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Jen Bites

@jenbitespeople.bsky.social
4.7K followers 1.3K following 641 posts

In Edinburgh. Director, playwright, librettist, acting coach & dramaturg. Possible revenant. Prone to biting. Site: www.jenmcgregor.com.

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Reposted by Jen Bites
Mark Bolsover @mdbolsover.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
red sofa. (—nausea). ... *—very pleased to have a new piece of #experimental prose #poetry accepted for @the-engine-idling.bsky.social, Issue 10: A DAY IN THE LIFE. with sincere thanks to EIC: @dehm000.bsky.social. ... #writing #writingcommunity #art
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nexteconomiesforum.bsky.social @nexteconomiesforum.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
BASIC INCOME NOW!!
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A couple of years ago I started tracking which #EdFringe venues get coverage from major publications. In the first year I used the Scotsman, the Herald, the Guardian and the Stage, but this year the Herald has embraced slop headlines obfuscating what's a review and what isn't, so no more Herald. /1
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Kristi Yamaguccimane @wapplehouse.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Me: this THC drink ain’t shit Me, 15 seconds later:
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Jamie McKelvie @mckelvie.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
I want to visit Japan for many reasons, but the current highest is the possibility of meeting Robin the island cat: www.instagram.com/p/DajMhZNk6t8/
A very round black and white cat Robin carrying a big fish in his mouth
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Ash @santanaelchan.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
She's just like me
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
@mdbolsover.bsky.social
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Pitlochry Festival Theatre @pitlochryft.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
The world’s largest arts festival, with a Pitlochry twist. 🎭 EDINLOCHRY brings a handpicked taste of Edinburgh Fringe Festival energy to the Highlands for the first time - expect comedy, music, theatre & more from 4–8 Aug 2026. 🔗Explore the line-up: pitlochryft.com/3R9YaAc
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
apparently Gaston Leroux used to celebrate finishing the draft of each novel by running outside and firing a pair of pistols into the air and frankly I want to know where he got that kind of energy
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Sebas @ohlookbirdies.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
Watching the video from The Ring on my phone so she comes out of my screen real tiny and I can just put her in a mug
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
The trouble with finishing a screenplay is then having to write a synopsis and logline for it. Suggesting I use AI for it will catch you a block, I don't do cognitive surrender. I can write these things perfectly well, I just want to moan about having to do the bit I find less fun.
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Gabrielle Steele ⚔️ Echoes of Chaos out now! @eldris.thellian.com · 07/06/2026
UK folks, let's jump on this AI regulation petition the Society of Authors emailed out! It's an actual parliament one so the government HAS to respond if it reaches the signature threshold. It calls for regulations to make AI developers disclose copyrighted works trained on. Sign & repost!! ❤️
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Protect creators' rights: require AI firms to disclose training data
We ask the Government to introduce a statutory duty requiring AI developers to disclose the copyrighted works used to train generative AI in enough detail for creators to identify use of their work, e...
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Interesting article. Personally I believe that AI has no place at all in the creative industries, but since it exists I do want to see a way for artists whose work was stolen to be paid, and for legitimate licensing to happen in the future. www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/an-a...
thestage.co.uk
Amanda Parker on theatre keeping ahead of AI developments
A system for remunerating creatives for AI use is a start, but to be fair, it needs to prioritise sole traders, not the industry's big players, says Amanda Parker
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Touchscreens. I thought I'd eventually get used to them but they still feel like trying to run my life on an etch-a-sketch. Using them in cars is horribly irresponsible. They're bad enough in phones. I miss my Blackberry with the actual physical buttons.
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The Stage @thestage.co.uk · 21/05/2026
Scotland’s first minister John Swinney has unveiled his new cabinet, with Màiri McAllan appointed culture secretary. Read more 👇
thestage.co.uk
Màiri McAllan appointed Scotland's culture secretary
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Even leaving the ethics and idiocy of genAI "art" out of it, since when does the Fringe commission work? Presumably @edfringe.bsky.social will be keen to state publicly that this is antithetical to an open access festival.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Tfw you have to travel for work when you're in the middle of rewatching LOST and this is your flight number.
Ryanair flight number 815
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
It was so good to see Page2Stage back in Edinburgh tonight. Its absence has been felt these past two years. Not that there aren't lots of scratches these days, but none other doing it quite like this.
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Daniel Bellingradt @dbellingradt.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
This was both a powerful and artful memento mori: an elegant woman looking into the mirror, and rapidly aging with the paper flap. This was printed in 1510 Germany, #skystorians
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WeRateDogs @weratedogs.com · 13/04/2026
This is Sadie. She was finally reunited with her human, astronaut Christina Koch, after her mom’s voyage around the moon took her the furthest any human has ever been from their dog. She can't wait to hear all about the universe. 14/10 (IG: astro_christina)
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Merrymac Farm Sanctuary @merrymacsanctuary.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Do horses want cake? We conducted an investigation into statements published by @bencollins.bsky.social in the print edition of @theonion.com.
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⚠️ eve g ⚠️ @evegwood.com · 29/03/2026
I just attended a roundtable discussing a potential Basic Income for the Arts scheme for Scotland, jumping off the successful pilot that is now becoming policy in Ireland. I took some notes on the discussion that I think would be interesting to share! 🧵
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Elbi @elbi.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
@attie.ai, for those who wanna press the funny buttons too
Screenshot of me blocking the attie.ai account
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
I decided I wanted to practice my Italian and update my vocabulary, because my last formal study of it was 20 years ago and I'm missing a lot of tech-related language. So I switched my phone language to Italian... and my phone decided to switch every single app over, so o tutto o niente I guess.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Hey @edfringe.bsky.social, I know I told you I don't do access consultancy for free but I'll give you this tip for nothing: All the accessibility info relevant to a ticket booking goes in the section labelled Accessibility. Not dotted around across multiple tabs, frames and pages like last year.
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Douglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Jesus, they weren’t bloody joking.
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the engine(idling lit @the-engine-idling.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Free ebooks from an amazing press!!!
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DocHackenBOOOOOsh @dochackenbush.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Song. #art #cat
Intentionally crude illustration of a cat with wide open mouth making various cat noises. Caption reads “let me sing you the song of my people”
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Friendship ended with repeatedly listening to my old favourites, now @hallucinophonics.com's new album is my best friend.
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Marian Call @mariancall.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
instantly assumed this was a kaiju situation
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Mark Bolsover @mdbolsover.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
BLUE BALLOON *—very pleased to have a new #experimental prose- #Poetry - #Art fragment published with @icefloepress.bsky.social. with thanks to editors/curators: @rfredekenter.bsky.social & @vikkicwrites.bsky.social. ... icefloepress.net/2026/02/20/s... #Writing #WritingCommunity
icefloepress.net
‘something–… ephemeral—blue – balloon,’ – Mark BOLSOVER
‘something–… ephemeral—blue – balloon,’ – Mark Bolsover Blue BalloonDownload AUTHOR STATEMENT: My work represents High-Modernist (Woolf, Joyce, Proust,)-inspired experiments in psychological …
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Congratulations to the most stylistically innovative and exciting writer I know! Well done @mdbolsover.bsky.social <3
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
If one of you doesn't bootleg this for me istg (give me no shit about bootlegs, there's no way I'm getting to this one irl) www.whatsonstage.com/news/sweeney...
whatsonstage.com
Sweeney Todd revival finds its Mrs Lovett
God that’s good casting!
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
I held off on playing Scarlet Hollow for ages because I loved Slay the Princess and was weirdly trepidatious about the possibility of not loving @blacktabbygames.com's other work as much. But oh. my. god... I love it more. This thing's a masterpiece. store.steampowered.com/app/1609230/...
store.steampowered.com
Save 25% on Scarlet Hollow on Steam
Your aunt’s dead, your cousin hates you, and you’re stuck in the dead-end town of Scarlet Hollow. Choose your path through a branching narrative so dense that you'll see less than 1/5 of the game on a...
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
So, thus far trying to set up the new laptop is the worst tech experience of my life. I got it in November so I'd have a non-failing device to write the novel, then got sick so only started setup over December, then parked it until I started back four weeks ago because it was so bad.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
Can anyone recommend a storage service that works the way Drive used to back when Google actually functioned? Don't recommend Dropbox or OneDrive or I will block you, I am looking for solutions rather than to make things worse.
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the engine(idling lit @the-engine-idling.bsky.social · 31/01/2026
It's the LAST DAY to nominate for our DASHBOARD AWARDS! #writingcommunity unite! We wanna give out 3 awards to poetic pieces published in 2025 in OTHER online litmags! Writing Peers, Readers, & Editors can ALL nominate via Google Form: buff.ly/FMfhtG5 Rules & Details: buff.ly/vdm5FlB ⬇️ ⬇️
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Hey @microsoft.com remember when you used to make products that actually worked? That was fun, maybe consider doing that again some time.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Could an actual human please tell me how to persuade Word to save to my desktop by default? OneDrive has no place in my life and I don't want to default to the Documents folder. Every bit of info I've found online is outdated/untrue and involves preference settings that aren't actually offered.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Someday I'll write an application for an arts project where they're NOT asking for champagne on a Panda Pops budget. I don't understand why orgs suddenly have no idea what things cost when they set award budgets. You want ambition and innovation? Offer ambition and innovation money!
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
@mdbolsover.bsky.social lookit
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Hi @scissorkickco.bsky.social - just added you to Scottish Theatre Starter Pack part 2! bsky.app/profile/jenb...
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Anyone who has ever actually done anything could have told you that fixing mistakes made by the unconsciously incompetent is a slower process than just doing the task yourself in the first place.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Hello new arrivals from the latest Xodus! If you're a Scottish theatre professional you might like these starter packs (scroll down for the second one). Comment if you want to be added.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
In the NLS Special Collections today reading the documents from the Advocates' Library about Deacon Brodie's planned robberies had he not been caught. I think it's very nice and trusting of them to let me have the bathroom key considering my subject matter.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
My abiding memory of 2016 is looking at the news every morning to find out whose obituary was up that day, since famous people were dropping like flies. By contrast, in 2026 I look at the news each day actively hoping for certain obituaries and am every day disappointed.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
I'm spending the next couple of weeks doing research for my novel (thanks @creativescots.bsky.social !) and obsessing over Deacon Brodie while being a chronically ill Edinburgh writer on enforced rest for medical reasons is basically a Robert Louis Stevenson immersive experience.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
It's Boxing Day (for us, we're a day behind). We've watched Flight of the Navigator, our diet is entirely leftovers, and the cat refuses to eat without a tablecloth, placemat and candles. Reality is suspended.
Bones, a ginger cat, having his lunch. His dish is on a Christmas placement on a festive red tablecloth. There's a candelabra in the background. Bones is looking up and licking his lips with a contented expression.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
Operation is done, gallbladder is no more, and I get to go home shortly for which I'm eternally grateful. Frustrating as it can be for chronic stuff and missing the full picture, my experience of the NHS in emergencies has been pretty solid throughout my life.
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Jen Bites @jenbitespeople.bsky.social · 24/12/2025
Back in hospital, iv antibiotics. Neurotypicals and anyone else who can have things in their skin and not feel it intensely every single second will never understand the level of privilege they enjoy. If you can handle any kind of piercing/tattoo you're in that group. I despise existing in a body.
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