Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

@gsfwc.bsky.social

We approve this message re: Friday's event with our Cameron Johnston. Please keep your favourite authors supplied with big coats and join us in #Glasgow.

@cameronjohnston.bsky.social @waterstonesargyle.bsky.social

James Alistair Henry @jamesbluecat.bsky.social · 4d

I was umming and ahhing about buying a Big Coat I liked the look of, then I remembered I'm in Glasgow on the 13th doing a Pagans event. BIG COAT = PURCHASED

Glasgow SF Writers' Circle @gsfwc.bsky.social · 6d

#Glasgow Join our Cameron Johnson for an evening with James Alistair Henry - creator of Green Wing, Smack the Pony, and now new novel Pagans! Get your tickets for 13th Feb at Waterstones Argyle ST below:

@cameronjohnston.bsky.social @jamesbluecat.bsky.social @waterstonesargyle.bsky.social

February 10, 2026 at 6:42 PM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

I’m at the point of starting to think about who to approach to endorse my next book, and my word but it’s agonising. I hate this part of the process so much.

I don’t want to keep asking the same people and become a burden on them. I’m really anxious about asking people I have less connection with

February 10, 2026 at 10:14 AM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

EC Hallewell

@echallewell.bsky.social

I was shy about sharing this, but I do think it's a rather nice story

It is, in fact, my first ever short story publication!

I've been rather touched (and occasionally embarrassed) by the positive reactions from people who don't even *have* to say nice things about my writing

Heather Rose Jones @heatherrosejones.bsky.social · 10d

Busy day at the Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast! We have a double fiction episode, finishing the stories bought last year, and it's the last day to submit stories for this year!

Down By the Tumbling Stream by E C Hallewell

Where You Go by Jennifer Nestojko

alpennia.com/blog/lesbian...

Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 334 – Fiction Double-Header: Down By the Tumbling Stream by E C Hallewell & Where You Go by Jennifer Nestojko | Alpennia

Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast - Episode 334 - Lesbian Historic Motif Podcast Episode 334 – Fiction Double-Header: Down By the Tumbling Stream by E C Hallewell & Where You Go by Jennifer Nestojko - tr...

alpennia.com

February 9, 2026 at 5:44 PM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

9yo this morning:
Mum, mum, look! The snowdrops are out, spring is coming! Or, is it here?
Me: we’re in the part of the year where winter is passing into spring. So we still might get wintry weather for a while, but the earth is waking up and spring is on its way.
9: So it’s Springter?

February 9, 2026 at 12:29 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

David Barnett

@davidmbarnett.bsky.social

As a kid I used to devour @starburst.bsky.social magazine. So I’m absolutely chuffed that they’ve given SCRATCH MOSS such an in-depth and fabulous review.

www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/scra...

SCRATCH MOSS - STARBURST Magazine

Scratch Moss, David Barnett's new folk horror novel, is a spooky, sprawling history of a Yorkshire village through the ages.

www.starburstmagazine.com

February 4, 2026 at 8:18 AM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Reactor Magazine

@reactorsff.bsky.social

"Stewart Hotston’s Project Hanuman is an epic story of life and death ripped from Hindu folklore and filtered through the wilds of space opera...at once thoughtful and rollicking."

Check out @bookjockeyalex.bsky.social's review of Project Hanuman!

Unite or Die: Project Hanuman by Stewart Hotston - Reactor

Alex Brown reviews a soaring space opera epic that has some structural issues.

reactormag.com

February 5, 2026 at 8:19 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

CL Hellisen

@clhellisen.bsky.social

The Cymera Prize for Speculative Short Fiction is open to any writer living in Scotland or Scottish by birth or inclination, aged at least 14 years.

Submissions are open from Monday 12th January 2026 until 8pm BST on Sunday 22nd March 2026.

www.cymerafestival.co.uk/2026-prize

2026 Prize — CYMERA

www.cymerafestival.co.uk

February 2, 2026 at 2:10 PM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

I loved this book, and what a gorgeous edition!

Angry Robot Books @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social · 4d

We put a spell on you. We sprayed your edges.

Look out for the new paperback edition of @cmalongi.bsky.social's spellbinding new fantasy The Witch Who Trades With Death.

Coming 24th March.

And all love to our design department for this cover...

February 6, 2026 at 11:28 AM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

I’m running a workshop on writing witchcraft as part of the UK Ghost Story Festival Online this weekend and I’m really looking forward to it! Check out details here: www.ticketsource.co.uk/ukghoststory... @ghoststoryfest.bsky.social

www.ticketsource.co.uk

February 5, 2026 at 4:37 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

British Fantasy Society

@britfantasysoc.bsky.social

The BFS is thrilled to announce our third Guest of Honour for Fantasycon 2026 - Peter F. Hamilton! @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social @torbooks.bsky.social britishfantasysociety.org/fantasycon-2...

A graphic made to look like aged paper with a pen and ink drawing of waves forming a border. Text reads: Fantasycon 2026 Guest of Honour, Peter F. Hamilton, britishfantasysociety.org. There is a photo of Peter

February 5, 2026 at 11:24 AM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Ian Green

@ianthegreen.bsky.social

here we go! Check out this beaut

Head of Zeus @headofzeus.bsky.social · 6d

Check out the cover for #TheDeepAndTheDrowned, the first in a new fantasy trilogy from the author of the #Rotstorm & #Extremophile @ianthegreen.bsky.social

With an incredible illustration by Marcela Bolivar (@tropicalgloom.bsky.social) and Simon Michele

Pre-order now: https://geni.us/TDATDcovrev

February 4, 2026 at 1:26 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Glasgow SF Writers' Circle

@gsfwc.bsky.social

#Glasgow Join our Cameron Johnson for an evening with James Alistair Henry - creator of Green Wing, Smack the Pony, and now new novel Pagans! Get your tickets for 13th Feb at Waterstones Argyle ST below:

@cameronjohnston.bsky.social @jamesbluecat.bsky.social @waterstonesargyle.bsky.social

An Evening with James Alistair Henry | Events at Waterstones Bookshops | Waterstones

Events at Waterstones get you closer to the books and authors you admire most. Find information and tickets about An Evening with James Alistair Henry today.

www.waterstones.com

February 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

T. Frohock (she/her)

@tfrohock.com

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'back' and I found a 2-fer in Miserere:

#BookQW #BookSky

Lucian took one look before he stepped back from the rank odor of rust and mold flowing out of the darkness. He had no chance of escaping his sister’s guards on foot, especially through damp caverns. This was a cruel joke. “Are you mad? You expect me to crawl into that hole and go where?”
“I thought you wanted an opportunity, or are you still looking for an easier way?” Father Matt’s voice turned as frigid as the air flowing out of the pit. “Perhaps you’d rather crawl back to your sister and throw yourself to her mercy. Obey her every command.”
A pit of ice opened in his stomach at the thought of Catarina’s rage. Suffering upon suffering would result from his walking out on her this morning.
“I thought so.” The priest held the little ball of light up before Lucian’s fearful eyes. “The light comes from our souls, Lucian, and you know by my light I am Katharos, because the fallen can’t make light—”
“They only steal it,” he whispered.

February 4, 2026 at 6:11 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

British Fantasy Society

@britfantasysoc.bsky.social

Fantasycon 2026 prices will increase on 1st March, so if you haven't booked yet, now is a great time to do so!

britishfantasysociety.org/events-calen...

February 4, 2026 at 12:57 PM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

It's #BookQW and the word this week is 'back'. In The Heart of Winter, Brigit creates a dolly out of oat stalks in honour of the Cailleach, the goddess of winter, who she prays to for help getting out of an arranged marriage to Aengus, god of summer.

www.flametreepublishing.com/the-heart-of...

Book cover - a young woman with long, pleated red hair and a tartan dress faces away from the viewer, looking over a winter landscape. Flowers and vines bloom around her feet.

Text reads - When she had reached the widest point of the doll, before she turned her weaving back on itself, she took from the pouch a small rock she had found a few days ago. At first glance it looked rather ordinary, but when one tilted it just right, the light caught flecks of color and turned it into something beautiful. Brigit had spent the last three nights carving a small triskele into the center of its largest face and then polishing it to a sheen. Now, she placed the rock into the center of the doll, an offering to the goddess. She turned the weaving in and completed the doll, resuming her prayers as the token took form in her hands.
It wasn’t long before the doll was complete. Brigit passed it over the candle flame, then sprinkled it with ale and placed it carefully on the small shelf above her bed. It comforted her to think that the Cailleach was watching over her as she drifted off to sleep.

February 4, 2026 at 12:09 PM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

It's #BookQW and the word this week is 'back'. In Daughters of Nicnevin, Constance considers how her life might have been different if her witchcraft was not something that had to be hidden.

www.flametreepublishing.com/daughters-of...

Book cover - two women in 18th century dress stand back to back, surrounded by men made of straw and wheat. The atmosphere is threatening

Text reads - She sighed and sat back on her heels, pushing stray wisps of hair out of her face. In front of her, the brush continued to scrub on its own, moving in the same careful circles that Constance had been using. She stared at its movement, entranced for a moment. What could her life be if she didn’t have to spend so much of it hiding who she truly was?

The sound of small, skipping footsteps and a nonsense song alerted her to Elspeth’s return in plenty of time for her to grab the scrubbing brush and get back to work herself.

February 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

David Green

@davidgreenwriter.bsky.social

Thanks to everyone who has read, recommended or shared anything to do with Magic, Maps, and Mischief. You've all made this possible ❤️

And a big thanks to the amazing @losbennett.bsky.social and @suspensesiren.bsky.social at Simon Maverick.

Audiobook and book two coming soon 🦉

February 3, 2026 at 5:53 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

The English Oak Project

@thekentacorn.bsky.social

Snowdrops are not indigenous to Britain, & likely introduced around the 1500s, but now fully naturalised

They likely began their life here in monastery herb gardens, perhaps used medicinally

They have long been linked to celebrating light's victory over darkness

February 3, 2026 at 1:59 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Omar Kooheji 🍉

@ohmz.bsky.social

Popped into @waterstones.bsky.social Princes Street in Edinburgh, pleasantly surprised to see @annabelcwrites.bsky.social and @shonak.bsky.social ‘s books face out in the fantasy section.

Ended up buying a book about Tractors in space, and a smaller version of the Gruffalo than the one pictured.

February 4, 2026 at 6:56 AM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Aliette de Bodard

@aliettedebodard.com

"In these astonishing works, de Bodard takes us somewhere unique. A labyrinthine region of dark imagination unlike anything the genre has seen before. Simultaneously an alternative history and a wholly fantastical landscape"
@aptshadow.bsky.social

Aliette de Bodard @aliettedebodard.com · Dec 3

I'm relaunching Dominion of the Fallen in the US with @awfulagent.bsky.social
Magnificent covers by @fringe-element.net
Deliciously gothic atmosphere, queer characters from across the world, and high intrigue--in a Paris wrecked by magical cataclysms
March 10th, 2026!

awfulagent.com/ebooks/the-h...

Cover of the House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard: a banyan tree with grey heraldry showing Notre Dame bisected by a sword
The text above reads "Enter a Ruined Paris", and below "March 10, 2026"

Cover of The House of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard: a dragon wrapped around grey heraldry showing a crowned hawthorn tree. The background is blue with spatters of grungy black
The text reads "Ruled by Fallen Angels..." and "March 10, 2026"

Cover of The House of Sundering Flames by Aliette de Bodard: a tiger in flames wrapped around grey heraldry showing a hawk above a tower The background is blue with spatters of grungy black
The text reads "And Dragons of the depths", "March 10, 2026"

Covers of all three books, The House of Shattered Wings (banyan tree and Notre Dame), The House of Binding Thorns (eastern dragon and crowned hawthorn tree), The House of Sundering Flames (tiger in flames and hawk over tower)
The text reads "Read the Complete Trilogy", "Available in Ebook and Trade Paperback March 10, 2026"

February 2, 2026 at 8:10 AM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Kathleen Jennings

@tanaudel.bsky.social

The Aurealis Awards shortlist is out — congratulations to all the nominees!

aurealisawards.org/2026/02/01/2...

2025 Aurealis Awards Shortlist Announcement

We congratulate the Aurealis Awards finalists for 2025! The 2025 Aurealis Awards, Australia’s premier speculative fiction award, attracted more than 775 entries across 14 categories, including reco…

aurealisawards.org

February 1, 2026 at 10:02 AM

Shona Kinsella

@shonak.bsky.social

Book post is the best post! I love pre-orders, it always feels like getting a little gift from past me 😂

2 paperback novellas on a wooden table.
All That Is In The Earth by Andrew Knighton and In This City Where It Rains by Lyndsey Croal

January 31, 2026 at 2:01 PM

Reposted by Shona Kinsella

Ida Keogh

@idakeogh.bsky.social

I love this book soooo much! And it's @davidgreenwriter.bsky.social's birthday today so a good time to share the joy and buy yourself a copy.

Mack McKenna @mackmckenna.bsky.social · Oct 24

Who wouldn't want a slice of neurodivergent, queernorm cozy fantasy? Looking forward to reading this. OUT NOW - link in quoted post.

David Green @davidgreenwriter.bsky.social · Oct 24

Out now: Magic, Maps, and Mischief 🦉

Read it for:

- strong autistic and ADHD rep 🎉
- queernorm world 😍
- themes of acceptance, kindness and the different kinds of love ☺️
- cozy, feel-good vibes ❤️

Shares greatly appreciated 😁 hope you enjoy the book!

mybook.to/magicmapsand...

January 30, 2026 at 10:13 AM