Matthew Kresal
@kresalwrites.bsky.social
Author, bookseller, and podcaster with many and varying interests. Doctor Who fan, writer of alternate history for Sea Lion Press & geeky analysis for Obverse Books including a book on the 1990s TV series Dark Skies.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
With #NASA 's #ArtemisII #mission to the #moon shortly coming up, #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) looks at #WhatIf the #Gemini spacecraft was used to reach the moon even earlier than #Apollo. #SpaceRace #ColdWar www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/countdo...
Countdown (1968): Gemini To The Moon
By Matthew KresalThe 1960s Space Race saw the United States and the Soviet Union engaged in an ever-evolving game of one-upmanship. One that saw them leaping from first satellite to the first man to t...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
January 19, 2026 at 9:49 AM
With #NASA 's #ArtemisII #mission to the #moon shortly coming up, #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) looks at #WhatIf the #Gemini spacecraft was used to reach the moon even earlier than #Apollo. #SpaceRace #ColdWar www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/countdo...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) discusses why he wrote "Our Man on the Hill" - #WhatIf arch-red-baiter #JoeMcCarthy had secretly been a #Communist agent himself? www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/why-i-w...
Why I Wrote... Our Man On The Hill
By Matthew Kresal.“Where do your ideas come from?”That’s almost an inevitable question one receives after a stranger finds out you’re a published author. One that is almost always in the wake of, “Wha...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
January 3, 2026 at 1:25 PM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) discusses why he wrote "Our Man on the Hill" - #WhatIf arch-red-baiter #JoeMcCarthy had secretly been a #Communist agent himself? www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/why-i-w...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
"we're here to inspect your daycare center"
January 1, 2026 at 3:35 PM
"we're here to inspect your daycare center"
I’m in the 97th percentile. Dang…
NEW: How many books did you read this year? If it was more than 2, congrats: you read more than the median American.
Read on for way more @today.yougov.com polling from me on America's book-reading habits in 2025. 1/
Read on for way more @today.yougov.com polling from me on America's book-reading habits in 2025. 1/
January 1, 2026 at 12:53 AM
I’m in the 97th percentile. Dang…
Finished up reading the collected Doctor Who: Ghost Stories run from Titan via on my final lunch break of the year. Which brought me to 52 books read overall for the year isn’t too shabby, especially given it looked unlikely in the spring and summer that I’d even hit my stated goal of 45.
December 31, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Finished up reading the collected Doctor Who: Ghost Stories run from Titan via on my final lunch break of the year. Which brought me to 52 books read overall for the year isn’t too shabby, especially given it looked unlikely in the spring and summer that I’d even hit my stated goal of 45.
“And incidentally...A Merry Christmas to all of you at home!”
(With bonus points to those Who know what that’s a reference to!)
(With bonus points to those Who know what that’s a reference to!)
December 26, 2025 at 3:59 AM
“And incidentally...A Merry Christmas to all of you at home!”
(With bonus points to those Who know what that’s a reference to!)
(With bonus points to those Who know what that’s a reference to!)
Out for my traditional Christmas Day walk this cloudy but warm afternoon, listening to the opening episodes from one of the Philip Hinchcliffe Presents audios that I picked up at Chicago TARDIS. One with an initially slightly festive but definitely spooky feel that seems appropriate for the season!
December 25, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Out for my traditional Christmas Day walk this cloudy but warm afternoon, listening to the opening episodes from one of the Philip Hinchcliffe Presents audios that I picked up at Chicago TARDIS. One with an initially slightly festive but definitely spooky feel that seems appropriate for the season!
“Sir! Emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab.”
There might not be a new special for Christmas or New Year’s this year, but that means I can go about enjoying my favorite of the Doctor Who Christmas specials, 2012’s The Snowmen, on an annual rewatch!
There might not be a new special for Christmas or New Year’s this year, but that means I can go about enjoying my favorite of the Doctor Who Christmas specials, 2012’s The Snowmen, on an annual rewatch!
December 25, 2025 at 11:17 PM
“Sir! Emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab.”
There might not be a new special for Christmas or New Year’s this year, but that means I can go about enjoying my favorite of the Doctor Who Christmas specials, 2012’s The Snowmen, on an annual rewatch!
There might not be a new special for Christmas or New Year’s this year, but that means I can go about enjoying my favorite of the Doctor Who Christmas specials, 2012’s The Snowmen, on an annual rewatch!
Because Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas here without our annual viewing of this knowing send-up of the Christmas movie genre. And who doesn’t love Grumpy Cat? (May she Rest In Peace) #WorstChristmasEver 🎄
December 25, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Because Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas here without our annual viewing of this knowing send-up of the Christmas movie genre. And who doesn’t love Grumpy Cat? (May she Rest In Peace) #WorstChristmasEver 🎄
Another of those rare Christmas Eve in recent years where I’ve had to work. On the plus side, allowed me to finish listening to Tom Baker’s spirited reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol I picked up this time last year.
December 24, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Another of those rare Christmas Eve in recent years where I’ve had to work. On the plus side, allowed me to finish listening to Tom Baker’s spirited reading of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol I picked up this time last year.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#AChristmasCarol by #CharlesDickens is one of the most iconic stories of all time and lightens the festive season each year by reminding us of the #Christmas message. As @kresalwrites.bsky.social observes, we are fortunate it was written at all... www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/a-chris...
A Christmas Carol That Almost Wasn't
By Matthew Kresal.Christmas time. Presents. Turkey or a piece of poultry on the table for dinner. Stories of redemption and a new found chance of happiness (romantic or otherwise) amid the snows of th...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
December 23, 2025 at 9:30 AM
#AChristmasCarol by #CharlesDickens is one of the most iconic stories of all time and lightens the festive season each year by reminding us of the #Christmas message. As @kresalwrites.bsky.social observes, we are fortunate it was written at all... www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/a-chris...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #BigFinish #DoctorWho #AudioDrama "He Jests at Scars", Gary Russell's #WhatIf perspective flip focusing on the #Valeyard. www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/doctor-...
Doctor Who Unbound: He Jests At Scars...
By Matthew KresalIn 1986, Doctor Who came back from an eighteen-month hiatus with an ambitious, season-long story arc. A season that saw Colin Baker's Sixth Doctor put on trial by his fellow Time Lord...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
December 11, 2025 at 10:17 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #BigFinish #DoctorWho #AudioDrama "He Jests at Scars", Gary Russell's #WhatIf perspective flip focusing on the #Valeyard. www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/doctor-...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
December 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
TIL about a memorial ceremony in Iceland in 2019 to mark the end of a glacier, changing the place name from Okjökull to Ok (jökull = glacier). Uncompromising wording on the bronze plaque:
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
"This is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it".
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) returns with another example of a cancelled #DoctorWho story, in this case from #ColinBaker 's never-produced second series, now a #BigFinish #audiodrama: "The Hollows of Time". www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Doctor Who: The Hollows of Time
By Matthew Kresal.On the 27th of February 1985, Doctor Who was officially and quite publicly put on hiatus. The two years that followed were among the most dramatic in the series history, with an enti...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 10:24 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) returns with another example of a cancelled #DoctorWho story, in this case from #ColinBaker 's never-produced second series, now a #BigFinish #audiodrama: "The Hollows of Time". www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
10.25 hours, three Big Finish audios, two soundtracks, and one Archive on Four later, I have arrived safe and sound! Happy to have made it and looking forward to the morning! #ChicagoTARDIS2025
November 28, 2025 at 3:09 AM
10.25 hours, three Big Finish audios, two soundtracks, and one Archive on Four later, I have arrived safe and sound! Happy to have made it and looking forward to the morning! #ChicagoTARDIS2025
Spent a few minutes in Metropolis on my way up to #ChicagoTARDIS2025. Thinking I might finally visit the museum here on my way back Tuesday. They’ve redecorated square a bit for the new movie, which is great to see as a Superman fan.
November 28, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Spent a few minutes in Metropolis on my way up to #ChicagoTARDIS2025. Thinking I might finally visit the museum here on my way back Tuesday. They’ve redecorated square a bit for the new movie, which is great to see as a Superman fan.
Vwoorp! Vwoorp!
Finally hitting the road after being a little delayed at all steps by cats wanting love and affection! Looking forward to another weekend seeing old friends & getting to meet some people from the show that’s played a huge role in my life for nearly 19 years now. #ChicagoTARDIS2025
Finally hitting the road after being a little delayed at all steps by cats wanting love and affection! Looking forward to another weekend seeing old friends & getting to meet some people from the show that’s played a huge role in my life for nearly 19 years now. #ChicagoTARDIS2025
November 27, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Vwoorp! Vwoorp!
Finally hitting the road after being a little delayed at all steps by cats wanting love and affection! Looking forward to another weekend seeing old friends & getting to meet some people from the show that’s played a huge role in my life for nearly 19 years now. #ChicagoTARDIS2025
Finally hitting the road after being a little delayed at all steps by cats wanting love and affection! Looking forward to another weekend seeing old friends & getting to meet some people from the show that’s played a huge role in my life for nearly 19 years now. #ChicagoTARDIS2025
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) discusses how #RussellTDavies almost arrived on the #DoctorWho scene 20 years earlier, with his #ColinBaker 6th Doctor script - now a #BigFinish drama - "Mind of the Hodiac". #BBC www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/doctor-...
Doctor Who: Mind of The Hodiac
By Matthew KresalThe mid-1980s is not remembered fondly by fans of the BBC's Doctor Who. The series began a downward trajectory after Peter Davison left the series, leaving his successor Colin Baker t...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) discusses how #RussellTDavies almost arrived on the #DoctorWho scene 20 years earlier, with his #ColinBaker 6th Doctor script - now a #BigFinish drama - "Mind of the Hodiac". #BBC www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/doctor-...
Happy Doctor Who Day!
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
November 24, 2025 at 5:20 AM
Happy Doctor Who Day!
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
For this anniversary, I spent some time this evening revisiting City of Death. a utter delight to watch, full of wit and humor but not enough to overwhelm a tale that's actually got some serious stakes to it.
Here's to you, Doctor!
(Artist Unknown)
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
From the archives: #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #anthology "Alternate #Presidents" edited by Mike Resnick. #AlternateHistory #Counterfactual #WhatIf #BookReview #USPolitics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Alternate Presidents
By Matthew KresalEvery four years, American voters get the chance to elect a new President. The choices voters, and sometimes the House of Representatives, made on those occasions have been a rich vei...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:30 AM
From the archives: #SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #anthology "Alternate #Presidents" edited by Mike Resnick. #AlternateHistory #Counterfactual #WhatIf #BookReview #USPolitics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #DCComics work #Flashpoint - no, not #TheFlash comic storyline nor its TV adaptation, but the original #Elseworlds from 1999. #AlternateHistory #Comics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Flashpoint
By Matthew Kresal.Mention the title Flashpoint to a fan of DC Comics and you’ll get a flicker of recognition. It was the title, after all, of a 2011 crossover event that reshaped the DC universe prior...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
November 14, 2025 at 10:18 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews the #DCComics work #Flashpoint - no, not #TheFlash comic storyline nor its TV adaptation, but the original #Elseworlds from 1999. #AlternateHistory #Comics www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
This November 10th marks also the centenary of the birth of my favorite actor: Richard Burton. To paraphrase Michael Sheen on a BBC radio documentary over a decade ago, he could make the good great, and the great magnificent.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
November 11, 2025 at 5:18 AM
This November 10th marks also the centenary of the birth of my favorite actor: Richard Burton. To paraphrase Michael Sheen on a BBC radio documentary over a decade ago, he could make the good great, and the great magnificent.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
A lasting legacy, to be sure.
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
50 years ago, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 'rock star' ship, sank in Lake Superior
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
n.pr
November 10, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Twenty-nine sailors drowned when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in the Great Lakes' icy waters on Nov. 10, 1975. The ship was immortalized in a surprise hit 1976 folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot.
The Mouse is out! Looks like we’ll be waiting until next Christmas but, hey, one of my panel suggestions for Chicago TARDIS this year might be a moot point now!
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
October 28, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The Mouse is out! Looks like we’ll be waiting until next Christmas but, hey, one of my panel suggestions for Chicago TARDIS this year might be a moot point now!
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
www.doctorwho.tv/news-and-fea...
Reposted by Matthew Kresal
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews #DoctorWho: #Leviathan, a 'lost story' from the #ColinBaker era by #BrianFinch, now a #BigFinish #AudioDrama. #BBC #ScienceFiction #LostStories www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...
Review: Doctor Who: Leviathan
By Matthew Kresal.The Colin Baker era of Doctor Who, filled as it was with various trials and tribulations, left behind a plethora of unmade serials. Some were scripted for the originally planned seas...
www.sealionpress.co.uk
October 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM
#SidewiseAward winning #author Matthew Kresal ( @kresalwrites.bsky.social ) reviews #DoctorWho: #Leviathan, a 'lost story' from the #ColinBaker era by #BrianFinch, now a #BigFinish #AudioDrama. #BBC #ScienceFiction #LostStories www.sealionpress.co.uk/post/review-...