Anna ZenKen Stephens
@annasmithwrites.bsky.social
Godblind, Songs of the Drowned trilogies, also Black Library, Marvel.
Runs Magic & Mayhem Author Academy.
1/3 of The Write Advice.
Rep @harryillingworth.bsky.social
Zen, Shotokan, DnD, antifa, anti-AI, #WorkingClass.
She/They
https://linktr.ee/AnnaStephens
Runs Magic & Mayhem Author Academy.
1/3 of The Write Advice.
Rep @harryillingworth.bsky.social
Zen, Shotokan, DnD, antifa, anti-AI, #WorkingClass.
She/They
https://linktr.ee/AnnaStephens
Pinned
Seeing as a lot of #editors and #publishers have made it over here now - hello! - and I have a new fantasy book on submission, here's a thread of memes for the main characters to give you a flavour of what to expect.
Character The First: The Diamond Prince.
Character The First: The Diamond Prince.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
The idea of there being 'gatekeepers' in publishing assumes a level of organisation and control that, on the whole, simply doesn't exist.
November 11, 2025 at 8:33 AM
The idea of there being 'gatekeepers' in publishing assumes a level of organisation and control that, on the whole, simply doesn't exist.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Decisions are made about how to keep Occtis safe from his family while the Soldiers embark on a hunt for friend and foe alike... 💀🪡
#CriticalRole Campaign 4, Episode 5 - "Branching Paths" is available on YouTube now! ✨
WATCH CRITICAL ROLE ⬇️
https://youtu.be/w8ddrhcaqLk
#CriticalRole Campaign 4, Episode 5 - "Branching Paths" is available on YouTube now! ✨
WATCH CRITICAL ROLE ⬇️
https://youtu.be/w8ddrhcaqLk
November 10, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Decisions are made about how to keep Occtis safe from his family while the Soldiers embark on a hunt for friend and foe alike... 💀🪡
#CriticalRole Campaign 4, Episode 5 - "Branching Paths" is available on YouTube now! ✨
WATCH CRITICAL ROLE ⬇️
https://youtu.be/w8ddrhcaqLk
#CriticalRole Campaign 4, Episode 5 - "Branching Paths" is available on YouTube now! ✨
WATCH CRITICAL ROLE ⬇️
https://youtu.be/w8ddrhcaqLk
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
YOU'RE INVITED TO OUR 4th ANNUAL CRITMAS PARTY 🎄 🎉
Join in with up to 60% off on clothing, games, and accessories from now through Dec. 14th! 🎁 ✨
FIND THE PERFECT GIFT ⬇️
🇺🇸 https://bit.ly/4p3fXVc
🇬🇧 https://bit.ly/4nJ7eWT
🇨🇦 https://bit.ly/43ZSFqU
🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/4p0mHD9
🇪🇺 https://bit.ly/4p5paMB
Join in with up to 60% off on clothing, games, and accessories from now through Dec. 14th! 🎁 ✨
FIND THE PERFECT GIFT ⬇️
🇺🇸 https://bit.ly/4p3fXVc
🇬🇧 https://bit.ly/4nJ7eWT
🇨🇦 https://bit.ly/43ZSFqU
🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/4p0mHD9
🇪🇺 https://bit.ly/4p5paMB
November 10, 2025 at 5:06 PM
YOU'RE INVITED TO OUR 4th ANNUAL CRITMAS PARTY 🎄 🎉
Join in with up to 60% off on clothing, games, and accessories from now through Dec. 14th! 🎁 ✨
FIND THE PERFECT GIFT ⬇️
🇺🇸 https://bit.ly/4p3fXVc
🇬🇧 https://bit.ly/4nJ7eWT
🇨🇦 https://bit.ly/43ZSFqU
🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/4p0mHD9
🇪🇺 https://bit.ly/4p5paMB
Join in with up to 60% off on clothing, games, and accessories from now through Dec. 14th! 🎁 ✨
FIND THE PERFECT GIFT ⬇️
🇺🇸 https://bit.ly/4p3fXVc
🇬🇧 https://bit.ly/4nJ7eWT
🇨🇦 https://bit.ly/43ZSFqU
🇦🇺 https://bit.ly/4p0mHD9
🇪🇺 https://bit.ly/4p5paMB
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Right UK folks - @justinleeanderson.com and I want to build communities we want to see in the world. We've created a discord whose purpose is to share news with one another, look at who to write to, when to get out and act etc. If you want in, DM me or Justin and we'll sling you an invite
November 10, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Right UK folks - @justinleeanderson.com and I want to build communities we want to see in the world. We've created a discord whose purpose is to share news with one another, look at who to write to, when to get out and act etc. If you want in, DM me or Justin and we'll sling you an invite
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Still time to enter!
🎉JAM's Birthday Book Giveaway🎉
It's my birthday next week and I want to celebrate by giving YOU the chance to win a signed Gardens of War & Wasteland book pack, valued at $95AUD!
Enter Now: forms.gle/mZw83tLSdoLs...
It's my birthday next week and I want to celebrate by giving YOU the chance to win a signed Gardens of War & Wasteland book pack, valued at $95AUD!
Enter Now: forms.gle/mZw83tLSdoLs...
November 9, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Still time to enter!
Had to kick a German Shepherd today because it was attacking my dog. Owner on the other end of its lead just standing there, saying, oh no, oh dear, don't, like she was fucking Gene Wilder.
Bailey is physically unhurt, but on top of the endless fireworks stress, he's a frightened wreck, not a dog.
Bailey is physically unhurt, but on top of the endless fireworks stress, he's a frightened wreck, not a dog.
November 10, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Had to kick a German Shepherd today because it was attacking my dog. Owner on the other end of its lead just standing there, saying, oh no, oh dear, don't, like she was fucking Gene Wilder.
Bailey is physically unhurt, but on top of the endless fireworks stress, he's a frightened wreck, not a dog.
Bailey is physically unhurt, but on top of the endless fireworks stress, he's a frightened wreck, not a dog.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
November 9, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I've been listening to taiko drums on repeat for the best part of a week now as they drown out most fireworks, or which is my dog increasingly terrified, on account of them being set off FOR A FUCKING WEEK, and I don't know who's going to have a nervous breakdown 1st, me or the poodle. ENOUGH!
November 9, 2025 at 7:31 PM
I've been listening to taiko drums on repeat for the best part of a week now as they drown out most fireworks, or which is my dog increasingly terrified, on account of them being set off FOR A FUCKING WEEK, and I don't know who's going to have a nervous breakdown 1st, me or the poodle. ENOUGH!
Post a cartoon series you love
November 9, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Post a cartoon series you love
Really wanted to love Last Breath on Prime, but there was a real lack of charisma, and the first aid they provided the casualty was SO WOEFULLY BAD it infuriated me.
4 rescue breaths for a man denied oxygen for 27 minutes? And he just wakes up? Nope. No way.
Based on a true story, though.
4 rescue breaths for a man denied oxygen for 27 minutes? And he just wakes up? Nope. No way.
Based on a true story, though.
November 8, 2025 at 11:21 PM
Really wanted to love Last Breath on Prime, but there was a real lack of charisma, and the first aid they provided the casualty was SO WOEFULLY BAD it infuriated me.
4 rescue breaths for a man denied oxygen for 27 minutes? And he just wakes up? Nope. No way.
Based on a true story, though.
4 rescue breaths for a man denied oxygen for 27 minutes? And he just wakes up? Nope. No way.
Based on a true story, though.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
If you're writing any historical fiction set in the UK in the first half of the 20th century, I can't recommend www.1900s.org.uk enough.
It's run by a retired academic who's trying to archive what life was like then for normal people, and it's got all kinds of little details you'd never make up.
It's run by a retired academic who's trying to archive what life was like then for normal people, and it's got all kinds of little details you'd never make up.
Join me in the 1900s: a social history of everyday life
Explore everyday life, early-mid 20th century UK: what ordinary people experienced and felt, with firsthand inputs and supporting research
www.1900s.org.uk
November 8, 2025 at 9:04 PM
If you're writing any historical fiction set in the UK in the first half of the 20th century, I can't recommend www.1900s.org.uk enough.
It's run by a retired academic who's trying to archive what life was like then for normal people, and it's got all kinds of little details you'd never make up.
It's run by a retired academic who's trying to archive what life was like then for normal people, and it's got all kinds of little details you'd never make up.
1 hour into episode 5 of CR campaign 4:
Me: I really don't like the arrogant bastard character trope.
Also me: Matt's Sir Julien can fuck me six ways from Sunday and I'll thank him for it.
Me: I really don't like the arrogant bastard character trope.
Also me: Matt's Sir Julien can fuck me six ways from Sunday and I'll thank him for it.
November 7, 2025 at 9:43 PM
1 hour into episode 5 of CR campaign 4:
Me: I really don't like the arrogant bastard character trope.
Also me: Matt's Sir Julien can fuck me six ways from Sunday and I'll thank him for it.
Me: I really don't like the arrogant bastard character trope.
Also me: Matt's Sir Julien can fuck me six ways from Sunday and I'll thank him for it.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
Amazon has launched a new AI-driven translation service, Kindle Translate, for Kindle Direct Publishing authors 👇 #BookSky
Amazon launches AI translation service for indie authors
ebx.sh
November 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Good literary translation requires understanding (language, culture, genre--on both sides of the translation) and an ability to write well. "AI" can't do that. There are no shortcuts. Treat your work and foreign language readers with the respect they deserve. You won't fool anyone with this.
It seems, for now at least, that the Things of the Body are benign. Waiting on a referral to discuss removal, but we're not talking sinister monstrosities.
Raise a glass of your preferred beverage, folks. Life is a series of terrors.
And then ... there is the writing.
Raise a glass of your preferred beverage, folks. Life is a series of terrors.
And then ... there is the writing.
Weird times. Attended a friend's funeral last week who died very suddenly and unexpectedly, followed by the joys of friends and panels and books and dnd at World Fantasycon, then a couple of CT scans yesterday for Things of the Body. Awaiting results.
And so we write. For what else is there?
And so we write. For what else is there?
November 7, 2025 at 6:56 PM
It seems, for now at least, that the Things of the Body are benign. Waiting on a referral to discuss removal, but we're not talking sinister monstrosities.
Raise a glass of your preferred beverage, folks. Life is a series of terrors.
And then ... there is the writing.
Raise a glass of your preferred beverage, folks. Life is a series of terrors.
And then ... there is the writing.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Weird times. Attended a friend's funeral last week who died very suddenly and unexpectedly, followed by the joys of friends and panels and books and dnd at World Fantasycon, then a couple of CT scans yesterday for Things of the Body. Awaiting results.
And so we write. For what else is there?
And so we write. For what else is there?
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Weird times. Attended a friend's funeral last week who died very suddenly and unexpectedly, followed by the joys of friends and panels and books and dnd at World Fantasycon, then a couple of CT scans yesterday for Things of the Body. Awaiting results.
And so we write. For what else is there?
And so we write. For what else is there?
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Anna, Justin, and Stephen are all superlative editors who can make your book publishing- and querying-ready because they know how publishing works. Get them to edit your books right. fucking. now.
Editing slots are filling up for 2026 already!!!
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
The Write Advice
Editorial Services from Experienced Authors
www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Anna, Justin, and Stephen are all superlative editors who can make your book publishing- and querying-ready because they know how publishing works. Get them to edit your books right. fucking. now.
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Delighted to see this story in the East Lothian Courier- thanks to Erin Brown for the interview! Read online - www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/2554093...
November 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Delighted to see this story in the East Lothian Courier- thanks to Erin Brown for the interview! Read online - www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/2554093...
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Huge congratulations to @andreamara.bsky.social author - the thrilling TV adaptation of ALL HER FAULT, starring Sarah Snook, premiers today on Sky Atlantic. We can’t wait to watch!📺
November 7, 2025 at 10:41 AM
Huge congratulations to @andreamara.bsky.social author - the thrilling TV adaptation of ALL HER FAULT, starring Sarah Snook, premiers today on Sky Atlantic. We can’t wait to watch!📺
I work 32 hrs/wk over 4 days, meaning I get Fridays off. This is my first Friday all year where I don't have any editorial client work. Just me and my WIP. All day. I'm so looking forward to it.
Yes, yes, I love editing work. But a stretch of several hours working on MY stuff? I've missed that
Yes, yes, I love editing work. But a stretch of several hours working on MY stuff? I've missed that
November 7, 2025 at 9:05 AM
I work 32 hrs/wk over 4 days, meaning I get Fridays off. This is my first Friday all year where I don't have any editorial client work. Just me and my WIP. All day. I'm so looking forward to it.
Yes, yes, I love editing work. But a stretch of several hours working on MY stuff? I've missed that
Yes, yes, I love editing work. But a stretch of several hours working on MY stuff? I've missed that
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Kill the Gods: Epic Fantasy Religion - @abeaumontbooks.bsky.social in conversation with @annasmithspark.bsky.social , @justmarvewrites.bsky.social, @willwiles.bsky.social and me. 6pm, Waterstones Covent Garden, 13th November
#SciFi #London @waterstones.bsky.social @britfantasysoc.bsky.social
#SciFi #London @waterstones.bsky.social @britfantasysoc.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Kill the Gods: Epic Fantasy Religion - @abeaumontbooks.bsky.social in conversation with @annasmithspark.bsky.social , @justmarvewrites.bsky.social, @willwiles.bsky.social and me. 6pm, Waterstones Covent Garden, 13th November
#SciFi #London @waterstones.bsky.social @britfantasysoc.bsky.social
#SciFi #London @waterstones.bsky.social @britfantasysoc.bsky.social
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
Editing slots are filling up for 2026 already!!!
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
The Write Advice
Editorial Services from Experienced Authors
www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Editing slots are filling up for 2026 already!!!
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
Now booking for June onwards. If you'll have a manuscript ready for developmental or line editing next summer or later, get in touch at [email protected] to secure your slot.
Prices at www.thewriteadvice.co.uk
~ Anna
Reposted by Anna ZenKen Stephens
I really enjoyed the mass signing event at WorldCon on Saturday. I signed a few books, had some fun conversations, and I got invited to do a bookshop event because I got chatting with a lovely reader, even though they didn't have a book for me to sign. It was all very wholesome and worthwhile.
November 4, 2025 at 3:26 PM
I really enjoyed the mass signing event at WorldCon on Saturday. I signed a few books, had some fun conversations, and I got invited to do a bookshop event because I got chatting with a lovely reader, even though they didn't have a book for me to sign. It was all very wholesome and worthwhile.
Weird times. Attended a friend's funeral last week who died very suddenly and unexpectedly, followed by the joys of friends and panels and books and dnd at World Fantasycon, then a couple of CT scans yesterday for Things of the Body. Awaiting results.
And so we write. For what else is there?
And so we write. For what else is there?
November 6, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Weird times. Attended a friend's funeral last week who died very suddenly and unexpectedly, followed by the joys of friends and panels and books and dnd at World Fantasycon, then a couple of CT scans yesterday for Things of the Body. Awaiting results.
And so we write. For what else is there?
And so we write. For what else is there?