Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 15/10/2026So much to unpack here. First of all, this is a very restricted definition of "conscious". When we describe humans as conscious, we're not just ascribing to them a set of capacities (e.g. able to distinguish between self and environment), but asserting the presence of qualitative mental states. 120 2
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026Episode 74 of my sci-fi/fantasy serial is now up, in which we are schooled in declarative sentences. Tidelands is still free to read from the beginning, or available as an ebook (volume 1 paperback coming soon). garethsouthwell.substack.com #booksky 071 7
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 27/08/2026Episode 73 of my sci-fi/fantasy serial is now up, in which we meet the local wizard. Tidelands is still free to read from the beginning, or available as an ebook (volume 1 paperback coming soon). garethsouthwell.substack.com #books #fiction #scifi #fantasy #booksky 0101 10
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 10/08/2026Is it just me, or is autocorrect getting more aggressive? #booksky 020 2
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 06/08/2026An piece from the old days of Trump and May's "Special Relationship". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 080 8
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 05/08/2026Good morning to my fellow toilers in the mines of sounds, words and images. What are you working on today? Currently I am: serialising my SFF novel on Substack, negotiating a possible non-fiction book contract, editing a sci-fi novel for the press, dealing with clients, looking for work. #booksky 260 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026A depressing new development is clients using AI in communication. So, you're not even talking to a human being. Don't they trust themselves to be able to say what they mean? #books #booksky #illustration #bookdesign 060 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Illustration and cover design for Doug Hardenstein's children's adventure story, "Tolly to the Titanic". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 070 7
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I am currently corresponding with Nobel Prize winning author Annie Ernaux! That such an esteemed name should be interested in helping a lowly author such as myself with my book-marketing troubles! The Internet is truly a wonderful thing. #booksky 160 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 04/08/2026I'm getting requests for design work from authors using AI for picture books, who have no idea how to amend the AI-gen files to fit printing templates. There's no bleed, and the text is often too small and cramped. It's a nightmare. My role is, "AI has made this shit, now you fix it!" #booksky 140 4
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 02/08/2026Illustration and cover design for Hugh Stewart's cocktail poetry book, "Cocktails & Kicktails". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 0120 12
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Illustration for my book, "What Would Marx Do?" Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 290 9
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 28/07/2026Illustration and cover design for A.J. Caliendo's memoir novel, "Fun With Nuns". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 081 8
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 26/07/2026Illustration and cover design for Paul O'Donaghue's comic novel, "Dark Cloud Over Muckish". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 190 9
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026News update: Bobby Knocking, Author Notes, Tidelands II, and Other Splendid Stuff. garethsouthwell.substack.com/bobby-knocking #books #booksky #writing #substack #scifi 031 3
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 23/07/2026My sci-fi serial Tidelands is now free to read on Substack: garethsouthwell.substack.com Parts 1 to 4 are complete, and part 5 has just begun. #books #booksky #serials #scifi #substack 161 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 21/07/2026Illustration and cover design for Sean Delauder's comic spy novel, "Sexsassins". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 060 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Illustration and cover design for Michael G. Browne's comedy crime novel, "Cannabis Coast". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 1130 13
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 16/07/2026Illustration and cover design for Brett McDonald's pop psychology book, "Thermodynamic Psychology". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 0100 10
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Illustration and Whiskey Leavin's comic novel, "The Devil's Own Piss". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 170 7
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Hi everyone. I'm a writer and illustrator from Wales, UK. Specialising in book covers and illustrations, usually with a bit of caricature and humour. Check out more of my work here: garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... Oh! And fuck AI. #PortfolioDay 000 0
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 12/07/2026"Everyday Stoicism" by Gareth Southwell. A practical guide to Stoic philosophy for modern day-to-day life. #philosophy #books #stoicism 230 3
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 09/07/2026Illustration and cover design for Bonnie Stock's cozy crime novel, "Vengeance in Vermont". Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #booksky #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 080 8
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Cover design and illustration for "Emory Crider and the One Dollar Bounty" by Clif Haley. Available for commissions through garethsouthwell.com #books #authors #covers #coverdesign #illustration 170 7
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 07/07/2026Animals feel pain – that much is obvious. Isn't it? Descartes's Dog, by Gareth Southwell, investigates the roots of our modern view of the mind, Descartes’s view of animals, AI, and the persisting puzzle of consciousness. Available from WoodPigpress.com and a range of online retailers. #booksky 061 6
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 02/07/2026Writers: I am a professional editor and writer, specialising in speculative fiction and non-fiction, with a background in philosophy. I am now offering developmental and line editing. Find out more here: garethsouthwell.com/developmenta... #bookskygarethsouthwell.comDevelopmental EditingI’m editor-in-chief of WoodPig Press, where I assess and feedback on hundreds of submissions across multiple genres every year. I also work as a freelance developmental editor… 050 5
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 15/06/2026This always feels timely. Illustration: Gareth Southwell Woodpigpress.com/publishing-services #booksky 030 3
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Diary of a Micro-Press, Week 17 – in which we slowly assemble our author contract, clause by mind-numbing clause woodpigpress.com/the-author-contract #books #writing #authors #contracts #booksky 131 3
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Diary of a Micro-Press, Week 15 – in which we consider what's really important about this book writing thing. woodpigpress.com/artisan-publishing #books #authors #publishing #writing #booksky Photo by Zeno Hind on Unsplash. 011 1
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 30/05/2026Artist Spotlight on brilliant UK fantasy artist Jimmy Makepeace (@jimmymakepeace.bsky.social), one of WoodPig Press’s wonderful freelancers. open.substack.com/pub/woodpigp... #books #authors #publishing #artopen.substack.comArtist Spotlight: Jimmy MakepeaceWeek 21 – In which we interview the wonderful Bristolian illustrator of all things fantastical 0212 21
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 02/06/2026If you're an indie author, you may be tempted to format (typeset) your own book. But is it worth paying for a professional? Find out here: woodpigpress.com/formatting WoodPig Press offers a range of publishing services. Go to woodpigpress.com/publishing-services #authors #writing #booksky 0102 10
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 14/04/2026New Substack post with all my publishing and illustration news: garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/a-long-ove... #bookskygarethsouthwell.substack.comA Long Overdue UpdateWoodPig Press, Tidelands, Substack, Philosophy, Illustration, and Other Stuff I've Not Been Telling You 050 5
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 10/12/2025It's called the principle of Osman's Razor: faced with two books of equal quality, the publisher will prefer the one written by a celebrity. #booksky #writing #books www.theguardian.com/books/2024/j...theguardian.comKeanu and co: how celebrities became bestselling novelistsFrom Richard Osman and Millie Bobby Brown to the upcoming book by Keanu Reeves, celebrity novels are everywhere. What’s behind the boom? And how do non-famous writers feel about it? 011 1
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellWoodPig Press @woodpigpress.bsky.social · 27/11/2025Authors, mark your calendars! #booksky #writing 0164 16
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellAdam Farrer @adamjfarrer.bsky.social · 14/11/2025I have seen the greatest minds of my generation radicalised into flat earth trutherism by the comment section of a Smashing Pumpkins Facebook fan page. 192 9
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 26/10/2025People come by the house and they're like, "Ooh, I like your Halloween cobwebs!" And I'm like, "Hallo-what, now?" 060 6
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellVeronica Roth @veronicarothbooks.com · 12/10/2025When people ask me what I think about using AI in writing I’m going to send them this screenshot 8412116 412
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellNew York Times Opinion @nytopinion.nytimes.com · 30/09/2025Mark Zuckerberg has a vision for how A.I. could be used in Meta's universe. But the actor and filmmaker Joseph Gordon-Levitt is here to point out a flaw in the technology: an apparent lack of guardrails around how the company's chatbot interacts with underage users. nyti.ms/3ILwCNo 18529250 529
Reposted by Gareth SouthwellMichael Emonds @michaelje67.bsky.social · 05/10/2025Well said, Gary Neville! 👏 36683210 683
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 02/10/2025Wonderful comment on this on Instagram which sums up how I feel. 031 3
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 02/10/2025Oh, dear. Is it just me that has a bad feeling about this? I've been using Affinity programmes for years, and they're great. But anything that mentions "the future" gives off an aura of bullshit and AI flangery. #AI #art #books 140 4
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 02/10/2025It's ironic how when a big, faceless corporation treats you like you're not a person, you can't help but take it personally. #philosophy #books #AI 020 2
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 29/09/2025Sad to hear philosopher John Searle has died. Big influence on my PhD, a wonderfully clear thinker and his views on consciousness are more important now than ever. That said, I found his atheism shallow and the sexual harassment thing tarnishes his reputation. Anyway, bon voyage! #philosophy #books 140 4
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 24/09/2025I ran a poll on Mastodon and Bluesky asking who'd read a book where the author used AI to some extent. Combining the results: of the 56 respondents, 82% said never, 16% said only if AI was used for editing, and 1% said they didn't care as long as it was a good book. #books #writing #AI #reading 110 1
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 23/09/2025I've just written an article on Stoicism for Welldoing, a UK-based site where you can find the right therapist for you: welldoing.org/article/stoi... #philosophy #stoicism #writing #books #bookskywelldoing.orgStoicism: Why Be Lucky When You Can Be Happy?Author Gareth Southwell explores Stoic attitudes to happiness, luck, control and uncertainty 110 1
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 23/09/2025My review of Steven Shwartz's "Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths". A great, well-informed little book from a Silicon Valley sceptic. garethsouthwell.substack.com/p/evil-robot... #AI #philosophy #books #reviews #bookskygarethsouthwell.substack.comBOOK REVIEW: “Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths” by Steven ShwartzWhy Technogeddon is Overhyped. 010 1
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 23/09/2025Book cover design and illustration for Clif Haley's comedy Western, "Emory Crider and the One Dollar Bounty". garethsouthwell.com/book-design-... #books #illustration #art #covers #booksky 030 3
Gareth Southwell @garethsouthwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2025Dear book marketer, thanks so much for your email, and for your eloquent praise of my book. You were "profoundly moved", you say? I am flattered - and doubly so that you've taken the trouble to hunt me down all the way from ... [checks website visitor stats] ... oh. #books #writing #AI #booksky 020 2