Meteorological autumn begins on 1 September
Author of 20+ published books. Occasional award-winner. FUTURE’S EDGE out now. Also editor at Stars and Sabers Publishing. Rep: Lucienne Diver https://linktr.ee/garethlpowell
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Meteorological autumn begins on 1 September
It was exhausting, wasn't it?
If you're not in the UK and you've been wondering why we've all been complaining about the heat...
Welcome to Sci-Fi September.
Done by Natasha MacKenzie at Titan Books
I've finished the edits for my next novel, Jitterbug and sent the book back to my publisher. It comes out in February. If you can't wait that long, Titan Books are publishing my short fiction collection Who Will You Save? in two weeks' time!
Eugen Bacon's @genni.bsky.social new book publishes tomorrow, September 2! The Nga'phandelieh Whisperer is glorious, lyrical, and powerful. Be on the lookout for her bookstagram tour on Instagram via MTMC tours. www.starsandsabers.com/books/the-ng... #newbooks #books #scifi #horror #fantasy
When you've really earned that afternoon cuppa.
My September newsletter just dropped
Out tomorrow!
Happy September friends, and welcome to my favourite month and the start of my favourite season.
Frankly my dear, I don't give a... BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!
My free monthly newsletter will be out tomorrow, with news of the upcoming launch event for WHO WILL YOU SAVE? and updates on current projects and forthcoming books. Maybe even a little writing advice. To avoid missing out, sign up here: gareths-newsletter.ghost.io
Today, I've driven from North Somerset to Manchester and back, and thanks to the combination of sunshine and frequent showers, I've seen at least a dozen rainbows.
UK folks, stay tuned for details of the WHO WILL YOU SAVE? launch and signing event that's happening in two weeks's time...
I'm very good with faces, very terrible with names
Well done to England’s Red Roses, who just beat Samoa 92-3 in the Women’s Rugby World Cup
Alas no
Watching raindrops slide down the window while listening to Otis Redding singing (Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay.
Quiet in the bookshop today, but luckily there are books and tea…
Cuffed a c*** in Cardiff
How about “sneered at a man in Swindon, just to see him cry.”
Om Nom Nom
In case you missed it, we're now using Ko-fi and we're pushing OF DREAD, DECAY, AND DOOM to June 2026. This is an open-ended funding situation which worked great for us for our first anthology, OF SHADOWS, STARS, AND SABERS, and also leads to faster author payouts! Let's get this book made.
Thank you!
Just updating my records in advance of awards season, and I see that this year I have had published a novel, a TV novelisation, a short fiction collection, and 4 short stories
Moon riding high in a sunset sky.
Thank you!
The kids took me to Oowee Diner in #bristol for an early birthday meal and I ordered their Big G garlic burger and Clucked Up chicken poutine fries. (Birthday is next week).
Also removed the phrase, "By Blackbeard's barnacled backside!" #amediting
Feels like tightening up the story
Today in editing: merging two secondary characters into one.
Happy Friday to those who celebrate, and commiserations to those like me who have to work Saturdays.
Will do, thanks
Annoyingly, Bluesky seems to have stopped notifying me about every reply, so apologies if I don’t acknowledge straight away, I’m not ignoring you.
Thank you!
My two big releases of 2025: the novel FUTURE'S EDGE and the short fiction collection WHO WILL YOU SAVE? Both available to order now: uk.bookshop.org/lists/my-boo...
Here’s the link if you’re curious influencers.feedspot.com/sci_fi_insta...
Someone sent me a link to an online list of “Top sci-fi influencers on Instagram,” which listed me. LOL. I’m not influencing anyone to do anything, except maybe read a few more books and be nice to each other.
Having worked in an indie bookshop for a year now, I can say with absolute certainty that they are an essential hub of community life. Please support your local indie bookstore whenever you can.
Heads-up #Kindle users. My novel Future's Edge will be on a 50% ebook discount on Kindle for Australia, and 70% in the UK during September.
Will do, thanks
Today in the bookshop, a dead seagull outside the rear fire escape is lending its own unique aroma to the back room 🤢
🚨NEW EPISODE!🚨 We're taking a look at one of the newest #DoctorWho novelisations from Target, with author @garethlpowell.bsky.social, plus editor @stevecolewriter.bsky.social, in our latest episode. soundcloud.com/powerof3pod/...
Done 👍
Am feeling haggard
I know
I know
Yes, but no proof of that in this article, either
Fascinating collection I have some work in too - came out of a top level brainstorming project about future tech and culture.
News: we are postponing the horror anthology OF DREAD, DECAY, AND DOOM to June 2026 to explore other funding opportunities. We do have one available, via Ko-fi. Learn more about the book and find that link on its book page: www.starsandsabers.com/books/of-dre... #books #horror #horrorbooks
I have a story in this fascinating upcoming anthology www.flametreepublishing.com/creative-fut...
You get money from a book you published on a date you can't predict. it will be a sum you can't predict. you will never know if the ranch is saved or not. Everyone makes interest off your royalties before you do, and you're probably not making *any* interest at all And you don't have dental.
Eldest daughter: “I wouldn’t want to burn to death, but I think I’d be quite good at dysentery.”
It’s hot and stuffy in the bookshop this afternoon. We close in just over an hour, but then I need to get the place ready so I can host the book club here at 6:30 this evening.
Thank you!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Editing my next novel and came across this paragraph that I'd forgotten, but which made me laugh aloud.
Starting the day with my favourite tea brewed in my favourite teapot and served in my favourite mug.
It's a little more sedate here, although we get our fair share of vague/bizarre requests
Send me a DM
Thanks, the illustration and design is by Natasha MacKenzie
THREE WEEKS TODAY until @titanbooks.bsky.social publishes my collection WHO WILL YOU SAVE? Preorder now!
Can't even build death star anymore, because of ewok
That doesn’t sound good
That’s the only one of his SF books I haven’t got around to. And now I kinda don’t want to read it because then there will be none left.
😱
So, what #books are we all reading right now?
The relays are hilarious
Thanks
Opening up the bookshop, turning on the coffee machine, sweeping the floor, tidying the shelves, and getting it all ready for the first customers of the day.
It's been a MONDAY but I made good progress with the edits today, and this evening, eldest daughter and I have been drinking beer and watching @sortedfood.bsky.social videos on YouTube.
I have put together a bumper collection of posts, totalling some 15k words, covering the craft and business of #writing, from composing a killer synopsis to landing a literary agent, and this whole collection is instantly available to all my Patreon supporters. www.patreon.com/collection/8...
Happy Monday, friends. I plan to spend most of the day editing Jitterbug. Whatever you're doing, I hope it's peaceful and/or productive.
Thank you!
Been introducing eldest daughter to The Last of Us TV show. I'd forgotten just how good the first season is.
Thanks!
I can see the likeness!
Drummer is the best character on that show!
Good for the snakes, who had no choice about being made into oil
And then there's the vampire whale, Beluga Lugosi
I don’t really have one, it depends on my mood
“Making the most of these opportunities is what separates great novelisers from ordinary ones, and Powell elevates himself into the pantheon.” - Mass Movement Magazine 2/2
My Doctor Who novelisation has been getting great reviews! “Could happily sit alongside the likes of Alan Dean Foster’s Alien on the creepy, SF horror novelisation shelf of your bookcase.” - Blogtor Who 1/2
A reminder to #book reviewers that @titanbooks.bsky.social will release my career-retrospective short story collection in a little over three weeks' time. If you want to request a review copy on @netgalley.bsky.social you'd better be quick! www.netgalley.co.uk/catalog/book...
Re-reading the complete draft of the high concept thriller that my agent currently has out on submission, and it feels like one of the best written and best structured books I have produced so far. I'm very proud of it, and hope it finds a home.
I now have my own "bookshop" on @bookshop-org-uk.bsky.social where you can buy my books and books I recommend while supporting indie booksellers. uk.bookshop.org/shop/garethl...
Hi Laurel !
Reading @garethlpowell.bsky.social ‘s ‘Stars and Bones’ (Laurel heard there was a cat in this one😼)
I've always read widely, but recently I've been reading a lot more thrillers and 'mainstream' fiction.
Both questions have the same answer: determination. In some ways you have to treat it like your job, which means you show up even when you don't feel like it and start typing. You won't always like what you write, but that's what editing is for.
A mix of all three. Many are aspects of me. Others are a mishmash of types of people I have met. And on one occasion, I put an odious manager from my office in a short story and made sure he received his just deserts
Music and art provide a lot of inspiration. My novel Future's Edge was inspired by a Kandinsky painting, for example.
As a kid, I loved the Terrance Dicks and Douglas Adams adaptations
Almost impossible. You just have to concentrate on doing something original with those ideas.
I always wrote, but at the turn of the millennium, I decided it was time to get serious and finish my first novel.
You need to find someone who had been there and knows the terrain, and someone you trust to be brutally honest AND extremely encouraging and supportive.
Tough question! I honestly couldn't decide, but readers seem to like Embers of War the most.
You have to write first and foremost for yourself. Lock the door and remember that NOBODY will see your first draft, so it's okay if it isn't perfect. You can edit and polish it later, just dive in and have fun!