J.S. Watts
@j-s-watts.bsky.social
Writer (poet, novelist, short story writer and sometime reviewer) amateur photographer and very amateur musician. Website: https://www.jswatts.co.uk/
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J.S. Watts
@j-s-watts.bsky.social
· Apr 16
By way of a belated introduction to my writing life, a selection of my published books - Novels: Witchlight; Old Light; Elderlight; A Darker Moon. Poetry: Cats and Other Myths; Songs of Steelyard Sue; Years Ago You Coloured Me; The Submerged Sea; Underword.
A view from this weekend just gone.
November 10, 2025 at 2:21 PM
A view from this weekend just gone.
Reposted by J.S. Watts
Flash fiction submissions are now OPEN - November 10th through December 12, 2025 11:59PM EST!
GO GO GO!
GO GO GO!
November 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Flash fiction submissions are now OPEN - November 10th through December 12, 2025 11:59PM EST!
GO GO GO!
GO GO GO!
Saturday 15 November, beginning at 6pm at the Thrive Cafe, Cambridge, I'll be one of the selected open micers and will be reading a couple of my poems from Songs of Steelyard Sue and Underword.
Sadly, the lovely Thrive Cafe will be closing its doors for good the following day, Sunday 16 November.
Sadly, the lovely Thrive Cafe will be closing its doors for good the following day, Sunday 16 November.
November 9, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Saturday 15 November, beginning at 6pm at the Thrive Cafe, Cambridge, I'll be one of the selected open micers and will be reading a couple of my poems from Songs of Steelyard Sue and Underword.
Sadly, the lovely Thrive Cafe will be closing its doors for good the following day, Sunday 16 November.
Sadly, the lovely Thrive Cafe will be closing its doors for good the following day, Sunday 16 November.
A digested Booker line-up
‘I had a year to write it from scratch’: the 2025 Booker finalists on the stories behind their novels
‘I had a year to write it from scratch’: the 2025 Booker finalists on the stories behind their novels
A newspaper report about a missing girl, the memory of a midwinter emergency … Susan Choi, Andrew Miller, David Szalay and others on what inspired their shortlisted books
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:49 AM
A digested Booker line-up
Reposted by J.S. Watts
👏👏👏 @banxtoons.bsky.social hitting the nail squarely on the head again. Every politician should be made to look at this drawing every single day. 👇
November 7, 2025 at 10:50 PM
👏👏👏 @banxtoons.bsky.social hitting the nail squarely on the head again. Every politician should be made to look at this drawing every single day. 👇
Reposted by J.S. Watts
he Poets' Version of Beckett: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail worse. No matter. Try again. Fail far worse still. Try again. Fail beyond your imagination's ability to comprehend the scale of possible failures open to you . . .' (contd p.94)
November 7, 2025 at 7:06 AM
he Poets' Version of Beckett: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail worse. No matter. Try again. Fail far worse still. Try again. Fail beyond your imagination's ability to comprehend the scale of possible failures open to you . . .' (contd p.94)
Helpful advice 109 - when focusing on a tricky piece of ironing held in place with your left hand whilst reaching backwards for the very hot iron with your right, make sure the iron handle and not the hot plate is turned to face you. Just saying...
November 6, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Helpful advice 109 - when focusing on a tricky piece of ironing held in place with your left hand whilst reaching backwards for the very hot iron with your right, make sure the iron handle and not the hot plate is turned to face you. Just saying...
Reposted by J.S. Watts
This is one of @writeforwellbeing.bsky.social's brilliant poetry starter packs. Please follow and repost if you can #poetsonbluesky #poetrycommunity
November 5, 2025 at 8:36 AM
This is one of @writeforwellbeing.bsky.social's brilliant poetry starter packs. Please follow and repost if you can #poetsonbluesky #poetrycommunity
Reposted by J.S. Watts
Hi! I'm so excited to read your work :)
For more guidelines check out inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/ or follow the link in our bio to the submissions page:
share.google/AeU3wkv9bjiK...
-SA
#prose #poetry #onlinezine #creativewriting #inksweatandtears #poetrydaily #poetrylovers #poetrygram
For more guidelines check out inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/ or follow the link in our bio to the submissions page:
share.google/AeU3wkv9bjiK...
-SA
#prose #poetry #onlinezine #creativewriting #inksweatandtears #poetrydaily #poetrylovers #poetrygram
November 3, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Hi! I'm so excited to read your work :)
For more guidelines check out inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/ or follow the link in our bio to the submissions page:
share.google/AeU3wkv9bjiK...
-SA
#prose #poetry #onlinezine #creativewriting #inksweatandtears #poetrydaily #poetrylovers #poetrygram
For more guidelines check out inksweatandtears.co.uk/submissions/ or follow the link in our bio to the submissions page:
share.google/AeU3wkv9bjiK...
-SA
#prose #poetry #onlinezine #creativewriting #inksweatandtears #poetrydaily #poetrylovers #poetrygram
Pic 38 in my brick wall series. Dutch brick from an angle #brickinthewall
November 3, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Pic 38 in my brick wall series. Dutch brick from an angle #brickinthewall
Starting to get bookings for readings and talks in 2026, which is always encouraging.
November 2, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Starting to get bookings for readings and talks in 2026, which is always encouraging.
I was going to deny this on the grounds that I have never written a poem about a horse and then I remembered I have written two... thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/26-more-th...
26 (more) things you only know if you’re a poet – by Tim Relf
The Friday Poem on 31st October 2025
thefridaypoem.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:45 AM
I was going to deny this on the grounds that I have never written a poem about a horse and then I remembered I have written two... thefridaypoem.substack.com/p/26-more-th...
Yesterday's late sunset glow was something.
October 30, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Yesterday's late sunset glow was something.
A view from yesterday when there was some blue amongst the grey.
October 29, 2025 at 10:14 AM
A view from yesterday when there was some blue amongst the grey.
I ❤️ Emma Thompson.
"I DON'T NEED YOU TO FUCKING REWRITE WHAT I'VE JUST WRITTEN!"
October 28, 2025 at 1:41 PM
I ❤️ Emma Thompson.
Will somebody please tell my brain that it's an hour earlier than it thinks it is...
October 26, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Will somebody please tell my brain that it's an hour earlier than it thinks it is...
Yesterday's angled dusk on phone camera.
October 25, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Yesterday's angled dusk on phone camera.
Reposted by J.S. Watts
‘It’s insanely sinister’: horror writers on the scariest stories they’ve ever read
‘It’s insanely sinister’: horror writers on the scariest stories they’ve ever read
Bloodthirsty ghosts, sadistic supercomputers, creepy childhood games ... Mariana Enríquez, Paul Tremblay, Daisy Johnson and others on the tales that kept them up at night
www.theguardian.com
October 25, 2025 at 8:31 AM
‘It’s insanely sinister’: horror writers on the scariest stories they’ve ever read
As we are all on a social media site, its seems apposite to re-post this.
Instagram and Facebook found in breach of EU law over flagging of illegal content
Instagram and Facebook found in breach of EU law over flagging of illegal content
European Commission initial finding says mechanisms to report and remove illegal content may be ineffective
Instagram and Facebook have breached EU law by failing to provide users with simple ways to flag illegal content including child sexual abuse material and terrorist content, the European Commission has said.
In preliminary finding on Friday, the EU’s executive body said Meta, the $1.8tn California company that runs the social media services, had introduced unnecessary steps in processes for users to submit reports. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:57 PM
As we are all on a social media site, its seems apposite to re-post this.
So yes, I know it's still only October, but, as is the way of things, here are my top 3 reads of 2025 (or, at least, January - October 2025). shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/... #BookSky
Want to know J.S. Watts' Top 3 Books of 2025?
J.S.'s top 3 reads of 2025 include Is a River Alive? and two other amazing books. Discover what makes these books unmissable!
shepherd.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
So yes, I know it's still only October, but, as is the way of things, here are my top 3 reads of 2025 (or, at least, January - October 2025). shepherd.com/bboy/2025/f/... #BookSky
A wee piece of advice to book marketing scammers: when writing to me, do make sure the book in question is one of my books, and, if it is, do try to get the title right...
October 22, 2025 at 2:38 PM
A wee piece of advice to book marketing scammers: when writing to me, do make sure the book in question is one of my books, and, if it is, do try to get the title right...
Pic 37 in my brick wall series. Ornate South Cambridgeshire brickwork (or it may be a face) #brickinthewall
October 22, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Pic 37 in my brick wall series. Ornate South Cambridgeshire brickwork (or it may be a face) #brickinthewall
Reposted by J.S. Watts
'It turns out the most important part of creativity is not the having done, but the doing. That’s the human part.'
When my kids wrote a song using AI, all I could think was: you missed the fun part | Myke Bartlett
When my kids wrote a song using AI, all I could think was: you missed the fun part | Myke Bartlett
The arrival of AI is a chance to remind kids that the joy of creativity is not in what you made, but in the process of making it
www.theguardian.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:13 PM
'It turns out the most important part of creativity is not the having done, but the doing. That’s the human part.'