Kate Heartfield
@kateheartfield.com
I write weird novels about weird history, plus games and stories. Next novel: MERCUTIO, May 2026. (Mostly) former journalist; currently teaching journalism. From Manitoba, now in Ottawa. She/her. Trans rights or gtfo 🏳️🌈
https://kateheartfield.com
https://kateheartfield.com
Pinned
Kate Heartfield
@kateheartfield.com
· Apr 30
New pinned thread! I'm a writer in Ottawa, Canada. I write historical fantasy novels (see next posts), and other things. I used to be a newspaper journalist. My newsletter, which comes out every second Friday: buttondown.com/heartfield My website: www.kateheartfield.com My typical cat situation:
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
1) The Chatelaine by @kateheartfield.com: Feels very much like a lightly modernised medieval Romance, in the best possible way.
2) A Flight of Arrows by AJ MacKenzie: Great take on the political culture of 14thC Europe, best HistFic on the Battle of Crecy.
(I don't read much HistFic)
2) A Flight of Arrows by AJ MacKenzie: Great take on the political culture of 14thC Europe, best HistFic on the Battle of Crecy.
(I don't read much HistFic)
Do you need something good to read? Here are five of my favourite novels about the Middle Ages, and why I like them. I’d love to hear about your favourites!
💙📚
⌛️📚
shepherd.com/best-books/h...
💙📚
⌛️📚
shepherd.com/best-books/h...
The best historical novels that convey the feel of the Middle Ages
Lucy Pick shares the 5 best books on historical novels that convey the feel of the Middle Ages. Have you read The Long Ships?
shepherd.com
January 26, 2026 at 6:52 PM
1) The Chatelaine by @kateheartfield.com: Feels very much like a lightly modernised medieval Romance, in the best possible way.
2) A Flight of Arrows by AJ MacKenzie: Great take on the political culture of 14thC Europe, best HistFic on the Battle of Crecy.
(I don't read much HistFic)
2) A Flight of Arrows by AJ MacKenzie: Great take on the political culture of 14thC Europe, best HistFic on the Battle of Crecy.
(I don't read much HistFic)
Marie and I often seem to be in conversation with the same things in our work, and it brings me so much joy to read this incredible poem about a figure who also inspired my novel. I can already tell this is a poem I'll return to again and again.
I'm in @strangehorizons.bsky.social's Criticism issue with a new poem (and accompanying commentary)! Special thanks to @kateheartfield.com's novel THE CHATELAINE for introducing me to the idea of Dulle Griet.
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Dulle Griet Stages a New Assault
safety, solidarity, sympathy, strength, commodities closed out of the official economy—
strangehorizons.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:24 PM
Marie and I often seem to be in conversation with the same things in our work, and it brings me so much joy to read this incredible poem about a figure who also inspired my novel. I can already tell this is a poem I'll return to again and again.
Oh I forgot to mention the most hilariously wrong I think I have ever been, when a colleague (99% sure it was @davidreevely.bsky.social) told me in 2005 about this new website called YouTube and I said "pfft like people's home videos? who is going to watch that?"
If you live long enough, you'll have been wrong about stuff. In my 49 years, I've held different positions on, e.g. free trade, decriminalization of drugs. I felt lonely in 2001 bc everyone around me felt this urge to go to war in Afghanistan. But once it started I hoped it could do something good.
January 26, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Oh I forgot to mention the most hilariously wrong I think I have ever been, when a colleague (99% sure it was @davidreevely.bsky.social) told me in 2005 about this new website called YouTube and I said "pfft like people's home videos? who is going to watch that?"
If you live long enough, you'll have been wrong about stuff. In my 49 years, I've held different positions on, e.g. free trade, decriminalization of drugs. I felt lonely in 2001 bc everyone around me felt this urge to go to war in Afghanistan. But once it started I hoped it could do something good.
January 26, 2026 at 4:27 PM
If you live long enough, you'll have been wrong about stuff. In my 49 years, I've held different positions on, e.g. free trade, decriminalization of drugs. I felt lonely in 2001 bc everyone around me felt this urge to go to war in Afghanistan. But once it started I hoped it could do something good.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
Nothing can prepare your soul for the first image ever transmitted onto a television
January 26, 2026 at 2:03 PM
Nothing can prepare your soul for the first image ever transmitted onto a television
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
People at taken to Whipple are released into the cold in whatever they were wearing without their phones and IDs. Volunteers meet them at release (or find them left in parks and the woods) get them a burner, warm clothes, food, a ride home, etc
(GFM in next post)
www.instagram.com/reel/DTzJde9...
(GFM in next post)
www.instagram.com/reel/DTzJde9...
January 26, 2026 at 1:39 AM
People at taken to Whipple are released into the cold in whatever they were wearing without their phones and IDs. Volunteers meet them at release (or find them left in parks and the woods) get them a burner, warm clothes, food, a ride home, etc
(GFM in next post)
www.instagram.com/reel/DTzJde9...
(GFM in next post)
www.instagram.com/reel/DTzJde9...
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
This is our advantage, my friends. They literally do not understand things like care for one's neighbors, mutual support, team efforts that aren't for profit. When we do these things they will not understand how to stop us. While they look for the Bankroller we can just keep helping.
I mostly just stay off Twitter altogether but after double checking that the Walter Hudson post was still up I ran across this and just had to share so the Romancelandians who bought hand warmers could hear about the PROFESSIONAL GRADE LOGISTICS.
January 25, 2026 at 10:44 PM
This is our advantage, my friends. They literally do not understand things like care for one's neighbors, mutual support, team efforts that aren't for profit. When we do these things they will not understand how to stop us. While they look for the Bankroller we can just keep helping.
By the way this is the novel that started with me going "Indiana Jones, but lesbians" and ended with me reading lots about resistance networks. I learned a tonne -- also about the interaction of occupation with homegrown fascism, Himmler's historians, and the people's liberation of Paris in 1944
January 25, 2026 at 9:13 PM
By the way this is the novel that started with me going "Indiana Jones, but lesbians" and ended with me reading lots about resistance networks. I learned a tonne -- also about the interaction of occupation with homegrown fascism, Himmler's historians, and the people's liberation of Paris in 1944
In WWII when resistance agents got caught (which they did all the time, esp when the SOE was involved) it wasn't because they used media they knew the enemy was monitoring. It was usually:
- cross-contaminating the small networks
- not following their protocols (ignoring missing security words, etc)
- cross-contaminating the small networks
- not following their protocols (ignoring missing security words, etc)
The formula here is a lot simpler than finding an old hippie.
If you want to organize ICE Watch or grocery distributions, Signal is fine.
If you want to organize the kind of thing where even discussing it is a crime, in person only, in extremely small groups where you trust every single person.
If you want to organize ICE Watch or grocery distributions, Signal is fine.
If you want to organize the kind of thing where even discussing it is a crime, in person only, in extremely small groups where you trust every single person.
I think it is *incredibly* irresponsible for someone like @stonekettle.bsky.social, with a huge following, to claim that Signal is just as insecure as texts or other public social media.
This is a classic “making perfect the enemy of the good” error.
This is a classic “making perfect the enemy of the good” error.
January 25, 2026 at 7:58 PM
In WWII when resistance agents got caught (which they did all the time, esp when the SOE was involved) it wasn't because they used media they knew the enemy was monitoring. It was usually:
- cross-contaminating the small networks
- not following their protocols (ignoring missing security words, etc)
- cross-contaminating the small networks
- not following their protocols (ignoring missing security words, etc)
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
This.
Lol “ice hockey”
January 25, 2026 at 6:44 PM
This.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
Weeelllll if you want to read about at least one person learning* to see the world through other eyes... may I recommend the anti-war, small acts of resistance and malicious compliance** book ONE MESSAGE REMAINS?
*being forced
**also occasionally blowing up train tracks
*being forced
**also occasionally blowing up train tracks
January 25, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Weeelllll if you want to read about at least one person learning* to see the world through other eyes... may I recommend the anti-war, small acts of resistance and malicious compliance** book ONE MESSAGE REMAINS?
*being forced
**also occasionally blowing up train tracks
*being forced
**also occasionally blowing up train tracks
Such a disturbing story. And a rural one. It's described here as "Ottawa's south end" but this isn't what any Ottawan would call that. It's out roughly where I live, which is, as the story also says, 40 km from downtown, near where a village meets fields. Our municipal boundaries are just weird.
SIU investigating Ottawa police actions in south end fatality
Ontario's Special Investigations Unit has opened a probe into into Ottawa police actions in the death of a person in the south end Saturday.
ottawacitizen.com
January 25, 2026 at 6:18 PM
Such a disturbing story. And a rural one. It's described here as "Ottawa's south end" but this isn't what any Ottawan would call that. It's out roughly where I live, which is, as the story also says, 40 km from downtown, near where a village meets fields. Our municipal boundaries are just weird.
Jim Pattison Developments, which owns this warehouse in Virginia that ICE wants to use, is based in Vancouver, if anyone wants to write to them or look more into it.
(Jim Pattison himself is 97 years old, and was #9 on the Maclean's list of Canada's richest people in 2024.)
(Jim Pattison himself is 97 years old, and was #9 on the Maclean's list of Canada's richest people in 2024.)
Canadian angle to ICE fuckery: ICE is seeking to buy a Jim Pattinson Developments warehouse in the US to use as a processing facility. Jim Pattison is Canadian (Save On Foods, etc). Seems like this is a thing we should know? www.vpm.org/news/2026-01...
ICE wants to use Hanover warehouse for immigrant processing
County officials have 30 days to respond to the federal agency.
www.vpm.org
January 25, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Jim Pattison Developments, which owns this warehouse in Virginia that ICE wants to use, is based in Vancouver, if anyone wants to write to them or look more into it.
(Jim Pattison himself is 97 years old, and was #9 on the Maclean's list of Canada's richest people in 2024.)
(Jim Pattison himself is 97 years old, and was #9 on the Maclean's list of Canada's richest people in 2024.)
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)
January 25, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Kudos to the NYT editor who took “Appears to” out of the lead headline (finally)
This isn't really new, either. "The greatest way to defend democracy is to make it work." - Tommy Douglas. "If American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land." - FDR
Democratic politicians have, though, pursued growth in GDP at the expense of other values. One response to @jburnmurdoch.ft.com pessimistic scenario is refocus on those values, combined with egalitarianism, sufficiency and quality of life. Not "it's the economy, stupid" but "it's the the society"
Is liberal democracy in terminal decline?
The old system worked under a set of conditions that are no longer present
www.ft.com
January 25, 2026 at 3:16 PM
This isn't really new, either. "The greatest way to defend democracy is to make it work." - Tommy Douglas. "If American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land." - FDR
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
Good morning from the whistle witch! As of last check, we've shipped 121,880 free whistles this month. The Whistle Avengers are picking their superhero names & meeting the demands of our increasing requests!
If you need whistles, hit the email addy at the top of our linktree! linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
If you need whistles, hit the email addy at the top of our linktree! linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
January 25, 2026 at 2:37 PM
Good morning from the whistle witch! As of last check, we've shipped 121,880 free whistles this month. The Whistle Avengers are picking their superhero names & meeting the demands of our increasing requests!
If you need whistles, hit the email addy at the top of our linktree! linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
If you need whistles, hit the email addy at the top of our linktree! linktr.ee/3Dwhistles
The line from Ur-Fascism echoing in my head this week is "Fascist governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy." Trump convinced himself Minnesota "actually" always votes for him; they can't see anything clearly.
January 25, 2026 at 1:14 AM
The line from Ur-Fascism echoing in my head this week is "Fascist governments are condemned to lose wars because they are constitutionally incapable of objectively evaluating the force of the enemy." Trump convinced himself Minnesota "actually" always votes for him; they can't see anything clearly.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
There's a prison revolt at a concentration camp in Texas in solidarity with Minneapolis:
January 24, 2026 at 11:04 PM
There's a prison revolt at a concentration camp in Texas in solidarity with Minneapolis:
My autoplay setting was still toggled off (as I try to keep it) as recently as this morning, and this afternoon it's suddenly toggled on. Great timing. And after I changed it on the app, I then also had to change it on the web. If the Bluesky folks are looking for something to work on, may I suggest
January 24, 2026 at 8:33 PM
My autoplay setting was still toggled off (as I try to keep it) as recently as this morning, and this afternoon it's suddenly toggled on. Great timing. And after I changed it on the app, I then also had to change it on the web. If the Bluesky folks are looking for something to work on, may I suggest
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
The thing about Doug Ford, he’s only against the trump’s tariffs that hit Ontario. He has said he’s a trump supporter otherwise & continually shows that.
January 24, 2026 at 7:33 PM
The thing about Doug Ford, he’s only against the trump’s tariffs that hit Ontario. He has said he’s a trump supporter otherwise & continually shows that.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
They are so much braver than our leaders and elites.
January 24, 2026 at 7:29 PM
They are so much braver than our leaders and elites.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
This is a small immediate action you can take to support the businesses where the murder this morning happened. They were closed yesterday. Now they’re going to have to close today. Few of them can take multiple days without business.
Please share this far and wide. beyondbeurreblanc.substack.com/p/support-ea...
Support Eat Street Right Now
Our restaurants need you.
beyondbeurreblanc.substack.com
January 24, 2026 at 7:09 PM
This is a small immediate action you can take to support the businesses where the murder this morning happened. They were closed yesterday. Now they’re going to have to close today. Few of them can take multiple days without business.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
ICE considers documentation enough of a threat to kill those doing it. Why? Because documenting what ICE is doing makes it harder for them to lie and gaslight the people. Because documenting ICE makes it clear that they are fascists. It brings more people into the struggle. & that's a threat to ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 5:28 PM
ICE considers documentation enough of a threat to kill those doing it. Why? Because documenting what ICE is doing makes it harder for them to lie and gaslight the people. Because documenting ICE makes it clear that they are fascists. It brings more people into the struggle. & that's a threat to ICE.
Reposted by Kate Heartfield
They’re killing observers because they are threatened by them. the work these people are doing is profoundly brave. They’re all heroes.
I am trying not to post on these events in this state of mind but: I hope people understand what the observers are doing is brave and dangerous.
January 24, 2026 at 4:55 PM
They’re killing observers because they are threatened by them. the work these people are doing is profoundly brave. They’re all heroes.
I just feel sick watching the death squads peacock around Minneapolis today. We knew it was coming, it's all happened before, but I feel sick and very very sad all the same.
January 24, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I just feel sick watching the death squads peacock around Minneapolis today. We knew it was coming, it's all happened before, but I feel sick and very very sad all the same.