iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Is Julia Donaldson just Pam Ayres with a good artist?

Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

One of the biggest losses from England not playing in the World Cup Final is the absolute shit Trump would have received from the England fans. #worldcup

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Hate UFC, but happy to hear the rapist lost again last night.

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Lucy Nichol @lucynichol.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This is a bit of a cringey desperate post but needs must….😢 I’ve just lost a couple of thousand self publishing a book - I’m a hybrid author (published traditionally and self published) and I decided to self publish my book I was most passionate about to have total control. BUT….

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Moroccan keeper happy with that win, but definitely wants more - he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for! #worldcup

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Julia Raeside @jnraeside.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

I’ve written about Jimmy Fallon and how he wrecked his legacy with one dumb interview with a sex attacker. Free now on Womansplaining.

open.substack.com

Conor McGregor's Fallon appearance is the lowest blow

From court room to The Tonight Show sofa before you can say 'surgically removed tampon'.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 14/06/2026

Presumably Curaçao only qualified because of the increased number of teams and the fact that the best 3 teams in their confederation (USA, Mexico, Canada) qualified automatically as hosts. But still, the population of Slough - so fair effort really.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

‘Married at First Sight UK rape allegations serious, says UK government.’ Just in case you weren’t sure! Wtf 😳

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Who (other than Slot) believes that Kerkez offers more than Robertson, or that Gakpo offers anything? #LFC

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

Plastic measuring jugs. Why do you need to be an expert in braille to read the markings? I’m out on the balcony holding the damn thing up to the light just to see I’ve got the right amount of milk to make my pancakes! Yeah, I know, wars, fascism, manosphere, global oil price etc, etc, but still 🤷‍♂️

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Hoping for Vance to all of a sudden decide he’s a PSG fan and offer a changing room motivational speech on Tuesday. #LFC 🤞

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 12/04/2026

Fantastic news. With the bots, the fascists, the White House, and the Kremlin all pushing for an Orban win, the wise people of Hungary saw through the lies and propaganda and chose democracy and closer ties with Europe. Thank you 🙏. Hope.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Bos/Hertz are the dirtiest team I’ve seen in quite a while. #wales

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

The best solution for all concerned. What a fantastic player he has been for Liverpool, and (almost) always with a smile on his face. Respect. #ynwa www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

bbc.com

Mohamed Salah: Liverpool forward to leave at end of season

The Egypt forward says Liverpool fans

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

‘In cities like Paris, Marseille and Lille – where incumbent Socialists steered clear of the far-left because of accusations of sectarian anti-Semitism in its ranks – left-wing administrations were comfortably returned.’ BBC news on French Local Elections

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Any suggestions for next year? 🤣 📚 💙

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

‘Melania Trump chairs UN Security Council meeting’. How is that even a thing? 😳

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

The switch zero 😳 ⛷️ Mac Forehand! #olympics

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Dave Appleby @daja57.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

@nickmacwrites.bsky.social Just finished 'Slings and Arrows' which I read in just two days. Very enjoyable. It perfectly captures the period. Here's my full review: bit.ly/49SlmJK #Booksky 💙📚 #Books 📚 #Literaturesky

bit.ly

"Slings and Arrows" by Nick McLoughlin

A pub darts team enters a national competition and starts winning. How far can they go? And how will the private lives of the members affec...

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 01/01/2026

The 25 books I read in ‘25. Top 3 fiction: Kudos Intermezzo Greengates English Journey by JB Priestley was the best nf book I’ve read for years. Thoughts? 📚💙 #books

25 books laid out on my dining table in 5 rows of 5.

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Humanists UK @humanists.uk · 20/10/2025

Schools should open young minds, not close them. That’s why we’re continuing our campaign against faith schools. Want to know more about faith schools? Read our blog: Six hard-hitting facts about faith schools. humanists.uk/2024/10/11/s...

humanists.uk

Six hard-hitting facts about faith schools

Faith schools in the UK are a problem, and now the evidence is piling up. We’re not going to sugarcoat it. Faith schools are causing religious indoctrination, segregation, and division in this country...

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I had only previously read Brighton Rock by Graham Greene (at school), but picked this up recently and absolutely loved it. Beautifully but simply written, it is a powerful novel about faith, honour, and human weakness. Really terrific.📚💙 #books

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 10/10/2025

Picked up these beauties recently in a second-hand bookshop. The cover art on the Edna O’Brien is by Alan Aldridge, who illustrated album covers and books for The Beatles, Elton John, and The Who, among others. 💙📚 #books #art

A 1967 Penguin edition of Edna O’Brien’s novel, Girls in their Married Bliss, with funky cover art by Alan Aldridge.

A cool US, Signet Books edition of 1984, by George Orwell.

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Thin Skin magazine @thin-skin.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

News! (Sort of). We're recruiting readers for Thin Skin. If you'd like to learn more, contact us at info@thin-skin.com.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

I couldn’t wait any longer. I’ve been dying to get stuck into this lovely book by the wonderful @regretteruane.bsky.social for a while now, so I moved it 47 places up my physical TBR pile and I’m going in. 📚💙 #books

A paperback copy of Birding by Rose Ruane.

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Thin Skin magazine @thin-skin.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

We did it. Enjoy. (No idea how the % % gets there, so please don't judge.)https://thin-skin.com/

thin-skin.com

Welcome to Issue 4 - Thin Skin % %

Thin Skin Welcome to Issue 4 %

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 19/08/2025

Lombok, Indonesia - full of the nicest, most apparently content people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting - a joy 😊

A truck packed with labourers on their home from work on a road in Lombok, Indonesia, a moped on either side.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

My latest read. Priestley’s utterly brilliant travelogue of his 1931 trip around England. Fascinating, wise and remarkably prescient - social history at its finest. 📚💙#books

A copy of JB Priestley’s English Journey.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

Noah (17) has had his pencils out again. 1.5 hrs. No art at school, never had a lesson, and prepping to study Maths and Physics at uni next year! This looks pretty decent to me. Thoughts? #art

A portrait in pencil of Winston Churchill drawn by my son Noah, 17.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Well after 30 years on my TBR pile I finally read Middlemarch. Is it the best English novel. IMHO no. But I did really enjoy it. Why is it not at the top of my all-time list? 1. It’s 200 pages too long. 2. Ladislaw is not the man for Dorothea. 3. There is no humour in it at all. Thoughts? 💙📚 #books

An image from the BBC adaptation of Middlemarch showing Juliette Aubree and Rufus Sewell as Dorothea and Ladislaw.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 14/06/2025

Lovely run this morning. Just me and the marmottes. 🏃‍♂️🦫 (yes, that’s a beaver, but there’s no marmotte emoji) #run

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

Considered by some to be the greatest English novel, Middlemarch has been on my TBR pile for, oh about 32 years give or take. I’m finally going in. Have you read it? Where do is it sit in your all-time list? 📚💙#books

A copy of Middlemarch by George Eliot face up on my old, gnarled wood coffee table.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

The final Auster 😢. I’ve been putting it off because his novels have been a part of my life since I read NYT as a student 30 odd years ago, and I didn’t want that to end. It’s a long way from his finest work, but it is unmistakably him - and for this reader, this time, that was enough. RIP 📚💙 #books

A copy of Paul Auster’s final novel Baumgartner, lying face up on my old, heavily grained and knotted coffee table.

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Jon Franklin @racingtales.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

@nickmacwrites.bsky.social @writersguildgb.bsky.social The ability to write a novel sourced from the day-to-day of ordinary life and produce a story with such shine is no mean feat - yet this is precisely what McLoughlin has done with his debut novel. Slings and Arrows is an excellent read.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

Current read: Pym’s rejected seventh novel. Written in 1962 and sent initially to Cape the following year, it was finally published posthumously some 20 years later. 💙📚 #books #Pym

Grafton Books edition of An Unsuitable Attachment, by Barbara Pym.

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

I adored ‘The Fortnight in September’ so much that I put off reading this for fear that it would diminish my admiration for the author. It didn’t. This novel is such a wonderful read: a perfect antidote to the noise and nonsense of today’s world. 📚💙 #books

A Persephone copy of Greengates by RC Sheriff.

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Jon Franklin @racingtales.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

I’m very much looking forward to this, the next book on my reading list @nickmacwrites.bsky.social - Slings and Arrows, here I come!

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Nick McLoughlin @nickmacwrites.bsky.social · 26/04/2025

Finished this final book of Rachel Cusk’s quite brilliant ‘Outline’ trilogy a few days ago. Wonderful, intelligent writing that makes you question what you thought you knew about what a novel is, or can be. Dazzling. 📚💙

A copy of Kudos, by Rachel Cusk, on a rust and white patterned outside mat, on gravel.

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