Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
🏳️🌈 Historical fiction | Queer history | Theatre history | Early modernist | USian in Spain.
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Debut novel LIGHTBORNE out now.
Rep: Brianlangan.bsky.social.
More at hessephillips.com
Pinned
Hesse Phillips
@hessephillips.com
· Feb 27
Coming to the UK 6th March 2025, the gorgeous new trade paperback edition of #Lightborne, from @atlanticbooks.bsky.social
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
"A stunning debut on queer love, betrayal and survival in Elizabethan England. Perfect for fans of Hilary Mantel and Maggie O'Farrell." uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ligh...
🌈📚⌛📚💙
If there were any justice in the world we, uh, would not fucking be here, not remotely, what the hell are we even doing?
November 28, 2025 at 6:42 PM
If there were any justice in the world we, uh, would not fucking be here, not remotely, what the hell are we even doing?
I'm so happy I took a picture of this before my wife and I housed it bc it was DELICIOUS. Leftover ramen noodles with gochujang, leftover adobo pork, eggplant, and cabbage stir-fried with a packet of kimchi and topped with a fried egg.
November 28, 2025 at 12:51 PM
I'm so happy I took a picture of this before my wife and I housed it bc it was DELICIOUS. Leftover ramen noodles with gochujang, leftover adobo pork, eggplant, and cabbage stir-fried with a packet of kimchi and topped with a fried egg.
Very excited - almost TOO excited - to be virtually meeting with this year's International Debut Novel Competition winners at @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social later today! I know "sitting very still and staring at a fixed point on the wall" doesn't *look* very excited, but inside I'm all fireworks.
a close up of a woman with curly hair and a hair clip in her hair .
Alt: Clip from Rocky Horror as Doctor Frank-N-Furter says "Antici...........................pation."
media.tenor.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Very excited - almost TOO excited - to be virtually meeting with this year's International Debut Novel Competition winners at @irishwriterscentre.bsky.social later today! I know "sitting very still and staring at a fixed point on the wall" doesn't *look* very excited, but inside I'm all fireworks.
Reposting for the morning crowd!
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Research Diaries #2: Hell is empty & all the devils are here.
Hi. This is me poking my head out of my writing cave, wanting to talk about a work-in-progress for a minute. It’s Schrodinger’s book, as it stands. But with any luck – and a lot m…
hessephillips.com
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposting for the morning crowd!
IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
[Sings drunkenly.]
November 27, 2025 at 10:25 PM
IF I SHOULD FALL FROM GRACE WITH GOD
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
WHERE NO DOCTOR CAN RELIEVE ME
IF I'M BURIED 'NEATH THE-
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Research Diaries #2: Hell is empty & all the devils are here.
Hi. This is me poking my head out of my writing cave, wanting to talk about a work-in-progress for a minute. It’s Schrodinger’s book, as it stands. But with any luck – and a lot m…
hessephillips.com
November 27, 2025 at 6:55 PM
New blog post up, in which I give up all the gory details on my devilish novel-in-progress, and give some extremely depressing statistics that demonstrate how little the experience of being a sexual assault survivor has changed in the past 400 years. #booksky #earlymodern #histfic
Can you sum up your gender in 4 fictional characters?
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
November 27, 2025 at 8:30 AM
Can you sum up your gender in 4 fictional characters?
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
Better yet, I can find them all in the same movie:
'Ere's yer Chrissmas shoppin' sorted then 👇
PROMOTE YOUR BOOKS! EVERYONE WANTS TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR PUBLISHED BOOKS! Do not ask me how my writing is going.
Because @lollardfish.bsky.social says we should promote our books: utpress.utexas.edu/9781477313138/
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
'Ere's yer Chrissmas shoppin' sorted then 👇
Wow. Just wow.
November 27, 2025 at 7:43 AM
Wow. Just wow.
Cosigned. Same goes for the "don't describe the protag physically in any way bc if they don't look like me I can't relate to them" people. And the "don't give the protag a personality or quirks or foibles bc then I can't see myself in them" people.
Like, what are you, six?
Like, what are you, six?
"I DNF first-person books if I can't relate to the protagonist" is a kind of illiteracy.
The point of first person is not to insert yourself into a narrative. You are supposed to experience and empathize with the perspective of a character that is intended to be fully fleshed out.
The point of first person is not to insert yourself into a narrative. You are supposed to experience and empathize with the perspective of a character that is intended to be fully fleshed out.
November 26, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Cosigned. Same goes for the "don't describe the protag physically in any way bc if they don't look like me I can't relate to them" people. And the "don't give the protag a personality or quirks or foibles bc then I can't see myself in them" people.
Like, what are you, six?
Like, what are you, six?
I have vivid memories of showing this to a class of undergrads in "Gay & Lesbian Film & Theatre" and just watching them all slowly turn into the 80s Maxell Cassette guy over the course of the movie.
We've had a few monochrome sketches in a row, so here's some bright, colourful, camp dopamine hits from the film "Pink Narcissus", by James Bidgood, 1963, screened at the Hammer Museum at UCLA in March 2025 👍🏛️🍑 #MuseumBums
November 26, 2025 at 10:20 AM
I have vivid memories of showing this to a class of undergrads in "Gay & Lesbian Film & Theatre" and just watching them all slowly turn into the 80s Maxell Cassette guy over the course of the movie.
"All lesbians are TERFs" is propaganda designed to divide the strongest allies in the spectrum of queer identities - don't fall for it.
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
Reminder that lesbians have a more positive view of trans people than trans people do
November 25, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"All lesbians are TERFs" is propaganda designed to divide the strongest allies in the spectrum of queer identities - don't fall for it.
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
A day without lesbians is like a day without sunshine 🌞 (IYKYK)
Me from now until Saturday (bc we celebrate on Saturday).
November 25, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Me from now until Saturday (bc we celebrate on Saturday).
Ahhhh! My friend @todd-milo.bsky.social incredible debut novel THE LILAC PEOPLE is in the Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards!! Go forth Goodreaders, and vote for this beautiful book about the fall of the Weimar dream and trans survival in Nazi era Berlin!
Last Chance! Vote in the Final Round of the 2025 Goodreads Choice Awards!
It all comes down to this. Pick your favorite books of the year in the Goodreads Choice Awards.
www.goodreads.com
November 25, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Ahhhh! My friend @todd-milo.bsky.social incredible debut novel THE LILAC PEOPLE is in the Goodreads Reader's Choice Awards!! Go forth Goodreaders, and vote for this beautiful book about the fall of the Weimar dream and trans survival in Nazi era Berlin!
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
folks, the library is RIGHT THERE
Someone just replied "I'll never be the type of person who is upset people are reading books for free"
They continue to think we should be honoured they have graced us with their theft.
They continue to think we should be honoured they have graced us with their theft.
November 25, 2025 at 4:31 AM
folks, the library is RIGHT THERE
✨️MANIFESTING✨️
PUNCHBOWL: “.. GOP members messaged us over the weekend saying that they, too, are considering retiring in the middle of the term. Here’s one particularly exercised senior House Republican:
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
@punchbowlnews.bsky.social
November 24, 2025 at 3:58 PM
✨️MANIFESTING✨️
You can also take *off* one accessory, which in my case is boobs.
My friend just fuckin showed up with a corncob pipe & that’s when it hit me that we are all in our 40s which means we get one new accessory slot
November 24, 2025 at 9:55 AM
You can also take *off* one accessory, which in my case is boobs.
Doing yard-work and honestly I could use some friendly zombies who will tell me to take a break and drink some water before my dumb ass passes out.
(This is a spoilery Pluribus reference. Sorry.)
(This is a spoilery Pluribus reference. Sorry.)
November 24, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Doing yard-work and honestly I could use some friendly zombies who will tell me to take a break and drink some water before my dumb ass passes out.
(This is a spoilery Pluribus reference. Sorry.)
(This is a spoilery Pluribus reference. Sorry.)
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Call me picky if you will, but I'm going to say that the Israeli government's sustained attacks class as more than "testing the cease-fire"
BREAKING: At least 24 people are dead and 54 wounded after Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, testing the ceasefire that began in October, officials say.
Israel launches strikes in Gaza ceasefire's latest test as hospitals say 20 killed
Israel's military says it has launched new airstrikes against Hamas militants in Gaza, testing the ceasefire that began on October 10.
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Call me picky if you will, but I'm going to say that the Israeli government's sustained attacks class as more than "testing the cease-fire"
This was the first thing I had to see when I fired up the old Bluesky this morning, so now you have to see it too.
Also me, every morning, looking at the internet just before the last Americans finally stop melting down and go to bed:
Also me, every morning, looking at the internet just before the last Americans finally stop melting down and go to bed:
November 22, 2025 at 8:00 AM
This was the first thing I had to see when I fired up the old Bluesky this morning, so now you have to see it too.
Also me, every morning, looking at the internet just before the last Americans finally stop melting down and go to bed:
Also me, every morning, looking at the internet just before the last Americans finally stop melting down and go to bed:
When I first moved here, I was shocked at the sheer amount of Francoist graffiti: "Franco come back" and "We lived better under Franco." Now I'm sad to say it barely registers. Those who remember the horrors are dying. We built highways over the mass graves, and it's like none of it ever happened.
Excellent from @gilestremlett
"Even today, Franco serves as a warning that outward mediocrity is no barrier to the ruthlessly ambitious." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
"Even today, Franco serves as a warning that outward mediocrity is no barrier to the ruthlessly ambitious." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Spain has too rosy a view of Franco’s regime. Let’s remind ourselves of its horrors | Giles Tremlett
Little is taught about the murderous, incompetent dictatorship – and now almost one in five young people say Franco was good for the country, says historian Giles Tremlett
www.theguardian.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:58 AM
When I first moved here, I was shocked at the sheer amount of Francoist graffiti: "Franco come back" and "We lived better under Franco." Now I'm sad to say it barely registers. Those who remember the horrors are dying. We built highways over the mass graves, and it's like none of it ever happened.
Reposted by Hesse Phillips
Isn't weird how Americans seem to view the "Invisible Hand of the Free Market" AND the "Very Visible Hand of the Armed Forces" as entities that exist independent of humans, as if people aren't in charge of anything, and what happens because of either is this sort of ever present emergent behavior
November 21, 2025 at 6:30 AM
Isn't weird how Americans seem to view the "Invisible Hand of the Free Market" AND the "Very Visible Hand of the Armed Forces" as entities that exist independent of humans, as if people aren't in charge of anything, and what happens because of either is this sort of ever present emergent behavior
Personal experience has led me to conclude there are 2 kinds of shorts-in-winter guys. The first kind are gentle wizardy types who collect board games, and the second kind are straight-up monsters who should be locked away for the public good. I've yet to meet any other variety.
if we had cracked down on the shorts-in-winter guys, we could have nipped this whole fetterman situation in the bud.
November 20, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Personal experience has led me to conclude there are 2 kinds of shorts-in-winter guys. The first kind are gentle wizardy types who collect board games, and the second kind are straight-up monsters who should be locked away for the public good. I've yet to meet any other variety.
TRANSGENDER DAY OF I'M STILL HERE BITCHES
TRANSGENDER DAY OF OUTLIVING THE DIRTBAGS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF ICE-COLD BEER/ VENGEANCE
TRANSGENDER DAY OF AM I MAKING YOU JEALOUS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF PURE UNADULTERATED JOY
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NOT TODAY SATAN
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NO FORGIVENESS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF OUTLIVING THE DIRTBAGS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF ICE-COLD BEER/ VENGEANCE
TRANSGENDER DAY OF AM I MAKING YOU JEALOUS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF PURE UNADULTERATED JOY
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NOT TODAY SATAN
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NO FORGIVENESS
November 20, 2025 at 2:57 PM
TRANSGENDER DAY OF I'M STILL HERE BITCHES
TRANSGENDER DAY OF OUTLIVING THE DIRTBAGS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF ICE-COLD BEER/ VENGEANCE
TRANSGENDER DAY OF AM I MAKING YOU JEALOUS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF PURE UNADULTERATED JOY
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NOT TODAY SATAN
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NO FORGIVENESS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF OUTLIVING THE DIRTBAGS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF ICE-COLD BEER/ VENGEANCE
TRANSGENDER DAY OF AM I MAKING YOU JEALOUS
TRANSGENDER DAY OF PURE UNADULTERATED JOY
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NOT TODAY SATAN
TRANSGENDER DAY OF NO FORGIVENESS