Writer of sff + comics. Rearranging words for a living since 2013. he/him Mailing list: https://eepurl.com/Zviqn The Executioner's Blade: https://www.northodox.co.uk/product-page/the-executioner-s-blade-paperback Also found at andrewknighton.com
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Congratulations to our own Robin C.M. Duncan! The Rigel Redemption is a semi-finalist for the 2025 Small Spec Book Awards (Sci-Fi category). The awards recognize the best genre novels/novellas from indie publishers. Fingers crossed for the final results on 1st December! @robincmduncan.bsky.social
Seeing different conversations by different groups on different platforms, using different formats, etiquette & assumptions, I'm glad not to have what the big brains would consider a Twitter challenger. Weird niches feel far more healthy to me. They're where the good moss grows.
Today's writing is the evidence for a murder. Specifically, the murder of a sleazy shopping centre Santa. It might be a little early for mince pies but still, hohoho, I'm going to have fun with this.
Oh god, someone on a thread invoked “Light of the World” aka the Piss Christ and I am really tired and just got off a plane but my impassioned screed on it was on Twitter and as some of you know, I have FEELINGS ON THIS TOPIC.
Someone in the writers' room asked "what if Jim Hacker was David Brent?" and invented Keir Starmer.
Me: How nice, the cat loves me & wants to spend time with me! The cat: I see it's reaining outside, I bet that two-legged idiot will find somewhere dry to sit.
My latest cartoon for @newscientist.com 👽 p.s. You can preorder my new book of science here: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2
Quite possibly, and I bet theirs is tastier than anything I'd create.
It's true, The Copper Promise ebook is on offer this month (probably available places other than Amazon, too)
An important reminder for a Monday morning: don't work too hard, management will just reward you with more work 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums Sisyphus, doomed to forever roll his boulder up a mountain, on a 510BCE amphora from Greece, now at the British Museum
New Review - a highly recommended collection of reworked fairy tales and also great analysis oh how these stories have evolved - Black-Winged Angels by Angela Slatter is out now! www.runalongtheshelves.net/blog/2025/9/...
Today's writing features noodles & custard, but not together, except that now I'm wondering if custardy noodles might actually work. It's in moments like this that culinary crimes are born.
Is this saying “do art”, “critique” or both? But nice to see posters encouraging participation in the critical appreciation of art, which is absolutely definitely what this is.
My partner's reading it at the moment. She's not primarily an sff reader, but her work is environment-related & she 's loving it. A book where she occasionally looks up from the page to excitedly talk about what's happening.
Went climbing for the first time in 7+ years. Very satisfying, but my arms ache like anything. Already arranged to go back next week.
And if you're interested, I wrote a whole commentary on this comic and the history behind it, with links to other pieces about ships cats from @johnfreeman.bsky.social . It's worth a look for the cat pics alone. downthetubes.net/confessions-...
Thank you! This was one of my favourites to write 😸
I will make an offering to the household god* for you. * cat, because who else here has the arrogance to carry themselves as a god?
When Clockwork Magpies came out Emma did one of my Awkward Author interviews. 😊 If you're someone who likes to get to know an author before diving into one of their books it's the place for you. 👍 keithwdickinson.com/2022/05/17/a...
Just used the phrase '"Mother of Parliaments" my arse', which might be the most distinctly British phrase I've ever used as well as a reflection of where my head's at.
Oh yes, absorbency is one of the things he most loves about me.
It rained, so Spooky came in and I got lap time. I am very much plan B for an afternoon when he wanted to run around outside, and I'm fine with that.
Writing my monthly email reminded me that, hey, I have a mailing list. If you'd like updates about my books, recommendations for other sffh, and some flash fiction once a month, you can sign up here - eepurl.com/Zviqn
Only 3 weeks until we launch WRITING THE MAGIC at the Dead Ink Bookshop in #Liverpool! If you're thinking of coming along then grab a ticket now, as the shop has limited space. Join me, RJ Barker and Alex Pheby - plus I'll be bringing along a genuine magical artifact to answer your questions...
An update on the blog, with a link to the Wizard's Tower Press page for The Green Man's Holiday preorders. Incidentally, you can sign up to get updates direct via email if you would like. (I've tried and failed with newsletters. Turns out I'm rubbish at them.) www.julietemckenna.com/the-green-ma...
I want to be Red Pippin, the Marxist hobbit.
Uk peeps - worth checking this out
Today's writing includes space exploration & an exceptional dubious shopping centre Santa. But first, some PR proofreading, because this life isn't all fun & creativity.
Book buddies! 🥳
Favourite little face of the morning so far:
🚨RELEASE DAY🚨 It's finally here! Part 2 of the Clockwork Magpies story, Gilded Gear, is available everywhere now! And you can order both parts with 25% off in our store now. Just add SUMMER25 at checkout share.google/6iJ6TiHBoRDR...
Book news! I have yet another novella coming, this time from @wtpress.bsky.social - a story about grief, memory, power, & our relationships with the landscape, Walking a Wounded Land. wizardstowerpress.com/media/wizard...
I don't usually do individual Northodox recommendations as it's a bit like picking a favourite child 😂 These are all ones I've read recently, though, and you can't go wrong with, especially with 25% off this week! Just add SUMMER25 at checkout! share.google/G2sisCJ2fEQe...
Book news! I have a novella, The Sheltering Flame, coming out this fall with @wtpress.bsky.social, sharing covers with @aknighton.bsky.social. I've been waiting eagerly to share this weird little urban fantasy about radical hospitality, consent, and home repair. wizardstowerpress.com/media/wizard...
Thanks to @rozc.bsky.social @hierath77.bsky.social & @cherylmorgan.bsky.social for taking this one on. I'm very pleased to see this story heading out into the world.
Book news! I have yet another novella coming, this time from @wtpress.bsky.social - a story about grief, memory, power, & our relationships with the landscape, Walking a Wounded Land. wizardstowerpress.com/media/wizard...
They're my nemeses. As a smarter person said, writing short takes time.
Preparing to send a draft novel to a beta reader, & realised I've written a hundred thousand words but none of them is a title.
Like the Cheesecake Factory, I only know that Cracker Barrel exists thanks to watching too many American sitcoms, & I assumed it was made up as a punchline for several episodes.
On 27th August 2015, The Shepherd's Crown, the last book Sir Terry Pratchett completed before he died, was published. To mark the ten year anniversary, we have a message from Rob Wilkins:
We've lived long enough for Frozen to become old hat & a new sing-along challenger to emerge. How long before the mashups between them start appearing?
💥💥 BOOK SALE 💥💥 Buy some brilliant books and get 25% off!! Also, if you want to get ahead of the game, you can preorder my next novel, The Peculiar Journey of Cecil Tabiner, which comes out in March, and get 25% off right now! www.northodox.co.uk/product-page... #booksky
Today's writing starts with the last few chapters reading through this novel, then I've got to put together a plan for the edits. I can already feel my subconscious preparing to resist change.
This is a Tuesday treat. @jeffreyford8.bsky.social is not only one of the best short story writers there is, he's also one of the very few writers who moved me to tears at a reading. Also: Big Dark Hole is a wonderful collection of stories. Thanks to @locusmag.bsky.social youtu.be/4jhWggl0eQo?...
Woohoo! I just bought future Andy a nice treat. If you're not already reading the Green Man books, they're well worth a look, great fantasy grounded in modern Britain.
Northodox Press publish quality fiction in pback & ebook. This week orders & preorders are 3/4 of usual prices! See what they’ve got: www.northodox.co.uk/bookstore?Ca... Use code SUMMER25 at checkout. @northodoxpress.bsky.social SF&F, historical, crime, LGBT, short stories, romance, kids, lit fic…
The supervisor has arrived to check on my work.
Brand-new Commando, Issues 5883 – 5886, are on sale from DC Thomson this Thursday, 28 August 2025, offering stories of revenge, honour scorned - and killer bees!
Sale this week on all of Northodox's books, including The Executioner's Blade and preorders for The Executioner's Price. Discount code and link below - go fill your boots!
Today's writing is reading through a draft of a fantasy novel, working out where all the broken bits are ready for a proper edit. Absolutely necessary, still doesn't feel like "work".
New author Interview - Today on the blog we welcome back @rjbarker.bsky.social to talk about Heart Of The Wyrdwood, character arcs and more! www.runalongtheshelves.net/interviews/2...
Tonally, it makes all the difference.
Lots of poetry, a fair bit of science, and the expected amount of SF culture musings on A Meal of Thorns' episode on the Seattle #Worldcon:
Sale this week on all of Northodox's books, including The Executioner's Blade and preorders for The Executioner's Price. Discount code and link below - go fill your boots!
PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine is OPEN to Short Story Submissions from August 25 to September 8! We can't wait to read your stories!!! buff.ly/xB0IZOX
Have you heard about our new Wiz Duo series? Two novellas in one book. In book 1, David Gullen introduces us to a mysterious insect civilisation, while Ben Wright gives us a ship that sails between worlds. wizardstowerpress.co...
Looking for a great use for your next Audible credit? The Redstone Rescue is a detective story, a geopolitical thriller, a romance, a low-fantasy adventure with swords and magic, AND it has some good jokes. All of which is polished by Ali's outstanding reading: www.audible.co.uk/pd/The-Redst...
Pst, Juliet McKenna fans. Pre-orders are open for the ebook edition of The Green Man's Holiday: wizardstowerpress.co... Paper will follow in due course. Including options to order from us to collect at BristolCon or World Fantasy.
Hooray, congratulations!
My book is in the Northodox Summer Sale! Use code SUMMER25 for 25% off *any* title. Cottonopolis is a queer historical children's novel set in Manchester and shortlisted for the 2025 #LittleRebelsAward Ebook: www.northodox.co.uk/product-page... Paperback: www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...
At the NOAF blog, @chloroformtea.bsky.social has a long and thoughtful review of R.F Kuang's Katabasis...but she has major issues with its execution. Read her review here: www.nerds-feather.com/2025/08/book...
It's such a shame that this wonderful celebration with more than two million people attending gets so, so much less attention than a few hundred angry racists shouting at hotels. This is the part of Britain worth celebrating.
🚨RELEASE WEEK🚨 The Gilded Gear by the incredible Emma Whitehall is out this Thursday! The second part of the Ida Finn trilogy, you can order this and the hugely popular first book, Clockwork Magpies, with 25% off with the code SUMMER25 in our webstore! share.google/2Dl8drrcx6hv...
Today's writing features donuts. A trip to the bakery for a bank holiday treat now seems inevitable.
They're your legacy.
Chesterfield! We will see you at 11 with Valeriya Salt! Check out Dive Beyond Eternity here: share.google/OXOuAVmFyACl...
We've just signed contracts for Wiz Duo book 3. Press release next week when we've got some text together. This one should be out in late October.
One does not fuck with the WI...
Hello Lunchtime Crowd - a lovely author with a interesting discussion on character and setting
I've had the honour of being interviewed by the Womble, talking about the inspiration behind The Executioner's Blade, what's coming next for that series, & some other cool books I've been reading lately.
What's sometimes weird to me is that I, a science fiction nerd, spend time explaining why a lot of the wild concepts in science fiction are just that: wild. No, the robots aren't going to gain sentience and Space wants to kill you always. You can negotiate a temporary truce, but Earth is home. 1/
This Saturday, Valeriya Salt will be signing copies of her brilliant time-bending, WW2 scifi novel, Dive Beyond Eternity, at Chesterfield Waterstone's. We'll be swinging by as well, so please do come and say hi, particularly if you haven't checked out this incredible book yet!
New Author Interview - today on the blog we welcome @aknighton.bsky.social to talk about their great fantasy novel The Executioner’s Blade and more! www.runalongtheshelves.net/interviews/2...
Daily bunny no.3053 is pondering prose
My (very wolfish) short story "Margaery the Wolf" (first pub'd in See the Elephant) is in this gorgeous book. Out now from Flame Tree: www.flametreepublishing.com/were-wolf-sh... And elsewhere: www.simonandschuster.com/books/Were-W...
If you'd like to order by post the Commando issue by me and Steve Yeowell, you can do so here, but they only have seven copies left! magsdirect.co.uk/magazine/com...
One of the most useful things I've learnt whilst studying the various literary resurrections of King Arthur is Svetlana Boym's concept of restorative nostalgia vs. reflective nostalgia. One of which is a harmful fantasy, yearning to restore or return to a prelapsarian past that never really existed.
Sorry things have been so rough, & well done on riding it out. As you say, sometimes half the challenge is knowing & accepting what you can & can't do, & dealing with that is admirable in itself.
I guess the question "better for who" comes up here, & from the dragon's perspective a company would supply ready sources of treasure for the hoard & tasty junior employees to snack on.
The Gilded Gear is out next week! In anticipation of this, why not check out where Ida's story began in the brilliant northern steampunk adventure, Clockwork Magpies. Housemaid by day, cat burglar by night, there is more to her than meets the eye... www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...
Today's writing comes through the haze of an incoming cold. As long as I don't muddle up the apocalyptic fantasy & the executive management book I'm ghostwriting, everything should be fine. And even if I fail, wouldn't companies be better off with dragons in charge?
New Author Interview - today on the blog we welcome @clhellisen.bsky.social to talk about their new audiobook The Shape of Monsters www.runalongtheshelves.net/interviews/2...
As someone who considers themselves a feminist ally, I wish for ALL women to have a Destruction Horizon named after their boundless untamed wrath.
A new book by RJ is always good news.
I'd like to direct another music video some day. This was fun. youtu.be/B9BLMNn0PrQ?...
Unsolicited writing advice, no.15555: There are no universal writing rules. There's only what works, and what doesn't work. It may not work for anyone else, but if it gets you where you want to be, that's the way for you to go.
The torment nexus meme is misleading in that it suggests that our technoligarchs are capable of actually building anything. All that happens is that they use old sfnal concepts as a shared language—that old sensawunda, now bottled—for marketing their quite ordinary torment products
Hello Lunchtime Crowd - a very smart fantasy looking at schools and teaching today
Yes!
We don't retweet the bigots. We don't dunk the bigots. We don't hand them an oxygen mask because they're tired from all the screaming. Clicks are air. Outrage is air. Every time we do this they live rent free in our heads. Evict them.
Just for once I will join in the meme of the day, because I love this song & other people's choices have reminded me that it exists. It loses some of its impact when it's not sitting out of place on an album that's nothing like it, but it's still great. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPO8...
Wow, it's been a while, but that's one where just seeing it mentioned makes me smile.
Computer for me - my handwriting is far too slow these days, as well as borderline illegible. But I do like having a notebook and pen handy to scribble down thoughts & ideas.
The opening of Santa Monica will live in my mind until the day I die, periodically popping up to hit me with the depth of someone else's yearning.
You can now read my weird horror story ‘Dental Hygiene’ over at Horrific Scribes, featuring rusted razor blades, splayed toothbrushes, and damp bones.
In case you missed this.
Have you heard about our new Wiz Duo series? Two novellas in one book. In Book 2, Juliet Kemp's young knight must escort a young noblewoman on a quest. Also E M Faulds describes a super power that absolutely sucks. wizardstowerpress.co...
Today's writing includes responding to copy edits. Bracing myself to deal with a string of my own small-scale yet wince-inducing mistakes, made that little bit more painful because I didn't spot them but someone else did.