SF Layzell
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sflayzell.bsky.social
SF Layzell
@sflayzell.bsky.social
1.9K followers 1.4K following 410 posts
I write queer stories & edit books sometimes https://sflayzell.com/

Buy Cottonopolis, a MG set in 1840s Manchester, shortlisted for Little Rebels https://sflayzell.com/cottonopolis/

Views mine, contact via website
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sflayzell.bsky.social
My books are in a Halloween sale til 1 Nov! 👻🏳️‍🌈

Cottonopolis is a queer historical novel. Shortlisted for the 2025 #LittleRebelsAward 🎪
www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...

The Ballad of the Fen Violets combines history, folklore & adventure. Coming out in 2026 🦢
www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...
A graphic showing the cover of Cottonopolis on the left (one white girl and one Black girl in 1800s dress against a background of stars in the colours of the lesbian pride flag). On the right is some descriptive text: Little Rebels Award 2025 shortlist, a magical middlegrade full of marvel and mischief A graphic showing an orange cobweb and bats on a black backgrouns. In the bottom right is the Northodox Press logo. The text reads: 15% off this spooky season. Use the code HALLOWEEN25
October 27, 2025 at 4:15 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Happy Bookshop Day! Last week I visited my book Cottonopolis at radical booksellers Housmans nr Kings Cross London. If only I could stretch big enough to hug the whole shop.

If you're after a historical LGBTQ novel for readers young and old, find it here ❤️🏳️‍🌈
housmans.com/product/cott...
Image shows the front window of a small but perfectly formed bookshop. There is a book trolley in the foreground, and behind the book trolley is a smiling person in a blue coat, stretching their arms wide to showcase the window display.
October 11, 2025 at 9:14 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
I was moving boxes of books around today and found one of my stacks of research reading for Cottonopolis.
A stack of books including titles such as Michael Armstrong by Fanny Trollope, The Whispering Road by Livi Michael, Smith by Leon Garfield, and The Peterloo Massacre by Joyce Marlow
September 27, 2025 at 8:01 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
My book is in the Northodox Summer Sale! Use code SUMMER25 for 25% off *any* title.

Cottonopolis is a queer historical children's novel set in Manchester and shortlisted for the 2025 #LittleRebelsAward

Ebook: www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...

Paperback: www.northodox.co.uk/product-page...
A graphic showing the cover of Cottonopolis on the left (one white girl and one Black girl in 1800s dress against a background of stars in the colours of the lesbian pride flag). On the right is some descriptive text: Little Rebels Award 2025 shortlist, a magical middlegrade full of marvel and mischief
August 25, 2025 at 10:37 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Ready for #ElyPride! I'll be signing books in the community tent 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
Market table set up with books
August 9, 2025 at 8:47 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Hello Womble, I just finished Model Home by Rivers Solomon. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a creepy but heartbreaking read.
Cover of Model Home by Rivers Solomon. The title is black text on bright red background, the picture is what looks like a dolls house with a spider crawling along the roof
July 13, 2025 at 10:06 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Ah yes, famously terrible London
London underground poster from the mayor of London, the text says "in London, I feel free to live and love out loud", underneath it says "you are loved and wanted in London"
June 25, 2025 at 5:32 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
My sophomore novel is now available to preorder! 25% off today with code SUMMER25. It's a young teen Wizard of Oz retelling in a historical Fen setting. There's a transmasc main character, a mean talking swan, and a whole bunch of bad guys tearing up the land...

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🦢🌿👇
Graphic advertising the Northodox Press summer solstice sale, 25% off all orders and preorder on 21-22 June.
June 22, 2025 at 7:11 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Time to choose a Sunday read, then all I need is coffee and a cool breeze

💙📚 🌈📚
Books! The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey, Adelphi by Carol Maginn, Meet me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews, and Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis
June 15, 2025 at 7:18 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Next up on the TBR pile is Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang. I *loved* How Much of These Hills is Gold and I love books about food so I have high hopes!
Cover of Land of Milk and Honey by C Pam Zhang, showing a hand holding a golden apple plucked from a display of golden fruits
May 26, 2025 at 3:56 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Hello Womble! Just finished Boys' Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky and instantly turned back to the first page to start again
From cover of graphic novel Boys Weekend, shows the title in a Vegas-style sign which has sunk to the bottom of the sea and is being held by an ominous tentacle
May 25, 2025 at 8:22 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Sunday bookstack! Latest treasures from Queer Lit Manchester, @northodoxpress.bsky.social and the trusty local library. Titles in alt text 💙📚 🌈📚
Book stack: The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin Adelphi by Carol Maginn Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkis Meet Me at the Surface by Jodie Matthews Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos My Best Friend's Honeymoon by Meryl Wilsner Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky
May 11, 2025 at 6:11 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Yesssssss
Copy of today's Metro news showing a Trans+ History Week ad. Above an image of a stack of newspapers, the text says "Before the printing press we were here. Always been here, always will be."
May 7, 2025 at 6:18 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward 🌈📚
Book cover for Queer as Folklore by Sacha Coward, red and black text on a bright yellow background, with a fabulous mer-fairy-unicorn man
May 5, 2025 at 6:37 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Every day is a good day to read Impossible Moon by Breanna McDaniel, a beautiful book about grief and hope and the moon and stars, but also today is apparently International Astronomy Day ✨ I love books with constellations in them, especially when they talk to the characters! 📚👍
Cover of Impossible Moon by Breanna McDaniel with pictures by Tonya Engel. A little black girl in pyjamas lifts up her hands to the moon. The background is a blue sky full of stars. The girl looks sad and hopeful.
May 3, 2025 at 4:46 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Update! The lovely Northodox folks are holding a flash sale for 1 day only! Use code INDIE for 25% off all orders and preorders!
Yellow and blue promo graphic. 25% off all Northodox Press books for Indie Press Day. Use code INDIE.
May 1, 2025 at 7:50 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Our new book just arrived after many years of work! I co-edited this essay collection, partly during the initial Covid years which were a curveball for lots of areas of our lives including the subject matter of this project ...
Front cover of "Healthcare in children's media", an essay collection edited by Naomi Lesley and Sarah Layzell. White text on a pink, green and blue background of brightly coloured cells, strands of DNA and a medical needle.
April 25, 2025 at 8:38 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Howdy Womble, next up is Friday I'm in Love by Camryn Garrett 🌈📚
Book cover for Friday I'm in Love by Camryn Garrett. White text on turquoise background, strapline is "One Party Can Change Your Life". An illustration of a Black teen girl with a big smile, big hair and a gigantic fabulous rainbow dress and matching earrings is on the cover.
April 20, 2025 at 8:17 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Had a great time at Queer Lit talking about queer/sapphic historical fiction! Three very different books (Cottonopolis, Spitting Gold, Meet Me at the Surface) but our skilled chairperson Emma Hinds found the threads that wove them together.
Sarah sitting and talking into a mic. They are a butch white person with short hair, short sleeves and a couple of cute tattoos (snake and octopus) Sarah talking again, this time the three other authors in the panel are in view. We're on a stage at Social Refuge, the basement events space at Queer Lit bookshop in Manchester. The smiley author panel with our books! Left to right: SF Layzell, Jodie Matthews, Carmella Lowkis and Emma Hinds Books in the wild! Copies of Cottonopolis, Spitting Gold and Meet me at the Surface, in a cardboard box on a turquoise wingback chair
April 18, 2025 at 11:16 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Contemplating last weekend's book haul from Word on the Water where I finally picked up a copy of Secrets of the Snakestone by @piudg.bsky.social 🐍
A postcard showing a bookshop on a boat, a copy of Secrets of the Snakestone with a black snake on an orange background, Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta, and an Atlas of Tolkien by David Day
April 12, 2025 at 10:06 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Gorgeous book post from @brokensleepbooks.bsky.social - go check out their bookshop and preorders and #ReadMorePoetry #booksky
Covers for A [Cupboard] Full of Tomboys by Jay Farley, which features a "100% Non Binary?" text in the style of a clothing care label on a white background. And Sweet Bone Girl by Esme Allman, which features a stylised looping red thread with a high heel dangling from it on a white background.
April 10, 2025 at 7:04 AM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Thank you to @hyacinthreview.bsky.social for such thoughtful questions! Here's a #bookstack of the books I mention in the interview:
A book stack featuring: Passing Time by Michael Butor The Road to Memphis by Mildred Taylor Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell Postcards from No-Man's Land by Aidan Chambers And the Stars were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando Cottonopolis by SF Layzell Letters from Tove by Tove Jansson
April 7, 2025 at 8:22 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
One of the things I talk about in the interview is the way history stacks on top of itself in a way that inspires both my historical and contemporary writing. Here's the ruins of the Roman granary in Manchester, a Victorian viaduct and above that glass towers from the twenty-first century:
The ruins of the Roman granary in Castlefield, Manchester. Above it is a Victorian viaduct and above that are glass skyscrapers. It is a cold and rainy day (obviously)
April 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Looking forward to the University of Washington's Native American Read-in on April 13. It's always worth staying up late for these events 💙📚

events.uw.edu/event/Native...
Poster for Uni of Washington's Native American Read In 2025, featuring Laurel Goodluck and Violet Duncan. Left side is an illustration of a Native child and adult by Steph Littlebird. It's a joyful picture in blue and pink tones with dancing and movement.
March 30, 2025 at 3:05 PM
sflayzell.bsky.social
Posting my face because I like this photo
A head and shoulders photo of Sarah with their head in their hands smiling. Sarah is a white person with short brown hair and arm tattoos of a snake and octopus.
March 30, 2025 at 1:45 PM