Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
"I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself."
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Pinned
Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
· Nov 26
"Out on the pale criss-crossed sand, high-stepping, fringed, gauntleted, stalked some fantastic leviathan..."
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
"The seventh night, I slept in Wick's quarters, and Mord, far above, slept over us, sprawled across the sea of loam and debris that covered the Balcony Cliffs. We experienced his breathing as a haunted depth charge that tumbled down through the layers, the beams..."
@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
November 22, 2025 at 9:38 AM
"The seventh night, I slept in Wick's quarters, and Mord, far above, slept over us, sprawled across the sea of loam and debris that covered the Balcony Cliffs. We experienced his breathing as a haunted depth charge that tumbled down through the layers, the beams..."
@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
*woke early*
*Followed cricket on cricinfo*
*Wished hadn't woken early*
*Followed cricket on cricinfo*
*Wished hadn't woken early*
November 22, 2025 at 6:59 AM
*woke early*
*Followed cricket on cricinfo*
*Wished hadn't woken early*
*Followed cricket on cricinfo*
*Wished hadn't woken early*
Much as I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films (and I really do), he did wipe the visuals of my own collaboration with Tolkien's writing. What did my Aragorn look like? My Galadriel? My Sam? No idea. They have been irrevocably overwritten by their cinematic counterparts.
November 21, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Much as I love Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films (and I really do), he did wipe the visuals of my own collaboration with Tolkien's writing. What did my Aragorn look like? My Galadriel? My Sam? No idea. They have been irrevocably overwritten by their cinematic counterparts.
"The eccentric lives and dramatic deaths of the martyrs, the writings of the ancient monastics with their hothouse odours of ardent lust for God, and even those parts of the holy scriptures that were not as safe as milk pudding or else as dry as dust, had all been shoved into the cupboard..."
November 21, 2025 at 3:11 PM
"The eccentric lives and dramatic deaths of the martyrs, the writings of the ancient monastics with their hothouse odours of ardent lust for God, and even those parts of the holy scriptures that were not as safe as milk pudding or else as dry as dust, had all been shoved into the cupboard..."
As RJ says - short, awful and kind of sad. Brilliant also - a masterclass of economy and emotion.
If you're wondering what Simon means. He was the first person in publishing to pick something up of mine. It's still one of my favourite shorts I've written and you can read it free here. www.patreon.com/posts/shephe...
November 21, 2025 at 1:47 PM
As RJ says - short, awful and kind of sad. Brilliant also - a masterclass of economy and emotion.
This moment has been a loooooonng time coming for me, ever since a barn sagged against the weight of a terrified flock.
November 21, 2025 at 12:17 PM
This moment has been a loooooonng time coming for me, ever since a barn sagged against the weight of a terrified flock.
Eight curlews on the Police Scotland headquarters playing field, thirty-four curlews on the school rugby pitch. All on the frost.
November 21, 2025 at 11:53 AM
Eight curlews on the Police Scotland headquarters playing field, thirty-four curlews on the school rugby pitch. All on the frost.
*is awake early again*
*checks cricket score*
*wishes he was not awake early again*
*checks cricket score*
*wishes he was not awake early again*
November 21, 2025 at 5:52 AM
*is awake early again*
*checks cricket score*
*wishes he was not awake early again*
*checks cricket score*
*wishes he was not awake early again*
Reskeet with a time you looked cool.
November 20, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Reskeet with a time you looked cool.
Clearing up after tea music.
November 20, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Clearing up after tea music.
This is awesome. You can feel the cold air and the damp ground under your feet.
'Winter Beehives'
Ink on Paper
'Time of the Season'
Collaborative Exhibition at Two Doors Studio. Alsager.
alsager.nub.news/whats-on/art...
Ink on Paper
'Time of the Season'
Collaborative Exhibition at Two Doors Studio. Alsager.
alsager.nub.news/whats-on/art...
November 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
This is awesome. You can feel the cold air and the damp ground under your feet.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
'Furrows (Winter)'
Charcoal on Paper
Private Collection
Print exhibition..
congleton.nub.news/whats-on/art...
Charcoal on Paper
Private Collection
Print exhibition..
congleton.nub.news/whats-on/art...
November 17, 2025 at 12:17 AM
'Furrows (Winter)'
Charcoal on Paper
Private Collection
Print exhibition..
congleton.nub.news/whats-on/art...
Charcoal on Paper
Private Collection
Print exhibition..
congleton.nub.news/whats-on/art...
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies as Discovered by the Reverend Robert Kirk in his Various Sojourns in the Fabled Realms of Open Source.
November 20, 2025 at 12:39 PM
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies as Discovered by the Reverend Robert Kirk in his Various Sojourns in the Fabled Realms of Open Source.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
"And having a frisky English spaniel on one side of my chair, and a French valet, with as much hilarity in his countenance as ever nature painted in one, on the other, I was satisfied to my heart's content with my empire."
March 18, 2025 at 7:38 PM
"And having a frisky English spaniel on one side of my chair, and a French valet, with as much hilarity in his countenance as ever nature painted in one, on the other, I was satisfied to my heart's content with my empire."
It's the hint of the reddened lip at the wrist.
Hands of the Oracle. Artist: Jon Eric Riis
Date: 1999. Medium: Silk & metallic yarns with freshwater pearls & coral beads; tapestry weave; approx. 26 x 13 cm each. Collection: The Textile Museum, Washington DC, from the collection of Jerome & Deena Kaplan
#BeadSocietyGB #Beads #HistoryOfBeads
Date: 1999. Medium: Silk & metallic yarns with freshwater pearls & coral beads; tapestry weave; approx. 26 x 13 cm each. Collection: The Textile Museum, Washington DC, from the collection of Jerome & Deena Kaplan
#BeadSocietyGB #Beads #HistoryOfBeads
November 19, 2025 at 6:41 PM
It's the hint of the reddened lip at the wrist.
Cooking tea music.
November 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Cooking tea music.
"The woman stood in the middle of the floor. She was dressed in white and had white hair. She opened her eyes with a small stick, and the upper eyelid fell back over her head like a hat.
'I am two hundred and ninety winters,' she said, 'and I serve nine masters...'"
'I am two hundred and ninety winters,' she said, 'and I serve nine masters...'"
November 19, 2025 at 4:05 PM
"The woman stood in the middle of the floor. She was dressed in white and had white hair. She opened her eyes with a small stick, and the upper eyelid fell back over her head like a hat.
'I am two hundred and ninety winters,' she said, 'and I serve nine masters...'"
'I am two hundred and ninety winters,' she said, 'and I serve nine masters...'"
HMS Surprise.
"Not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine sea-boat: weatherly, stiff and fast … very fast, if she's well handled."
"Not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine sea-boat: weatherly, stiff and fast … very fast, if she's well handled."
Name your favorite tv or film character ship.
November 19, 2025 at 1:12 PM
HMS Surprise.
"Not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine sea-boat: weatherly, stiff and fast … very fast, if she's well handled."
"Not old; no one would call her old. She has a bluff bow, lovely lines. She's a fine sea-boat: weatherly, stiff and fast … very fast, if she's well handled."
Tune.
(Who new Jeff Lynne's production and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would go together so well.)
(Who new Jeff Lynne's production and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would go together so well.)
November 19, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Tune.
(Who new Jeff Lynne's production and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would go together so well.)
(Who new Jeff Lynne's production and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would go together so well.)
"Patricia McKillip was able to pack into two hundred pages what some other writers need three or more books to say."
Pat Cadigan
Pat Cadigan
November 19, 2025 at 12:19 PM
"Patricia McKillip was able to pack into two hundred pages what some other writers need three or more books to say."
Pat Cadigan
Pat Cadigan
Twenty-eight curlews on the school rugby pitch, calling peevishly as they edge away from the fence as you walk past.
November 19, 2025 at 11:19 AM
Twenty-eight curlews on the school rugby pitch, calling peevishly as they edge away from the fence as you walk past.
Even the scrubby corners of winter allotments.
And their genre fiction equivalents.
And their genre fiction equivalents.
November 19, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Even the scrubby corners of winter allotments.
And their genre fiction equivalents.
And their genre fiction equivalents.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
Line after line after line, Melville grabs you by the collar and STARES at you.
Posted like silent sentinels all around the town, stand thousands upon thousands of mortal men fixed in ocean reveries.
November 18, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Line after line after line, Melville grabs you by the collar and STARES at you.
Shall we trudge or twirl toward the three twilights; of the day, of publishing, of the gods?
November 18, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Shall we trudge or twirl toward the three twilights; of the day, of publishing, of the gods?