KJ Charles
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kjcharleswriter.com
KJ Charles
@kjcharleswriter.com
She/her. British European. Purveyor of opinions, rude words, and romance novels, historical and fantasy. "Erotically charged"--Good Housekeeping. I ignore unsolicited advice. http://kjcharleswriter.com
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Apparently I am lousy at Discord links. This one is a link to KJC Chat and will definitely not expire, honest! discord.gg/fmPTWSZfT6
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Honestly I really want to meet someone like this in person. I'll be fascinated to learn if they can actually defend their position, or if they have to pull out their phone and get autocorrect to generate their opinions.
Heaven help me if I ever meet someone in person who claims to be an AI author. I have a glass face. I cannot pretend. I will do my trademark cackle and then just snicker uncontrollably for a while. Do you let the plagiarism robot kiss your lover? Look at sunsets for you? Why are you even alive?
February 9, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
Good morning. The President of the United States was in the middle of the most serious child sex trafficking ring of the last quarter century.

He is referenced not a dozen times in the case files. Not 100 times. Not 1,000 times. He’s referenced 38,000 times.
February 8, 2026 at 7:50 PM
This is a very good analysis of a very tiresome phenomenon.

Also...Goodge Street. [waits expectantly]
Mornington Crescent: a rant.

Or: how a goofy word game about train stations is the key to how devout causes can ruin people's ability to have a conversation.

Stand clear of the closing doors, let's begin.

1/18
February 9, 2026 at 9:04 AM
I read An African History of Africa: From the Dawn of Humanity to Independence by Zeinab Badawi

www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
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www.goodreads.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:02 AM
The Microsoft guff on the launch screen this morning suggested I "use Copilot to whip up hilarious photos like showing your pet as a human!"

JFC. It's a bazillion-pound company and the best comms they can do is 'elderly relatives on Facebook'.
February 9, 2026 at 7:41 AM
That is what counts as an Endorsement. /glows/
You know who's a great romance writer (well, maybe you *do* know, but just in case)?:

@kjcharleswriter.com
February 8, 2026 at 6:01 PM
OH SHIT MY EXTREMELY BAD. I confused existing author Cora Hart with AI slop merchant Coral Hart. My sincere apologies.
February 8, 2026 at 5:45 PM
I am also going to win, because I'm never going to wake up in the morning, stare into the empty eyes of the thing in the mirror, and realise I traded my soul and my children's world to make a small profit off slop.
I'm going to win.
February 8, 2026 at 4:21 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
fuck this lady, fuck the nyt reporter, fuck all of this. fuck amazon for introducing the KU page read model that makes this possible, fuck our tech overlords.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/b...
The New Fabio Is Claude
www.nytimes.com
February 8, 2026 at 1:35 PM
Me, quoting Larkin: Sexual intercourse began in 1963...between the end of the Chatterley ban and the Beatles first LP.

Son, 17: What's an LP?

Me: [dissolves in a shower of dust, blows away]
February 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
/switches on #ENGvWAL

/ooooooof
February 7, 2026 at 5:04 PM
I just replaced the rear windscreen wiper on the car, a thing that sounds really cool if you've never actually done it. It's push click. Seven quid, they charge for that at Halfords! Seven quid!
February 7, 2026 at 9:29 AM
Reposted by KJ Charles
New on FT website:

Downing Street has refused to say whether Sir Keir Starmer knew Palantir was a client of Peter Mandelson’s lobbying firm when they both visited the company in Washington last February — ahead of it winning a £240mn UK government contract.

www.ft.com/content/5bba...
Starmer faces questions over visit to Palantir office alongside Mandelson
Former ambassador was also shareholder in lobbying group that counted US tech firm as a client
www.ft.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by KJ Charles
Among my Mama's things we have found a silver match case, I think my grandfather's.

I've been carrying it in my pocket for six months.

It has a striking strip on the bottom and is too short to take modern safety matches. I am planning a whole character based around it.
February 6, 2026 at 8:48 PM
Oh hell's teeth. This is bad news.
What a dire timeline right now - even in romance. I'm going to write words about Harlequin killing the Historical line (a threat for the last decade) and now it's been announced that All About Romance, a 30-year old website is shutting down allaboutromance.com/its-been-a-g... #Romancelandia
It's been a great thirty years....
This is a hard column to write. So I’ll just say it: AAR is retiring. All About Romance launched in 1996. It was created by the incredible Laurie Gold, and shaped over the past thirty years by a remar...
allaboutromance.com
February 6, 2026 at 6:56 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
this is who we think it is yeah?

*UK POLICE SAY CARRYING OUT SEARCHES IN WILTSHIRE, CAMDEN
*UK POLICE CARRYING OUT SEARCH WARRANTS OVER 72-YEAR-OLD MAN
*UK POLICE SEARCH RELATED TO PROBE INTO PUBLIC OFFICE MISCONDUCT
*UK POLICE SAY NO ARREST, ENQUIRIES ONGOING
February 6, 2026 at 3:46 PM
I have spent years explaining that the characters in my historical novels almost never smoke because I can't be bothered to manage the stage business of cigarettes.

I am now in 2nd draft of a MS with a smoking character and I'm pleased to say I was right all along: it is a *huge* pain in the arse.
February 6, 2026 at 12:58 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
Pressure building on govt to come clean about Mandelson's role in bringing US spy-tech firm Palantir into the heart of our NHS.

The fingerprints of Mandelson and his lobbying firm are all over these deals.

The rot goes to the heart of this Labour govt

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
Calls to halt UK Palantir contracts grow amid ‘lack of transparency’ over deals
Opposition MPs urge Labour to pause public contracts with the US tech firm after attempts to examine deals blocked
www.theguardian.com
February 6, 2026 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by KJ Charles
This is only related in a sideways manner, but: the story of any small slice of humanity is the story of humanity, just boiled down and distilled. So:

In 2020, we had a lot of conversations about harassment at SF/F conventions, and Isaac Asimov came up several times.
the Epstein files are really devastating because they remind me of how many girls and women miss out on professional opportunities, mentorship and careers because of how many powerful, rich and influential men only view girls and women — and interactions with them — through the lens of sex
February 5, 2026 at 8:58 PM
Excellent piece going through Epstein's photo wall.

If being rich makes you this stupid, this amoral, this selfish and numb and subhuman and unable to be satiated by normal pleasures, it would be a kindness to bring back the guillotine.
Inside Jeffrey Epstein’s social Ponzi scheme
[FREE TO READ] New emails reveal the convicted sex offender’s ability to fulfil the wants and needs of some of the world’s richest and most powerful people
www.ft.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:49 AM
Oh this is an amazing deal on a wonderful series
February 5, 2026 at 6:46 PM
I am here going to suggest you get Dil or No Dil, the short story collection, because it contains the best romance short I have ever read (Jesse's Girl, a stone cold classic riff on Jolene) and IMO Suleikha is the best short-form romance writer working today.

goodreads.com/book/show/41...
February 5, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
In a time of book bannings, AI, and decreased library funding, the best thing you can do to support books is be very, very loud about them. @mollytempleton.com on how we can help the authors we love:
It's Time to Get Loud About the Books You Love - Reactor
Some ideas to help keep literature and the book community alive.
reactormag.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:26 PM
Happy birthday Suleikha, now everyone else get yourself a present! Tikka Chance on Me is a delight. Actually, all her work is.
February 5, 2026 at 4:11 PM
Reposted by KJ Charles
so for everyone who’s got an “I bought this before Elon was bad” bumper sticker, did you buy your Tesla in 2012
“What day/night will be the wildest party on your island?” Mr. Musk asked in a email to Mr. Epstein on Nov. 25, 2012. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...
Musk and Epstein Exchanged Emails About Visiting One Another, Documents Show
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:05 PM