Stephen Cox
@stephencoxauthor.bsky.social
Novelist+comms. London, bi, Quaker, parent. Spooky? THE CROOKED MEDIUM's GUIDE TO MURDER. "A pleasure from start to finish"
Also Our Child of the Stars/Our Child of Two Worlds.
https://stephencox.co.uk/ https://linktr.ee/stephencoxauthor
Also Our Child of the Stars/Our Child of Two Worlds.
https://stephencox.co.uk/ https://linktr.ee/stephencoxauthor
Pinned
"A book I've been looking for all my life. Queer found family all wrapped up in a supernatural murder mystery. Absolute perfection.”
The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Out worldwide!
#womensleuths #mystery #sapphic #spooky #books #booksky #LGBT+ #Victorian
stephencox.co.uk/books/upcomi...
The Crooked Medium's Guide to Murder - Out worldwide!
#womensleuths #mystery #sapphic #spooky #books #booksky #LGBT+ #Victorian
stephencox.co.uk/books/upcomi...
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I’m grumpy again (surprise!). I’ve just watched an advert telling over-50’s not to live according to the stereotypes that they should have no fun & fade into the background bla bla. Except none of them exist. Even adverts now tell the most privileged they’re victims of the least privileged.
December 27, 2025 at 11:10 AM
I’m grumpy again (surprise!). I’ve just watched an advert telling over-50’s not to live according to the stereotypes that they should have no fun & fade into the background bla bla. Except none of them exist. Even adverts now tell the most privileged they’re victims of the least privileged.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Hate to be the 'not all' guy, but a lot of farmers wanted nothing to do with Brexit. We knew it would be a shitshow.
December 27, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Hate to be the 'not all' guy, but a lot of farmers wanted nothing to do with Brexit. We knew it would be a shitshow.
Leave broke it, Leave must own it.
December 27, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Leave broke it, Leave must own it.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I was once young, but now I am old, and I remember many, many viruses, exploits, bugs and crashes that happened because of the tiny, insignificant errors that crept into even the most carefully crafted, exhaustively QA'd software over the decades. I shudder to think of what's to come.
Can't wait for the loosened up, non-perfect, but quickly shipped AI-enhanced updates to hit my banking and insurance services next year.
Im sure there will be no issues there at all.
Im sure there will be no issues there at all.
December 26, 2025 at 9:30 PM
I was once young, but now I am old, and I remember many, many viruses, exploits, bugs and crashes that happened because of the tiny, insignificant errors that crept into even the most carefully crafted, exhaustively QA'd software over the decades. I shudder to think of what's to come.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
The median author household income is c £50k which shows that sidehustles, part time work, and life partners generates most of the typical author household income.
December 26, 2025 at 3:16 PM
The median author household income is c £50k which shows that sidehustles, part time work, and life partners generates most of the typical author household income.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
"There is no other industry, that acts with such arrogance, indifference and a lack of humility and sociopathic greed at the expense of people"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
UK campaigner targeted by Trump accuses tech giants of ‘sociopathic greed’
Exclusive: Imran Ahmed says US companies are ‘corrupting the system’ of politics by seeking to avoid accountability
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:22 PM
"There is no other industry, that acts with such arrogance, indifference and a lack of humility and sociopathic greed at the expense of people"
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
poorest full time person in publishing earns 2.5x as much as the median full time author.
In February, we revealed the results of our salaries survey which showed a staggering range of salaries across the industry, ranging from a reported £18,000 to more than £120,000 👇
#TheBooksellerMostRead
#TheBooksellerMostRead
The Bookseller’s salaries survey 2025 results: what you told us you earn from the book trade
ebx.sh
December 26, 2025 at 2:48 PM
poorest full time person in publishing earns 2.5x as much as the median full time author.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Birmingham Town Hall (UK). New! Birmingham Civic Society blue plaque commemorates Charles Dickens' first public reading of A Christmas Carol in 1853.
#novella #fiction #literature #English
#novella #fiction #literature #English
December 18, 2025 at 9:09 AM
Birmingham Town Hall (UK). New! Birmingham Civic Society blue plaque commemorates Charles Dickens' first public reading of A Christmas Carol in 1853.
#novella #fiction #literature #English
#novella #fiction #literature #English
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Muddying the waters by naming my boat "the art" so in addition to the art being the craft The Art is a craft.
December 26, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Muddying the waters by naming my boat "the art" so in addition to the art being the craft The Art is a craft.
2025 - Amazon censoring It's a Wonderful Life by cutting scenes in Potterville, ie the rampant capitalist view of the future.
December 26, 2025 at 10:59 AM
2025 - Amazon censoring It's a Wonderful Life by cutting scenes in Potterville, ie the rampant capitalist view of the future.
Which one would you have?
2025, the year of gifts and grifts: the Stephen Collins cartoon
2025, the year of gifts and grifts: the Stephen Collins cartoon
2025: the grift that never stopped grifting
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Which one would you have?
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Jordan Peterson watches Muppet Christmas Carol
December 24, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Jordan Peterson watches Muppet Christmas Carol
The Purge, but they're all muppets
It's a crime we never got Muppet Hunt for Red October where the only humans are Connery and Tim Curry.
December 25, 2025 at 1:51 PM
The Purge, but they're all muppets
Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, placed a curse on the land so it was always Winter and never Christmas.
December 25, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Tiny Tim, who did NOT die, placed a curse on the land so it was always Winter and never Christmas.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Wee Fish Ewe a Mare Egrets Moose
December 25, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Wee Fish Ewe a Mare Egrets Moose
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Here is a short thread of my favorites:
THE WORKS OF VERMIN, by Hiron Ennes.
Mind-bending fantasy in a world of psychedelic venom and weaponized perfume. Verminpunk? Is that a thing? So good.
THE WORKS OF VERMIN, by Hiron Ennes.
Mind-bending fantasy in a world of psychedelic venom and weaponized perfume. Verminpunk? Is that a thing? So good.
December 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Here is a short thread of my favorites:
THE WORKS OF VERMIN, by Hiron Ennes.
Mind-bending fantasy in a world of psychedelic venom and weaponized perfume. Verminpunk? Is that a thing? So good.
THE WORKS OF VERMIN, by Hiron Ennes.
Mind-bending fantasy in a world of psychedelic venom and weaponized perfume. Verminpunk? Is that a thing? So good.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Not now, mysterious error message on the oven 530pm Christmas Eve. (Non AI oven.)
December 24, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Not now, mysterious error message on the oven 530pm Christmas Eve. (Non AI oven.)
Reposted by Stephen Cox
I'd argue it's worse than a blank page, in the same way that garment pieces cut slightly off the grain are worse than not having cut yet.
When a thing is wrong, it will suck your energy into making it Less Wrong, which is often not the same as making it right.
When a thing is wrong, it will suck your energy into making it Less Wrong, which is often not the same as making it right.
Just a thing about this: a common statement in writing is that you can fix crap, but you can't fix a blank page.
I have heard AI apologists claim that this is why it's fine to generate a first draft.
Now, to be clear, fuck this.
But also: an AI draft is a fucking blank page.
I have heard AI apologists claim that this is why it's fine to generate a first draft.
Now, to be clear, fuck this.
But also: an AI draft is a fucking blank page.
I know I don’t talk about writing much. It is because I am writing so slowly.
But I want you to know that I am taking a part of this story that absolutely sucked and took me months to produce four of the worst chapters I have ever written and in the edit I figured out how to fix it.
But I want you to know that I am taking a part of this story that absolutely sucked and took me months to produce four of the worst chapters I have ever written and in the edit I figured out how to fix it.
December 24, 2025 at 2:59 PM
I'd argue it's worse than a blank page, in the same way that garment pieces cut slightly off the grain are worse than not having cut yet.
When a thing is wrong, it will suck your energy into making it Less Wrong, which is often not the same as making it right.
When a thing is wrong, it will suck your energy into making it Less Wrong, which is often not the same as making it right.
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Also, the opinion article was written by someone who had experienced both so wasn't exactly the guardian saying Christmas in the UK should be in summer
December 24, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Also, the opinion article was written by someone who had experienced both so wasn't exactly the guardian saying Christmas in the UK should be in summer
The 'punishment beating' review is an artform and there have been several.
December 24, 2025 at 10:09 AM
The 'punishment beating' review is an artform and there have been several.
My tweet didn't say, people in southern hemisphere u do u
Eh as an Aussie, got to say having your big holiday period (like 8 weeks for school kids) during the hottest heat of summer is a mercy and fulfills the same need as midwinter, but reversed.
December 24, 2025 at 10:08 AM
My tweet didn't say, people in southern hemisphere u do u
Guardian excelling itself
December 24, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Guardian excelling itself
Reposted by Stephen Cox
This is social media, a place to socialize. While that gets lost sometimes, that social function still shines through sometimes.
So if you're lonely, or struggling at Christmas the #JoinIn hashtag is welcoming and fun
So if you're lonely, or struggling at Christmas the #JoinIn hashtag is welcoming and fun
December 24, 2025 at 9:07 AM
This is social media, a place to socialize. While that gets lost sometimes, that social function still shines through sometimes.
So if you're lonely, or struggling at Christmas the #JoinIn hashtag is welcoming and fun
So if you're lonely, or struggling at Christmas the #JoinIn hashtag is welcoming and fun
Reposted by Stephen Cox
Ok, but here is the thing, right, if I got angry about Saudi Arabian aggression against Yemen and decided to blow up a mosque in Brooklyn, that motivation would not actually be exculpatory, you know?
So the younger shooter, in a video submitted to the court, claims the shooting was aimed at the Zionist policies of Israel as a state. This is distinct from being an attack against Jewish people as a group. Once again the pro-Zionist coalition and right wing media jumped the gun and got it wrong.
December 24, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Ok, but here is the thing, right, if I got angry about Saudi Arabian aggression against Yemen and decided to blow up a mosque in Brooklyn, that motivation would not actually be exculpatory, you know?
Reposted by Stephen Cox
He isn't "losing" this money. This is called "paying tax like a responsible citizen and not hiding your money offshore" and we need to start recognising and applauding it.
December 24, 2025 at 8:10 AM
He isn't "losing" this money. This is called "paying tax like a responsible citizen and not hiding your money offshore" and we need to start recognising and applauding it.