Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 8h

Stunning!

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Reposted by MK Hardy

SJ Groenewegen @sjgroenewegen.co.uk · 12h

Queer writers of SFFH - thread of fantabulous news!

Bona Books 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🤘🏼 @bonabooks.bsky.social · 14h

ANNOUNCEMENT🎺🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Introducing our bona new quarterly literary magazine:

FANTABULOSA!

Pushing the boundaries of bold, authentic, QUEER storytelling. Bringing you stories of the uncanny, the dangerous and the fantastical.

& thanks to our brilliant #WrathMonth backers, we're fully funded for 2026 🤘

Bona Books Presents

A new queer literary magazine

FANTABULOSA!

Tales of the uncanny, the dangerous and the fantastical, from radical and unapologetic queer voices.

Science fiction, fantasy and horror
Short fiction & poetry

Submissions open now

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 12h

They better play nothing but this song at the club night

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 14h

There's a new gay club in town called Rainbow Loft and it's come up a fair bit in conversation and EVERY TIME I call it 'the Rainbow Bridge'. Weirdly no one wants to go there with me.

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Reposted by MK Hardy

Danai Christopoulou | Pre-order VILE LADY VILLAINS @danaiwrites.bsky.social · 19h

Want to buy a sapphic book and support a queer author but money is tight? Today until the 17th, you can preorder VILE LADY VILLAINS for 25% off at @waterstones.bsky.social 😍

Just type OCTOBER25 during checkout! More select titles available.

www.waterstones.com/book/9780241...

Vile Lady Villains by Danai Christopoulou | Waterstones

Buy Vile Lady Villains by Danai Christopoulou from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

www.waterstones.com

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Reposted by MK Hardy

Mary Robinette Kowal @maryrobinettekowal.com · 1d

My hot take is that none of these are structure. These are all recipes that describe structure.

Structure is the Salt, Fat, Acid Heat of writing.

3-Act/Hero's Journey etc are recipes.

You can make great meals without using a recipe if you understand the principles of structure.

Mx. D. D. Ward (they/them) @ddwardiswriting.bsky.social · 2d

So #WritingCommunity how do we feel about structure?

Do you use the 3 act structure? The 5 act?

Hero's Journey? Save the Cat? Super Structure Method? Story Genius Method?

Something else?

What have you got?

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 20h

Me: Finding those was definitely the highlight of my day.
M: You're remembering that we turned in not one, but TWO books to editors this afternoon, right?
Me: Mushroom 😊

MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 1d

Hygrocybe conica! They're not super rare except that they kind of are (their environment is declining) and I've never seen them before. And these ones were literally next to the doctors office we walk by every evening with the dog. So chuffed! 🍄📷

A cluster of small orange mushrooms with very pointed caps; the one in the front has several black marks on it.

A single mushroom in the grass; it has a very pointed cap that is turning from yellowy-orange to black, like it's been burned.

A fully black version of the same type of mushroom; this one has been kicked over and is lying on its side in the grass.

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 1d

Hygrocybe conica! They're not super rare except that they kind of are (their environment is declining) and I've never seen them before. And these ones were literally next to the doctors office we walk by every evening with the dog. So chuffed! 🍄📷

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Reposted by MK Hardy

OTHERSIDE - Kickstarter is LIVE! @othersidespec.bsky.social · 1d

Make that $224 away from nonfiction and 5 backers from our final backer goal! We are SO CLOSE! Thank you!!!

OTHERSIDE - Kickstarter is LIVE! @othersidespec.bsky.social · 2d

We’re $436 away from unlocking nonfiction! That means we’ll open to submissions of everything from moving personal essays to excavations of queer SFF history to incisive literary criticism.

PLUS we’re only 8 backers from our final backer goal—help us get there!

www.kickstarter.com/projects/hyb...

OTHERSIDE 2026: A New Magazine of Queer SFF!

A new queer-led literary magazine devoted to speculative fiction, poetry, and art by 2SLGBTQIA+ authors and artists.

www.kickstarter.com

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 1d

Commonest legend on this topic is that it's due to the Jute Mills - the loud environment necessitated a particular evolution in vowel sounds to be high and sharp to be heard.

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Reposted by MK Hardy

Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 1d

You should read Extremophile. I loved it - it's a manic antifascist adventure that doesn't offer easy answers but does have music, great characters and bad people getting their comeuppance.

Ian Green @ianthegreen.bsky.social · 1d

I've decided that whilst critical success is lovely, I'd like to sell some books.

If you liked EXTREMOPHILE, recommend it to a pal! (If your pal is fucking COOL and not a narc)

Eco-terrorism biohacking body horror, smart shit with dumb characters. Your new favourite book

Ian Green @ianthegreen.bsky.social · Oct 30

'A visceral, doesn't-give-a-damn biopunk thriller that treats the "punk" part of that subgenre not as mere window-dressing but as an antifascist shriek... vital and urgent SF that reaches places realist writing never could' ― @interzone.press

If you like cool shit get this 🕶️

geni.us/extremophile

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Reposted by MK Hardy

Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 1d

We have now retired inside for a peanut butter sandwich & a cup of tea.

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 1d

Salt does great books, and keeping a strong indie scene alive is good for us all. Support them if you can!

Salt Books @saltpublishing.com · 1d

We need your help. 💙 Salt is fighting to keep indie publishing alive — discovering new writers, nurturing voices that matter. Every pound helps us publish more books. Please donate or share today. #SupportIndie #KeepBooksAlive #Books #Writers #IndiePress

Donate to Keep Independent Publishing Alive – Support Salt Books 2026, organized by Christopher Hamilton-Emery

New books and reprints arrive daily at Salty Towers – and we'… Christopher Hamilton-Emery needs your support for Keep Independent Publishing Alive – Support Salt Books 2026

gofund.me

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 2d

Morning Womble! I'm reading City of All Seasons by Oliver K. Langmead and Aliya Whiteley, a dual narrative by two writers that's of obvious interest to this co-writing pair!

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Reposted by MK Hardy

Helen Whistberry @whistberry.bsky.social · 3d

Happy #Caturday!

🩵🩷🤍🩷🩵

Digital drawing of a white cat sitting in a garden. There are layers of flowers echoing the blue, pink, and white colors of the trans flag. Blue hydrangea at top, pink roses, white snowdrops, pink daisies, and finally, small blue flowers among the grass at bottom.

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 3d

Gorgeous!!

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 4d

Love this prompt!

If you enjoyed the sapphic gothicness of The Needfire, check out:

@johannavanveen.bsky.social's My Darling Dreadful Thing
Angie Spoto's The Bone Diver
Kat Dunn's Hungerstone
@cemcgill.bsky.social's Our Hideous Progeny
Emily Danforth's Plain Bad Heroines
Anything by Sarah Waters

Ian Haramaki 🏳️‍⚧️✨ @cometkins.bsky.social · 4d

What books should people be reading if they enjoy yourself? Shout them out! #WritingPrompt

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

Hah, Milngavie was the one I immediately thought of!

MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

Sort of hoping it's mulled wine flavour...

MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

I will report back once it's on the shelves 🫡

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

holy moly get this in me

juux @juux.com · 5d

omg part deux

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

It's Ragwort day!! You definitely need to check it out; here's what we had to say:

“A dark gem of a book, a fable about stories and the power they hold… Ragwort will sweep you away into a world where folklore and faith mingle and clash.”

Benedict Anning @benedictanning.bsky.social · 5d

uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ragw...
It's release day for the delicious follow-up to Gorse!! Highly highly encourage you nab a copy from the inimitable worldly wordsmith @samkhorton.bsky.social ✨

Ragwort

Check out Ragwort - A year on from the loss of Lord Pelagius Hunt of Mirecoombe, new Keeper Nancy Bligh is still struggling. She can banish the spirits and keep peace between the spriggans and piskies...

uk.bookshop.org

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MK Hardy @mkhardywrites.com · 5d

buying plantar fasciitis insoles and chapstick in bulk; that's rock and roll baby 🤘

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Reposted by MK Hardy

After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, @megapolisomancy.bsky.social · 5d

Say the line, Bart! three panel meme but it’s SAY THE LINE, ZACH and then then I HAVE A COPY OF THAT BUT HAVEN’T GOTTEN AROUND TO READING IT YET and then the cheering

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