David Aitken
@davidaitken.bsky.social
Wordsmith, lost deep in the word mines, collecting acceptable adverbs and credible similes. Keen to surface and present my findings to an astonished world.
Pinned
Great to finally have the anthology in my hands. Seven 5star reviews so far from readers loving our creepy vibes. Paperback £7.99, free on Kindle Unlimited.
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
Reposted by David Aitken
The Agnes Owens Archive opens January 2026, celebrating one of Scotland’s most distinctive literary voices. Marking her centenary, a programme of events and free guided tours will be announced soon. #AgnesOwens
December 20, 2025 at 11:28 AM
The Agnes Owens Archive opens January 2026, celebrating one of Scotland’s most distinctive literary voices. Marking her centenary, a programme of events and free guided tours will be announced soon. #AgnesOwens
Reposted by David Aitken
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
Reposted by David Aitken
People ask me why I'm publishing on Amazon, who are indisputably evil. They say I should publish via an ethical company.
So here's why.
I've published 3 Sunday Times Bestsellers through ethical publishers, and made - drum roll - absolutely zero. Literally not one penny.
In fact ...
So here's why.
I've published 3 Sunday Times Bestsellers through ethical publishers, and made - drum roll - absolutely zero. Literally not one penny.
In fact ...
December 15, 2025 at 2:51 PM
People ask me why I'm publishing on Amazon, who are indisputably evil. They say I should publish via an ethical company.
So here's why.
I've published 3 Sunday Times Bestsellers through ethical publishers, and made - drum roll - absolutely zero. Literally not one penny.
In fact ...
So here's why.
I've published 3 Sunday Times Bestsellers through ethical publishers, and made - drum roll - absolutely zero. Literally not one penny.
In fact ...
Reposted by David Aitken
The album I've listened to most this year is this one and I think it stands up pretty well 😊 #5albums25
thefamilygrave.bandcamp.com/album/old-so...
thefamilygrave.bandcamp.com/album/old-so...
Old Songs for Kids, by The Family Grave
10 track album
thefamilygrave.bandcamp.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:28 PM
The album I've listened to most this year is this one and I think it stands up pretty well 😊 #5albums25
thefamilygrave.bandcamp.com/album/old-so...
thefamilygrave.bandcamp.com/album/old-so...
21 fabulously freaky fictions.
Definitely not recommended for readers of a nervous disposition.
#booksky
#HorrorFiction
#FolkHorror
Definitely not recommended for readers of a nervous disposition.
#booksky
#HorrorFiction
#FolkHorror
A mansion house that holds a dark secret; a woman trapped inside a picture frame; a shadow that is always one step behind you and never goes away; a ouija board that conjures up something terrifying; a haunting in Venice – all these and more terrifying tales lurk between these pages...
December 14, 2025 at 6:57 PM
21 fabulously freaky fictions.
Definitely not recommended for readers of a nervous disposition.
#booksky
#HorrorFiction
#FolkHorror
Definitely not recommended for readers of a nervous disposition.
#booksky
#HorrorFiction
#FolkHorror
Reposted by David Aitken
🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid.
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
December 11, 2025 at 6:30 PM
🧵 Is it a super flu year? Who knows, but I think the current reporting is stupid.
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
A pissed off thread using data.
Firstly - here are today's headlines and some from the last 3 years... spot the difference. 1/10
Should also mention that all profits from this collection of creepy tales will be donated to the PD James Memorial Fund, a charity that helps retired authors in financial hardship.
www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
December 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Should also mention that all profits from this collection of creepy tales will be donated to the PD James Memorial Fund, a charity that helps retired authors in financial hardship.
www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
Great to finally have the anthology in my hands. Seven 5star reviews so far from readers loving our creepy vibes. Paperback £7.99, free on Kindle Unlimited.
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
December 10, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Great to finally have the anthology in my hands. Seven 5star reviews so far from readers loving our creepy vibes. Paperback £7.99, free on Kindle Unlimited.
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
#booksky
#ghoststories
Reposted by David Aitken
Absolutely magnificent. The best song ever written about one of the best cities in the world.
🙂🙂🙂
🙂🙂🙂
December 10, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Absolutely magnificent. The best song ever written about one of the best cities in the world.
🙂🙂🙂
🙂🙂🙂
Reposted by David Aitken
Quite wonderful. Take a minute.
Woke up to a new De La Soul album and a David Byrne Tiny Desk (including "Nothing but Flowers"). All right.
David Byrne: Tiny Desk Concert
In matching, brilliant blue suits, David Byrne and his band squeeze behind the Desk to perform four songs, including Talking Heads' "Life During Wartime."
www.npr.org
December 1, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Quite wonderful. Take a minute.
Reposted by David Aitken
So glad to see Edinburgh honouring Jane Haining with this stolperstein at the foot of the steps of St Stephen's Church in Stockbridge, where she worshipped.
December 1, 2025 at 10:45 AM
So glad to see Edinburgh honouring Jane Haining with this stolperstein at the foot of the steps of St Stephen's Church in Stockbridge, where she worshipped.
As the nights become dark and chilly, best stay at home with a good book.
As editor & publisher @ianskewis.bsky.social puts it: Our book takes a less is more approach to the genre, so there's little gore or outright horror. This is a collection of subtle, refined & quite elegant stories. #booksky
As editor & publisher @ianskewis.bsky.social puts it: Our book takes a less is more approach to the genre, so there's little gore or outright horror. This is a collection of subtle, refined & quite elegant stories. #booksky
Today I became a publisher!!!
It's been a long and winding road to get here but I'm really proud of this book and all the amazing authors who contributed to it. All proceeds go to the PD James Memorial Fund.
Ebook: www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
Paperback: www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
It's been a long and winding road to get here but I'm really proud of this book and all the amazing authors who contributed to it. All proceeds go to the PD James Memorial Fund.
Ebook: www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
Paperback: www.amazon.co.uk/Shadows-Veil...
November 27, 2025 at 4:31 PM
As the nights become dark and chilly, best stay at home with a good book.
As editor & publisher @ianskewis.bsky.social puts it: Our book takes a less is more approach to the genre, so there's little gore or outright horror. This is a collection of subtle, refined & quite elegant stories. #booksky
As editor & publisher @ianskewis.bsky.social puts it: Our book takes a less is more approach to the genre, so there's little gore or outright horror. This is a collection of subtle, refined & quite elegant stories. #booksky
November 27, 2025 at 9:12 AM
This creepy collection featuring my Dahl inspired short story 'Framing Mildred' is published tomorrow. Buy here: tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
Edited by @ianskewis.bsky.social it's on kindle and in paperback.
My story was born from a prompt in @thiwurd.bsky.social writing classes.
#ghoststories #booksky
Edited by @ianskewis.bsky.social it's on kindle and in paperback.
My story was born from a prompt in @thiwurd.bsky.social writing classes.
#ghoststories #booksky
November 26, 2025 at 11:35 AM
This creepy collection featuring my Dahl inspired short story 'Framing Mildred' is published tomorrow. Buy here: tinyurl.com/54u8uxpr
Edited by @ianskewis.bsky.social it's on kindle and in paperback.
My story was born from a prompt in @thiwurd.bsky.social writing classes.
#ghoststories #booksky
Edited by @ianskewis.bsky.social it's on kindle and in paperback.
My story was born from a prompt in @thiwurd.bsky.social writing classes.
#ghoststories #booksky
Reposted by David Aitken
The big “why do you hate AI?” Thread got comments and quotes turned off, but here’s the main reason I hate AI:
It’s being developed by the worst people on the planet solely to enrich themselves at the expense and labor of the world’s vulnerable populations. Everything else stems from that
It’s being developed by the worst people on the planet solely to enrich themselves at the expense and labor of the world’s vulnerable populations. Everything else stems from that
May 18, 2025 at 3:48 AM
The big “why do you hate AI?” Thread got comments and quotes turned off, but here’s the main reason I hate AI:
It’s being developed by the worst people on the planet solely to enrich themselves at the expense and labor of the world’s vulnerable populations. Everything else stems from that
It’s being developed by the worst people on the planet solely to enrich themselves at the expense and labor of the world’s vulnerable populations. Everything else stems from that
Reposted by David Aitken
This is something I keep telling creative friends. Make the thing that is most *you*, not the thing tailored to what people say the market wants. The gatekeepers won't pay you anyway, but a few thousand odd nerds who like the same weird thing you do might.
"I think the best strategy in the age of AI is: bet on yourself… unique work made well with huge amounts of love is actually going to become more valuable in the AI era." A very heartening story about the brilliant Naomi Alderman buying back “Zombies, Run!” www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
Finally some good buyout news: A writer just bought back the game she co-created from a blockchain company so it 'doesn’t end up being turned into AI slop'
Novelist and game writer Naomi Alderman has bought back the rights to the Zombies, Run! exercise app she's been writing episodes of for more than a decade.
www.pcgamer.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:32 PM
This is something I keep telling creative friends. Make the thing that is most *you*, not the thing tailored to what people say the market wants. The gatekeepers won't pay you anyway, but a few thousand odd nerds who like the same weird thing you do might.
Reposted by David Aitken
Today at 1.30pm for anyone interested.
Me and @caitlinsmith.bsky.social have teamed up to make another BBC Radio 4 documentary. If At First You Don't Secede asks if there is any way through the current impasse on independence. It's on this coming Sunday (November 23) at 1.30pm if you fancy a listen. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Currently, If at First You Don’t Secede
If at first you don’t secede, should you really try, try, try again?
www.bbc.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 8:33 AM
Today at 1.30pm for anyone interested.
Reposted by David Aitken
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by David Aitken
So to summarize, your image is packed with mistakes, uses an exploitative tech, fails to communicate a clear message, displays your ignorance, insults the people of that county, makes you look like environmental vandals and fails to describe your key demographic.
This is why you pay a designer. 7/7
This is why you pay a designer. 7/7
November 15, 2025 at 12:26 PM
So to summarize, your image is packed with mistakes, uses an exploitative tech, fails to communicate a clear message, displays your ignorance, insults the people of that county, makes you look like environmental vandals and fails to describe your key demographic.
This is why you pay a designer. 7/7
This is why you pay a designer. 7/7
Reposted by David Aitken
I wrote about a relic of George Orwell that has been a lucky charm during the writing of my books.
smallfinds.substack.com/p/small-find...
smallfinds.substack.com/p/small-find...
Small Finds #9
Slate
smallfinds.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:30 AM
I wrote about a relic of George Orwell that has been a lucky charm during the writing of my books.
smallfinds.substack.com/p/small-find...
smallfinds.substack.com/p/small-find...
Reposted by David Aitken
Zack Polanski on President Trump, "It's difficult to call him anything other than a fool"
"This is sociopathic behaviour"
"He is toxic, misogynistic, racist"
"I'm not a fan of Trump"
Christiane Amanpour, "It's pretty clear"
"This is sociopathic behaviour"
"He is toxic, misogynistic, racist"
"I'm not a fan of Trump"
Christiane Amanpour, "It's pretty clear"
November 13, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Zack Polanski on President Trump, "It's difficult to call him anything other than a fool"
"This is sociopathic behaviour"
"He is toxic, misogynistic, racist"
"I'm not a fan of Trump"
Christiane Amanpour, "It's pretty clear"
"This is sociopathic behaviour"
"He is toxic, misogynistic, racist"
"I'm not a fan of Trump"
Christiane Amanpour, "It's pretty clear"
Reposted by David Aitken
Yesterday in Parliament I said that the government should leave X.
🔉What dangers does X pose to our democracy? And should the government stop using it?
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
Good to hear yesterday from @sundersays.bsky.social and @petergeoghegan.bsky.social on the immense risk of X as it ignores legal obligations and its owner tries to influence UK politics.
@commonswec.parliament.uk
November 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Yesterday in Parliament I said that the government should leave X.
Reposted by David Aitken
Flesh really is a superb novel; if you'd like a taster, this is an excerpt published in Granta earlier this year - not exactly the same as the passage in the book, but very much gives the flavour (and also contains a huge, crippling OOF at the end) granta.com/flesh/
Flesh
‘A moment later he’s aware of the wetness inside his trousers, and then the smell of it. It feels like a disaster, what’s happened.’ Fiction by David Szalay
granta.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Flesh really is a superb novel; if you'd like a taster, this is an excerpt published in Granta earlier this year - not exactly the same as the passage in the book, but very much gives the flavour (and also contains a huge, crippling OOF at the end) granta.com/flesh/
Reposted by David Aitken
Here’s Norman photographed at the Electric Ballroom in 2018. Watch Teenage Fanclub performing Broken at one of those shows at
▶️📺 youtu.be/yYJ_MnKr92w
▶️📺 youtu.be/yYJ_MnKr92w
October 20, 2025 at 7:18 AM
Here’s Norman photographed at the Electric Ballroom in 2018. Watch Teenage Fanclub performing Broken at one of those shows at
▶️📺 youtu.be/yYJ_MnKr92w
▶️📺 youtu.be/yYJ_MnKr92w