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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · 12d

'Cookies' a word divided by the Atlantic: in the US it means biscuits. In the UK it means irritating pop-ups that along with AI slop and adverts make the Internet barely usable today.

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · 15d

Delighted to announce that my new mystery novel will be published next year by Scottish independent publisher Sparsile Books!

sparsilebooks.bsky.social @sparsilebooks.bsky.social · 15d

Murder, mystery, and Manda… her crime novel with Sparsile lands autumn 2026. Stay tuned.
www.sparsilebooks.com/manda-benson

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · 25d

Please don't send me messages on here. It says I have to 'verify my age' in order to see messages and 'adult content'. I don't want to have to see 'adult content' in order to receive messages on social media, so I shall choose to remain a child. :-)

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · 28d

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Sep 3

I had something this afternoon with the exact same structure, same website hit from Nigeria. (The Nigerian prince's new venture perhaps?) Like everything genrated by LLMs, it's legible but there's something off about how it's written that manages to be both hackneyed and bland.

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Reposted by Manda Benson

Chalk Scribblers @chalkscribblers.bsky.social · Sep 2

Would you like to hear some insights from one of Britain's leading independent publishers? Join us online for free at 7pn (UK time) tomorrow when Ian Whates of NewCon Press will share them with us.
#writingcommunity #amwriting

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1554178903...

Chalk Scribblers meet the publisher: NewCon Press

A talk and Q&A with Ian Whates, founder and director of NewCon Press and award-winning science fiction author.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Sep 1

What's being touted as AI at the moment absolutely is part of the problem and not the solution. It uses vast amounts of electricity and water that would be better used by people and businesses. :-(

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Aug 26

A computer that will boot should not be thrown away (and even broken ones can be salvaged for components). If you have defunct hardware lying about, consider donating it to help disadvantaged families have access to computing.

Donate your computer

A list of community groups across the UK which collect computer donations for fixing and distribution to locals in need. Their work is vital to many who are now able to stay connected.

therestartproject.org

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Aug 22

With Microsoft pushing for users to change to an OS only available to new-ish chipsets and software manufacturers changing to subscription models, and all of them bloated with adverts and AI crud, there has never been a better time to dump the lot of them and discover Linux.

Linux Mint 22.1 "Xia" - Linux Mint

Linux Mint is an elegant, easy to use, up to date and comfortable desktop operating system.

linuxmint.com

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Aug 17

1 folder containing 10 short stories previously published. 1 folder containing 16 short stories in a fit state to be submitted. Innumerable files that might be short fiction of unknown genre on computers and bits of hardware in drawers. The floppy disks are mysteries as I have no drive to read them.

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Aug 15

'Delete your pictures' is a nonsensical piece of advice for those of us who keep them on DVDs and USB pens in drawers or on SD cards in devices. When did The Cloud become all engulfing for so many?

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Reposted by Manda Benson

Wendy M. Grossman @wendyg.bsky.social · Aug 8

This week's net.wars, "Machine learning", chats about chatbots in education with a tiny unrepresentative sample of those dealing with them: netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/08/08/m...

Machine learning

For decades, technologists imagined teaching machines. Instead, although edtech is indeed permeating classrooms, human teachers have remained in demand. And the

netwars.pelicancrossing.net

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Jul 17

It sounds like the sort of thing that ought to invite suspicion upon everything else that someone has ever done in the past or does in future!

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Reposted by Manda Benson

Chalk Scribblers @chalkscribblers.bsky.social · Jul 13

A very hot summer is when the sidhe slide out from under their rocks. Join us online for free this Wed when novelist Peadar Ó Guilín @thecallya.bsky.social tells us how he writes about them.
#writingcommuunity
Meetup: www.meetup.com/chalk-scribb...
Eventbrite: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1428920903...

Chalk Scribblers meet the author: Peadar Ó Guilín, Wed, Jul 16, 2025, 7:00 PM | Meetup

Peadar Ó Guilín is an Irish author of short and long-form fiction. The first of his five YA novels, *The Inferior*, was published in 2007 and the most recent, *The Invasion

www.meetup.com

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · Jul 6

Personalised Rejection:
Your technothriller set on a submarine was not immersive enough. Your mystery about a murder at a gardening club was too flowery. Your psychological thriller about a serial killer with dissociative identity disorder, I found the protagonist inconsistent.

Reposted by Manda Benson

Chalk Scribblers @chalkscribblers.bsky.social · Jun 1

Our next speaker will be Neil Clarke of Clarkesworld @clarkesworldmagazine.com, who talk about two decades editing one of the top short fiction venues around plus a few anthologies. Join us online this Wed for free.
#writingcommunity #amwriting #getpublished

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1382424742...

Chalk Scribblers meet the publisher: Neil Clarke

An evening with Neil Clarke, editor of the Clarkesworld and Forever magazines and numerous anthologies.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 18

The Lambton Worm -- paperback edition now available on Amazon.
www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1917231067

The Lambton Worm (Pilgrennon's Children): Amazon.co.uk: Benson, Manda: 9781917231060: Books

Buy The Lambton Worm (Pilgrennon's Children) by Benson, Manda from Amazon's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.

www.amazon.co.uk

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 18

I joined a new critique group recently and have been doing 'Shelleys' which helps!

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 18

I have CS4. I wish so much I had bought CS6 before they changed to subscription software. :-(

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 16

Only time ever I've suspected it of having a sense of humour! How does the Pope pay? By PayPal. :-)

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 16

I recently typed in to Google 'Where do boobies nest?' The first answer was AI generated bilge telling me where tits nest.
AI of the sort being promoted today is a toy, made to look superficially human. It's also incredibly wasteful of electricity.

Wendy M. Grossman @wendyg.bsky.social · May 16

This week's net.wars, "Hallucinations", tours the increasing unreliability of "AI" and its chatbots: netwars.pelicancrossing.net/2025/05/16/h...

Hallucinations

It makes obvious sense that the people most personally affected by a crime should have the right to present their views in court. Last week, in Arizona, Stacey

netwars.pelicancrossing.net

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 13

Excellent psychological horror story!

C.J. Subko @cjsubko.bsky.social · May 12

My @thedeadlands.com story is free to read today! Mind the CWs at the top.

It's an intense story about the deaths that shape us.

psychopomp.com/deadlands/is...

The Twelve Deaths of You - PSYCHOPOMP.COM

SPRING 2025, SHORT STORY, 2700 WORDS Prefer to read this as an EPUB or PDF? Join our Patreon and instantly […]

psychopomp.com

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 11

I'm honoured that @laylasabourian.bsky.social and her family found the book helpful! Challenging unhelpful stereotypes in fiction of how foster families and absent biological parents are portrayed was important to me right from when I began this series.
laylasabourian.substack.com/p/pilgrennon...

Pilgrennon's Beacon

What Do Albert Einstein and Manda Benson Have in Common?

laylasabourian.substack.com

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Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 9

Many autistic children who are otherwise bright struggle academically because of complex needs. It is not acknowledged enough how utterly brutal puberty is for many girls. The Lambton Worm hopefully plays a part in giving these aspects of life a bit more space.

The Lambton Worm (Pilgrennon's Children): Amazon.co.uk: Benson, Manda: 9781917231077: Books

Buy The Lambton Worm (Pilgrennon's Children) by Benson, Manda from Amazon's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.

www.amazon.co.uk

Manda Benson @doctormandabenson.bsky.social · May 1

Cometh the eleventh hour, cometh the last-minute change of plan...

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