iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 09/11/2025

'We have built a trillion-dollar system to externalize thought, then act astonished when the interior world collapses.' onepercentrule.substack.com/p/under-40s-... I'm not so worried about 'declining memory' as much as the 'collapse of the interior world' (which is why my WIP is about exactly this)

onepercentrule.substack.com

Under 40's Declining Memory

A Large US Study Finds Memory Decline Surge in Young People

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EveryHeron 𓅣 @everyheron.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

"At its core, [Heroneering] is about focusing less on ourselves and more on the wider world that surrounds us..." A beautiful outlook from @easybynature.bsky.social Bill Davison billdavison.substack.com/p/birdwatchi...

Here's the truth: The reason birdwatching is stereotyped as “for old people” is because our culture is so dysfunctional it takes most people 50 years or more to figure out what makes for a meaningful life. The answer is genuine connection to other people and nature. Birds are how most people can get there fastest. Birdwatching is not a hobby for old people. It's one of the most important things anyone can do at any age to improve the quality of their life.

At its core, birdwatching is about focusing less on ourselves and more on the wider world that surrounds us.

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WORDTheatre @wordtheatre.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

On the eve of Halloween, WORDTheatre turns the lights low for A Horror-Filled Halloween in Santa Monica. Curated by Patton Oswalt Directed by Cedering Fox Reception at 6:15 pm • Performances at 7:15 pm Tickets available through the link in our bio.

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Vicky Grut @vickygrut.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

How sad if we've lost the Edge Hill Prize. It's been important to so many people, including me. We were talking about it at the Leicester Writes event last month with Abi Hynes and Malachi McIntosh, both shortlisted last year.

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Freedom of the Press Foundation @freedom.press · 05/10/2025

“We’ve seen reprehensible behavior by DHS agents against journalists in all three of America’s largest cities. There’s no reason to think it will stop there, so it’s critical that we refuse to normalize this,” FPF's @adamrose.bsky.social told amNewYork.

amny.com

ICE attack on reporters: Press freedom and civil liberties groups condemn assault of amNewYork journalist, and others | amNewYork

Press freedom and civil liberties organizations sharply condemned Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday after journalists, including

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Patton Oswalt @pattonoswalt.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

The included story is from Ruby’s collection THIS PARADISE which is all bangers. One of the best short story collections I’ve read in years. Available from @boilerhouse.bsky.social!

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

My spine is tingling as a short from my @boilerhouse.bsky.social collection is in Ghost Box IV: a deluxe coffin of spooky/horror stories from Canadian publishers of gorgeous box sets Hingston & Olsen w/ texts selected by excellent human @pattonoswalt.bsky.social 🙏 Out today, print run very limited!

hingstonandolsen.com

Ghost Box IV — Hingston & Olsen Publishing

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The Answer-Man (Thaddeus Howze) @ebonstorm.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Why do people think creativity is like turning on a light and BANG, you have something new, interesting and able to be sold? I try to explain this to my beloved wife: “Every meaningful act of creativity is the sum of thousands of quiet decisions, risks, revisions, and mostly failures.”

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Jarred McGinnis @jarredmcginnis.bsky.social · 04/09/2025

There Is No Meant to Be" is available for preorder! My publisher promised that if I have 250 preorders that I get a case of prosecco left over from last year's Christmas party. 500 preorders before March & they'll go halfsies on a vintage George Foreman! uk.bookshop.org/p/books/ther...

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Overhyped uplit in turns out to have all been lies shocker

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Hastings Writers Workshop @hastingswrites.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

The Short Story - Experiments In The Not Normal with the beyond brilliant @rubycowling.bsky.social is now available for booking! Saturday, 5th July 2 – 5pm Cost £49 Two reduced price spaces available for those on a low income. More info & booking: www.hastingswritersworkshop.com/courses/p/th...

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

I'm very much looking forward to this workshop in Hastings on 5 July for @hastingswrites.bsky.social - might you come along? Bring your abnormality!

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Smooth Dunk @smoothdunk2.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Politicians During Mental Health Awareness Month

4 panel comic

Panel 1: Politician on podium saying “Wooo! Let’s talk about mental health awareness!

Panel 2: Audience member with raised hand says “And also funding for mental health services?”

Panel 3: Politician presses button that triggers two rockets to pop out the sides of the podium

Panel 4: Politician makes a swift exit through the skylight above, mercifully avoiding any tricky questions about actually providing substantial care for people with metal health issues.

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Here to report the first two swifts 🐧🐧

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Jen Calleja @jencalleja.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

In addition to tutoring their Writing Short Fiction course, I’m giving 2 workshops for @grantabooks.bsky.social Writers’ Workshop on translation + writing about art Translating Literature for Beginners tixoom.app/pwalecturer/... Writing Creatively About Art tixoom.app/pwalecturer/...

tixoom.app

Jen Calleja: Writing Creatively About Art

On Jul 1, 2025 - get a ticket now!

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Brutalismbot @brutalismbot.com · 14/04/2025

Alexandra and Ainsworth Estate, London - in spring r/brutalism

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

I suspected I'd love this, so pre-ordered. I was right. So good. Nice one Claire Baglin, Jordan Stump and @dauntbookspub.bsky.social

Cover of On The Clock by Claire Baglin, translated by Jordan Stump, published by Daunt Books

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ALCS @alcs.co.uk · 24/03/2025

Aaaaand we just hit 2,000 followers on Bluesky! 🫶 Help spread the word to fellow writers!

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Rebecca Makkai @rebeccamakkai.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING??

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Congressman Don Beyer @beyer.house.gov · 18/03/2025

I was at USIP tonight to conduct congressional oversight over DOGE’s break in. I spoke with Acting President & CEO Moose. USIP is an independent, non-profit entity and I will work to stop DOGE’s illegal power grab.

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 15/03/2025

Once again I am fruitlessly and pitifully calling for us (England) to boycott the men's World Cup finals. We never have (Russia?! Qatar?!) and we never will but I have to make my small squeak into the dark. (Yep still on about the football, sorry)

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 10/03/2025

Might've missed something but I think that's the first-ever set of Premier League fixtures (i.e. a weekend or long weekend when all teams play) in which no goals were scored before the 30-minute mark.

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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

We need to stop lumping together technologies, none of which are actually intelligent, under the name "AI". Machine Learning can be useful when properly trained. GANs and LLMs are just bullshit-creating plagiarism machines.

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Jen Calleja @jencalleja.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

Discuss & explore a range of approaches & practical tasks. Some reading before the sessions & a reading list provided at the end. £110 (max. 12 participants, min. 6 participants) or £135 to also have a 1hr feedback meeting over zoom on up to 3,000 words. jenniferannecalleja [at] gmail [dot] com

A brown tiled effect background. Overlaid it says Writing Experimental Fiction 7, 14 and 21 April 2025 6.30-8.30PM GMT Online

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

Recommendations? Great retreat for writing - with food - ideally in UK? (no teaching, just quiet space to write)

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Salt Books @saltpublishing.com · 17/02/2025

Dear #BookSky can you help us find our lost audience? We left 140,00 people behind on X and we want to reconnect!

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Bristol Short Story Prize @bristolshortstory.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Hello, all. Because of the entry system screw up last night and we're a little low on entries, we'll reopen for 24 hours as soon as we can make it happen on Monday morning, so you have the weekend to get your entry ready, and we'll announce Monday when we're open! Share?! bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

bssp.blogs.bristol.ac.uk

Bristol Short Story Prize

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Jonathan Gibbs @jonathangibbs.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

The good news is that next week sees the return of A Personal Anthology - the weekly mailout in which a guest writer, critic of otherwise well-read person picks and introduces a dozen favourite short stories. Sign up here to get it in your inbox next Friday: apersonalanthology.substack.com/about

apersonalanthology.substack.com

About - A Personal Anthology

A weekly guest-editor picks and introduces a personal anthology of twelve favourite short stories. Click to read A Personal Anthology, by Jonathan Gibbs, a Substack publication with thousands of subsc...

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

My first ever non-zero PLR statement - six years after publication 👀

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Richard Waite @waiterich.bsky.social · 10/01/2025

Having a whole year above 1.5C of warming means we need to work *much harder* to reduce climate pollution and adapt to inevitable impacts…not give up or say it’s too late to act.

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 28/12/2024

What are we DOING here? We're just meant to sit and act like this insane plagiarism and climate threat that requires more money than anything has ever cost is worth it? Are we meant to pretend that ChatGPT is worth this aimless, meaningless destruction of capital and our environment? For what?

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 24/12/2024

Never in my life have I seen a technology that creates such anguish and anger in people as generative AI. I have never seen a technology revolt people like this. The tech industry is playing with fire. People are angry, they hate this, they hate the tech industry for doing this.

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bhousepress.bsky.social @bhousepress.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

🎅Ho ho hi! ‼️We won’t be processing orders placed between December 20th and January 2nd as this is our closure period. Our social media accounts will also not be monitored during this time. We hope you have a restful holiday! Thank you to those who've supported us this year.

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Aaaooowww (that is a wolf howl, for some reason; I'm just going with it) after a hiatus, my book is back in stock at www.boilerhouse.press/product-page... Too late for Christmas but wouldn't you be pleased to get a little package in the new year? What with all the bleak? £10. Just saying

boilerhouse.press

This Paradise by Ruby Cowling | boiler-house-press

Or buy ANY FIVE of BHP New Fiction books to date for A BARGAIN £40..SHORTLISTED for the Edge Hill Short Story Prize, 2020 LONGLISTED for the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, 2020:"Ruby Cowling's de...

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Bluemoose Books @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Another box of books returned from Ireland due to Brexit Bolleaux. So @teamlabouruk.bsky.social what are you doing to help small businesses trade with our European partners? Because at the moment it is absolutely killing @thebookseller.bsky.social @lisanandymp.bsky.social

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Ben Pester @benpester.bsky.social · 17/12/2024

It’s my birthday - once again I am offering to read / give notes / edits on 5 short stories (one per person) No payment to me - but a £40 donation to Laburnum Boatclub DM me if you are interested www.laburnumboatclub.com

laburnumboatclub.com

Laburnum Boat Club | hackney boat club | Laburnum Boat Club, Laburnum Street, London, UK

Laburnum Boat Club is a voluntary organisation managed by local people for local people. We aim to provide opportunities for the personal development of children, young people and their families in th...

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The Onion @theonion.com · 16/12/2024

New Florida Law Requires All Women To Produce 3 Healthy White Sons By 22nd Birthday theonion.com/new-florida-...

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Have just read a long and reasoned blog post in which the writer calls the novel-in-stories a "nonsensical genre" and my rage at this is at an irrational level

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Charlotte Mendelson @charlottemendelson.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

In @britishlibrary.bsky.social shop! Basically the Magna Carter, if the Magna Carta were a torrid tale of young love, adult suffering, dark academia, coercion queerness power motherhood and Greek Tragedy. #Wife

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 11/12/2024

I just want to see ONE realistic protest/demo/picket line in a TV drama. So embarrassing when the signs have obviously been made in the same studio on the same day with the same materials. Protestors bouncing their signs up & down and shouting *constantly* at nobody. Can you imagine how exhausting

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Ruby Cowling @rubycowling.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Quoting for public service. *Please* be wary of this grift pattern: -assert obvious opinion on Bad Thing -get validation/RTs -claim behind-scenes activity against Bad Thing while subtly mentioning own struggles -channel fundraising -attract "here's a bit for you, such a good egg" donations

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Anon Opin @anonopin.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Getting people to rent out music for an ongoing monthly fee that returns basically fuck all for the actual musicians. Streaming is the greatest swindle since the privatisation of public utilities. What a world.

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