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Susan Murray

@pulpthorn.bsky.social

1.2K followers 610 following 11K posts

Writer of Fantasy & SF. Northerner. Girly swot. She/her. Ooh, squirrel...

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · Oct 23

"AWAKE! for Morning in the Bowl of Night
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultan's Turret in a Noose of Light."

Morning sunlight is finding its way round (and through) a yellow curtain which is still closed over an east-facing window. In the foreground is a floofy black cat, leaning forwards and slightly sideways from the right of the frame to peer intently into the camera with wide eyes, pupils dilated.

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 32m

Only in creative terms!

Reposted by Susan Murray

Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social · 5h

Bumping for the daytime people. If your hands hurt because of swapping between mouse and keyboard, if mousing to edit hurts, then consider any kind of keyboard-only system. I created a variation I'm calling Glyph, and have posted an OS-X Karabiner implementation of it if people are interested:

Tobias S. Buckell @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social · 19h

I just posted "Introducing Glyph: a keyboard only editing system" up at the website: https://tobiasbuckell.com/introducing-glyph-a-keyboard-only-editing-system/

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Reposted by Susan Murray

Lavie Tidhar @lavietidhar.bsky.social · 7h

I'm delighted to launch the 2025 TRILOGIES BUNDLE from @storybundle.bsky.social today! 29 books for just $33!

8 complete trilogies+1 bonus pentalogy! Whoa! It's a deal, it's a steal!

+supporting Locus Magazine!

storybundle.com/trilogies

Reposts appreciated!

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 8h

Hmm. “… only limited AI use permitted for tasks such as formatting or idea generation.”

Why?

Do these excepted uses magically not line theftbros’ pockets or draw on environmentally-damaging datacentres? Nor compete for resources with actual people?

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Reposted by Susan Murray

Good Law Project @goodlawproject.bsky.social · 9h

The EHRC removed the "interim guidance" that has been devastating the lives of trans people for months from it's website.

We wonder why...👀

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Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com · 1d

Nope. Nope. Nope.
Not cool.
Not here.
Not ever.

We will keep working with real translators and narrators (and artists and proofreaders and authors and...) without any of this "AI" bullshit.

The Bookseller @thebookseller.com · 1d

The 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair heard that developments in AI audiobooks mean publishers will no longer have to decide whether to translate a book, but instead just choose which market to translate into 👇 #FBM25

AI audio means publishers ‘don’t have to choose whether to translate, only which market’, FBF hears

ebx.sh

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 20h

Cor. Congratulations!

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🌈 Romie glows in the dark 📽 @romiesays.bsky.social · 2d

I'm going to repeat what I said earlier in passing. Right now, there are more than 30 SF publishers currently in print who take un-agented electronic submissions and pay as much or more than Analog/Asimov/F&SF. It's not their way or the highway. The rest of us are shocked.

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 22h

That’s commitment.

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Ian Denton @iand777.bsky.social · 1d

Hares in the dawn light of May & Skylarks singing, by the ancient field gateway.

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T. Frohock (she/her) @tfrohock.com · 1d

It's Book Quote Wednesday and today's word is 'gold' #BookQW

In the throes of her possession, Rachael is helpless against the demon's assault on her mind ... She parted her lips, but the daemonium sensed a shift in the power. It slithered through her memories to distract her, firing a montage of images into her brain. Helpless against the onslaught, all she could do was ...
… remember …
Her father stood in her bedroom door, a swath of moonlight illuminating his naked body … she burrowed beneath her covers and feigned sleep, but his hand found her breast and … Tanith came close, whispering of traitors and monsters in the night … do not fear them, they are not here, but … Mastema’s eyes are full of poison, don’t look in his eyes, never look in his eyes … where cracked mirrors fell from the walls, shattered and broken like her faith … and John stood over the Eucharist, stained-glass light bathing his robes in shades of azure, crimson, and gold … and he spoke of God, of God, God, God, God …

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 1d

Congratulations!

Reposted by Susan Murray

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 1d

In other news: Angry Robot Books has acquired Juliet E. McKenna’s The Riven Kingdom, described as a “fresh and gripping fantasy” that “blends politics, religion, and a battle for a dead king’s throne, perfect for fans of the Realm of the Elderlings series.”
britishfantasysociety.org/book-news-an...

Book News: Angry Robot Acquires New Juliet E. McKenna Novel – The British Fantasy Society

britishfantasysociety.org

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Ben Jeapes @benjeapes.bsky.social · 1d

It's Book Quote Wednesday and the word is GOLD. Ted is surprised to find himself the owner of a genuine, old fashioned bona fide spellbook - with a mind of its own. #bookqw #yafantasy www.benjeapes.com/index.php/th...

Hear me read a longer version at benjeapes.substack.com.

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Reposted by Susan Murray

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 1d

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'gold' #BookQW
You can save yourself some money with this month's Kindle ebook offer for The Green Man's War.
Dan Mackmain's a peaceable chap, but after his experiences in last few years he's ready to meet trouble head on.
www.amazon.co.uk/Green-Mans-W...

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a lethal, pale-scaled serpent-dragon or wyrm lurking in woodland. It looks straight at you as its forked tongue flickers between open, sharp-toothed jaws.

Book extract reads: ‘This is some place.’ He stopped on the gravel to admire the manor.
He’s right. Blithehurst’s not huge but it is impressive. The limestone masonry has weathered over the centuries to soft grey or gold, depending on whether or not the sun is shining. The two floors have tall leaded and mullioned windows which look out over ornate gardens at the front, and across the valley to the wooded pastures on the other side of the river at the back. The steep roof has russet tiles which run down to fake battlements along the tops of the walls. Those are purely for show. This house was built to impress, not to be defended in battle.
The Roundheads had thought that meant they would easily seize the house from Eleanor’s Royalist, Catholic ancestors in the English Civil War. They were in for a surprise. The dryads got them so thoroughly lost that they never arrived. Not that any of the attackers could know what had really happened.

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Reposted by Susan Murray

Juliet E McKenna @julietemckenna.bsky.social · 1d

Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'gold' #BookQW
Money couldn't buy the sort of security that keeps Blithehurst House safe from treasure hunters while Dan Mackmain goes on his holiday.
From Wizard's Tower Press on 30th October 2025 - Preorder links here www.wizardstowerbooks.com/shop/the-gre...

Cover art by Ben Baldwin shows a creature crouching in a low tunnel entrance lined with grey stones and partly hidden by green undergrowth and white flowers. The creature has pale skin covered in sparse black hair and it looks a bit like an ape, a bit like a bear, and completely unlike either of those.

The county archaeologists were worried about treasure hunters prowling the estate with metal detectors and stealing whatever they found. Eleanor and I knew any thieves wouldn’t find more gold, but they’d get a whole lot more than they expected once they met the dryads and the black shuck who lives in those woods. We didn’t need that sort of trouble.
As the landowners, the Beauchene family’s share of the hoard’s value would make a useful contribution to the business’s financial reserves in these increasingly tough times. The manor house’s visitor numbers, and what people spend in the cafes, the gift shop and the garden centre, prove the cost of living crisis is nowhere near over. Eleanor would never say so, but I knew she’d be glad to add the cottage in the woods to Blithehurst’s holiday lets as well.

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Wizard's Tower Press @wtpress.bsky.social · 1d

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'gold'. The colours of Verantha are green and gold. In this extract from Chaz Brenchley's Of The Emperor's Kindness, Vivi is waging war through fashion. #BookQW
wizardstowerpress.co...

Tonight the sun was barely down and already Vivi was home and here, in their suite, and all Vivi’s people were fussing about the pair of them, dressing them, dressing their hair with jewels. Even Vivi’s toes were adorned tonight with green and gold lacquer, where they peeped out from her sandals. She’d offered the same to Malance, and laughed at her when she declined.
“Vivi, I can’t! I have to be all dignity tonight. You can make mischief, and needle people as you like. Not me.”
“No, you’re right. Fine. You be the spirit of Verantha, solemn and suffering and proud; I’ll be the spirit of the empire, courteous and contemptuous and savage as necessary. Help Clath understand what she’s facing here, and what she could bring down on herself.”

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Wizard's Tower Press @wtpress.bsky.social · 1d

It is Book Quote Wednesday and the word is 'gold'. In 'The Sheltering Flame' by Ruthanna Emrys in Wiz Duo 3, the house gets a dangerous visitor. #BookQW
wizardstowerpress.co...

The person at the door is tall and lean, wearing a cloak that seems entirely unnecessary even on a day dimming toward thunderstorm. They pull back their hood to reveal anime-sharp cheekbones and piercingly violet eyes, and hair swept back in colors like peacock feathers. Tiny gold chains drape the edges of their elegantly pointed ears. They look like they checked “yes, please” under Gender, and I want to run my fingers along those earlobes, to feel the contrast between smooth warm skin and delicate links of cool metal. I want to taste the lightning on their breath, and the only thing that stops me is the house’s anger pouring through from the other direction. I open my mouth, and emit a low growl that’s only technically mine.
I will think about all this later.

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 1d

Have posted my Society of Authors ballot, picked up my prescription, and filled the car up with petrol so I can take the cat for a free post-op check next week. That means I’ve run out of excuses to put off the next round of scraping, filling and painting. Chiz.

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Queen of Swords Press @qospress.bsky.social · 1d

#Booksky A brief thread of current book sales! Trying out this new direct sale Ingram thing in the U.S. and U.K. - looking for great gay gaslamp mystery/fantasies? DEATH BY SILVER by @blueterraplane.bsky.social and @amygriswold.bsky.social is on sale until 11/1! shop.ingramspark.com/b/084?params...

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Joseph Elliott-Coleman @jelliottcoleman.bsky.social · 1d

From Red Socks Press 2025/12/14 Pre-orders are available from Amazon

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Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 1d

I’ll tell him…

Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks. 🫂 Family stuff can get tangled up so easily. And adjusting to the new normal can be a slow process.

Susan Murray @pulpthorn.bsky.social · 1d

If it isn’t an exercise in scrutinising the reliability of every source, our society is doomed.

Reposted by Susan Murray

Emma Darwin @emmadarwinwriter.bsky.social · 1d

Less than a month until The Bruegel Boy is published on 6th November!

Linktree in bio, www.emmadarwin.com/the-bruegel-... or search emma darwin bruegel boy.

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