Gareth Southwell
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garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Gareth Southwell
@garethsouthwell.bsky.social
1K followers 390 following 1.2K posts
Self-employed writer, illustrator, philosopher. All views are those of my employer. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Runs woodpigpress.com, woodpigpress.bsky.social

Sci-fi, philosophy and illustration: garethsouthwell.com

Diary of a Micro-Press: https://woodpigpress.substack.com/
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garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Wonderful comment on this on Instagram which sums up how I feel.
October 2, 2025 at 8:29 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Oh, dear. Is it just me that has a bad feeling about this? I've been using Affinity programmes for years, and they're great. But anything that mentions "the future" gives off an aura of bullshit and AI flangery.

#AI #art #books
"Creative freedom is coming". Affinity announcement.
October 2, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
I ran a poll on Mastodon and Bluesky asking who'd read a book where the author used AI to some extent. Combining the results: of the 56 respondents, 82% said never, 16% said only if AI was used for editing, and 1% said they didn't care as long as it was a good book.

#books #writing #AI #reading
September 24, 2025 at 12:28 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Book cover design and illustration for Clif Haley's comedy Western, "Emory Crider and the One Dollar Bounty".

garethsouthwell.com/book-design-...

#books #illustration #art #covers #booksky
Book cover design and illustration for Clif Haley's "Emory Crider and the One Dollar Bounty"
September 23, 2025 at 12:03 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Dear book marketer, thanks so much for your email, and for your eloquent praise of my book. You were "profoundly moved", you say? I am flattered - and doubly so that you've taken the trouble to hunt me down all the way from ... [checks website visitor stats] ... oh.

#books #writing #AI #booksky
September 22, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Reading Peter de Vries' wonderful "Reuben, Reuben" and came across a passage about how places are named after the natural features they've destroyed, which exactly parallels something I'd written in "MUNKi. This ever happen to you?

#books #writing #philosophy

garethsouthwell.com/books/munki/
Excerpt from "Reuben, Reuben", by Peter de Vries: "Out there are also the subdivisions named, by God, after what the contractors had to eradicate to build them - Birch Hills (named after the grove bulldozed away preparatory to laying the foundation), Vineyard Acres after the rows of Concord grapes plowed under to make way for them." Excerpt from "MUNKi" by Gareth J. Southwell: "And so by the January preceding Tadcu's death they'd swapped a seaonally gloomy Port Talbot for a similarly dank and chilly Guildford; for an up-market estate whose streets, each an architectural sibling of the next, commemorated the various glades, groves and natural features bulldozed to build them, leaving as its sole attraction its prime position within the commuter belt."
September 19, 2025 at 7:05 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Cover design for my sci-fi comedy novella Pale Kings. I spent quite a while trying to give the virtual mermaids a sort of degraded, retro, cathode ray TV look. Not sure if I could remember how to do it now!

garethsouthwell.com/books/pale-k...

#books #illustration #coverdesign #scifi #art #booksky
Book cover illustration for Pale Kings by Gareth Southwell. A man floats in water with VR glasses surrounded by virtual mermaids. Mermaid mermaid fin mermaid
September 18, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
#philosophy #books #booksky
A professor of mine went to go hear Derrida speak once. The entire talk was about cows; everyone was flummoxed but listened carefully, and took notes about…cows. There was a short break, and when Derrida came back, he was like, ‘I’m told it is pronounced “chaos”.’ – Phil Gentry, Twitter
September 18, 2025 at 12:03 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
And a few more

#art #illustration #books #design #bookcovers #scifi #sff #booksky
man with cyberpunk implant hybrid head of woman/deer woman with bee earrings
September 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
I spent ages adding all the detail to this cover, and then realised it's all sort of lost when it's reproduced at actual paperback size. So, for those interested, here are some of the details!

#art #illustration #books #design #bookcovers #scifi #sff #booksky

garethsouthwell.com/books/tidela...
Cover to "The Winter Queen" by Gareth J Southwell mermaid man eating soup bees
September 17, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Cover design and illustration for Garry Seabrook's "Cracking the Quantum Mystery". Had great fun doing this - any eggheads out there spot all the Easter eggs? :)

garethsouthwell.com/book-design-...

#books #philosophy #science #illustration #bookcovers #booksky
Cover design and illustration for Garry Seabrook's "Cracking the Quantum Mystery"
September 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Just reading an academic text on the history of censorship in the UK, and came across this little gem.

#philosophy #books #booksky
Excerpt from a book on censorship: While prosecuting others for obscenity, "the Greater London Council was contemporaneously ordering 5400 canes for London schools from a sex shop".
September 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
A little portfolio piece of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein". See more here: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-...

Interested in cover design, illustration or formatting? Contact me here: garethsouthwell.com/contact/

#books #illustration #design #art #booksky
Book cover for Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"
September 15, 2025 at 7:02 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Oooh... This came in the post today. :)

Met him in Bristol at a talk. What a lovely and humble guy.

#books #MickHerron #SlowHorses #amreading #reading #booksky
Book cover for "Clown Town" by Mick Herron.
September 14, 2025 at 12:03 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Book cover design and illustration for "Fun With Nuns" by A.J. Caliendo.

Want illustration, cover design or book formatting? See more: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-...

Get in touch: garethsouthwell.com/contact/

#books #illustration #art #design #booksky
Book cover for "Fun With Nuns" by A.J. Caliendo. A boy hides a pin-up as a nun looms ominously over him, a ruler in her hand. Infernal flames lick around him as the rest of the children in the classroom look on.
September 13, 2025 at 12:03 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Design and illustration for Doug Hardenstein's upcoming kid's time travel adventure, "Tolly to the Titanic".

Want illustration, cover design or book formatting? See more: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-...

Get in touch: garethsouthwell.com/contact/

#books #illustration #art #design #booksky
Book cover design and illustration for Doug Hardenstein's "Tolly to the Titanic". A red car converted into a time machine emerges through a wormhole into the distant past. The car contains two kids, an old sea captain, and a dog, and is being attacked by polar bears and spiders.
September 12, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Caricature of Trump from 1988 by brilliant New Yorker artist David Levine. Even then he knew he was a man-baby!

#books #art #illustration #booksky
Pen and ink caricature of Trump by David Levine.
September 10, 2025 at 3:33 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Startling ChatGPT usage graph. Though it is also kind of funny - in an end-of-the-world, death-of-education sort of way.

#books #AI #ChatGPT
Graph showing sudden drop-off in ChatGPT usage. Text reads:"The school year ends and ChatGPT usage drops ~65% overnight. We are reshaping our society for a tool that's overwhelmingly just used to skip homework."
September 8, 2025 at 12:03 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
A satirical little short story/novella I wrote a little while ago about automated content creation, which seems very timely now.

garethsouthwell.com/books/conten...

#philosophy #books #AI
Book cover for Content Provider by Gareth J. Southwell, next to book description, which reads: "a satirical insight into the life of the jobbing writer, the enduring mysteries of married life, and what happens to our thoughts when there's no one there to think them." Book review text: "File under sci-fi / humour / philosophy. What's not to lie?" Amazon US review, 5 stars) Book review text: "At once disconcerting, unsettling, intelligent and really funny." (Amazon UK review, 5 stars). Available direct from WoodPig Press and all major retailers. Woodpigpress.com
September 8, 2025 at 7:58 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
WoodPig Press is currently giving away free copies of Tidelands: Ghosts and Monsters. Enter the draw on Storygraph to win 1 of 250 ebooks or 5 paperbacks. (NOTE: Paperback prizes are available to UK residents only)

app.thestorygraph.com/giveaways/bb...

#Booksky #books #Storygraph #draw
Book cover of Tidelands, Part 1: Ghosts and Monsters. Enter the Storygraph draw to win a free copy of Tidelands: Ghosts and Monsters. 250 ebooks. 5 Paperbacks. (Paperback prizes open to residents of the UK only.) WoodPigPress.com
June 21, 2025 at 9:03 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Please share:

The ebook of Tidelands: Ghosts & Monsters is currently only 0.99 (£/$/€). Available direct from WoodPig Press, or the usual retailers:

woodpigpress.com/the-tideland...

#booksky #books #deals #discounts #scifi #sff #fantasy
June 15, 2025 at 11:12 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Please share:

Do you hate AI?

Are you an editor, proofreader, designer, illustrator, typesetter, marketer, book blogger, audio narrator, reviewer, ARC/beta reader?

WoodPig Press is creating a pool of freelancers for future paid work.

woodpigpress.com/call-for-pub...

#booksky #books #publishing
June 7, 2025 at 11:48 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Please share:

So today sees the launch of Part 4 of my SFF novel Tidelands, "The Sleepers" (WoodPig Press):

garethsouthwell.com/books/tidela...

If you want to catch up from the beginning, Part 1 is currently only 0.99 (£/$/€):

garethsouthwell.com/books/tidela...

#sff #booksky #books #scifi
May 23, 2025 at 10:55 AM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
Just finished the cover for Tidelands Part IV: The Sleepers, which I'm hoping to release next week.

#illustration #bookcovers #books #booksky
May 16, 2025 at 7:41 PM
garethsouthwell.bsky.social
And here's how they define the difference:
May 7, 2025 at 2:11 PM