John Dougherty
@johndougherty.bsky.social
I write books for children, but this account may contain rants and swearies. For child-friendly kidslit stuff, please follow
@WriterPoetJohn.bsky.social
.www.visitingauthor.com
@WriterPoetJohn.bsky.social
.www.visitingauthor.com
Reposted by John Dougherty
We need your help.
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
Anger as Waterstones snaps up prime site on doorstep of independent bookshop
UK's biggest bookselling chain under fire over plans for new store beside Edinburgh tram line.
www.heraldscotland.com
November 18, 2025 at 11:28 AM
We need your help.
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
@waterstones.bsky.social, without any direct communication with us, will be opening their 6th Edinburgh branch less than 100 metres from our front door at the Foot of the Walk in Leith.
Please read on for more information
www.heraldscotland.com/news/2562908...
(1/2)
Reposted by John Dougherty
📚 Continuing this year’s BCAW focus on books, we’re sharing a message from author John Dougherty.
💛 His book, A Hare-Shaped Hole, beautifully explores emotional expression and continuing bonds for bereaved children.
👉 More reads: childhoodbereavement.ie/bookshelf
#ChildrenGrieveToo #BCAW2025
💛 His book, A Hare-Shaped Hole, beautifully explores emotional expression and continuing bonds for bereaved children.
👉 More reads: childhoodbereavement.ie/bookshelf
#ChildrenGrieveToo #BCAW2025
November 18, 2025 at 10:02 AM
📚 Continuing this year’s BCAW focus on books, we’re sharing a message from author John Dougherty.
💛 His book, A Hare-Shaped Hole, beautifully explores emotional expression and continuing bonds for bereaved children.
👉 More reads: childhoodbereavement.ie/bookshelf
#ChildrenGrieveToo #BCAW2025
💛 His book, A Hare-Shaped Hole, beautifully explores emotional expression and continuing bonds for bereaved children.
👉 More reads: childhoodbereavement.ie/bookshelf
#ChildrenGrieveToo #BCAW2025
Reposted by John Dougherty
I’m hearing from a charity that’s reluctant to support an anti-racism event because it’s too “political”. I’m explaining to them that opposing racism wasn’t at all “political” until very recently.
Also (1) everything is political but (2) it doesn’t need to be party political.
Charity IS Politics.
Also (1) everything is political but (2) it doesn’t need to be party political.
Charity IS Politics.
November 16, 2025 at 1:10 PM
I’m hearing from a charity that’s reluctant to support an anti-racism event because it’s too “political”. I’m explaining to them that opposing racism wasn’t at all “political” until very recently.
Also (1) everything is political but (2) it doesn’t need to be party political.
Charity IS Politics.
Also (1) everything is political but (2) it doesn’t need to be party political.
Charity IS Politics.
Reposted by John Dougherty
I struggle to see why turning ourselves into a society so unwelcoming that even those afraid for the lives are deterred from coming is something we would actually *want*.
November 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM
I struggle to see why turning ourselves into a society so unwelcoming that even those afraid for the lives are deterred from coming is something we would actually *want*.
Reposted by John Dougherty
Confiscating jewellery from survivors of a war zone makes you look like a fucking Nazi. And the obscene thing is, that is the intention. It's there to look appropriately harsh. Indecent. Filthy. A moral stain. And no-one of good character would have ever proposed such a thing in the first place.
November 17, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Confiscating jewellery from survivors of a war zone makes you look like a fucking Nazi. And the obscene thing is, that is the intention. It's there to look appropriately harsh. Indecent. Filthy. A moral stain. And no-one of good character would have ever proposed such a thing in the first place.
Reposted by John Dougherty
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
November 16, 2025 at 11:43 PM
NEW: Epstein survivors release the most powerful PSA I have ever seen.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Make this go viral so every member of the House of Representatives sees it.
Reposted by John Dougherty
People see Jesus Christ in slices of toast, tea stains, patterns in carpet and damp stains on walls. We are not psychologically prepared to show the required caution in the face of computer software that can mimic human language. People are already surrendering reason to the Jesus in the toast.
November 15, 2025 at 10:22 PM
People see Jesus Christ in slices of toast, tea stains, patterns in carpet and damp stains on walls. We are not psychologically prepared to show the required caution in the face of computer software that can mimic human language. People are already surrendering reason to the Jesus in the toast.
Reposted by John Dougherty
If we accept someone is a genuine refugee and they build a life here, perhaps have children born here, what is the advantage to us of expelling them once we’ve persuaded ourselves that their country of origin is safe?
November 15, 2025 at 9:46 AM
If we accept someone is a genuine refugee and they build a life here, perhaps have children born here, what is the advantage to us of expelling them once we’ve persuaded ourselves that their country of origin is safe?
Reposted by John Dougherty
In 1997 Labour won a huge victory. And while campaigning they promised to honour Tory spending pledges for 2 years.
Bizarrely they seemed to think the former was in any way based on the latter or that any of us expected them to stick to that, having voted for change.
Plus ça change.
Bizarrely they seemed to think the former was in any way based on the latter or that any of us expected them to stick to that, having voted for change.
Plus ça change.
November 14, 2025 at 10:20 AM
In 1997 Labour won a huge victory. And while campaigning they promised to honour Tory spending pledges for 2 years.
Bizarrely they seemed to think the former was in any way based on the latter or that any of us expected them to stick to that, having voted for change.
Plus ça change.
Bizarrely they seemed to think the former was in any way based on the latter or that any of us expected them to stick to that, having voted for change.
Plus ça change.
Reposted by John Dougherty
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
November 9, 2025 at 8:04 PM
The BBC's senior leadership resigning en masse over one dodgy edit in one programme, simply because the right wing press demands it, tells you everything you need to know about where the power really lies in that relationship
Reposted by John Dougherty
People who believe in democracy really need to relearn how to tell people that don't to fuck off.
November 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
People who believe in democracy really need to relearn how to tell people that don't to fuck off.
Reposted by John Dougherty
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
UK ‘sliding into avoidable crisis’, major review into workplace sickness warns
The number of people aged between 16 and 34 who are out of work due to long-term sickness increased by 76% between 2019 and 2024
www.independent.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Such a mystery, what MASS DISABLING EVENT could have happened after 2019 to cause this?
Reposted by John Dougherty
Hannan and Frost in the Telegraph.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
November 2, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Hannan and Frost in the Telegraph.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
Sunak in the Times.
Kwasi Kwarteng in the iPaper.
Johnson in the Mail.
Gove editing the Spectator.
Farage everywhere.
All of them shamelessly honking out their ‘Listen to me!’ garbage, as the country flails around in the unbelievable mess they’ve made.
Nauseating.
Reposted by John Dougherty
The screeching handbrake turn from Everyone Left Of Norman Tebbit Is A Fragile Snowflake to Don’t Go Outside, It’s Full Of Blacks And Crime has to be seen to be fully believed
November 2, 2025 at 9:48 AM
The screeching handbrake turn from Everyone Left Of Norman Tebbit Is A Fragile Snowflake to Don’t Go Outside, It’s Full Of Blacks And Crime has to be seen to be fully believed
Reposted by John Dougherty
‘AI gets them going and writes the first paragraph, or first chapter.’
There’s something deeply sad about somebody in his position misunderstanding writing so badly. Making that start, overcoming those challenges? These are what MAKE you a professional writer.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
There’s something deeply sad about somebody in his position misunderstanding writing so badly. Making that start, overcoming those challenges? These are what MAKE you a professional writer.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
AI can help authors beat writer’s block, says Bloomsbury chief
Publisher last week reported jump in revenue in academic and professional arm thanks to AI licensing deal
www.theguardian.com
October 27, 2025 at 12:27 PM
‘AI gets them going and writes the first paragraph, or first chapter.’
There’s something deeply sad about somebody in his position misunderstanding writing so badly. Making that start, overcoming those challenges? These are what MAKE you a professional writer.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
There’s something deeply sad about somebody in his position misunderstanding writing so badly. Making that start, overcoming those challenges? These are what MAKE you a professional writer.
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by John Dougherty
Stephen is so consistently funny, but this is especially strong 👇😆
![1
Nurse:
It’s become a real problem in this area
2
Nurse:
We’ve seen the whole community lost to addiction
3
Show a building sign posted:
Westminster ‘X’ Addiction Clinic
With various Westminster people or looking at their phones outside it
Nurse:
Ministers, Spads, Researchers…
4
Nurse:
Most mornings we’ll get a call about someone acting strangely
[Nurse on phone taking a call]
Ok - we’ll be right over
5
Nurse:
We just have a gentle chat
[Nurses approach a minister –Robert Jenrick? - standing in the Palace of Westminster
Minister:
I understand your concerns…
6
Nurse:
Are you OK love?
Minister:
Yes I’m just hearing legitimate concerns from real voters
7
Nurse:
That’s a robot, a Nazi and a poorly-disguised Russian
[Show that the people he is talking to are precisely these characters]
Nurse 2:
Give us your phone, love
8
Nurse:
At the clinic we put them in a Grass-Touching Pod, with a real voter to talk to
[We see them back at the clinic, holding the minister's head and pushing him into a glass isolation booth with a grass floor. And it is a baffled looking woman, on a chair, ready to talk to him.]
9
Minister:
YOU MUST BE WORRIED ABOUT THE COMING CIVIL WAR
[woman looks baffled]
10
woman:
I just want a bus service
Minister:
LOOK AT MY FLAG
[produces a St George's flag]
[ends]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4m3we4apbjayclzcnhwe3pfp/bafkreicahofq6s4xow7vowj7dx6odw6ejdwr4kwcmzta7qwi4hg2nvywji@jpeg)
October 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM
Stephen is so consistently funny, but this is especially strong 👇😆
Reposted by John Dougherty
Unsolicited writing advice: no. 8075: There is no such thing as serious writing. There are only writers who take their work seriously, and those who don’t. Tragedy is no more “serious” than comedy. Children’s writing is no less “serious” than writing for adults. Good writing is wherever you find it.
October 20, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Unsolicited writing advice: no. 8075: There is no such thing as serious writing. There are only writers who take their work seriously, and those who don’t. Tragedy is no more “serious” than comedy. Children’s writing is no less “serious” than writing for adults. Good writing is wherever you find it.
Reposted by John Dougherty
Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?
He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.
So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?
He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.
So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?
September 23, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins?
He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.
So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?
He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions.
So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?
Reposted by John Dougherty
I wonder who is going to be cast to play Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in the inevitable ITV dramatisation of the whole Salt Path scandal.
July 8, 2025 at 11:55 AM
I wonder who is going to be cast to play Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs in the inevitable ITV dramatisation of the whole Salt Path scandal.
Very proud of my daughter Cara, who’s about to graduate from @lipaliverpool.bsky.social. Here’s the short film that was part of her final year coursework: youtu.be/o5a8P52orxs?... I know I’m biased, but I think she’s brilliant in this!
PEPPERS GHOST - Short Film (2025)
YouTube video by LIPA Liverpool
youtu.be
May 28, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Very proud of my daughter Cara, who’s about to graduate from @lipaliverpool.bsky.social. Here’s the short film that was part of her final year coursework: youtu.be/o5a8P52orxs?... I know I’m biased, but I think she’s brilliant in this!
Reposted by John Dougherty
I suspect it would be even higher (ie, way more than half) if we also promised to re-open the youth clubs & other youth facilities that got shut by David Cameron, just at the point the smartphone was invented.
Almost half of young people would prefer a world without internet, UK study finds
Almost half of young people would prefer a world without internet, UK study finds
Half of 16- to 21-year-olds support ‘digital curfew’ and nearly 70% feel worse after using social media
Almost half of young people would rather live in a world where the internet does not exist, according to a new survey.
The research reveals that nearly 70% of 16- to 21-year-olds feel worse about themselves after spending time on social media. Half (50%) would support a “digital curfew” that would restrict their access to certain apps and sites past 10pm, while 46% said they would rather be young in a world without the internet altogether. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
May 20, 2025 at 7:42 AM
I suspect it would be even higher (ie, way more than half) if we also promised to re-open the youth clubs & other youth facilities that got shut by David Cameron, just at the point the smartphone was invented.
Reposted by John Dougherty
Because they serve class power, and we don’t talk enough about that?
April 26, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Because they serve class power, and we don’t talk enough about that?
Reposted by John Dougherty
A lot of people are enamoured with the mystique of writing but they're not interested in developing the practice of writing or treating it like work. That used to be the difference between aspiring authors and published authors. Now it's the difference between tech bros and actual fucking writers.
March 23, 2025 at 11:03 AM
A lot of people are enamoured with the mystique of writing but they're not interested in developing the practice of writing or treating it like work. That used to be the difference between aspiring authors and published authors. Now it's the difference between tech bros and actual fucking writers.
Reposted by John Dougherty
It’s great being a professional artist. On one hand, you have to deal with companies who think you should be happy to work for exposure and have to constantly hassle them to pay, and on the other, you have people saying they have a right to pirate your work because you’re a rich, Western capitalist.
March 23, 2025 at 1:59 PM
It’s great being a professional artist. On one hand, you have to deal with companies who think you should be happy to work for exposure and have to constantly hassle them to pay, and on the other, you have people saying they have a right to pirate your work because you’re a rich, Western capitalist.
Reposted by John Dougherty
“There is this terrible misconception that disabled people just take, but actually by taking from us, you prevent us from being able to give – we want to be able to participate in life equally the same as anyone else, and that includes going to work.” Disability campaigner Tanni Gray-Thompson
March 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
“There is this terrible misconception that disabled people just take, but actually by taking from us, you prevent us from being able to give – we want to be able to participate in life equally the same as anyone else, and that includes going to work.” Disability campaigner Tanni Gray-Thompson