Nick Hunt
@nickhuntscrutiny.bsky.social
Author: Red Smoking Mirror, Outlandish, Where the Wild Winds Are, Walking the Woods and the Water, Loss Soup, The Parakeeting of London. Co-director: Dark Mountain Project.
AI has scraped my second book and produced this shitty comic. Firstly, the winds are in all the wrong places. Secondly, what the hell is happening in that second panel? Thirdly, this is plagiarism and totally unlicensed. Have any other authors had this done 'for free' to their books?
November 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
AI has scraped my second book and produced this shitty comic. Firstly, the winds are in all the wrong places. Secondly, what the hell is happening in that second panel? Thirdly, this is plagiarism and totally unlicensed. Have any other authors had this done 'for free' to their books?
First draft editing day two, with hound. @johnmurrays.bsky.social
July 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
First draft editing day two, with hound. @johnmurrays.bsky.social
"The result is a book of anthropology as much as ornithology..."
Lovely to see 'The Parakeeting of London' referenced in the latest installment of Michael Kerr's memoir/travelogue 'Lighting out of Lockdown'... deskboundtraveller.com/lighting-loc...
Lovely to see 'The Parakeeting of London' referenced in the latest installment of Michael Kerr's memoir/travelogue 'Lighting out of Lockdown'... deskboundtraveller.com/lighting-loc...
July 16, 2025 at 8:26 PM
"The result is a book of anthropology as much as ornithology..."
Lovely to see 'The Parakeeting of London' referenced in the latest installment of Michael Kerr's memoir/travelogue 'Lighting out of Lockdown'... deskboundtraveller.com/lighting-loc...
Lovely to see 'The Parakeeting of London' referenced in the latest installment of Michael Kerr's memoir/travelogue 'Lighting out of Lockdown'... deskboundtraveller.com/lighting-loc...
Definitely hit every beat of this!
May 29, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Definitely hit every beat of this!
"I now have two chapters of a novel and several ideas for other novels, a huge amount of inspiration and insight, and I am so excited about what lies ahead.”
This could be you! Join me for a six-week online course in writing speculative fiction nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
This could be you! Join me for a six-week online course in writing speculative fiction nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
April 7, 2025 at 9:52 AM
"I now have two chapters of a novel and several ideas for other novels, a huge amount of inspiration and insight, and I am so excited about what lies ahead.”
This could be you! Join me for a six-week online course in writing speculative fiction nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
This could be you! Join me for a six-week online course in writing speculative fiction nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
The end of the first productive writing week I've had in months, making progress with my next book. Finally some of this nonsense is making sense!
March 28, 2025 at 4:12 PM
The end of the first productive writing week I've had in months, making progress with my next book. Finally some of this nonsense is making sense!
The Polish government has attempted to log old-growth parts of the forest, but (for now) there exists an uneasy stalemate. Białowieża is an astonishing, complex and surprising place, a glimpse of what much of Europe once was, and – I continue to hope – might be again. #internationaldayofforests
March 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
The Polish government has attempted to log old-growth parts of the forest, but (for now) there exists an uneasy stalemate. Białowieża is an astonishing, complex and surprising place, a glimpse of what much of Europe once was, and – I continue to hope – might be again. #internationaldayofforests
Recently I met a Syrian man who'd also crossed that border. For me, the Belarusian guards were slightly comical figures in enormous hats; for him, the crossing was a matter of life and death. He wandered for days with no map or food, chased by Polish border guards, but eventually made it to the EU.
March 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Recently I met a Syrian man who'd also crossed that border. For me, the Belarusian guards were slightly comical figures in enormous hats; for him, the crossing was a matter of life and death. He wandered for days with no map or food, chased by Polish border guards, but eventually made it to the EU.
Since I made that journey, the border between Poland and Belarus has been militarised; thousands of migrants have found themselves stranded, sometimes for months, in the trees; razorwire fences and 'death strips' divide the populations of bison, wolves and wild boar.
March 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Since I made that journey, the border between Poland and Belarus has been militarised; thousands of migrants have found themselves stranded, sometimes for months, in the trees; razorwire fences and 'death strips' divide the populations of bison, wolves and wild boar.
I didn't see any bison, but I did follow their hoofprints. I also saw my first wolf, appearing and vanishing like smoke at the edge of a forest village shortly after the coldest dawn I've ever experienced.
March 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
I didn't see any bison, but I did follow their hoofprints. I also saw my first wolf, appearing and vanishing like smoke at the edge of a forest village shortly after the coldest dawn I've ever experienced.
Six years ago I went to Białowieża, Europe's largest remaining remnant of primeval wildwood, to research my book Outlandish. It was a journey into an ecosystem constantly balanced between living and dying – a place of rot and ooze that felt astonishingly alive. #internationaldayofforests
March 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Six years ago I went to Białowieża, Europe's largest remaining remnant of primeval wildwood, to research my book Outlandish. It was a journey into an ecosystem constantly balanced between living and dying – a place of rot and ooze that felt astonishingly alive. #internationaldayofforests
Join me for a six-week course in writing imaginative and speculative fiction – from sci-fi and fantasy to alternate history – whether you are a published author or a curious beginner. Online on Wednesdays from 30th April-4th June. More info here: nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
March 21, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Join me for a six-week course in writing imaginative and speculative fiction – from sci-fi and fantasy to alternate history – whether you are a published author or a curious beginner. Online on Wednesdays from 30th April-4th June. More info here: nickhuntscrutiny.com/writing-sci-...
Join @joannapocock.bsky.social, Michael Malay and I at the end of March in @hawkwoodcft.bsky.social near Stroud for this immersive five-day writing course! What better way to start the spring?
February 27, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Join @joannapocock.bsky.social, Michael Malay and I at the end of March in @hawkwoodcft.bsky.social near Stroud for this immersive five-day writing course! What better way to start the spring?
Out today in paperback from Swift Press! swiftpress.com/book/red-smo...
June 6, 2024 at 8:53 AM
Out today in paperback from Swift Press! swiftpress.com/book/red-smo...
Writing is a form of travelling, and this novel, although fantasy, stems from slow journeys I made in Mexico, Morocco and Spain. If you're interested in the overlap between travel writing and fiction, I wrote an essay about that for
the Irish Times tinyurl.com/52xhbj63
the Irish Times tinyurl.com/52xhbj63
June 6, 2024 at 8:52 AM
Writing is a form of travelling, and this novel, although fantasy, stems from slow journeys I made in Mexico, Morocco and Spain. If you're interested in the overlap between travel writing and fiction, I wrote an essay about that for
the Irish Times tinyurl.com/52xhbj63
the Irish Times tinyurl.com/52xhbj63
Finally here's an image of the god Tezcatlipoca – the (Red) Smoking Mirror of the novel's title. Smoking Mirror was the god of the night sky and prophecy, but the term was also used for the polished obsidian discs used as dark, distorting mirrors and tools of divination.
June 6, 2024 at 8:51 AM
Finally here's an image of the god Tezcatlipoca – the (Red) Smoking Mirror of the novel's title. Smoking Mirror was the god of the night sky and prophecy, but the term was also used for the polished obsidian discs used as dark, distorting mirrors and tools of divination.
If all the above's not enough for you, strange creatures abound in this world! Here be Mexican hairless dogs and mysterious water gods – and if that's still not enough excitement, I promise you a volcano.
June 6, 2024 at 8:51 AM
If all the above's not enough for you, strange creatures abound in this world! Here be Mexican hairless dogs and mysterious water gods – and if that's still not enough excitement, I promise you a volcano.
Backgammon is a theme of the book – Eli has taught Moctezuma to play – but I couldn't find a backgammon pic, so here is an Andalucian Jew and a Moor playing chess.
June 6, 2024 at 8:50 AM
Backgammon is a theme of the book – Eli has taught Moctezuma to play – but I couldn't find a backgammon pic, so here is an Andalucian Jew and a Moor playing chess.
The Mexica emperor Moctezuma also appears in the novel, brooding in the mysterious chamber known as the Black House. But he has been acting strangely, sickness is spreading through the city, and there are rumours of a hostile army crossing the sea...
June 6, 2024 at 8:49 AM
The Mexica emperor Moctezuma also appears in the novel, brooding in the mysterious chamber known as the Black House. But he has been acting strangely, sickness is spreading through the city, and there are rumours of a hostile army crossing the sea...
Another inspiration was the culture of medieval al-Andalus – in which Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries – and its legacy of philosophy, science, art and architecture, like the Mosque-Cathedral at Qurtubah (Cordoba) with its forest of stone columns.
June 6, 2024 at 8:49 AM
Another inspiration was the culture of medieval al-Andalus – in which Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries – and its legacy of philosophy, science, art and architecture, like the Mosque-Cathedral at Qurtubah (Cordoba) with its forest of stone columns.
... and tell the story of the invasion from the point of view of the Tlaxcalans and other enemies of the dominant Mexica. If you look closely at some of these panels you will see La Malinche's hand.
June 6, 2024 at 8:48 AM
... and tell the story of the invasion from the point of view of the Tlaxcalans and other enemies of the dominant Mexica. If you look closely at some of these panels you will see La Malinche's hand.
Another inspiration was the culture of medieval al-Andalus – in which Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries – and its legacy of philosophy, science, art and architecture, like the Mosque-Cathedral at Qurtubah (Cordoba) with its forest of stone columns.
June 6, 2024 at 8:45 AM
Another inspiration was the culture of medieval al-Andalus – in which Muslims, Jews and Christians coexisted for centuries – and its legacy of philosophy, science, art and architecture, like the Mosque-Cathedral at Qurtubah (Cordoba) with its forest of stone columns.
... and tell the story of the invasion from the point of view of the Tlaxcalans and other enemies of the dominant Mexica. If you look closely at some of these panels you will see La Malinche's hand.
June 6, 2024 at 8:43 AM
... and tell the story of the invasion from the point of view of the Tlaxcalans and other enemies of the dominant Mexica. If you look closely at some of these panels you will see La Malinche's hand.
Another visual source for the novel were the Mexica (Aztec) codices, painted shortly after the conquest by Indigenous chroniclers. They show the eagle and jaguar 'knights' who fought in the Flower Wars, gathering captives for sacrifice...
June 6, 2024 at 8:42 AM
Another visual source for the novel were the Mexica (Aztec) codices, painted shortly after the conquest by Indigenous chroniclers. They show the eagle and jaguar 'knights' who fought in the Flower Wars, gathering captives for sacrifice...
The novel's other main character is Eli's wife Malinala, a Nahua woman who has achieved great power and influence. She is based on the fascinating, divisive figure of La Malinche, interpreter to Hernán Cortés. I wrote about her here for Bookanista bookanista.com/the-weeping-...
June 6, 2024 at 8:41 AM
The novel's other main character is Eli's wife Malinala, a Nahua woman who has achieved great power and influence. She is based on the fascinating, divisive figure of La Malinche, interpreter to Hernán Cortés. I wrote about her here for Bookanista bookanista.com/the-weeping-...