Nostr notes by Wendy Palmer

To add to my last post: I know it’s only a matter of time ...

2026-10-22T23:44:28Z

To add to my last post: I know it’s only a matter of time before some scammer slaps one of my books through an AI generator and starts selling the “audiobook” version.

That’s one of the reasons I’m investigating creating official audiobooks — the other reason is also why I’ve commissioned a real artist for my next cover and started a community writers festival — because those are real-world things I can do against the corrosion of AI.

Though commissioning an audiobook is well outside both my skillset and my current budget, so it’s going to be a slow process…

#audiobooks #WritingCommunity

This is why we don’t wear white on the farm #DogsofMastodon ...

2026-09-30T02:48:56Z

This is why we don’t wear white on the farm

#DogsofMastodon

Just a little #IndieAuthor #selfPromo on the last day of the ...

2026-09-29T23:48:45Z

Just a little #IndieAuthor #selfPromo on the last day of the month to see if I can beat a previous sales record…

I write fantasy with romance, often queer, always with happy, hopeful endings. They’re cosyish (content warnings on website), character-driven, and playful. My latest release is Rogue & Vagabond, an historical fantasy romance set in the late Victorian.

My books are available everywhere, including on #KoboPlus and #Hoopla, in ebook and print, but not (yet) audiobook.

https://books2read.com/WendyPalmer

Also available direct from my indie bookshop:

https://wendypalmer.au/bookshop/

Australians can order discounted and signed print books through my bookstore too.

#books Bookstodon Group (npub1q60…kp90)
#reading #IndieReads #FantasyRomance #AussieAuthor

Please name for me a generically pretty blond actor in his late ...

2026-09-29T08:58:29Z

Please name for me a generically pretty blond actor in his late 20s, not too tall, not too muscled.

I’m sure there’s dozens but I can’t think of a single one.

My old city library, when people are standing outside waiting for ...

2026-09-25T02:02:35Z

My old city library, when people are standing outside waiting for the doors to open: it’s 8.59, we don’t open till 9, but I suppose we’ll open the door a minute early this one time.

(Me: I’m your volunteer for delivering books to people who can’t get here — oh, boy did he look shamefaced when he realised he’d told off a volunteer 😂)

My country library, when people are standing outside waiting: it’s 9.55, so sorry that we don’t open till 10, come in out of the wind

#library

Dorothy L Sayers, about a fellow author: ICE-COLD #books #reading ...

2026-09-19T01:07:36Z

Dorothy L Sayers, about a fellow author: ICE-COLD

#books #reading #DamnedWithFaintPraiseIndeed

Having to dissect this email like I’m trying to solve a murder ...

2026-09-18T22:07:06Z

Having to dissect this email like I’m trying to solve a murder and internet-stalk the poor person who sent it, because their query sounded legit (mostly because of an error in the book title that a human would make but an AI wouldn’t) and yet I’m so wary of scammers now I can’t help be suspicious.

“Ok, so the name they’ve used is for a real person, and it’s an odd identity to fake for a scammer, but the website url they provided links to a basic free site, but it does have real images and the info corresponds to other mentions of this person on the web, and the isp country id makes sense too, and so does the time they sent the email in regards to time zones, but it’s just a yahoo email address — aha, they used that email address twenty years ago in a discussion paper, they’re real!”

I’m going to risk a reply, pray for me 😂

#WritingCommunity

Had to explain writer scams to my partner today 😂 Him: are you ...

2026-09-10T07:35:34Z

Had to explain writer scams to my partner today 😂

Him: are you sure these emails in the spam folder aren’t legitimate? They sound plausible

Me: smoothly, blandly plausible, yes, they want a response, then they’ll start asking for money

Him: but they’re so nice about your books!

Me: obsequious flattery must have a better response rate than the strategic negging ones

Him: but, look, this one even got the themes dead on

Me: human reviewers got the themes dead on, then AI ingested the reviews and vomited them out for the scammers

Him: Jesus

Me: wasn’t super-powering scams a useful investment of a trillion dollars?

#WritingCommunity #WritingScams

RE: https://mastodon.scot/@alanferrier/117234927786289783 I ...

2026-09-08T10:36:16Z

RE: https://mastodon.scot/@alanferrier/117234927786289783

I highly recommend Lifeboat at the End of the World for more on this
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/lifeboat-at-the-end-of-the-world-1

#books #volunteering #RNLI

quoting
note1nmx…wr69

As an antidote to the poison being thrown at the RNLI, I give you Bill Bryson:

“I had never really stopped to consider what an extraordinary thing the Royal National Lifeboat Institution is. Think about it. A troubled ship calls for help, and eight people — teachers, plumbers, the guy who runs the pub — drop everything and put to sea, whatever the weather, asking no questions, imperilling their own lives, to try to help strangers. Is there anything more brave and noble than that?”

The first day of the new WIP went well, if slowly while I ...

2026-09-01T08:38:03Z

The first day of the new WIP went well, if slowly while I establish the world and characters in my own mind.

Today’s session ended with the line “The nephew was of no account.”

Way to dis the eventual love of your life there, Rafi.

#WritingCommunity

My favourite reads for August (despite a reading slump). Four ...

2026-08-30T01:34:39Z

My favourite reads for August (despite a reading slump). Four fictions (three fantasies and a sort-of spec-fic) and four non-fictions.

#bookstodon #readingCommunity #BookReviews

http://wendypalmer.au/2026/08/30/books-favourite-reads-aug26/

It’s a rare day when a company’s “exciting news” is ...

2026-08-27T05:42:28Z

It’s a rare day when a company’s “exciting news” is actually exciting* rather than on the neutral-to-negative side.

On the other hand, the company that promised fast delivery, then sent a post-ordering “actually, dispatch will take up to 30 days unless you pay an $80 priority fee**” email can go thoroughly fuck itself.

*mildly pleasing
**bribe

Australian Commonwealth Bank credit card customers, check your ...

2026-08-26T02:58:25Z

Australian Commonwealth Bank credit card customers, check your “change in terms and conditions” email carefully, they’re making substantial changes to the program including to monthly fees

#australia #banks

There’s an older gentleman in my little country town’s IGA ...

2026-08-21T01:36:33Z

There’s an older gentleman in my little country town’s IGA wearing a frilly white wedding dress, a white faux fur stole, and a look in his eye that says “I fucking dare you”, and he is ROCKING the entire ensemble.

Friend sent me this and I feel attacked #books #TBR #Tsundoku ...

2026-08-05T09:19:46Z

Friend sent me this and I feel attacked

#books #TBR #Tsundoku

Nostr event nevent1qqszqxg2ep8exf3zdq0rnmu6znlqdcqgkk2wsgesa77uzg5jezxrvjgzyr3nwp0rj3yfmzze4a5dswnlzlhfjyccsmq7kk7vv09xd9qlv3q2wyjlz4g

2026-07-30T10:58:22Z

RE: https://indieauthors.social/@indieauthornews/117008377995772364

The Bookriot site links to the full text of the study, and it is a very sobering read — particularly if you’re a Kindle Unlimited author.

But the tsunami of slop will come for the wide-release authors eventually too.

#WritingCommunity #KindleUnlimited #AISlop

quoting
note17rh…4pz6

📚 Rare expressions

A new study finds 20% of Kindle ebooks contain "substantial" AI-generated text.
https://bookriot.com/rare-expressions/

Me: look at this fountain pen, it looks a bit like a sonic ...

2026-07-29T12:42:27Z

Me: look at this fountain pen, it looks a bit like a sonic screwdriver

My partner: I want it!

Me: it costs $7000

My partner: ok, no I don’t

#FountainPen

We just spent an hour walking up and down a steep and overgrown ...

2026-07-22T11:19:32Z

We just spent an hour walking up and down a steep and overgrown riverbank with night falling because we could hear our dog barking for help, but every time we began to triangulate his location past the echoes, he’d decide the job was done and go quiet.

He was fine, just stuck on the wrong side of a fence which was apparently A-OK to go through but utterly terrifying to come *back* through…until we showed up, whereupon he squirmed through the tiniest possible gap and merrily ran off without even pausing to say thanks.

He was home waiting for dinner by the time we’d trekked back covered in scratches from blackberry and barbed wire 😂

#dogs #CountryLife #SomeSwearingOccurred

My brain, about five seconds before I submitted my book text for ...

2026-07-15T09:11:08Z

My brain, about five seconds before I submitted my book text for the proof-print: I can’t believe you wrote 100,000 words set at the place that introduced garden gnomes to England and didn’t include one gnome pun.

Me: oh, no, missed opportunity!

My brain: you even have that character who likes silly wordplay. He’s like Chekhov’s gun if he doesn’t do a gnome pun.

Me: yes, but-

My brain: it’ll go really well in this chapter.

Me: there’s only three lines spare in that chapter before it causes a spillover and I have to add extra pages to the printed book.

My brain: I’ll do it in two.

#WritingCommunity

I asked Draft2Digital why their Smashwords bookstore wouldn’t ...

2026-07-08T05:37:29Z

I asked Draft2Digital why their Smashwords bookstore wouldn’t show a sample of my books for potential readers - you know, a baseline need for any online bookstore - and they said it was because I was supplying epub3 files, and they could only generate a sample from epub2.

Epub3 has been around since 2011. It’s got multimedia features a purely text document doesn’t really need, sure, but it also has important accessibility functionality for screen readers. Even non-profit Gutenberg.org now publishes using epub3 as standard.

Draft2Digital must be pretty damn creaky behind the scenes if they can’t handle a fifteen-year-old format properly.

#draft2Digital #smashwords #epub #accessibility #WritingCommunity

The only thing better than reading a good book with my teen is ...

2026-07-04T01:19:53Z

The only thing better than reading a good book with my teen is reading a really bad book and making merciless fun of it with my teen

#books #reading #parenting

to be fair, the worst (trad-published) metaphor I’ve read that ...

2026-06-17T01:06:20Z

In reply to nevent1q…a0l2
_________________________

to be fair, the worst (trad-published) metaphor I’ve read that has stuck with me for years was 100% human written:

“The sky was the colour of a sad wedding.”

I can see why the judges might fall for it, since a hallmark of ...

2026-06-17T01:01:24Z

In reply to nevent1q…s7e9
_________________________

I can see why the judges might fall for it, since a hallmark of LitFic is the use of fresh metaphors.

But I think people have become used to going “ooh, pretty language” without actually thinking it through. Good human litfic writers make their metaphors both fresh AND meaningful — and use them like icing on the cake, not make the entire cake out of the icing!

As someone who has spent my entire adult life being mildly ...

2026-06-17T00:44:13Z

As someone who has spent my entire adult life being mildly condescended to for enjoying genre fiction, I have to admit to a mean-spirited Schadenfreude over the controversy with the Commonwealth Foundation short story awardees possibly using AI.

See, literary fiction snobs — it’s ALSO a genre with expected elements, structures, character types and rules, and its conventions can be mimicked by AI just as easily as the “predictable trash” you sneer at.

(The foundation is standing by the authors. I will say only that the first story accused (several more have been accused since) made my eyes bleed from the sheer barrage of superficially profound metaphors. If that’s prize-winning, no wonder it’s not my favourite genre.)

Context:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/may/19/commonwealth-short-story-prize-winner-doubts-ai-artificial-intelligence

#fiction #reading

“Why I Cried When My Husband Bought Me a Louis Vuitton Bag” I ...

2026-06-08T06:49:50Z

“Why I Cried When My Husband Bought Me a Louis Vuitton Bag”

I would cry if my partner bought me a Louis Vuitton bag too, because DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY BOOKS HE COULD HAVE BOUGHT ME WITH THAT MONEY??? 😝

no, you’ve done a great job - and I love how made your top and ...

2026-06-03T22:58:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…z233
_________________________

no, you’ve done a great job - and I love how made your top and glasses match too 🥰

nice!

2026-06-03T22:34:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…l34t
_________________________

nice!

Acquaintance spends a weirdly long time explaining to me that ...

2026-05-30T08:39:56Z

Acquaintance spends a weirdly long time explaining to me that she’s glad she’s buying a brand-new car, rather than second-hand/ex-demo, so she can choose the colour she wants.

Chooses white.

Readers, writers, party people, extroverts, if you were going to ...

2026-05-27T10:47:27Z

Readers, writers, party people, extroverts, if you were going to hold a (alcohol-free) 45-minute event to launch a new book club, what would you do?

I can only think either reading aloud Ch 1 of the already-selected first book club book, or, more fun, reading aloud (aka performing competitively) the first few pages of three choices and everyone gets to vote for which one will be the first book club book.

Any suggestions? Especially ones to encourage members of the community to come along to check out the vibe for potentially joining.

(I’m running a little literary festival in my town, and a community group wants to have a session for their new book club, and I’m not sure what that would look like and neither do they 😂)

#reading #books #BookClub #HiveMind

tell you what, there’s nothing that undermines my enthusiasm ...

2026-05-18T06:02:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…cg2h
_________________________

tell you what, there’s nothing that undermines my enthusiasm for volunteering more than someone whipping out AI to do the job the volunteers gave up their time to do.

Having naively elected to share an office space with my partner, ...

2026-05-11T04:05:30Z

Having naively elected to share an office space with my partner, what I dearly wish for now is a pair of headphones that have “not unless you are actively dying” printed all over them…

good on the group for taking a stand

2026-04-29T02:33:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…2kja
_________________________

good on the group for taking a stand

Just broke a lifelong rule and gave a hitchhiker a lift — the ...

2026-04-02T02:07:34Z

Just broke a lifelong rule and gave a hitchhiker a lift — the most non-threatening-looking young Japanese girl standing on the side of the road with a backpack and a shopping bag 😂

She’s been hitchhiking around Australia from Cairns and has made it to Southwest WA like an absolute champion.

Had to drop her at my turn-off about halfway to the next town, but I gave her my phone number in case she gets stuck. Not the first, I imagine!

10/10 non-murdery hitchhiker experience

Nagi, of Recipe Tin Eats, posting on FB to answer some questions ...

2026-03-16T09:18:35Z

Nagi, of Recipe Tin Eats, posting on FB to answer some questions about Recipe Tin Meals, her meal donation program that costs her a million dollars a year to run. Casually explaining she’d rather spend that money for a good purpose than on conspicuous consumption.

Oh, Nagi, you’re a goddamn national treasure

#nagi #RecipeTinEats #GoodNews

I have a window-cleaning robot*. I think it’s dissing me for ...

2026-02-10T02:15:26Z

I have a window-cleaning robot*. I think it’s dissing me for not cleaning my windows enough — it just passive-aggressively informed me it can be used monthly (this is the whole “we didn’t need to clean clothes nearly so often before we got washing machines” thing again, isn’t it…).

*don’t judge me, I have a lot of windows and glass doors**

**massive digression for Romance main character backstory: my father was a glazier, so we had more glass than walls when my parents built a new house. My mother assigned me all the window cleaning growing up but made me re-do them over and over due to streaks. Meanwhile, we had relatives with dark dingy houses which gave me childhood trauma in the other direction. Therefore I *must* have light-filled rooms, yet hate cleaning the windows and am also (weirdly, given the childhood practice) plain bad at it no matter the technique I use. SF plot twist: the romantic lead is not a professional window cleaner: I used the proceeds from writing romantic leads to buy a robot window cleaner instead 😂

#windowsButNotThatWindows

The more details that come out about this story, the more heroic ...

2026-02-03T09:04:23Z

The more details that come out about this story, the more heroic the kid is and the more amazing the rescue is!

Austin literally Doryed himself for four hours (“just keep swimming, just keep swimming”), then collapsed so completely the moment he’d called for help that he didn’t wake up again until he was in hospital. He’s getting around on crutches because his legs are so sore.

His mum and two younger siblings were in the water for eight to ten hours. The sun went down. That mum was floating in the dark thinking she’d sent her boy off to die and that they were all going to die too.

They’d managed to stay together but the waves were getting bigger and they were thrown apart.

Pitch dark. Rough water. Your kid screaming, floating away. Worse: can’t hear the other kid at all.

Holy fuck.

And then the sound of a boat engine.

If that rescue boat had come any later, even minutes later, than it did, my God.

And Austin’s first thought when he woke up was, I wasn’t fast enough. That came *so heartbreakingly close* to being true, and yet he couldn’t have done better.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-03/teen-speaks-after-saving-family-in-geographe-bay/106298798

#Australia #SeaRescue

TIFU by forgetting a hose was on for four days and draining our ...

2026-01-16T11:00:57Z

TIFU by forgetting a hose was on for four days and draining our rainwater tank so much that we’ll have to truck in scheme water before the end of summer 😬 🤦‍♀️

So, um, buy my books maybe? Fantasy with romance, often queer, available everywhere including Kobo Plus and Hoopla.

More info and retail links at my site:
https://wendypalmer.au/

#TheBloodyIdiotWaterFund

#books #SelfPromo #mmRomance #fantasyReads #QueerRomance #IndieAuthor

“the real romantasy is not sex and romance with dragons and ...

2026-01-15T01:40:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…zq0t
_________________________

“the real romantasy is not sex and romance with dragons and fairies, but sex and romance without misogyny and gendered hierarchy”

Nailed it

Bookstodon Group (npub1q60…kp90)

Just a quick note to my regular readers, if you’ve been waiting ...

2026-01-08T08:12:16Z

Just a quick note to my regular readers, if you’ve been waiting for my latest book, Grace & Favour*, to show up on #Hoopla, it’s finally arrived, a solid SEVEN weeks after releasing it for distribution (I have no idea why it took so long).

*Friends-to-lovers gay romance; the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace; one Very Good Boy.

#Books #bookstodon #GayRomance #Indie
Authors #readingCommunity

I use Wordpress (com, not org) and have been happy enough with it ...

2026-01-02T01:49:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…d28d
_________________________

I use Wordpress (com, not org) and have been happy enough with it 🤷‍♀️ I only blog once a month though (short book reviews).

I’ve heard others recommend Ghost as a good blogging platform, I think.

My partner asked me why I’d knitted a tiny green penis. GASP! ...

2026-01-02T00:57:33Z

My partner asked me why I’d knitted a tiny green penis.

GASP! It’s a WORM you philistine

#knitting #CraftFail

This dog is a breed that’s meant to have white/cream fur. But ...

2025-11-22T01:05:24Z

This dog is a breed that’s meant to have white/cream fur. But he has no fear of the rain and we have orange gravel…

#DogsOOfMastodon

I like the way CK McDonnell puts it in his author note for ...

2025-10-13T13:03:35Z

I like the way CK McDonnell puts it in his author note for Relight My Fire (the Stranger Times series is great, by the way):

“creativity isn’t about imitating others to get it right, it’s about getting it wrong in the right way”

#WritingCommunity #creativity

For people who missed out the absolute riot that is My Dad Wrote ...

2025-10-06T03:25:31Z

For people who missed out the absolute riot that is My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast the first time around, they’ve just started releasing a remastered version of season 1 for the 10-year-anniversary.

Three old friends, one of them reading aloud from the porno his dad wrote, the other two providing commentary.

It is hilarious, and only gets better: sex positivity, pots and pans, international intrigue, found family, and a pony named Toffee Apple Chew

#MyDadWroteAPorno #RockyFlintstone #podcasts
#BelindaBlinks

My editing thought process today: I've described a group of ...

2025-09-25T05:33:13Z

My editing thought process today:

I've described a group of widows and spinsters as a “gaggle”.

Hmm, a bit mean. Use “bevy” instead.

Wait, is it any less mean to use the collective noun for quails than for geese?

…

OK, well done you, brain, for not only retaining a random fact for something like 30 years, but also producing it on demand. I’m still using it.

#writing #editing Writing Books (npub1hpf…4urc)

I’ve already got it downloaded 😊 (it happened to be on Kobo ...

2025-08-29T23:40:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…63gz
_________________________

I’ve already got it downloaded 😊 (it happened to be on Kobo Plus and I happen to have my subscription active right now).

Queer Romance Club SEPTEMBER vote Theme is mystery/suspense. What ...

2025-08-29T12:09:51Z

Queer Romance Club SEPTEMBER vote

Theme is mystery/suspense.

What we've ended up here is varying levels of suspense, from cosy murer mystery to intense SF thriller.

First, a few that didn't make the vote, mostly because I was trying to have plenty of variety in the choices, but all of which are worth a mention:

KJ Charles's Sins of the City trilogy, starting with An Unseen Attraction (Charles will be on next month's list with her new release)

Josh Lanyon. Long-time gay suspense/mystery writer.

Tal Bauer. ebooks only on Amazon (audiobooks more widely available).

Susan J Morris's Strange Beasts: f/f, first in a series. We already had two other historicals with stronger romantic plot lines (according to reviews anyway). But this one's on my TBR.

The vote list:

Mis En Death by Nikki Woolfolk - lesbian and trans characters, alternate-history steampunk mystery
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/mise-en-death-2

Prophet by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blache - m/m SF techno-thriller
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/prophet-30

Securing Ava by Anne Shade - f/f contemporary
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/securing-ava

Cat Sebastian's Hither Page - m/m historical, technically first in a series but AFAIK there's only two.
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/hither-page

QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) #QueerRomanceClub #Bookclub
bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #books

as a child, I loved Richard Adams (Watership Down) and William ...

2025-08-19T10:30:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…4ct9
_________________________

as a child, I loved Richard Adams (Watership Down) and William Horwood (Duncton Wood) as well as the authors you mentioned.

New fire shed in the locality over from ours. Fully decked out ...

2025-07-29T05:44:13Z

New fire shed in the locality over from ours. Fully decked out with kitchen, comfortable couches etc.

Meanwhile, bunch of crafting grandmas need somewhere to meet after losing their previous location.

A brigade member tells them to use the new fire shed, it’s empty most of the time anyway.

Win-win!

But no! Some (excuse me while I go full Australian) bloody drongo shows up and tells the grandmas to bugger off.

Brigade member says, not on, mate, and tells the district fire chief.

Who signs the grandmas up as auxiliary brigade members.

Problem solved! With a side of not-very-malicious compliance.

(Also, now the grandmas will come to the annual meeting and you better believe they’ll bring snacks: win-win-WIN)

#LateralThinking #GoodNews #CountryLife

I will speak in the general sense though (very mild spoilers): A ...

2025-07-04T23:48:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…qy90
_________________________

I will speak in the general sense though (very mild spoilers):

A major problem for me with this style of modern historical is that it wants it both ways - sympathetic leads with modern progressive attitudes, relationships and freedoms, but historical obstacles.

So this book ignores the social structures, strict class lines, and moralities of the time, right up until an obstacle or plot point is needed, and then it leans in on them. This is particularly the case with the mother enforcing a marriage on Beth.

At one point, Beth thinks, I can’t leave my mother with these terrible people aka the in-laws-to-be. If she called off the wedding, her mother would not be with those terrible people, right? But if she calls off the wedding, scandal!

And at what point, ever, in the worldbuilding of this book, was scandal an actual threat? It just makes her mother very hard to sympathise with, and the supposed obstacles irritatingly forced.

So while I did like a few things about this book — eg the little ways the MCs are shown to be comfortable with each other before they start realising they’re attracted, rather than it being an over-the-top lustfest immediately — overall, a big NO from me.

Finally, I can’t help mention the inaccuracy that possibly irritated me most — you cannot imagine how jarring I found the scene set in a fancy oyster bar (apart from the descriptions of slurping globs of snot-textured lumps). Oysters were a *working-class food*, cheaper than eggs, in the mid-nineteenth century. The idea that the gentry would go to a fancy restaurant to eat them 🤦‍♀️

(And don’t even get me started about having Gwen leaving her room in a mess, including discarded plates, as a sign of her emotional distress and it *staying that way* in an earl’s household…)

2/2

#QueerRomanceClub
QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

Queer Reading Club - July - Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend ...

2025-07-04T23:43:33Z

Queer Reading Club - July - Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend (aka More Than a Best Friend

It was available immediately from my library, so I’m commenting early — I’ll probably read at least one of others on the voting list, and might talk about it later in the month.

This one is cosplaying as a historical, in that we have modern people in pretty dresses and fancy houses. I don’t mean to be derogatory with that — there’s plenty of cosy contemporaries that completely ignore real contemporary times, and this is a cosy historical that’s mostly ignoring real history.

And obviously you wouldn’t want to have it be *too* realistic, or everyone will be suffering from tuberculosis and rampant misogyny. It’s a balance, one authors are having to reevaluate currently with the crash in publisher/reader interest in historicals.

But pretty much, either you don’t mind an historical this far down the inaccurate end of the spectrum or you do, and you’ll know it during the first chapter (even before the first time “okay” is deployed in dialogue…)

And I don’t mind books that own it (Alexis Hall’s regencies come to mind), but I do mind this style.

So I am just not the right reader for this book, probably because I am far (far, far) too old for it. This is a starter historical, an early-adult contemporary in fancy dress (with a distressing amount of sport-based scenes), for readers who haven’t been reading historical fiction and non-fiction for 30+ years.

I could blast through my generous character limits multiple times over listing all the things that annoyed me, but I won’t, because it’s not fair, because I am so very much not this book’s intended audience. It’d be like picking on a kid’s cartoon for not being adult enough.

1/2

#QueerRomanceClub QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy)

#books #historicalRomance bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

I’m reading Gold: the remarkable story of Edward Hammond ...

2025-06-24T23:45:00Z

I’m reading Gold: the remarkable story of Edward Hammond Hargraves — charlatan, impostor and self-proclaimed driver of god in Australia by Matt Murphy

And I only just noticed the pull quotes on the front cover. They’re not about the book 😂

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #history

she played the hand she was dealt to perfection…it was just a ...

2025-06-23T12:26:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…j2w7
_________________________

she played the hand she was dealt to perfection…it was just a depressingly curtailed hand.

yes, I realise I’ve tried Emma Alban before and didn’t warm ...

2025-06-23T08:21:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…e0fh
_________________________

yes, I realise I’ve tried Emma Alban before and didn’t warm to the style but I can’t only suggest books I know I’ll like 😂

It's basically the vibe and a low-stakes plot. I think ...

2025-06-23T08:11:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…z08y
_________________________

It's basically the vibe and a low-stakes plot. I think I've got four lined up for the vote, let me know if you know them/know of any major red flags:

- Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacon and Rebecca Podos
- The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
- Don't Want you Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban
- Direct Descendants by Tanya Huff (this is the f/f cosy horror, I'm just fascinated as to how that works)

I like Olivia Atwater a lot, you're right about the cosy feel :)

Change of plans for July’s Queer Romance Club’s theme. It was ...

2025-06-21T01:31:20Z

Change of plans for July’s Queer Romance Club’s theme.

It was meant to be the award winners for the Lammy Awards (https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/) but they’ve moved to later in the year, so we’ll switch to August’s Cosy theme.

AKA can we find a cosy the coordinator of QRC actually likes 😂

Suggestions welcome. We’ve had a few books now where the queer romance has been a subplot rather than the major plot, so suggestions for just a straight-up cosy romance, no extra genre needed, would be great.

Apparently Direct Descendants (f/f romance) is a cosy horror, which frankly sounds like a walking contradiction, but I can add it to the vote.

More about the QRC here (TL;DR: we read books with queer romance in them, everyone welcome to join in)
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

Side note, I HAVE liked a few cosies, in the fantasy genre:
- The House in the Cerulean Sea (but not the sequel)
- Sorcery and Small Magics — I might put this one on the voting list, but it’s the first in a trilogy so the romance is not resolved.
- Swordcrossed, a previous QRC pick.
And I’m sure I’ve read more that I enjoyed but forgot about quickly (as the nature of cosies for me)

#QueerRomanceClub QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) #BookClub bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

#AmReading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson and am enjoying ...

2025-06-18T00:11:12Z

#AmReading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson and am enjoying it so much that I’m actually glad it’s Book 1 of a trilogy instead of merely a doorstopper of a stand-alone.

#books #fantasy bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

#QueerRomanceClub June selection— Navigational Entanglements I ...

2025-06-14T02:44:58Z

#QueerRomanceClub June selection— Navigational Entanglements

I do like a novella (I resent paying upper-end novel prices for novellas, but that’s a different story), and I especially like Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe. I thought I’d been quite patchy at reading them but looking at the titles, I realise I’ve read almost all of them over time.

This one is typical of the rest — deep and very effective Viet-influenced world-building without wasting too many words explaining it, a plot that involves juniors in a strict hierarchical structure having to in some way rebel against their elders, with a low-key f/f romance woven through it. Nice to have an almost entirely female cast too. Was not sure why a navigation clan needed assassins, though, but it was taken at face value, so I guess the politics are just robust (as we go on to learn…but then, why the shock from the juniors then…)

De Bodard often has a f/f dynamic which is older/powerful/mysterious woman and younger, wide-eyed girl, so it was nice to have a relatively equal flaws-compliment-each-other relationship, and I liked the way mutual trust played into the finale.

But the downside of a novella is that there’s not always the full depth devoted to the relationship, so it all happens a bit fast. Also, I didn’t always follow why the characters were getting annoyed at each other eg we’d be told Nhi was being unpleasant but the dialogue just didn’t *sound* that unpleasant (this is likely just me being accustomed to sassy banter).

Annoyingly, and no fault of the author’s, Sư phụ (master) displayed as S ph on my Kobo ereader, and feel like if the publisher is charging that much, they could have afforded having a minion check that.

QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #SFF #SFRomance

I’m only a few sales off setting a new record for the month, ...

2025-05-29T00:07:46Z

I’m only a few sales off setting a new record for the month, and it’s a milestone I’d like to reach, so….

#selfPromo

I write fantasy books which are neither epic nor cosy (but closer to the cosy end of the spectrum, I call them cosy-adjacent).

They have happy-ever-after romance in them, though not the epic romantasy kind, and usually queer.

They’re usually stand-alone, even when part of a duology (no ten-book series here, if you don’t like commitment)

They are mildly funny, and sometimes morally complex, but mostly just fun escapism where the bad guys always lose.

You can check them out on my website, and find the buy links - widely available, including via Hoopla and Kobo Plus, and direct from me (via Payhip):

https://wendypalmer.au/books/

(And CWs: https://wendypalmer.au/content-warnings/)

Boosts appreciated.

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #books #fantasy #romance #LGBTQRomance Romancelandia group (npub1me9…z28v)

I know, it’s dangerous to the TBR list, isn’t it!

2025-05-24T06:32:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…fne9
_________________________

I know, it’s dangerous to the TBR list, isn’t it!

great, thanks!

2025-05-24T06:31:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…rwem
_________________________

great, thanks!

thank you 😊 I’m a fan of all three

2025-05-24T02:54:04Z

In reply to nevent1q…pj3q
_________________________

thank you 😊 I’m a fan of all three

fantastic, thank you 😊

2025-05-24T02:52:48Z

In reply to nevent1q…psw3
_________________________

fantastic, thank you 😊

#QueerRomanceClub June voting suggestions — Pride theme We’re ...

2025-05-24T00:44:15Z

#QueerRomanceClub June voting suggestions — Pride theme

We’re “read gay, do crime” all year round, but for the June pick, I need suggestions of LGBTQ books specifically by LGBTQ authors, specifically in the Romance genre (the relationship is central to the plot and there’s a Happy Ever After).

I have TJ Alexander and Alexis Hall on my radar but I confess I don’t usually pay attention to authors, just books, so more suggestions appreciated (especially in the L and B zone)

Indie authors welcome, but must be widely available (no Amazon-only books).

More about QRC here:

https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #bookclub #LGBTQ

I liked the non-linear telling for the “my god, what on earth ...

2025-05-11T05:20:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…6eyc
_________________________

I liked the non-linear telling for the “my god, what on earth did you *do* to cause this, you foolish boy?” aspect 😊 but it would have been nice to see more of them just being together, yes

The unethical treatment by the local tech guys of my mum’s ...

2025-05-08T11:19:33Z

The unethical treatment by the local tech guys of my mum’s elderly neighbour is something to behold.

She’s had trouble with her email, iiNet, which sold off their email service and it stopped working for her (probably because she hadn’t paid the new company due to drowning in spam).

Took it to a computer shop, charged her $110 to tell her nothing’s wrong.

I got her set up with a replacement email.

All worked fine for a while, then something happened and her email stopped downloading and she had password problems.

A second computer shop charged her $90 to tell her they’d fixed it (except they looked at it for 2 minutes and didn’t give her a new password or anything).

I sorted it out as much as I could.

Password problems started up again the next day. I don’t know what’s happening, but before I can go back, she’s called in a third guy, supposed to be experienced with helping the elderly.

He sold her a new laptop.

What a fucking arsehole.

I just got the text to please come and help again, as the new laptop is having the same problems *quelle surprise*

#Elderly #TechHelp

good article, thanks for sharing 😊 nice to see some of my ...

2025-04-30T23:33:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…8u7e
_________________________

good article, thanks for sharing 😊 nice to see some of my favourites, Zen Cho, India Holton, and Alexis Hall getting recommended!

well, bearing in mind this is Australian dollars and Australian ...

2025-04-30T22:59:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…nqd8
_________________________

well, bearing in mind this is Australian dollars and Australian book prices my “spree” was really only three books, I just managed to actually pick some instead of being paralysed by indecision 😂

but I couldn’t even touch the non-fiction section, and the more academic of the non-fic books on my TBR list are well over AU$100 even in ebook form, so I feel your pain!

How to spend $100 of book vouchers in a record 15 minutes: Park ...

2025-04-30T05:32:00Z

How to spend $100 of book vouchers in a record 15 minutes:

Park in a 15-minute parking spot 😂

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

MAY selection for the Queer Romance Club — The Keeper of Lonely ...

2025-04-29T10:18:23Z

MAY selection for the Queer Romance Club — The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by EM Anderson

I can’t say this SOUNDS much like a cosy fantasy romance — I’m looking forward to it anyway but I think I should stop being quite so trusting of certain book lists 😂

***

Blurb:

This mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past in order to embrace his found family.

Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.

After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.

Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he’s ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead — until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter’s drawn into the townsfolk’s lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.

But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won’t.

As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter’s well-being against that of his new friends and the man he’s falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.

***

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) tags.

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it. CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.

(Feel free to tell us what else you’re reading in #queerRomance too)

More about the club here
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #RomanceReads #FantasyReads #books
lgbtqbookstodon group (npub145p…j2zc) #LGBTQRomance

😂 I played netball as a kid and I just do not remember this ...

2025-04-15T10:23:41Z

In reply to nevent1q…gw87
_________________________

😂 I played netball as a kid and I just do not remember this rule at all! Maybe it was quietly waived for my little school comp

An update on my Melbourne plans — no quilt convention, boo, but ...

2025-04-15T08:33:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…e29j
_________________________

An update on my Melbourne plans — no quilt convention, boo, but I do get a tour of the dome of the Royal exhibition building and some scones afterwards so things are looking up 😊

Meanwhile, in the netball championships, I’ve become acquainted with the concept of “addressing the line” when one of my son’s teammates accidentally didn’t do it.

He got a turnover, not because he stepped over the line on an inbound, but because he DID NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE LINE before passing in.

This has to be the most archaic rule I’ve come across (in the very few sports of my acquaintance). Respect the line. Acknowledge the line. Genuflect to the line. 😂

#netball

OH NO IT WAS LAST WEEK 😭

2025-04-14T23:02:29Z

In reply to nevent1q…c95d
_________________________

OH NO IT WAS LAST WEEK 😭

Visiting Melbourne while my kid plays netball championships, have ...

2025-04-14T23:01:28Z

Visiting Melbourne while my kid plays netball championships, have a few spare mornings thanks to fixtures

Me, noticing the Australasian Quilt Convention is on: ooh, that’s my Thursday morning sorted

My partner: laughs

Me: I’m not joking

#TextileCrafts #quilting

Loved the description of Tennal’s mind when Surit delves into ...

2025-04-01T19:25:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…egz5
_________________________

Loved the description of Tennal’s mind when Surit delves into it.

I did expect the sync to happen straight off and am glad it didn’t; this is currently instead a science fiction twist on fake-dating :) I’m looking forward to seeing how they go.

I like it when authors really lock in *why* two people are each other’s HEA, and this is a really neat moment for that:
“Behind that focus, Tennal didn’t sense caution, or bafflement, or anything Tennal usually engendered. Instead there was a single glimpse of clockwork arranging itself around Tennal’s quick-fire ideas, of a vast, immovable will bending itself to a purpose. Something that never let itself be stopped. Something that could meet Tennal and not be knocked off course.”

Prediction: the salvage op (and/or research mission, as they were told different things and it hasn’t been quite cleared up yet) is to do with Surit’s traitorous gen-parent.

2/2

Queer Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell Very ...

2025-04-01T19:23:53Z

Queer Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

Very mild spoilers to end of part 1, but I know some readers don’t want even very mild spoilers, so into the secret-sauce box it goes…

I’m thoroughly enjoying this so far. I did have a moment where I thought, mind control powers are acceptable but mind-reading is despised, that seems unlikely, but then I realised in a military-dominated society, that’s pretty much exactly how it would go. I’ll be interested to see Tennal (or someone) do a deep-read.

I like both characters. I like Tennal and his self-described “rich-kid bullshit” — he’s annoying as shit, and IRL I would avoid him like the plague, but in fiction, very distinct from contemporary settings, I can enjoy his stubborn malicious-compliance tactics. I’m assuming there’s more than what feels like ADHD-driven historical adolescent conflict with his aunt behind his behaviour and bad habits, possibly to do with the unaccounted-for gen-parent.

I fully appreciate that he’s following the rules as a little shit and Surit is following the rules as a good little soldier, to the same effect, and then the commander waltzes in and swats them both like bugs with a fine-boys-we’ll-follow-the-rules-then strategy.

1/2

#QueerRomanceClub QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy)
bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #books #LGBTQRomance #SFRomance

APRIL selection for the Queer* Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by ...

2025-03-26T02:54:35Z

APRIL selection for the Queer* Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell

As is fairly standard for QRC, the voting ended in a tie, so I’ve deployed my coordinator tie-breaker to go for Ocean’s Echo (the one I would have voted for, if I took part in the poll).

This should be widely available at libraries. Though it’s in the same world as Maxwell’s first book, Winter’s Orbit, it is a stand-alone. I’m looking forward to this one :)

***
Blurb:

“Change begins with the meeting of the minds”

When Tennal - a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster - is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.

Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit's ability to control minds.

Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn't all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.

***

QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and QueerRomanceClub group (npub15nv…g9dy) tags.

No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it. CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.

Or let us know what else you’re reading in the #queerRomance genre. One of the other titles on the voting list? An undiscovered gem? An old favourite?

More about the club here
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #RomanceReads #ScienceFiction #books #bookclubs lgbtqbookstodon group (npub145p…j2zc) #LGBTQRomance

*I realised I typoed in the voting to Queen Romance Club. Which would have had quite different selections ;)

I love her work 🥰 and gosh I love that cover!

2025-03-18T23:21:46Z

In reply to nevent1q…t2eg
_________________________

I love her work 🥰 and gosh I love that cover!

Oh, I just saw this ...

2025-03-18T01:16:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…4pq7
_________________________

Oh, I just saw this

https://connectified.com/@masukomi/114180723145768691

You’ve probably read anything recent I can suggest ...

2025-03-17T23:07:25Z

In reply to nevent1q…fyz3
_________________________

You’ve probably read anything recent I can suggest (Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander, I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner…)

Back when I had KU, there was a really nice fantasy novel by writing duo Sarah Honey and Lisa Henry, called (I think) Anhara, with a trans character, but just as a by-the-by rather than a feature, IYSWIM. You don’t find out till late-ish and it’s just a fact. That was years ago, but presumably it’s still on KU.

Spotted at a red light in #Perth #puns #gandalf #LOTR ...

2025-03-15T01:46:49Z

Spotted at a red light in #Perth

#puns #gandalf #LOTR

thanks for sharing that, I appreciate her flat statement (with ...

2025-03-15T00:32:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…v5ca
_________________________

thanks for sharing that, I appreciate her flat statement (with data!) that readers aren’t deserting indie writers by leaving Amazon. It’s been getting a bit *distracted boyfriend meme* on a few sites, the way some exclusive authors have been complaining about customers finding indies at other sources instead.

my friends made a point of taking me to Daunt’s when I visited ...

2025-03-10T12:01:19Z

In reply to nevent1q…53t8
_________________________

my friends made a point of taking me to Daunt’s when I visited them in London a decade ago

Last day of the #Smashwords #ebookweek25 sale! It ends 11.59pm ...

2025-03-08T10:41:02Z

Last day of the #Smashwords #ebookweek25 sale!

It ends 11.59pm Saturday 8 March Pacific Time (which is 3.59pm Sunday in Perth, Australia, and that’s the last timezone help I can give anyone 😂)

It’s a great chance to stock up on DRM-free ebooks — browse those two hashtags to check out the huge range of Mastodon indie authors with their books on sale.

https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/

#books bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #ebook #IndieAuthors #IndieBooks #DRMFree

I’ve only read the first couple of chapters, but I’m ...

2025-03-03T09:08:34Z

In reply to nevent1q…4t3d
_________________________

I’ve only read the first couple of chapters, but I’m impressed so far, she really made her own way

I’ve just started the biography, I didn’t know they were ...

2025-03-03T07:14:42Z

In reply to nevent1q…en6p
_________________________

I’ve just started the biography, I didn’t know they were releasing a collection of stories in tandem!

Bit of a historical non-fiction binge recently: James and John by ...

2025-03-01T01:04:26Z

Bit of a historical non-fiction binge recently:

James and John by Chris Bryant — a deep-dive on the last men executed in Britain for sodomy, an absolute travesty of justice.

Strangers by Graham Robb — older book, subtitled Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century and does what it says on the box — single-handedly prevented me from making the MC of my next book, set in 1842, petrified of getting caught and executed by providing the wider context of the narrow focus of James and John.

Embers of the Hands by Eleanor Barraclough — excellent, intimate look at the real lives of the Vikings as drawn from their most remarkable artefacts. Highly recommend!

Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera — an fair-handed overview of British imperialism, good historical account and context for some modern arguments (one inadvertent parallel that struck me: the ill-advised strike of a colonised people against British women and children, followed by the massive literal overkill of the British response, pretty universally condemned now with the distance of the intervening decades and centuries).

Just started Outrageous Fortunes (about Mary Fortune, early Australian crime writer), and I love her already

Looking forward to The Palace by Gareth Russell (a social history of Hampton Court Palace) and Vagabonds by Oskar Jensen (life on the streets of nineteenth century London)

#historicalNonFiction #books bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

thanks - I was fairly skeptical but you’ve persuaded me to give ...

2025-02-26T14:19:12Z

In reply to nevent1q…nz25
_________________________

thanks - I was fairly skeptical but you’ve persuaded me to give it a go this weekend

I enjoyed this one too 😊 and will read the next one. I also ...

2025-02-16T03:54:03Z

In reply to nevent1q…puvl
_________________________

I enjoyed this one too 😊 and will read the next one.
I also liked her previous witch-based trilogy.

❤️ It’s already Valentine’s Day here in Australia and ...

2025-02-14T00:15:51Z

❤️ It’s already Valentine’s Day here in Australia and it’s coming for you too ❤️

📚 If you’d like a romance read, all my books are on sale through the end of Feb 15 🎉

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/wendylpalmer

(If the sale’s not showing publicly yet, use code NUF6V)

Non-epic Romantic fantasy: it’s down the cosy end, but check for content warnings here:

https://wendypalmer.au/content-warnings/

#books #booksale #romanceReads #fantasyRomance
bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57)

#AmReading Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans Historical ...

2025-02-10T14:09:46Z

#AmReading Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans

Historical novel set just after World War II, following a young and recently demobbed baronet and his family as they cope with the changes wrought by the war. His dowager mother has Downton Abbey vibes.

So far, well-written, authentic, and funny in a wry English sort of way, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/small-bomb-at-dimperley

I was about three chapters in before I went looking to see what else Lissa Evans has written— and it turns out she also wrote Wed Wabbit, only one of my ever favourite books that I read to my kid.

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #books #historical #LissaEvans

I liked this one too, I’m looking forward to the third one

2025-02-06T09:38:08Z

In reply to nevent1q…x454
_________________________

I liked this one too, I’m looking forward to the third one

I guess that depends on which Wendy Palmer you think I am 😊 ...

2025-02-03T12:43:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…8ley
_________________________

I guess that depends on which Wendy Palmer you think I am 😊 I’m the Australian one who writes indie fantasy books…

Look, I made a flowchart to help readers decide if they’d like ...

2025-02-03T08:49:45Z

Look, I made a flowchart to help readers decide if they’d like to read my books ;)

(https://wendypalmer.au/books/ if this silly thing actually piques your interest)

bookstodon group (npub1ny7…uv57) #books #FunWithFlowcharts #ReaderDecisionTree #IndieAuthors

Look at this story about “fainting Sundays” recounted in ...

2025-02-03T04:32:21Z

Look at this story about “fainting Sundays” recounted in Law’s history of Hampton Court Palace, as told in the memoirs of the sub-chaplain at the time 😂

#history #regency #FaintingSundays #ShaggyDogStory

Sadly, true ...

2025-01-31T01:49:55Z

In reply to nevent1q…7zf5
_________________________

Sadly, true

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jan/30/us-authors-guild-to-certify-books-from-human-intellect-rather-than-ai-human-authored

OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE 😂 ...

2025-01-31T01:40:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…w4sv
_________________________

OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE 😂

I reckon you’ll love it then, but forewarned is forearmed 😂

2025-01-29T00:26:59Z

In reply to nevent1q…0lhq
_________________________

I reckon you’ll love it then, but forewarned is forearmed 😂

I tried to read the first one and bombed out early — I didn’t ...

2025-01-29T00:20:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…s984
_________________________

I tried to read the first one and bombed out early — I didn’t like the sheer volume of YA tropes: society explicitly murdering its teens [as opposed to our implicit efforts…]; parent inexplicably determined their child should die; MC selflessly-to-the-point-of-sainthood helping complete stranger at very real risk of her own life; handsome childhood male friend, broody violent male enemy-to-become-love interest-as-part-of-love-triangle; classroom scene to give background info and I’m out!

But I like neither YA or epic fantasy as a rule, so was probably the wrong audience 🤷‍♀️ obviously heaps of people love it.

that dovetails nicely with my personal theory that people cope ...

2025-01-27T01:46:22Z

In reply to nevent1q…4905
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that dovetails nicely with my personal theory that people cope with constant climate anxiety/fear by moving right.

Even the climate deniers know deep down something’s wrong so their sense of dissonance must be intense as they chase growth and blame everything and everyone else…