Mark Bridgman
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markbridgman.bsky.social
Mark Bridgman
@markbridgman.bsky.social
I like art and generally find the people who make it, talk about it or love it interesting. Music is my bag. Books are my catnip
Jesus Christ Kinski, by @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social and from earlier this year, Base Notes, by @adellestripe.bsky.social are all as brilliant as they are different.
November 8, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I agree with @stuhennigan.bsky.social on The Benefactors by @wednesdayerskin.bsky.social, it’s a fantastic book. But the last few months have been great, it’s impossible to choose just one.
Everything Will Swallow You, by @dj-acid-reflux.bsky.social, TonyInterruptor, by Nicola Barker…
November 8, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Roscoe has my permission to use it on later editions, should he so choose
November 1, 2025 at 3:30 PM
1983 was one of the best books I read this year. It’s like stepping through a portal into the recent past and hanging out with some really great people. Some of whom may have shared their mushrooms with you
November 1, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Keep fighting the good fight, Tom!
October 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
I still get what I paid for. Direct to my inbox, in fact. And next year, it’ll be cheaper to support someone whose work I admire. It also means I can delete Substack which, to be frank, is irritating me with spam.
Where’s the downside?
If people are, as Tom wonders, aggrieved for Substack, why??
October 29, 2025 at 11:02 AM
This tale is mind boggling. I subscribe to Tom’s Substack and have watched as Tom left. I didn’t really notice, to be honest.
It’s really odd that people would challenge his decision to leave, demand refunds or raise complaints.
I didn’t subscribe to support Substack. I subscribed to support Tom
October 29, 2025 at 10:58 AM
The thing that has struck me with JCK is how you have managed also to do this (in a completely different way) with the mind of a narcissistic actor. It feels like a place. Like it has solidity. No less real than the hills above the Calder valley
October 28, 2025 at 9:02 PM
I’ve seen you mention that some people want another book like the last. I’m not one of those people, but what I do really admire is your ability to create a real sense of place in all of your writing. The settings are so vivid and seem intrinsic to the story being told.
October 28, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Nearly finished the whole book in a day, which is something I have not done in a while. Compelling stuff. Only stopped because I had to go to work (down with capitalism!)

Also, the lisp sequence. Personal highlight
October 28, 2025 at 11:49 AM
An acquaintance of mine sold me a copy of this which he got off Tor gratis and added a low quality inkjet printer sleeve to. He had quite the business empire for a while.
October 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Imagined Things Bookshop in Harrogate. First visit for me and it was great. Friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere. Got a signed copy of the new @benjaminmyers76.bsky.social novel, Jesus Christ Kinski so, naturally, I’m dead chuffed
October 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I’d love to read a NYT opinion piece on David Bellamy. Here’s why…
September 25, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Ahh, the inverse gilet. Perfect for going up Whernside. But only in July or August. In good years.
September 19, 2025 at 7:48 PM
Really looking forward to getting my copy, which is winging its way to me from Blackwell’s. Thanks for your persistence, Tom. Perhaps you might now treat yourself to spending your time writing again (when not out photographing cows, portals or trees, naturally)
September 11, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Does this latest departure mean you’re not considering a 20 book series on the life and times of the area manager of the Calderdale Co-Op’s that I’ve been hoping for?
August 3, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I liked it better when you made stuff up and put an amusing or irreverent slant on something rather than just quoting…

Although I do love the song Those Were Your Mother’s Marbles
July 21, 2025 at 7:47 PM
There’s a growing body of evidence to support the theory that ‘Andrea Jenkyns’ doesn’t exist.
All those rooms get colder perfectly naturally. It has nothing to do with ‘Andrea Jenkyns’ walking into them
July 19, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Nicola Barker is one of my writing heroes. Hugely looking forward to TonyInterruptor
July 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I wondered this too until I, and 23 friends had to incapacitate King Kong in Leamington Spa with nothing to hand but some ribbon and an old upright piano
July 4, 2025 at 9:36 PM