Claire Wade
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clairerwade.bsky.social
Claire Wade
@clairerwade.bsky.social
1.3K followers 450 following 210 posts
Author of THE CHOICE. Winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition.
Founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI). Winner of the RNA Inclusion Award.
♿️💜 She/her
https://linktr.ee/clairerwade
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clairerwade.bsky.social
When every bite is a crime, rebellion tastes sweet. The Choice is an award-winning, thought-provoking dystopian tale. A world where freedom is measured, indulgence is criminal, and rebellion starts in the kitchen but means risking everything.

books2read.com/u/mVwAX2

#books #dystopian
The red, white and black cover of The Choice by Claire Wade. A silhouette of a woman in red and white is mirrored at the top and bottom of the cover. The white text reads “You voted her in. Now can you live with the consequences?” THE CHOICE Claire Wade WINNER OF THE Good Housekeeping FIRST NOVEL AWARD
November 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Understanding #Access Forms and Riders - Tools for #Disabled, #ChronicallyIll & #Neurodivergent Authors

13th November 2PM

Hear from #publishing director Hannah Knowles, #LiteraryAgent Caro Clarke, #author Polly Atkin & #editor Ama Badu about their experiences & hopes for the form.

bit.ly/48Bmxxb
A graphic of a computer screen with accessibility icons around it. Beside it are photos of the five participants. White text on an orange background reads “Understanding Access Forms and Riders: Tools for Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Authors with Claire Wade, Hannah Knowles, Caro Clarke, Polly Atkin and Ama Badu Industry Insider - Understanding Access Forms and Riders - Tools for Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Authors Thursday 13 November 2025 14.00-15.00 We'll hear from publishing director Hannah Knowles, literary agent Caro Clarke, author Polly Atkin and editor Ama Badu about their experiences and hopes for how the form can be implemented. This event will be chaired by ADCI founder Claire Wade.”
October 28, 2025 at 10:22 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Industry Insider – Understanding Access Forms and Riders – Tools for Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Authors with me, @pollyrowena.bsky.social @portyliterary.bsky.social Hannah Knowles and Ama Badu.

13th November
14:00 - 15:00 GMT

bit.ly/48Bmxxb

#SoAatHome #disability #publishing

🧵
A graphic of a computer screen with accessibility icons around it. Beside it are photos of the five participants. White text on an orange background reads “Understanding Access Forms and Riders: Tools for Disabled, Chronically Ill and Neurodivergent Authors with Claire Wade, Hannah Knowles, Caro Clarke, Polly Atkin and Ama Badu. #SoAatHome 11.2025”
October 20, 2025 at 10:19 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
I might be coming around to these AI author marketing spam emails; they’re boosting my self-confidence!
Baking is a crime… but letting Amazon bury The Choice is worse Hi Claire, When I first saw The Choice, I thought I was walking into another cookie-cutter dystopia, you know, the usual Big Brother clone. But you spun something sharper, scarier, and honestly more current than I expected. Sugar as contraband and baking as rebellion? That hits on a whole other level. I didn’t roll my eyes once, I kept nodding.
September 17, 2025 at 8:27 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
I’m getting so many spam author marketing emails at the moment. This one is the best I’ve seen. It’s clearly created by AI and I avoid using generative AI but I think I’m going to borrow their description for The Choice.
The Choice is a chilling, thought-provoking dystopian tale that blends razor-sharp social commentary with edge-of-your-seat suspense. In a world where food is controlled, freedom is rationed, and rebellion means risking everything, your story forces readers to question autonomy, government overreach, and the true cost of compliance. It’s not just a novel it’s a conversation starter for every reader who loved The Handmaid’s Tale, VOX, and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
September 16, 2025 at 5:37 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
For jerichowriters.bsky.social members, on Tuesday 10 June 7PM - Writing Through the Hard Times.

“With a wealth of lived experience, Claire will share practical tips and insights on how to keep writing through difficult times - and how putting words on the page can be the ultimate escape.”
A photo of Claire Wade, a blonde woman in a blue jumper is smiling at the camera. The text beneath reads “Writing Through the Hard Times with Claire Wade 10 June 19:00 BST Spend an evening with Claire Wade, author of The Choice and alumna of our Self-Editing course with Debi Alper. With a wealth of lived experience, Claire will share practical tips and insights on how to keep writing through difficult times-and how putting words on the page can be the ultimate escape.”
June 5, 2025 at 9:08 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Disability isn’t a choice.

Under the Government’s PIP cuts, 700,000 families already living in poverty will face further devastation. Over 3.2 million disabled people will be affected.

This is not reform; it is cruelty by policy.

STOP #TakingThePIP
ALT Text for: A personal quote with black background with bold blue and white text saying “The Truth: We deserve more than survival. We deserve respect, autonomy, and to live with dignity.” At the bottom, white bold text urges: “Ask your Government to STOP #TakingThePIP.”
May 28, 2025 at 2:53 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
I’m looking forward to listening to Sick to Death by @chrisbridgeswriter.bsky.social It’s great to see chronic illness featured in a story and I’m intrigued by the premise.

Thanks Avon @harpercollins.bsky.social for organising an audiobook ARC for me. Inclusion means accessible formats for all.
Screenshot of the Google Play app with the cover of Sick to Death by Chris Bridges showing a woman’s face looking out from a mirror.
March 14, 2025 at 10:17 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
A fast scroll of my Following page.
January 19, 2025 at 9:56 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Delighted with my Audible stats for last year. 43 titles, 139 hours and 27 minutes. That doesn’t include the library books I listened to.

Audiobooks are such a lifeline now.

What were your favourite audiobooks from last year?

#audiobooks
A collection of book covers on a black background. 2024 AUDIBLE STATS Your year of imagination In 2024, you clocked in 139 hrs and 27 min of listening time, played 43 titles, and your longest streak was 36 days in a row. Let's take a look back. You get carried away You mostly listened to titles in Science Fiction & Fantasy for 62 hrs. More of your favourites: Literature & Fiction 49 hrs 7 min Relationships, Parenting & Personal Development 41 hrs 44 min
January 14, 2025 at 8:07 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
It turns out that spending a year folding nearly 1,000 paper cranes means I can’t ever haphazardly fold a piece of A4 ever again. The edges have to meet exactly, it’s the only way.

Here’s some of my paper cranes.
A shelf with twenty small origami paper cranes in a gradient of rainbow colours. At the back is a red and orange box of tissues with Thrive written across the box.
December 9, 2024 at 1:57 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Great to see Audible’s collection for Disability History Month.

www.audible.co.uk/blog/categor...

There are so many more books by amazing disabled authors though.

Let me know in the comments what your favourites are.

And also if you’ve written one, feel free to drop links.

#disability #booksky
A black background with “DISABILITY AWARENESS Explore stories by and about people with disabilities” in white font. Below is a stylised set of orange stairs with a slope above them representing a ramp.
November 25, 2024 at 1:19 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
A month early but my cactus is looking lovely.
A closeup of two white and pink Christmas cactus flowers.
November 25, 2024 at 10:57 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Authors, let's start a chain of posts of your FIRST published book! Quote post the cover, a link, and three words about it! Here's mine:

The Choice (2019)

Sugar is illegal.

linktr.ee/clairerwade
The cover of The Choice by Claire Wade. Two stylised silhouettes of women in red and white against a black background.
November 24, 2024 at 11:24 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
For fans of It’s a Wonderful Life & Gilmore Girls (not as random as it sounds)…

Edward Hermann aka Richard Gilmore reads The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern, the short story It’s a Wonderful Life is based on.

It’s got an interesting backstory told by Philip’s daughter.

#booksky #audiobook
The cover of The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern with a still picture of George Bailey and his family from the film It’s a Wonderful Life.
November 17, 2024 at 1:52 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
A must read for Disability History Month is Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann.

I was so pleased to include an interview with Judith in the disability issue of The Bookseller.

#DisabilityHistoryMonth #disability #booksky
The cover of Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann. A dark yellow cover with a black and white photo of Judith, surrounded by colourful flowers.
November 16, 2024 at 2:53 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
A must read for Disability History Month is Being Human: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann.

I was so pleased to include an interview with Judith in the disability issue of The Bookseller.

#DisabilityHistoryMonth #disability #booksky
The cover of Being Human: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist by Judith Heumann. It’s dark yellow with a black and white photograph of Judith surrounded by red peonies and dark purple flowers.
November 16, 2024 at 2:50 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Bookish Checkpoint
- Last book you read:
Yellowface, R. F. Kuang
- Your current read:
Orbital, Samantha Harvey
- Last book added to your tbr:
I Won’t Shut Up, Ally Henny
-Next anticipated read:
Even Though I Knew The End, C. L. Polk

quote with yours! #booksky #books 💙📚
Yellowface cover by R. F. Kuang A yellow cover with a pair of eyes looking out. Orbital by Samantha Harvey A black cover with smudges of colour that look like planets. I Won’t Shut Up, Ally Henny -Next anticipated read: Even Though I Knew The End, C. L. Polk Even Though I Knew The End by C. L. Polk Two people kissing, their faces obscured by a flock of white birds. I Won’t Shut Up by Ally Henny The silhouette of a black woman with her fist raised, in front of a rising/setting sun.
November 16, 2024 at 9:22 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Hi, great to meet you.
A blonde woman in a blue jumper, silver jewellery and dark jeans is sitting in a wheelchair smiling at the camera but with a look of determination.
November 14, 2024 at 10:01 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
What’s everyone reading at the moment? I’m reading How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong - Reclaiming Family, Friendship, and Community. It’s an excellent explanation of why we need community and how to build it. #amreading #amlistening
A screenshot of the Audible player of How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong. The cover is a woven pattern of fabric scraps that looks like a patchwork quilt.
November 13, 2024 at 10:17 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Afternoon Tea with Penny Parkes
4 July @ 14:30

Bestselling author Penny Parkes joins Nydia Hetherington to discuss life as a disabled author and why she is a vocal advocate for inclusion and accessibility within the publishing industry.

www2.societyofauthors.org/event/aftern...

1/
A black and white photo of Penny Parkes, a white woman with long hair in a dark v-neck top. There is a small image of the cover of Penny’s book Maybe Tomor
June 18, 2024 at 9:47 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 7PM I’m talking to Romantic Novelists' Association as part of their #RNARomanceNow series on Instagram Live.

#fictionwriter #writingcommunity #author #DisabledWriters #Disability #pwme #mecfs
February 26, 2024 at 2:27 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Society of Authors Industry Insider – Increasing disability accessibility in publishing | 4 December 2 - 3 pm

With me, Lisette Auton, editor Hannah Knowles and literary agent Hayley Steed.

We’ll be discussing how to get your #disability access needs met.

www2.societyofauthors.org/event/indust...
December 1, 2023 at 6:48 PM
clairerwade.bsky.social
I’m a finalist for The RNA Inclusion Award for the second time. I’m so grateful that RNA members nominated me and it’s lovely to have recognition of my work for better inclusion of disability in publishing.
A white background with red lined border. The text reads The Romantic Novelists' Association Industry Inclusion Award 2023 Finalists. Below is Hera books red logo beside a photo of a white woman in a blue jumper, sitting in a blue wheelchair.
October 10, 2023 at 8:19 AM
clairerwade.bsky.social
Is anyone going to Cheltenham Literature Festival? Would you be able to look out for copies of The Choice in the bookshop and take a picture for me?

It’s one of the definite downsides of being housebound and unable to attend in person.

#CheltLitFest
Black, white and red cover of The Choice by Claire Wade.
October 2, 2023 at 2:36 PM