Susan Murray
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pulpthorn.bsky.social
Susan Murray
@pulpthorn.bsky.social
1.2K followers 620 following 12K posts
Writer of Fantasy & SF. Northerner. Girly swot. She/her. Ooh, squirrel...
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pulpthorn.bsky.social
I’m going in…

*inhales*
Tub of Kenco Millicano instant coffee next to a freshly filled mug. The coffee is dark with a splash of almond milk. The decades-old mug has a squiggly blue background with a large yellow/orange cartoon cat on it and is chipped in several places
November 27, 2025 at 11:37 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Huh. UK politics seem to have joined the circus.
Screenshot of Bluesky trending topics 26/11/2025 (UK budget day): SEGA criticism Hong Kong Fire Kristi Noem Rachel Reeves
November 26, 2025 at 7:37 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Annnd, here's a bonus #BookQW taster from Book 3. Jervin's hired a tax clerk from Ellisquay, of all places, and things aren't RUNning to plan.

WIP, so the usual caveats apply, but I'm hoping to finally settle this particular piece of unfinished business in 2026.
'You're hedging.' Jervin leaned forward in his seat. 'Something brought you all the way upriver from Ellisquay. What drives you?' Gregory raised an eyebrow. 'You, of all people, need to ask?' 'I have a theory.' Gregory drained his beer. 'The same thing that drives everyone, Jervin.' He smiled a tight smile, leaned conspiratorially closer over the table. 'Hunger.' There was a hard edge to his voice, that drew Jervin in irresistibly. Jervin sat back. Who was making the running here? He didn't care. Not with the current direction of travel. To think a few minutes before he'd been losing interest. 'Does that match your theory?' Gregory smiled that same tight smile. The look he gave Jervin was assessing, calculating. And yes, hungry. Gregory stood abruptly with that same lithe ease. He reached for his coat and gave Jervin that same swift, assessing look. 'Busy day tomorrow. And I've probably had enough to drink.' 'If you say so.' Jervin stood with a shrug. He'd swear he knew Gregory's secret. They walked to the door in silence. Gregory held the door open for Jervin, then followed him out of the inn. 'Goodnight, then.' He nodded amicably to Jervin. 'It's early yet,' Jervin countered. 'We've time do something about that hunger of yours.' Gregory froze. For a long moment he said nothing. His eyes searched Jervin's face in the half light of the street. He breathed in. He exhaled slowly, a long, drawn-out business. Then he shook his head, a tight, minimal motion. 'Like I said, I've a busy day ahead. Early start.' There was a hint of regret, or did Jervin imagine that? He'd been so certain, moments before. Now... He couldn't remember when he'd last been knocked back. Not like that. He became aware he was clenching his teeth.
November 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Ebook of the first in the series, The Waterborne Blade, available here:
angryrobotbooks.com/books/the-wa...
Cover of The Waterborne Blade by Susan Murray. A woman clad in an ornate gown is moving past the viewer, a long dagger held in her blood-spattered right hand. Cover art by Paul Young.
November 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Today's #BookQW word is 'run'.

Drew's been kept in the dark too long, and has resorted to eavesdropping to find out what his lover's getting up to. It's not at all what he suspected.

Extract from Waterborne Exile, second in the series, ebook available here: angryrobotbooks.com/books/waterb...
The sound was far more distinct from the right side of the fireplace. Drew hesitated, then stooped down and gently opened the cupboard doors. The cupboard was more or less empty, containing a few folded cloths and nothing else. And when he peered through to the back he could see a tiny chink of light from the room beyond. On closer inspection he realised that side was closed off by a wooden panel which had split along the grain. It was through this crack the sound of conversation was reaching him. He couldn’t help himself now, and leaned closer. The Ellisquay traders were doing most of the talking. Drew struggled to follow the thick Ellisquay accent at the best of times, but now, well-lubricated, they were talking faster than ever, and talking over one another. He could make out odd words, but could not get the gist of what they were saying at all. Occasionally Jervin, seated at the far side of the room, interpolated a lazy comment in his low voice, but mostly he was letting them run on. Drew could picture him sitting there, glass in hand, smiling to himself as the drunken traders spilled their secrets. It was not the orgiastic scene he’d half expected to find – his initial flush of relief was rapidly followed by shame that he hadn’t trusted Jervin in the first place. Goddess, what was wrong with him these days? How could he have doubted him? Jervin was simply sitting there, smiling to himself, with murder in his heart. Cover of Waterborne Exile by Susan Murray. A woman dressed in a blood-spattered white gown moves past the viewer, holding a bowl of blood before her in both hands. A bloodstained dagger is tucked in her belt. Cover art by Paul Young.
November 26, 2025 at 4:20 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Been for healthful stomp. Switched the exercise app units to miles for a relatable benchmark, then switched it back because the results sound so much better in km.

It continues to be spectacularly grim up north…
Small beck winding over squelchy upland. Stones beneath the surface visible through clear water. Upland area, foreground all tussocky grass with a clump of trees to the left, under huge blue sky, with a few bands of low cloud hanging around above distant hills.
November 25, 2025 at 3:03 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
And you can drag the Base window over to a second monitor along with other reference material. I keep notes and research stuff in a separate Obsidian vault with a different-coloured theme so it’s visually distinct from the draft.

Dare I say it? I find this setup more user-friendly than Scrivener.
An L-shaped standing desk (made from kitchen worktop on a pine frame) in the corner of a room with a laptop on a stand next to a large external monitor, showing three open Obsidian windows with the WIP draft on the laptop, the Base from the draft vault on the large screen with all columns visible, and a different-themed reference vault showing a mindmap Canvas on the right. There are notes and other stuff strewn about the desk around an ergonomic keyboard, vertical mouse, and two external drives, plus a small lemming with umbrella dangling from the desk lamp.
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
For the curious, I settled on one Base, with a View for each novel in progress. You can move the Base to a new window and close the sidebars to maximise use of screen space, while keeping both sidebars in the draft window.
Screenshot of dropdown window in the top corner of an Obsidian Base showing brief working titles for three projects, with the Synopsis column heading visible in the overview behind it.
November 25, 2025 at 10:26 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Selecting Table, then filters for File in > Folder gives dropdown for the folder names, then returns every file in the named folder and any of its subfolders. Choose which properties you want in your table and you've built a live equivalent to Scrivener's outline view.
Screenshot from Obsidian showing table generated by Bases plugin with columns (of adjustable width) for scene filename, synopsis, POV character, Location, and whatever else you have set in Properties (formerly known as frontmatter) that you might want to see in an overview. Base takes data from early part of Waterborne 3 draft. Options to select from Bases plugin to generate list of files from a named folder: "All the following are true where 'File' in 'folder' [foldername]
November 23, 2025 at 11:34 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Tidying up files. Found this filed under 'Author Stuff'.
A perfect half pint of Guinness with a smiley face drawn on top, as is right and proper.
November 23, 2025 at 2:32 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Checked the last wall of the snug painted yesterday for colour match (had to open a new tin of paint partway across) and noticed I missed a Scottie dog-shaped patch above the bookshelves on the first wall I did… 🙄
Cream painted wall above some pine bookshelves with what appears to be a Scottie dog-shaped shadow of older, darker cream paint standing on the shelves, head up facing rightwards.
November 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Finally addressing the thorny problem of where to keep our axes.
Two replica axes mounted on a blank bit of wall above some pine bookshelves.
November 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Let’s go, boots.

No faceplanting today, yes?
A pair of laced up walking boots seen from above.
November 21, 2025 at 2:21 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Is this the first time there are _no_ US sporting fixtures in the trending topics?
Screenshot showing trending topics: Explore: 1. NVIDIA earnings 2. Harvard 3. Epstein files 4. Piggy statement
November 20, 2025 at 3:05 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Went for a brisk 55-minute walk but paused the exercise app partway back to take photos and forgot to un-pause, so did it even happen?
Exceedingly blue sky over snow-dusted upland with a band of trees forming a shelter belt around a field.
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Been out and back again. A thin wind makes it very, very cold out, but the lakeland fells look _amazing_.
View over disused quarry and upland to snow-covered Eastern Lakeland fells under a clear blue sky.
November 20, 2025 at 11:19 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Today's #BookQW word is 'jam'. The WIP contains a surprising amount of jamming, but I'm holding that until it's on an exit ramp, so here's a short story snippet from the Before Times.

'Collapse' is a tale of - among other things - corporate chicanery, bee colony collapse, and doomed paper cups.
Cover image for Twisted Histories - a selection of spine-tingling tales edited by Scott Harrison. The cover is dark brown with one of those creepy porcelain dolls with a fabric torso, oddly proportioned ceramic limbs, and a soulless, empty stare.
November 19, 2025 at 3:42 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Can’t exactly call this snow, but it’s not _not_ snow either.
Dusting of snow on lawn that never got its final mow of the year. Dusting of snow on lean-to shed roof, edges of each slate course distinguishable. Dusting of snow on more areas of lawn, the steps leading between levels, on a garden table, and on the plywood cover of our barbecue made from half an old oil drum.
November 19, 2025 at 9:31 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Also, it’s more usually seen through a haze of rain and spray from traffic.
The weird topheavy tower at Forton services seen on a rainy day from the M6 against an overcast sky.
November 18, 2025 at 1:02 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Went for another brisk walk. Knee was Unimpressed, but it couldn’t see the views to appreciate them.
Green track leading off southwards over tussocky gras of common, under intense blue sky with westering sun just out of frame. Shallow beck winding across upland. Summits of Eastern Lakeland fells visible in distance (to the west…) Looking westwards over a band of enclosed pasture in upland setting to Eastern Lakeland fells in middle distance, distinctive outlines of Blencathra and Carrock Fell in Northern fells just visible beyond, all under intense blue sky with the inevitable dissipating jet trail cutting across it.
November 17, 2025 at 4:13 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Fabulous morning up here in our northern fastness. Indifferent pics, because this side of the valley faces east and it’s TOO SUNNY.
Low winter sun above shelter belt of leafless tree, blasting from right of image, green garden in foreground, skeletal ash tree with two bat boxes on left, clear blue sky. Blue sky in top two thirds of image, band of white clouds above horizon to right, ash tree bristling with indignation in the middle, more trees to the left, corner of a paddock with path mown between knee-high grass etc that’s dying back for winter but is home for voles, bugs, and loads of other things that are good for swallows bats to eat in summer. Closeup of large clover leaf, rimed with frost.
November 17, 2025 at 10:02 AM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Lured outside by sunshine for a healthful stomp. It flitted off to the Pennines instead, of course.
Dense grey cloud cover across the top half of the image, with a clear gap across the middle, sunlight shining on the distant flanks of the Pennines. In the middle are green fields dotted with sheep, in the foreground the tussocky grass of upland common.
November 16, 2025 at 3:52 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Want a compelling reason to refrain from investing in expensive repairs to Houses of Parliament? Check out the map showing flood risk and predicted impact of climate change from 2070: flood-map-for-planning.service.gov.uk/map?seg=fz,f...
Screenshot of gov-UK flood risk maps showing Westminster and St James's Park in current flood zones 2 and 3, with the Mall predicted to fall within in projected flood zones from 2070 due to climate change.
November 16, 2025 at 12:11 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
Been checking on the former parental abode today. Even with winter just over the horizon the garden’s still a little oasis of calm.
View of a leafy garden from seats on the patio with ponds at the far side, and loads of shrubs beyond. Corner of a bungalow visible at the top right of image.
November 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
pulpthorn.bsky.social
THIS is a supercharged hedgehog:
Hedgehog, having scoffed a dish of cat food, turns to eye camera suspiciously while its smaller companion is clearing up spilled food in the corner.
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 PM