iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 10h

Oh dear. I just wrote the opening lines of a new thing, a not-so-Sekrit Projekt that regular followers of this account will probably be able to guess. Whoops. #AmWriting

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

MrC, looking at crabapple tree in the garden: "Seems a shame to let all that fruit go to waste, we should do something with them." Me: "I've got a recipe for crabapple jelly here." This is what he just brought me. I only have 12 jars and 2kg sugar.

Black five-gallon builder's bucket on a wood floor. The bucket is four-fifths full of golden crabapples. My future is full of jam.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Another day, another "book marketing professional" in my inbox touting for business. I know it's AI-generated tosh to butter me up but dang if it doesn't make my books sound really, really good!😆

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is not my cat but apparently he lives here now 🤷‍♀️ #NotMyCat #OrangeCat

Large orange tabby curled up in a flower bed with his chin on his paws, fast asleep. I did not plant him there.

Large orange tabby cat on his side in a flowerbed, flashing his white underparts at the camera, the tart. Still fast asleep.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Don't get me wrong, I like it when a book makes me cry. It shows the author did a good job creating characters I empathise with. But three times? In a book in which didn't expect to get smacked in the feels? That's just mean.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Fifty bloody quid to file an annual Confirmation Statement for my small business. FIFTY. QUID. So I can fill an online form in under five minutes. I am aghast.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

UK authors affected by the #AnthropicCopyrightSettlement : we have to fill in a W-8BEN form to certify our non-US-resident/non-US-taxpayer status & then upload it to the portal, is that right? I *think* I know what I'm doing but I'm juggling this with my company year-end and my brain is tired.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Since I posted that, I've made dinner, eaten dinner, and pruned approx 500 words (not necessarily in that order). Progress! #SmallMovesEllie #AmWriting

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

I have two chapters together that run far too long so they need tightening up, and somehow I've ended up with three chapters and an extra 2.5k words. How does that even work? #AmWriting #TheDragonHouse

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Oo, I am here for an excellent ghost cat!

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Not gonna lie, everyone talking about their Anthropic Settlement communications and the problems they're having therewith is giving me pre-emptive anxiety - I'm still waiting to hear :( *refreshes inbox for 19th time*

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The Moon on the Water, by Nina Warner Hooke, famously read by Bernard Cribbins on Jackanory (old UK TV show to get kids into reading). First proper fantasy book, I think; first book to break my heart.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Well, I didn't manage to kill it, but the chapter's back is broken, so . . . yay? #AmWriting #TheDragonHouse

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Ann Leckie @annleckie.com · 18/08/2026

Suspense is not created by your audience not knowing what happens next. It's created by your audience CARING what happens next.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Back to the word mines. This chapter dies tonight. #AmWriting #TheDragonHouse

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innes mck @innes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

again i am just not that interested in debating whether human rights should theoretically extend to robots and ai when we currently don't even extend them to all humans

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

It's 19 months since Mum died. We've just found out the solicitors have effed up the execution of her very straightforward will. What do you call it when you go right the way through "incensed" and come out the other side, again?

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

I've just opened a letter with a mammogram appointment, to an impeccably-timed rumble of thunder. *chef's kiss*

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Welp, as if I didn't have enough to do, the WIP just spawned another novella idea. This makes 3, potentially 5, and my brain has even served up titles and wants to start creating folders for them on my hard drive. *pinches brows* Not now, Brain. #AmWriting #TheDragonHouse

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

Tom nails it here, for me. Pitches/synopses are the devil and I hates 'em. If I have to write one before I start a book, I'm less inclined to write said book because the finding-out is the enjoyable part. Otherwise I feel like I'm just repeating myself, but with extra steps.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I have form for hurting myself in unlikely ways, but today's was a doozy. I was peeling back the skin of a freshly-roasted chicken prior to carving. It was HOT, so I snatched my hand back and smacked myself in the face with the carving knife. Fortunately, I managed not to bleed on the dinner.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

North South East West Turnwise Widdershins

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

I just updated my series-in-progress reading list and somehow it's grown to 54 even after I finished four of them. It's not my fault, I keep getting distracted by the new & shiny!

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Domestic admin done, inc. making a dental appt for Fri (because OW!), I can haz words now? #AmWriting

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Picked up a romantasy as a palate-cleanser between two epic tomes and oh my word, it's Romance Novel Bingo: - haughty, arrogant, alphahole MMC - defiant, tempestuous, beautiful FMC - forced marriage - pebbled peaks & straining bulges (IYKYK) It's exactly what I wanted & I can't put it down 🤩

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

Spouse has started reading Italo Calvino's "If On A Winter's Night A Traveller". Over breakfast this morning I asked him how he was finding it and he tried to explain and we went on a *trip*.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

How to say you write epic fantasy without saying you write epic fantasy: I just updated my definitive glossary document and it now runs to 15 A4 pages. #AmWriting #AmWritingFantasy

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

My garden has developed spontaneous forget-me-nots. I did not plant them; they have simply appeared behind my hydrangea paniculata and set up shop. Ma Nature, doing her thing.

Close up of a garden border where a clump of bright blue forget-me-not flowers peek through daffodil leaves.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Good lord I should not be left unattended on a garden centre website *hides credit card bill*

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 08/04/2026

Been feeling the need to up my tea game lately, so I've just put in an order with Bird & Blend, on the strength of many recs here. Adventures in taste await! #tea #WriterFuel

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CL Hellisen @clhellisen.com · 01/04/2026

For those who don't use Instagram, here's the image from Tor UK's post of The Shape of Monsters cover reveal! The hardback comes out 26th September 2026.

A red book on a blue wallpaper background framed but antlers filled with stars.

The cover has the silhouette of a stag's head and horns filled with a night sky.

The text has CL HELLISEN at the top in gold, and between the stag horns the title is in gold. The Shape of Monsters.

Below the book it says 24th September 2026

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

"How's your day going, Ellie?" Oh fine, fine, I've just learned 204k into bk4 that I've written 3 chapters of river journey to a port named after said river, using the name of a river already established in bk1 as flowing westwards, not east to the sea. ::headdesk:: Is it gin o'clock yet?

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Starting the week with contact form spam from someone claiming to be E L "Fifty Shades" James, wanting to discuss the themes in a book I didn't write. Makes a change from AI and crypto spam, I suppose.

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Proloe 🌙🧚‍♀️ Very Fairy Vtuber @proloe.gay · 28/02/2026

I do not like this gen AI I do not like what it implies I do not want it in my art I do not think it makes you smart I do not want it in my games I do not like its goals and aims I do not want it in my books I do not like the way it looks I do not like it, I don't care I do not want it anywhere

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Here is a cat. It is not my cat. I have no cat, but this large orange boi under my hedge seems to be auditioning for the part. #CatDistributionSystem

A large orange tabby and white cat fast asleep on its side underneath a conifer hedge at the end of the lawn. It is flaunting excellent rear toe beans.

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elynxabeth holmes ⎔ @freyja-lynx.dev · 23/02/2026

very important video please watch

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Five women by whom I've read at least five books: - Courtney Milan - Juliet E McKenna - Patricia Cornwell - Kate Elliott - R A MacAvoy

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Ooo, bookpost! Guess that's my next read sorted, then 🤩

Cover of the paperback of Angel Maker by Elizabeth Bear. A red and green tartan tablecloth is in the background.

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Holly Brockwell @hollyqueenofspayeds.com · 05/02/2026

If we get to our fundraising goal, I will show you all our newest miracle cat. His name is Hamham, he has two noses, a wobbly head and a hearing deficiency, and he is SO CUTE I COULD SPLODE. Trust me, you want to see this cat! Donate here:

gofundme.com

Donate to Three beautiful kitties in need of help, organized by Holly's Merry Moggies

Hello from Holly's Merry Moggies , a small rescue for disabled, difficul… Holly's Merry Moggies needs your support for Three beautiful kitties in need of help

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

I've been having such good fun writing over the past week or so that I completely failed to notice I'd passed the 200k milestone on The Dragon House. Blimey. It might get finished yet. #AmWriting #TheDragonHouse

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

Pick up the nearest book. Turn to page 42, post the second sentence. "Uh . . . I guess so. And, Nabeela?" Out of context dialogue ftw!

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

Oh look, Valentine's Day is nearly here and yet again Hollywood is trying to sell us Wuthering Heights as a love story. It is not. It is a portrait of obsession, cruelty and calculated destruction, Heathcliff is a psychopath and I will die on this hill.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I have started buying paper books again. I fear this will not end well. 💙📚

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Unexpected visitor in the garden today, something I've never seen before. Think it's a snipe? Paging BirdSky to confirm id #BirdSky

Picture of a bird on a snowy lawn. The bird has a long, thin beak, dappled breast, and white belly. Its back and wings are dark brown with golden stripes. It looks like a common snipe foraging in the grass.

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

I need a name for a merchant in this book and the temptation to call him Ea-Nasir is almost overwhelming. #TheDragonHouse #AmWriting

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Elspeth Cooper @elspethcooper.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

Rounding off my reading year with Wuthering Heights and it is very much not what I had been led to expect. That Heathcliff is a proper wrong 'un.

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