Peter Darbyshire
@peterdarbyshire.bsky.social
I write books and stories. Sometimes I even publish them. peterdarbyshire.com
Very sad to the end of On Spec. I hope everyone involved knows what a difference they made over the years.
November 11, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Very sad to the end of On Spec. I hope everyone involved knows what a difference they made over the years.
I don’t know where Pluribus is going but I’m strapping in after those first two episodes!
November 9, 2025 at 5:27 AM
I don’t know where Pluribus is going but I’m strapping in after those first two episodes!
What happens when Azrael the Angel Gunslinger visits the Trading Post at the End of the World to repay a debt to its angel proprietor but finds a strange band of bounty hunters there? Mayhem. My latest Azrael tale is out in @bcsmagazine.bsky.social! www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-...
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - The Angel Azrael Visits the Trading Post at the End of the World a Final Time by Peter Darbyshire
Azrael went back to the dead horse and considered the trading post for a moment. Whatever was going on here, he had no choice but to walk into it. Nakir had to be still inside, after all. She never le...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:03 PM
What happens when Azrael the Angel Gunslinger visits the Trading Post at the End of the World to repay a debt to its angel proprietor but finds a strange band of bounty hunters there? Mayhem. My latest Azrael tale is out in @bcsmagazine.bsky.social! www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/the-...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
New Issue: BCS #444 out today, featuring scary stories by @peterdarbyshire.bsky.social (new Angel Azrael) and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe @oluwasigma.bsky.social (sequel to his @theignyteawards.bsky.social winning BCS story), cover art @brucedraws.bsky.social: www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/issues/issue...
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - Issue #444 by Scott Andrews
Scary stories for the Halloween season by Peter Darbyshire--a new tale in his series of the gunslinging fallen angel Azrael--and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe--a sequel to his Ignyte Award-winning story “A Witc...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 30, 2025 at 4:02 PM
New Issue: BCS #444 out today, featuring scary stories by @peterdarbyshire.bsky.social (new Angel Azrael) and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe @oluwasigma.bsky.social (sequel to his @theignyteawards.bsky.social winning BCS story), cover art @brucedraws.bsky.social: www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/issues/issue...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
My article for Grimdark is open to the public now! I talk about luck and playing chicken with solar winds(I’m looking at you Appollo 16-17). www.grimdarkmagazine.com/space-were-p...
Space: We’re Probably All Going to Die
Our greatest tools (arguably our imaginations over our opposable thumbs) can’t work on coming up with solutions if we’re not looking at the problem from all angles.
www.grimdarkmagazine.com
October 29, 2025 at 12:13 AM
My article for Grimdark is open to the public now! I talk about luck and playing chicken with solar winds(I’m looking at you Appollo 16-17). www.grimdarkmagazine.com/space-were-p...
The amazing crew at @49thshelf.bsky.social are hosting a giveaway of The Wonder Lands War, my latest Cross supernatural thriller. 🎁
Visit 49thshelf.com/Giveaways for a chance to win a copy of The Wonder Lands War.
The giveaway period ends Nov. 1, so enter now!
🔗: 49thshelf.com/Giveaways
Visit 49thshelf.com/Giveaways for a chance to win a copy of The Wonder Lands War.
The giveaway period ends Nov. 1, so enter now!
🔗: 49thshelf.com/Giveaways
October 28, 2025 at 1:31 AM
The amazing crew at @49thshelf.bsky.social are hosting a giveaway of The Wonder Lands War, my latest Cross supernatural thriller. 🎁
Visit 49thshelf.com/Giveaways for a chance to win a copy of The Wonder Lands War.
The giveaway period ends Nov. 1, so enter now!
🔗: 49thshelf.com/Giveaways
Visit 49thshelf.com/Giveaways for a chance to win a copy of The Wonder Lands War.
The giveaway period ends Nov. 1, so enter now!
🔗: 49thshelf.com/Giveaways
If your ideal fantasy tale is a magically written, literary labyrinth infused with Calvino, Borges, Lovecraft, necromancy, demons and supernatural libraries, then check out “A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library” by @librariangoblin.bsky.social! www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/a-ra...
Beneath Ceaseless Skies - A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library by Chris Willrich
“Oh, no, not at all. I have not retired, and neither have my informants. My informants are dead. I am a necromancer, grandchild. The pool of possible spies is far larger among the dead than the living...
www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:13 PM
If your ideal fantasy tale is a magically written, literary labyrinth infused with Calvino, Borges, Lovecraft, necromancy, demons and supernatural libraries, then check out “A Random Walk Through the Goblin Library” by @librariangoblin.bsky.social! www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/a-ra...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
BCS #444 ebook out early @weightlessbooks.bsky.social & Kindle Store & subscribers, featuring scary stories by @peterdarbyshire.bsky.social (new Angel Azrael) & @oluwasigma.bsky.social (sequel to @theignyteawards.bsky.social Winner): weightlessbooks.com/fiction/bene... www.amazon.com/Beneath-Ceas...
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #444
Issue #444 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Peter Darbyshire and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe and cover art by Bruce Brenneise.
weightlessbooks.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:32 PM
BCS #444 ebook out early @weightlessbooks.bsky.social & Kindle Store & subscribers, featuring scary stories by @peterdarbyshire.bsky.social (new Angel Azrael) & @oluwasigma.bsky.social (sequel to @theignyteawards.bsky.social Winner): weightlessbooks.com/fiction/bene... www.amazon.com/Beneath-Ceas...
I’ve written a new Azrael the Angel Gunslinger tale! #weirdwest
New issue of @bcsmagazine.bsky.social is here! Featuring stories by Peter Darbyshire @peterdarbyshire.bsky.social and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe @oluwasigma.bsky.social and cover art by Bruce Brenneise:
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
weightlessbooks.com/beneath-ceas...
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #444
Issue #444 of Beneath Ceaseless Skies online magazine, featuring stories by Peter Darbyshire and Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe and cover art by Bruce Brenneise.
weightlessbooks.com
October 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
I’ve written a new Azrael the Angel Gunslinger tale! #weirdwest
Oh no! This is heartbreaking! @onspecmag.bsky.social has been so so so important not only for speculative writers but particularly for Canadian speculative writers. My first sale ever was to On Spec and it gave me the confidence to keep writing and developing. We'll all miss the magazine!
With our new issue, we are making the sad announcement that this will be the final year for On Spec. See www.onspec.ca for details.
October 9, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Oh no! This is heartbreaking! @onspecmag.bsky.social has been so so so important not only for speculative writers but particularly for Canadian speculative writers. My first sale ever was to On Spec and it gave me the confidence to keep writing and developing. We'll all miss the magazine!
🧛♀️🪐 Looking for some supernatural sci-fi for Halloween? I recommend Monsters and Mainframes by @barbaratruelove.bsky.social. This one has it all -- quirky sentient ships, vampires, werewolves, aliens, evil bureaucracies, genre mashups and more. It's monstrously good! #Halloweenread
October 6, 2025 at 9:09 PM
🧛♀️🪐 Looking for some supernatural sci-fi for Halloween? I recommend Monsters and Mainframes by @barbaratruelove.bsky.social. This one has it all -- quirky sentient ships, vampires, werewolves, aliens, evil bureaucracies, genre mashups and more. It's monstrously good! #Halloweenread
Declining news coverage for books, obsessions with sales numbers, increasingly conservative book publishers -- it's a tough time for the midlist writer and anyone else who isn't a bestseller.
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
The Publishing Industry Has a Gambling Problem | The Walrus
Companies keep betting on the next bestseller. Literature is poorer for it
thewalrus.ca
September 27, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Declining news coverage for books, obsessions with sales numbers, increasingly conservative book publishers -- it's a tough time for the midlist writer and anyone else who isn't a bestseller.
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
thewalrus.ca/the-publishi...
Finding it more difficult to focus on writing, given the state of the world? You’re not alone. I’ve been leaning heavily on a few habits to deny distraction.
🚪Lock the door to your writing space if you have one.
🚫Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
🗓Block time so people can’t pull you away.
🚪Lock the door to your writing space if you have one.
🚫Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
🗓Block time so people can’t pull you away.
September 26, 2025 at 4:38 PM
Finding it more difficult to focus on writing, given the state of the world? You’re not alone. I’ve been leaning heavily on a few habits to deny distraction.
🚪Lock the door to your writing space if you have one.
🚫Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
🗓Block time so people can’t pull you away.
🚪Lock the door to your writing space if you have one.
🚫Put up a “Do Not Disturb” sign.
🗓Block time so people can’t pull you away.
The rapture seems like a good time to remind people of Has the World Ended Yet, my collection of apocalyptic tales from @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social. Angels descend upon a superhero retirement community. Deity salesmen wreck a suburban neighbourhood. And more! peterdarbyshire.com/has-the-worl...
September 23, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The rapture seems like a good time to remind people of Has the World Ended Yet, my collection of apocalyptic tales from @wolsakandwynn.bsky.social. Angels descend upon a superhero retirement community. Deity salesmen wreck a suburban neighbourhood. And more! peterdarbyshire.com/has-the-worl...
Creators bring light to darkness. We need to support them now more than ever.
📚 Read widely. Seek out authors from small presses or outside the mainstream who don’t always get marketing or hype.
💌 Share your appreciation. A kind DM or post can be the push someone needs to finish their next book.
📚 Read widely. Seek out authors from small presses or outside the mainstream who don’t always get marketing or hype.
💌 Share your appreciation. A kind DM or post can be the push someone needs to finish their next book.
September 13, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Creators bring light to darkness. We need to support them now more than ever.
📚 Read widely. Seek out authors from small presses or outside the mainstream who don’t always get marketing or hype.
💌 Share your appreciation. A kind DM or post can be the push someone needs to finish their next book.
📚 Read widely. Seek out authors from small presses or outside the mainstream who don’t always get marketing or hype.
💌 Share your appreciation. A kind DM or post can be the push someone needs to finish their next book.
Wow! Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to authors in landmark AI settlement. Maybe it would have been cheaper to license those works in the first place. www.theverge.com/anthropic/77...
Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to authors in landmark AI settlement
Lawyers said it’s believed to be the largest-ever settlement in a US copyright case, paying about $3,000 per book.
www.theverge.com
September 5, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Wow! Anthropic to pay $1.5 billion to authors in landmark AI settlement. Maybe it would have been cheaper to license those works in the first place. www.theverge.com/anthropic/77...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
September 2, 2025 at 6:06 PM
"Writing is like life. Sometimes it’s better to push into the unknown than try to pursue some elusive perfection with what you have."
I talk about the writing life at On Creative Writing. www.oncreativewriting.com/post/peter-d...
I talk about the writing life at On Creative Writing. www.oncreativewriting.com/post/peter-d...
Peter Darbyshire on plotting, passion, and a writer's voice
In this question and answer interview with author Peter Darbyshire, he explores his creative process. He discusses his shift from a "pantser" to a "plotter," embracing a more structured approach to wr...
www.oncreativewriting.com
August 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
"Writing is like life. Sometimes it’s better to push into the unknown than try to pursue some elusive perfection with what you have."
I talk about the writing life at On Creative Writing. www.oncreativewriting.com/post/peter-d...
I talk about the writing life at On Creative Writing. www.oncreativewriting.com/post/peter-d...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
The first review of NMLCT is here, just days from its official release. Thanks to Rob McLennan.
"Vermeersch builds his bricks of lyric narrative in lengthy and even gymnastic lines, more oriented in propulsive, almost staccato, sound than in his prior work"
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/08/paul...
"Vermeersch builds his bricks of lyric narrative in lengthy and even gymnastic lines, more oriented in propulsive, almost staccato, sound than in his prior work"
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/08/paul...
August 27, 2025 at 2:04 PM
The first review of NMLCT is here, just days from its official release. Thanks to Rob McLennan.
"Vermeersch builds his bricks of lyric narrative in lengthy and even gymnastic lines, more oriented in propulsive, almost staccato, sound than in his prior work"
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/08/paul...
"Vermeersch builds his bricks of lyric narrative in lengthy and even gymnastic lines, more oriented in propulsive, almost staccato, sound than in his prior work"
robmclennan.blogspot.com/2025/08/paul...
I imagine more Canadian publishers will be following suit shortly.
August 26, 2025 at 3:42 PM
I imagine more Canadian publishers will be following suit shortly.
What's the state of Canadian lit mags? Most editors feel their magazines are not sustainable. Remember, if you like a magazine/creator, subscribe to keep them going! litmags.ca/survey/ #CanLit
State of Lit Mags 2024 – Literary Magazines Canada Collective
litmags.ca
August 4, 2025 at 2:39 PM
What's the state of Canadian lit mags? Most editors feel their magazines are not sustainable. Remember, if you like a magazine/creator, subscribe to keep them going! litmags.ca/survey/ #CanLit
"My great-grandmother told me a story about how her uncle went missing and he was taken away by witches. That was one of the originating stories." @silviamg.bsky.social on her new novel, The Bewitching. www.goodreads.com/interviews/s...
Silvia Moreno-Garcia's New Gothic Novel Is Bewitched, Bothered, and Emboldened
Three women are bewitched across time and space in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest Gothic ghost story, The Bewitching.
Minerva is a foreign exchange student on...
www.goodreads.com
July 29, 2025 at 2:38 PM
"My great-grandmother told me a story about how her uncle went missing and he was taken away by witches. That was one of the originating stories." @silviamg.bsky.social on her new novel, The Bewitching. www.goodreads.com/interviews/s...
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
BCS opened for submissions 17 years ago this month, July 2008, and has been open continuously since. Writing all submission replies with personalized comments.
And we're still going! Send us your great character-driven secondary-world setting stories.
And we're still going! Send us your great character-driven secondary-world setting stories.
Today's listing of the day is: Beneath Ceaseless Skies @bcsmagazine.bsky.social #WritingCommunity
Listing of the Day
Today's listing of the day is: Beneath Ceaseless Skies @bcsmagazine.bsky.social #WritingCommunity
duotrope.com
July 29, 2025 at 1:28 PM
BCS opened for submissions 17 years ago this month, July 2008, and has been open continuously since. Writing all submission replies with personalized comments.
And we're still going! Send us your great character-driven secondary-world setting stories.
And we're still going! Send us your great character-driven secondary-world setting stories.
Reposted by Peter Darbyshire
Alec-Nevala Lee interviewed me for NYT! The story mentions Lovecraft (my thesis was on women, eugenics & HPL), how weird it was when they optioned Mexican Gothic, & that I don't watch superhero flicks (sorry! I gorge on Sinners & Nosferatu, not Marvel. mmm... Horror)
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/b...
A Best-Selling Horror Writer’s Biggest Fear? Being Recognized.
www.nytimes.com
July 11, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Alec-Nevala Lee interviewed me for NYT! The story mentions Lovecraft (my thesis was on women, eugenics & HPL), how weird it was when they optioned Mexican Gothic, & that I don't watch superhero flicks (sorry! I gorge on Sinners & Nosferatu, not Marvel. mmm... Horror)
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/b...
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/b...
One of my earliest memories is a teacher trying to show us Watership Down. Maybe Grade 1 or so. We all freaked out so hard she had to turn it off. I've never trusted teachers since.
What movie did you see at way too young of an age?
Got to love those Easter cartoons for kids tjey scheduled of a weekend... has to be Watership Down.
Got to love those Easter cartoons for kids tjey scheduled of a weekend... has to be Watership Down.
July 6, 2025 at 8:48 PM
One of my earliest memories is a teacher trying to show us Watership Down. Maybe Grade 1 or so. We all freaked out so hard she had to turn it off. I've never trusted teachers since.