Sign in

Craig Shackleton

@craigshackleton.com
1.6K followers 1.1K following 3.6K posts

SFF writer and Swordplay instructor || Founder of Ottawa Swordplay || Lapsed TTRPG writer || AuDHD Currently seeking a literary agent and writing more novels. #IndigoEmployee || My posted opinions are my own, I don't speak for my employer.

PostsRepliesMedia
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 24/09/2026
Since I know that @kateheartfield.com and @kevinhearne.bsky.social hang out together quite often, this particular bookstore situation tickled my fancy. (I don't know how I hadn't realized this would be likely until I saw it)
A bookstore bookshelf with several books, focused on Paper & Blood by Kevin Hearne right next to Mercutio by Kate Heartfield.
180
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 12/09/2026
It seems risky that my employer is selling this book.
A book entitled "Murder Your Employer" by Rupert Holmes.
030
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 06/09/2026
My elder daughter made this book for her younger sister when they were both tiny and it is a treasure to all of us. Not the physical book, the making of it. Fuck AI.
A homemade book with a child's handwriting entitling it "My Book of Mithackl Creechrs"
0224
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 01/09/2026
I did not realize when I posted this that today was the official release day of the collected vols 1&2 of this book in print. I did manage to snag an ARC for myself. Highly recommended.
A green book, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, by Beth Brower.
010
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 10/08/2026
Holding off on my hiatus to post that I have @kateheartfield.com 's Mercutio in my hand. This is also an author bingo square checked off for me!
Mercutio by Kate Heartfield.I'm so grateful to my friends Marco Cultrerra and Craig Shackleton for reading early drafts of this book in whole or in part, and giving me advice about it.
052
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 30/07/2026
Hey, @taowong.bsky.social , this is right at the fridge not entrance to the store. They keep putting your books in more and more prominent positions.
A display shelf of books with one facing of The First Step and two facings of The First Stop.
120
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 10/07/2026
Look what I have! @macarrick.bsky.social @swantower.bsky.social @alychelms.bsky.social (No Leviathan book has ever let me down)
A hand holding a book; The Eye of Leviathan by M. A. Carrick.
081
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 08/07/2026
I just got the professional photos of this and wow! (photo credit: heatherdoughtyphotography.com )
Brandon and I saluting each other before the fight.Action shot of Brandon and I fighting with swords.Another shot of Brandon and I fighting, This is one of my favourite gambits with single sword, taken from Meyer's rapier, but Brandon knows all of that. Still, I'm reassured to see my form here is excellent.One of Brandon's hits on me, unfortunately obscured by the angle. They scored 2 of 3 passes, this was the best hit of the 3. We both look fantastic.
162
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 02/07/2026
This has been my main experience of the storms yesterday and today.
A screenshot of a weather radar map. A blue dot indicates my location, where the weather is not bad, with storms passing close by to the north and the south.
000
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 01/07/2026
Seems bad.
Red Warning - Tornado
Orange Warning - Heat
Yellow Watch - Severe Thunderstorm
23° C
Feels like 33
Wind calm
030
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 05/06/2026
Here's a picture of @thebrandoneby.bsky.social and I fighting, rapier vs. backsword. They beat me in two of three passes.
Two people in nice clothes sword fighting beside a river.
172
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 31/05/2026
Hey @taowong.bsky.social , they've put you front of store, centre aisle.
Rack of books with "The First Step" front and centre.
150
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 30/04/2026
One of them is enjoying this arrangement more than the other.
Two cats in a cat bed The tortoiseshell is cleaning herself and squishing her orange brother who is squinting and flicking his tail.
030
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 19/04/2026
Here you go!
A bookshelf in an Indigo store featuring fantasy novelsClose up of the same bookshelf showing The First Step featured beside Dungeon Crawler Carl.
121
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 07/04/2026
There are birds and squirrels and chipmunks outside, but Spark and Cinder are on the case.
040
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 03/04/2026
Spark says that Steve is one handsome fella!
An orange cat on a pale blue patterned carpet.
120
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 01/03/2026
2/ There's a model of the learning path that I find is pretty accurate, and I like it because it has multiple applications. To my surprise, I couldn't quickly find this online, so I drew a crappy one:
A simple x-y axis with a path of arrows starting in the bottom left, moving to the upper left, then upper right, then lower right.
160
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 21/02/2026
Important update:
A dilute tortoiseshell cat sleeping in a cat bed. Her front paws are crossed in front of her.
130
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 21/02/2026
An orange cat curled up in a cat bed, with one paw covering his eyes.
030
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 18/02/2026
I found this congruence of posts in my timeline funny. The computer isn't interested in you anymore, it's dating the CEO instead.
Two Bluesky posts:

Erik Hane
please do not try to date the computer 

Aiden Mother

CEOs love AI chatbots because for the first time in their life they feel like they have a friend.
141
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 19/01/2026
Something football just happened.
Several posts from people I follow who often mention football things, all exclaiming about something.
031
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 12/10/2025
This seems like a fire risk, Finch app.
A screen cap from the Finch app showing a green bird in fancy clothes sleeping in a bed while holding a lit candle.
000
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 06/10/2025
My medieval wardrobe had mostly worn out or no longer fit me. This weekend a friend gifted me with replacements for everything and I am so incredibly grateful. This is my favourite among them.
Me, standing in a medieval camp wearing a burgundy cotte, blue chausses, and a green hat.
3140
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 28/09/2025
Feeling called out now.
Screencap of a Scrivener drop down menu that says "No Style"
190
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 15/09/2025
Y'all, this used to say 55000, I have edited relentlessly and my novel is officially a novella.
Screenshot from Word saying "40000 words"
4320
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 04/08/2025
This is probably only funny to people from Ottawa.
Screen capture of a Discord discussion:
[user redacted]: Graphic design is my passion
Image with the city of Ottawa logo and a picture of a statue of Colonel By, founder of Bytown, which became Ottawa
Image text: Colonel By Day
[2nd user redacted]: Lover By Night...

[This is funny because the first weekend in August is a civic holiday that in most of Canada is called "Civic Holiday" but in Ottawa it is "Colonel By Day."
081
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 31/07/2025
I forgot Bluesky's cardinal rule and engaged instead of blocking and moving on. I only aggravated myself by doing so, and have course corrected. As penance, here is a picture of a cat.
An orange cat, sleeping in a blue storage cube in a Kallax shelf.
040
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 27/07/2025
This is so funny to me, they blocked all of the quote posts, but you can still see how high the ratio got before they shut it down.
Screencap from the bottom of the Codenames HP announcement post:
July 23, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Replies disabled
1 repost 10 likes
[Comments] 705 [reposts] 162 [likes] 10
010
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 26/07/2025
Not really a selfie, but dramatic and black and white.
A picture of me from a newspaper from 2000. I am wearing a steel gorget and holding a rapier, guard-to-guard with another rapier held by someone out of frame. I am staring directly at the camera with ice in my eyes.
030
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 17/07/2025
Banana cake with peanut butter icing for my birthday because my spouse is the best.
A slice of double-layer cake on a plate.A big round cake with pale brown icing on a tray.
5240
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 09/07/2025
Something tells me there's a chipmunk on the front deck.
Two cats, one ginger and one dilute tortoiseshell, sitting on the back of an old chair, facing away from the camera to stare intently out the window of a log house.
060
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 05/07/2025
A while ago we bought a bunch of meat from a local farm. My spouse just cooked this steak. I think it is biggest steak I have ever seen in real life. It's at least an inch thick after being on the bbq. It could tip over Fred Flintstone's car.
A big steak cut into pieces that covers most of a full-sized blue dinner plate.
040
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 19/06/2025
Out my window today.
040
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 07/06/2025
Nice.
A screenshot showing a green cartoon finch from the finch app above the words "69 day streak."
011
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 28/05/2025
I just found the newspaper clipping from July 29, 2000, announcing my first swordplay class/event in Ottawa. This photo accompanied the article.
Two absolute children (me, age 31 and my brother, age 27 (we are older now)) standing with rapiers crossed, guard to guard, staring menacingly into the camera. Please ignore the fact that my brother is holding his rapier wrong, I'd strongarmed him into doing the photo shoot with me, and he learned better later.
1150
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 17/05/2025
Includes a really nice mug! ;-)
Artfully clipped screenshot from the Can*Con page that says "Can*Con mug (a $139 value) while cropping out all of the other things that add up to the $139 value.
150
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 10/05/2025
This friggin guy.
An orange cat standing on top of an open wooden door so that he is almost touching the ceiling.
190
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 26/04/2025
I think this looks much better now.
My fencing mask, painted to look like SecUnit's helmet, but with clearer details than my previous attempt.
1152
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 26/04/2025
I went for lunch, then decided to go back for more. Also ran into @brandoncrilly.bsky.social at the store!
My hand holding The River has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.
2131
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 26/04/2025
My purchase from Mill Street books and the prize I won by spinning their wheel for independent bookstore day!
My hand holding the novel Tapestry of Time, by Kate Heart field, and a chocolate bar from Hummingbird Chocolate, in front of the Mill Street Books Storefront.
390
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 24/04/2025
I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I hope @marthawells.com approves.
A black fencing mask decorated with the company logo in the style of SecUnit's helmet (as in, Murderbot). Some of the rough patches are intentional.
191
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 19/04/2025
Did the thing. No line up today in the very rural advanced polling station at McDonalds Corners.
Me, an old white dude, standing next to a woman who should've been out of my league, in front of a yellow sign directing us where to vote.
070
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 18/04/2025
Screenshot from this article: nowtoronto.com/news/theres-... It's only one of many.
Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Stephane Perrault, already raised concerns about this in November 2024 when speaking to the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs about Bill C-15 which will amend the Canada Elections Act.

“We have now reached the point where any further increase to the number of candidates will require me to reduce the font size on the ballot, further compounding accessibility challenges,” he said.
160
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 01/01/2025
This would be nice, but also, unexpected.
Screenshot showing the word "uplifting."
020
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 28/12/2024
Two of the instructors at Ottawa Swordplay commissioned a calligrapher to do a fancy version of one of my best lesson plans as a gift.
A page of fancy medieval-style calligraphy that says "You are in the corridor in a guard. Close the door. They come in the window. Shut that too." I swear this is one of my best lessons.
192
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 15/12/2024
Look at these idiots.
0110
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 14/12/2024
This was in my phone's news feed. I cannot tell you how much it bothers me.
Popular Mechanics article teaser "Archaeologists Found the Tomb of an Actual Roman Soldier From Year Zero." The accompanying picture is a cheap repro of the Sutton Hoo burial mask.
171
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 05/11/2024
Cute animal checkpoint. Do not pass this checkpoint without depositing your own animal photo.
Two cats lying in a windowsill with their heads smashed together. One is ginger and the other is a dilute tortoiseshell. They look like they are hugging each other.
170
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 16/10/2024
I meant to post more process pictures, but whoops, it's done now.
Me wearing a lamellar shirt with red leather edging. I am standing in a workshop.Me wearing my lamellar shirt, viewed from the back to show the closure. It should be tied a bit tighter.
1110
Craig Shackleton @craigshackleton.com · 05/10/2024
Here's how much we got done so far today! It goes fast with two of us, even with breaks for other things!
Me wearing a half complete lamellar shirt.The in-progress lamellar shirt spread out on a yellow cloth.A close up of the lamellar, showing the lacing from the front.
030