Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
LightNews LightNews
banner
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
@laurenwrites.bsky.social
3.5K followers 1.8K following 3K posts
📝Writer, editor, proofreader, coach & mentor
👻Writes the dark stuff
😈TWF EIC @ Horror Tree
📣Online content ed @ British Fantasy Society
🤘Founder, Society of Ink Slingers
🔮Curator, Writing the Occult
👩‍💻Day job: Content marketing & community management
🇦🇺in🇬🇧
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Lauren (LJ) McMenemy @laurenwrites.bsky.social · Mar 6
Songs that Spotify has chucked on that I'd forgotten were awesome tunes: a somewhat regular thread.
a man is holding a boombox above his head in front of a car .
Alt: a man is holding a boombox above his head in front of a car .
media.tenor.com
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
xkcd.com
Early Arthropods

xkcd.com/3199/
3-panel comic. (1) [Three small arthropods on ocean floor.] ARTHROPOD 1: Now that we’re multicellular, what are your plans? I’m gonna evolve little legs and swim around with them! ARTHROPOD 2: I’m gonna evolve sharp pincers and use them to crunch stuff! ARTHROPOD 3: I’m gonna evolve glands to make string from my butt and use it to construct elaborate geometric nets hundreds of times my size to catch other animals. (2) [Silence] (3) ARTHROPOD 1: *Dude.* ARTHROPOD 2: Can you *please* just be normal about this? ARTHROPOD 3: *What??!*
January 28, 2026 at 7:57 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
So, I know we're all in fight mode by necessity, but I'm putting on another Writing the Occult on Valentine's Day and it turns out lots of people have plans on that day for some reason?! So I have a couple of spots to fill if anyone wants to hide from the world and come talk about love & death...
January 28, 2026 at 4:22 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
britfantasysoc.bsky.social
For this month's ask an expert column, we asked the multi-talented @alasdairstuart.com to field your questions about tabletop gaming and working with existing intellectual properties. This one is a mega edition, so strap yourselves in...

britishfantasysociety.org/ask-an-exper...
A text-heavy graphic features the bio of Alasdair Stuart, who is also pictured in the centre in a small inset: he's a middle-aged white man with close-cropped hair, wearing a purple t-shirt and wire-rimmed glasses.
January 28, 2026 at 2:45 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
@rickandwrite.bsky.social has more OPINIONS.
britfantasysoc.bsky.social British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 2d
Why do apology scenes in SFF suck so much? @rickandwrite.bsky.social has a few ideas—and a few examples of the writers who actually did it well.

britishfantasysociety.org/sorry-not-so...
The background image shows a close-up of paper in a typewriter. The keys have typed out I'M SORRY.
January 27, 2026 at 3:06 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Yup
“Why don’t you have children?” asks the text. There are 6 images of evil kids from classic horror films.
January 26, 2026 at 4:39 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Hiding from the world by hitting the library and keeping my head in books about the Victorian occult.
January 26, 2026 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
trudieskies.readindiefantasy.com
Fuck ICE, fuck Reform, and fuck anyone who actually wants this.
ayoub.bsky.social elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 3d
The UK version of “Project 2025” by the Reform party includes a British ICE, a concentration camp for 24,000 people, mass surveillance and withdrawing from refugee, anti-torture and anti-trafficking conventions.

It’s on their website. That’s how comfortable fascists are in the UK today.
The Legislation Upon winning a general election, a Reform government under Prime Minister Nigel Farage will: 1) Leave the ECHR 2.) Repeal the Human Rights Act and replace it with a British Bill of Rights. 3.) Pass The Illegal Migration (Mass Deportation) Bill: This Bill will: Create a legal duty to remove illegal migrants for the Home Secretary The Bill opens with a blunt obligation for the Home Secretary: "The Secretary of State shall ensure the removal from the United Kingdom of each person who does not have extant leave to remain and is not an Irish citizen or otherwise protected by regulations made under this Act." The following parts of the legislation are introduced on an emergency basis, with an in-built sunset clause after 5 years: Disapply the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UN Convention Against Torture, the Council of Europe Anti-Trafficking Convention (ECAT) Derogation is justified under the Vienna Convention doctrine of state of necessity: Britain faces a national emergency in which uncontrolled illegal migration undermines public order. These treaties will otherwise be used by activist judges to frustrate deportations, even after the repeals of the HRA and ECHR. Create Detention Power Without Hardial Singh Constraints This means illegal migrants can be detained until they are deported. Activist lawyers routinely use Hardial Singh to secure their client's bail, after which the client absconds. If you came to the UK illegally, you are ineligible for asylum. End of story All asylum claims will become inadmissible if made by a person within the Act's scope. If you came to the country illegally, you are ineligible for asylum in the UK. This strips the Home Office, the immigration tribunals and the higher courts of jurisdiction to even consider claims. A claim that cannot be considered cannot suspend removal and therefore, cannot delay a flight. Re-entering after deportation and destroying ID becomes a serious criminal offence Re-entry after deportation will be… The Operational Plan We will create an enforcement unit called UK Deportation Command, including an Illegal Migrant Identification Centre - harnessing cutting edge data fusion A Reform government will create a cutting edge enforcement data centre to relentlessly identify and detain all illegal migrants in the UK. Using powers granted by the new legislation, it will automatically share data between the Home Office, NHS, HMRC, DVLA, banks and the police. It will power bulk warrants, including mandatory biometric capture during any police encounter. Each power addresses a failure mode observed over the past decade - for example, banks and GP surgeries unaware of a customer's status, or overstayers slipping through because a warrant covered only a single property. Secure Immigration Removal Centres (SIRC) will be built rapidly to detain up to 24,000 Detention capacity for up to 24,000 will be created within 18 months. The Home Office will build Secure Immigration Removal Centres. This will be modular accommodation built in remote parts of the country. Conditions are basic but not punitive: prefabricated two-person rooms, canteen catering, on-site medical suites. Robust perimeters and internal movement controls prevent escapes. This enables detention-on-arrest: no more bail. This capacity would allow for up to 24,000 illegal migrants to be deported per month. Initial Voluntary Return Window A six-month Assisted Voluntary Return window precedes large-scale raids. Illegal migrants will be offered a financial incentive to self-deport. An app will be launched to facilitate this. The Deportation Flights The Home Office will scale up charters to 5 flights per day. To guard against last-minute aircraft unserviceability, the RAF will keep one Voyager aircraft on six-hour 'hot-spare' readiness. If a commercial charter breaks down, detainees can still be flown out that night, preserving operational integrity. The legal reset will mean activist lawyers will no longer be able preven…
January 26, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
claymcleod.bsky.social
To borrow a phrase from guest Bethany C. Morrow, “As long as the horrors persist, Horror must persist.” Today, at 1:30 PM/ET, join Morrow (THE BODY) and Gemma Amor (ITCH!) on Fearmongers. Monday, 1/26 @ 1:30 PM/ET. Register here: bit.ly/4jwqbeV @manylittlewords.bsky.social @bethanycmorrow.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:14 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Where's @matthewspalmer.bsky.social spending most of his time these days? His new interview may give a clue...
britfantasysoc.bsky.social British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 3d
Cheshire-based @matthewspalmer.bsky.social was rather excited when a new fantasy-focused bookshop opened in a nearby village. Just before Christmas, he met with the owner, Abby Munro, and spoke about the journey to opening Paper+Word.

britishfantasysociety.org/how-to-make-...
A photo of the book shelves at Paper+Word, full of romantasy novels by the likes of Sarah J Maas. Superimposed over this is the text: Living the Dream - Opening a Fantasy-Focused Bookshop.
January 25, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
lindzmcleod.bsky.social
This book is now a British Science Fiction Association awards longlister! Get it while it's hot! (it's always hot)
lindzmcleod.bsky.social Lindz McLeod - THE UNLIKELY PURSUIT OF MARY BENNET is out now! @lindzmcleod.bsky.social · 7d
Want to read An Honour and a Privilege but can't justify the cost of a paperback right now?
Get the e-book instead for only $4—it's packed with amazing fiction as well as incredible craft tips and techniques to help you write deeper, more intricate prose in easier ways!
An Honour & A Privilege PDF | Stanchion
In collaboration with eleven writers, including The Handmaid's Tale screenwriter Lynn Renee Maxcy, Sunday Times bestseller Thomas D. Lee, and Nebula/WFA finalist Eugenia Triantafyllou, award-winning a...
www.stanchionzine.com
January 22, 2026 at 5:45 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Vampires, assemble!
paulkane.bsky.social Paul Kane @paulkane.bsky.social · 5d
Fancy a quick bite? Now’s your chance to let us have your best Vampire stories for a forthcoming anthology. Details at the below 🧛

blog.flametreepublishing.com/fantasy-goth...
January 23, 2026 at 11:28 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
BFS member profile time: here's Alexandra Peel.

Are you a @britfantasysoc.bsky.social society member and haven't yet done one of these? Let me know where I can harass you about doing one!
britfantasysoc.bsky.social British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · 6d
Every Friday, we meet a member of the BFS and peer deep into their soul (or, at least, a form they filled out). Let's head for the Wirral to meet @alexandrapeel.bsky.social - an educator and visual artist who traces her SFFH roots back to the Pied Piper.

britishfantasysociety.org/meet-alexand...
On a black background with flourishes of red dots and lines is the text: Meet the BFS members! Alexandra Peel. Alexandra is pictured in the centre in black and white: she is a woman with a short dark haircut and blunt fringe, and she stands in front of shelves while looking off to the side.
January 23, 2026 at 3:33 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
adamcsharp.bsky.social
Fun ways of saying “be quiet” that I’ve heard in five different countries:

1. Shut your Camembert box (France)
2. Shut your pie hole (US)
3. Hold your slipper (Austria)
4. Save your breath to cool your porridge (Scotland)
5. If you don’t shut up, I’ll climb into your mouth and shit myself (Hungary)
January 23, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
kitwhitfield.bsky.social
ANNOUNCEMENT!

My next novel, THE SNAKESTONE GIRLS, will be published by Quercus in early 2027. It's a Jacobean tale of witchcraft, described by my agent as 'Fossils, feminism and found family.'

'Kit's lyrical prose is as sweet as a black cherry, but darkness chases every bite.'

Ask me anything!
Text: The Snakestone Girls, publishing next year, is touted by the publisher as darkly 'lyrical', 'sweet' and 'beautifully realized.' Literary agent Sophie Hicks has negotiated the sale of Kit Whitfield's new 'feminist folk-horror' novel The Snakestone Girls to Anne Perry, Publisher at Arcadia Books (The Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror imprint for Quercus). It is due to be published in 2027. The Snakestone Girls follows the lives of misunderstood and powerful nine-year-old Lettie and her beloved brother Henry. He is sent to study in an English coastal town with Caroline, who conceals her magical abilities in order to prevent accusations of witchery, and instead 'supplements her income by selling fossils on the beach'. These 'three lonely people will finally be drawn together ... only to be torn apart' by prejudicial beliefs and the power of magic. Whitfield is the award-winning author of works including In Great Waters (which was shortlisted for the World Fantasy Award) and the recent Gyrford series (In The Heart of Hidden Things and All The Hollow of the Sky). She also teaches writing workshops online and works as a film critic. In relation to this deal, Whitfield said that the novel was 'a joy to research' and that 'in tough times we need stories that acknowledge how dark life can get but still give us reasons to hope' - a promise that The Snakestone Girls seems bound to fulfil. The publisher Anne Perry associates the novel with the works of 'Andrew Michael Hurley, T Kingfisher and Alice Hoffman', proclaiming that 'Kit's lyrical prose is as sweet as a black cherry, but darkness chases every bite.' Screencap from trade magazine Bookbrunch.
January 23, 2026 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
danielwillcocks.bsky.social
🎙️ OUT TODAY — New episode of The Writer’s Chair
Featuring @timlebbon.bsky.social

Imposter syndrome, community, and finding your place in horror — from someone 30 years into the industry who still feels it.

🎧 www.devilsrockbooks.com/podcast
January 23, 2026 at 11:22 AM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Congrats to everyone on the BSFA long list!
a man in a tuxedo is sitting in an auditorium
ALT: a man in a tuxedo is sitting in an auditorium
media.tenor.com
January 22, 2026 at 8:26 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Listening to @shonak.bsky.social interview Dean Koontz and he keeps talking about how he doesn't think of plots - that he's basically a pantser - and I am SO CLINGING TO THIS in future.

cc @vickybrewster.bsky.social
January 21, 2026 at 7:35 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
Tonight! Zoom! @shonak.bsky.social chats with the master of suspense himself, Dean Koontz! Free for BFS members - and just 2 quid for the rest of ya!

Grab your ticket here: britishfantasysociety.org/events-calen...
britfantasysoc.bsky.social British Fantasy Society @britfantasysoc.bsky.social · Dec 22
BFS Online is excited to announce a special guest interview. International bestselling author Dean Koontz chats to BFS Chair Shona Kinsella Wed 21st Jan 2026, 7pm (GMT).

Ticket: tinyurl.com/dkoontz

#BritishFantasySociety #AuthorInterview #WritingCommunity #DeanKoontz

@shonak.bsky.social
Shown is a graphic with a path through a foggy forest in the background; there is an empty bench barely seen through the mist. On the top right and left is the BFS logo, a white dragon design curling around the letters ‘BFS’. Left is a photo of Dean Koontz, who has dark hair and is wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue trousers. Dean is kneeling with his hands on his dog, a golden retriever called Elsa. Right is the cover for The Friend of the Family, Dean’s latest book. The cover has a blue background, four white feathers and one black feather.
January 21, 2026 at 11:31 AM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
All booked for the UK Ghost Story Festival next month! Who will I see there?
January 20, 2026 at 6:01 PM
laurenwrites.bsky.social
My feeds are full of sorrow for the loss of the great Rob Hirst, drummer from Midnight Oil. What a talent. What a loss. Blasting this today.

youtu.be/92WQWp15sAU?...
Oils on Water - 7. Kosciuszko - Midnight Oil
YouTube video by Skitizen
youtu.be
January 20, 2026 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
icysedgwick.bsky.social
My new book, Bring Me Love, is out today! It explores how love magic and love divination appear in mostly European folklore, including a few things you can try for yourself!

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/brin...
A pink hardback book with 'Bring Me Love' on the cover, surrounded by dice, playing cards, tarot cards, pink candles, and a red crochet heart.
January 20, 2026 at 11:42 AM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
strangehorizons.bsky.social
Fiction submissions are open now!

The window will be open until January 21st 2026 at 3 p.m. UTC.

For additional information about submitting including our Moksha link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/submit/ficti...
2026 Fiction Submissions Strange Horizons Open Now
January 19, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
alanbaxter.bsky.social
Cory Doctorow is great. From pluralistic.net/2026/01/13/n...
I'm sorry. As a technology writer, I'm supposed to be telling you that this bet will some day pay off, because one day we will have shoveled so many words into the word-guessing program that it wakes up and learns how to actually do the jobs it is failing spectacularly at today. This is a proposition akin to the idea that if we keep breeding horses to run faster and faster, one of them will give birth to a locomotive. Humans possess intelligence, and machines do not. The difference between a human and a word-guessing program isn't how many words the human knows. I'm sorry. I know that when we talk about "digital sovereignty," we're obliged to talk about how we can build more data-centres that we can fill up with money-losing chips from American silicon monopolists in the hopes of destroying as many jobs as possible while blowing through our clean energy goals and enshittifying as much of our potable water as possible. I don't have any advice for how to do that. I'm sorry!
January 18, 2026 at 11:03 PM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
nefariousbatpress.bsky.social
This is where you can buy our titles, direct from us ⬇️

Authors, small presses, indie bookstores - please, jump into the quoted thread and share your own direct store links, so people know where to look

This isn't about self-promo. We need to be looking out for each other right now
tcparker.bsky.social TC Parker/Dr Nat Edwards (she/her) @tcparker.bsky.social · 11d
Here's our ebook store:
payhip.com/NefariousBat...

And here's where you can get our signed paperbacks direct:
nefarious-bat-press.sumupstore.com/products

Writers/small presses/indie bookstores: feel free to drop your own store links in the comments and maybe we can all share/get a thread going!
Nefarious Bat Press
payhip.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Lauren (LJ) McMenemy
andiesmithbooks.bsky.social
📢 I am officially OPEN to queries! Full #MSWL in bio, but here’s a highlight of what I’m looking for in 2026:

✨ Picture books (NEW!)
✨ YA Thriller
✨ Science fiction (NEW!)
✨ MG & YA Contemporary

See you in my inbox soon! #amquerying #writingcommunity
January 16, 2026 at 6:47 PM