iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

"You're a teaser, you turn 'em on Leave 'em burning and then you're gone." It was always going to end this way. Released OTD in the #Summerof76, it would climb the #1970sUK charts to No.1 by the end of August and that incredible summer. #76NovellaPlaylist www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFrGuyw1V8s

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ABBA - Dancing Queen (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by AbbaVEVO

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

And remember too, at that age, how every memory and every thought of summer holidays was forever golden. For every 'parched' there was a 'quenched', and nothing ever so mundane as in between. – from #76Novella Grab it now for your #SummerReads here: mybook.to/1976

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Here's why I've been quiet... #76Novella, a haunting "supernatural memoir" set in the #Summerof76, is out today here: mybook.to/1976

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Dan/Danj/Daniel @danj72.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Those sumptuous middle three decades gone The sandwich filling The interesting part The bit to lust after (If you could lust after a sandwich) The first 16 years were soft slices Fresh as its gets But now it's just #remnant crust Thicker and drier than wanted And it's not been buttered... #Vss365

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I think I see a bit of mould as well…

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

It's May 1976. And here’s another song for the #76NovellaPlaylist that had no chance against the might of Fernando – not to mention that bloody Combine Harvester, still chugging up behind it! The Stones in soulful mood, peaking at No.6. #1970sUK #76Novella www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-2M...

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The Rolling Stones - Fool To Cry - OFFICIAL PROMO

YouTube video by The Rolling Stones

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

For #76NovellaPlaylist today, a mashup. Diana Ross hit No.10 in the UK charts 50 years ago with Love Hangover. But to #immerse yourself in the full heatwave fever-dream experience, see her perform it on a show that also came into being in 1976. #1970sUK www.youtube.com/watch?v=39dG...

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DIANA ROSS Love Hangover- The Muppet Show

YouTube video by Scott Pangburn

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

It's May 1976. Released this month is a song that will become essential to the soundtrack of that long, hot summer. Glittering on the surface, it's actually disco at its most subversive. #76NovellaPlaylist #1970sUK www.youtube.com/watch?v=wddg...

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Candi Staton - Young Hearts Run Free (Official Music Video) [HD]

YouTube video by RHINO

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

"The nights are getting warmer, it won't be long Won't be long 'til the summer comes..." It's the end of May 1976 and time for some rock in the #76NovellaPlaylist. Hitting the charts this week is an instant all-time classic. #1970sUK (& of course Ireland!) www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_xq...

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Thin Lizzy - The Boys Are Back In Town (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by ThinLizzyVEVO

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Oh dear, #vss365, such a #rift developing between here and the other place, with no time to be on both. I must do better, but in the meantime, I should catch up with the #76NovellaPlaylist...

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Memories of the #Summerof76 as the temperature rises this weekend – and now there are only four weeks to go to the launch of #76Novella! You can pre-order the ebook now for just £1.99 here: mybook.to/76Novella

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

#KindleCountdownDeal ends today! Grab this #WWII #HistFic #ThrillerFic for only $0.99 / £0.99 here: mybook.to/Borodino

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

In #76Novella, the Karsino (“…the absence of which seemed to hover in the air like a cloud of midges”) is almost a ghost hotel. Sometimes I find myself wondering if the location was on Kubrick’s mind when he started formulating his new project towards the end of the '70s... #TheShining 4/4

Jack Hylton's Riviera Band at the Karsino, 22 June 1928; © 2006 M J Baker and S A Baker, from Thameside Molesey, Rowland G. M. Baker, 1989

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

It’s here, in #76Novella, that Delle says she found her bowler hat – and fantasises about how it might once have belonged to Charlie Chaplin, whose mentor Fred Karno was. It’s more likely to have been left there by the Kubrick production. But she doesn’t know this (a little Easter Egg). 3/4

The arrival of the bowler-hatted Droogs in the Karsino, in Kubrick's film

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

The Karsino was the ‘derelict casino’ in which Alex’s droogs fight Billy Boy's gang in 'A Clockwork Orange'. It was pulled down soon after Stanley Kubrick finished filming there. By the time in which #76Novella is set, with the developers going bust, it was just a building site. #Kubrick 2/4

The ballroom in the 1940s. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The 'derelict casino' in A Clockwork Orange, with Billy Boy's gang on stage.

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Not surprisingly, after 50 years, some locations featured in #76Novella are no longer there in 2026. But one isn’t even there in 1976: the ‘Karsino’, the hotel and Palm Court ballroom built on Taggs Island by the great impresario Fred Karno, before the First World War. #1970sUK #History 1/4

The Karsino in its heyday. Adam37, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

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Dr Steve Fleischer @stevefleischer.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

the hush of crimson #evenfall and the day’s last gentle exhale whispers through the dusk-lit copse enfolding birds in drifting calm the land settles down to rest and as the day loosens its hold something in me finally stills #vss365

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

It’s an act of faith, remembering. You’re saying ‘I believe I can re-create this, from the clues that are scattered about my mind’. You’re saying ‘I believe I can do this, because I believe I was there’. Or rather, I am. It was 1976... #WIPSnips #76Novella.

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

Wanna read about when we were young and full of life (and none of us prepared to die 😬)? #76Novella launches on 20 June and is now available for pre-order. mybook.to/seventysix

mybook.to

Amazon.com

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

"Every hour, every minute, seemed to last eternally..." It's May 1976. OK, there'll be a bigger banger from ABBA at the end of that endless summer... but this No.1 will stand the test of time (and reappear in Stranger Things!) #1970sUK #76NovellaPlaylist www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQsj...

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ABBA - Fernando (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by AbbaVEVO

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Now this Should have been a miss And was somehow a hit (Another word would fit) #vss365 #misfit

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Incidentally, Billy Connolly was so moved by 'No Charge' that he recorded a parody called 'No Chance', but critics said the former was so surreal it was beyond parody. You can give #76Novella a chance by pre-ordering it now. mybook.to/seventysix

mybook.to

76: A Novella

Amazon.com: 76: A Novella eBook : Phillips, Paul: Kindle Store

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

It's May 1976. And if you thought The Wurzels were a tough listen on the #76NovellaPlaylist yesterday, wait until you get a load of this country classic, which has just entered the charts and – incredibly – will soon make it to the UK No.1 slot! #1970sUK www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqiA...

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J.J. Barrie - No Charge - TOTP - 6 May 1976

YouTube video by Shadow TV Network 2

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🅲🅰🅼🅸🅴 ℕ𝕆𝕀ℝ @ecamie.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

#vss365 #amwriting #neonoir #flashfiction He hadn't even realized that house and home weren't exactly synonyms until it was too late, until he had to move out of his own home. The new address hurts like a #misfit ’s mark, a badge of dishonor. ... noironthevine.blogspot.com/2026/05/todd...

noironthevine.blogspot.com

TODD IS NOT A GOOD MAN

Todd is not a good man. He's not even a real man, according to his ex-wife. She would often start her sentences with “if you were a real m...

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Elvis Dylan @elvisdylan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

#vss365 Sun in a #dewdrop right before me and millions of miles away like you

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Succinctly brilliant. Brilliantly succinct.

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

The song features in #76Novella, although even worse things haunt that tale. (Available for pre-order now.) mybook.to/seventysix

mybook.to

76: A Novella

Amazon.com: 76: A Novella eBook : Phillips, Paul: Kindle Store

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

TW... the 1970s! It's May 1976. Entering the charts is a song that will haunt us throughout that long, hot summer (and long after). And no, that isn't Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap introducing them, although you might think so! #1970sUK #76NovellaPlaylist www.youtube.com/watch?v=66AG...

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The Wurzels, The Combine Harvester, 1976

YouTube video by chickenindaloo

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The remnants of the Outer London Defence Ring are still there by the Molesey reservoirs. Back in 1976 (in reality and in my #76Novella), they became our base. If you slept out on top of them, you'd avoid the worst of the #dewdrops. Not that there were many by that summer. #vss365 #WW2 #History

Me in our base, in much more recent times

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

1976. For my generation of British lads, born 20 years after the war, it was still a constant presence in our lives. In our toys, our comics – and the black-and-white repeats on our newly rented colour TVs. #1970sUK #WW2 #VEDay #76Novella

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Memory is an involuntary spasm Revealing transpontine secrets #76Novella #horrorprompt 2178-80

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

…the Surrey bank to the south, where we lived, and the Middlesex bank opposite, which was pretty much another country, although if you stood across from The Bell pub and waved vigorously, a ferryman would put down his pint and come fetch you to the north side for a shilling. #WIPSnips #76Novella

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

That sounds like an idyllic location! Yeah, I remember a few years later when they said the river was clean enough to reintroduce salmon, but it had been pretty polluted before that and we used to get warned not to.

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

The Thames in 1976 was dangerous in all sorts of ways. We would never have just dived in. (Let alone #dove, #vss365 and other Americans…) But that evening, it nearly took me anyway. The story is in #76Novella (& this is my 📸 taken from my kayak, from roughly that period)

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

This true(ish) story of childhood adventures and adult realisations will be released for the 50th anniversary of that momentous summer. It's available for pre-order now. #HistFic mybook.to/seventysix

mybook.to

76: A Novella

Amazon.com: 76: A Novella eBook : Phillips, Paul: Kindle Store

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

It’s May 1976. As we paddle upriver, on the other side of Sunbury at Shepperton, they're filming the climax of a new sci-fi movie. But for our gang of 11-year-olds, it'll soon seem like our planet is at war with its own star. youtube.com/watch?v=yixG... #StarWars #1970sUK #76Novella

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Star Wars IV: A new hope - Final Scene (The Throne Room) and End Title

YouTube video by Benguitar90

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

His father was busy fitting out the first Concorde, but Tony dreamed of trumping that by joining the RAF as a fighter pilot. #WIPSnips from my upcoming #76Novella (and no, the word #wing doesn't appear, but if you had access in those early days, you got to take pics like this 1976 one of mine...)

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

It's May 1976. As Bobby Stokes fires giant-killers Southampton to victory against Man U at Wembley, it seems typical 'Cup Final Weather'. No one realises we’re already in a hot, dry spell that will be remembered 50 years later. #History #1970sUK #76Novella www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_U5...

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01/05/1976 FA Cup Final MANCHESTER UNITED v SOUTHAMPTON

YouTube video by gr8footy

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

#76Novella, set during that famous summer and the run-up to it, is now available for pre-order (and it's only £1.99!) mybook.to/seventysix

mybook.to

Amazon.com

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 06/05/2026

It's May 1976. Easter holidays are over, and so is Brotherhood of Man's chart-topping run. ('Fernando' takes no prisoners!) It was cheesy, sure, but 50 years on, that father walking out the door acquires a different dimension... #1970sUK #76NovellaPlaylist www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OW1...

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Brotherhood Of Man - Save Your Kisses For Me • TopPop

YouTube video by TopPop

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Without the occasional Jumbo Jet grabbing our attention on the glidepath into Heathrow––that moment when the engines seemed to rev up in alarm––this might have been an actual wasteland, an actual war zone. The ruins were our world. for #WIPSnips from my novella '76'. (Last day to grab ANIMUS, btw)

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Angela Watt @littlewritespace.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

We stare at the girl left in the woods like discarded rubbish someone couldn’t be bothered to take home. Despite the sun you grow #pale. ‘Your first?’ I ask. You nod. ‘It gets easier.’ It seems the right thing to say. But it’s 18 years for me. Each one still feels like the first time. #vss365

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FizzytwizlerAllsortsOfAllsorts @fizzytwizler.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

#vss365 #poetry Sometimes the world’s Just a spinning cube The moon a yucky #pale yellow With the stars barely holding The sky up But still I wake up To march on Thinking about the sunshine While my soul slithers away Withering invisible with time

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Paul Phillips @paulphillips44.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

Still FREE for one more day – the chart-topping short story collection beside which even Life and Lust #pale by comparison... 😉 #vss365 mybook.to/ANIMUS

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