.
This is the story of the New Adventures...
Discworld QOTD, from Guards! Guards!
'People who are rather more than six feet tall and nearly as broad across the shoulders often have uneventful journeys. People jump out at them from behind rocks then say things like, "Oh. Sorry. I thought you were someone else.โ'
My novel, a supernatural thriller in the world of academia and adventure. Available here: amzn.eu/d/9P3hKp8 #selfpublishednovel #thriller #Mayanadventure #supernatural
2024 Astrology Overview: An Electrical Year of the Dragon rumble.com/v448t8n-astr... #astrology #astrology2024 #horoscope #plutoaquarius
highheartlife.com/2023/12/13/a... #astrology
Today's archive post "But Donโt You Just Make It All Up?".
An essay on research for epic fantasy from 2006. It focuses on using books which reflects the world back then. That said, I can see us returning to libraries as search engines and online resources decay.
www.julietemckenna.com?page_id=484
highheartlife.com/2020/10/10/h...
Today from the creative writing archive "How To Be Original and Still Get Published". Advice that still holds up, I think, though the submission statistics are nowhere near the deluge that agents and editors get in these days of email and ebooks.
www.julietemckenna.com?page_id=520