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slam.fitzsimons

@slamfitzsimons.bsky.social
368 followers 208 following 1.9K posts

creator of things: novels•prose poetry•shorts•spoken word performer• bookseller. linktr.ee/slamfitzsimons stephenfitzsimons.com

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Reposted by slam.fitzsimons
⛧ Mother Suspiria ⛧ (Stina Marie) @stinasdemons.com · 03/10/2026
Happy first #Caturday of October from me and this truly superb, classic meme 🦇🐈‍⬛🦇
Cover of Type O Negative's Bloody Kisses that shows two women's faces passionately brushing up against each other
Underneath is a similar pose but this one is of two cats
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
although that last one could be any MP.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
also same rules as teachers: no swearing, racist or sexist language. no photos of you enjoying yourself with a drink (sorry farage). no social media contact with minors (sorry reform).
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Interesting. Thanks. I’ll take a look.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Thank you for your time but I don’t share manuscripts with anyone I haven’t personally met and have a long term relationship with or is an agent/publisher with a long record of work.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
haven’t got one. it’s experimental so normal rules don’t apply.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
27,000 words in. not sure when i will be finished. i’m not pushing it. avoiding being hard on myself. a few days as i do a bit of research. it is set in london.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
a man writing a book.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i write on a single side of the pages in the moleskins as the pen i use bleeds through. i receive regular feedback as i attend @allgoodbookshop.co.uk writing group. i can gauge reactions. see what works. when i set out to write it i knew it would be a marmite story.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i really didn’t have a plan for the story. a single idea through the novel. what it was about. everything that has happened so far has been ‘discovered.’ i didn’t even have characters. the sentence structure has changed slightly as i realised what was needed for understanding. it is experimental.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i have a confession to make. it is something i’ve been keeping hidden for a long time. something secret that i only do in the small hours of an evening. when the shadows crawl in across the floor of the room and my family are in their beds asleep…. stephenfitzsimons.com/2026/09/30/g...
stephenfitzsimons.com
guilty
i have a confession to make. it is something i’ve been keeping hidden for a long time. something secret that i only do in the small hours of an evening. when the shadows crawl in across the floor o…
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
guilty i have a confession to make. it is something i’ve been keeping hidden for a long time. something secret that i only do in the small hours of an evening. when the shadows crawl in across the floor of the room and my family are in their beds asleep. it is something to be done in the near…
stephenfitzsimons.com
guilty
i have a confession to make. it is something i’ve been keeping hidden for a long time. something secret that i only do in the small hours of an evening. when the shadows crawl in across the floor of the room and my family are in their beds asleep. it is something to be done in the near dark. i got dragged in out of curiosity.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i will get to typing up the new section of the book, editing on the way. but first a diversion.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
completely written by the seat of my pants. just an idea for a book. a book that is different. every direction this novel has taken is a surprise. the events unseen. how many chapters unknown. will it have chapters even. not sure. just words on a page. relentless. demanding.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i have filled my moleskine with words. words of a novel. but it is not finished yet. so i open another new notebook and write my name on the page. considering i started this novel whilst waiting to hear back from beta readers on another book i am pleased it is moving forwards.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
it is in the early hours of the morning i miss my cat kaos. we would sit. him on lap. me writing in a notebook often about him. it was the agreement. now i sit in an empty room. just me the spiders the slugs. no soft slow rumble of a purr. the words in my notebook lack sound. warmth. they are cold
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
there was a time words were lost to me squiggles on the page a meaningless black line hateful demoralising i travelled the path many took some fell by the wayside i crawled on parched crawling until light on a horizon gathered a new route revealed a freeway visions of landscape blurred faces merging
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
my daughter and i are made of a similar cloth. they are into experimental film and theatre. me: experimental literature
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
im at the stage now ive basically stopped watching tv. the odd programme streamed but often not finished. instead i prefer the company of books. I will go out to see a film but im choosy allocating the time.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i wish I had the energy and focus and intelligence of my youth. there is so much i want to read and write but time slips by too quickly
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
but on a positive it is raising questions about formatting and structure of my experimental novel. it is giving me food for thought.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
you lose the context of the passage by the time you have translated the paragraph
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
personally I wanted more footnotes. translations of the Latin and Hebrew passages. it is frustrating having to use a translator app to work out what is going on. it reduces immediacy and understanding.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
i can say without a doubt ‘Schattenfroh’ is the hardest book I’ve ever read.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Also reading: The Author - Issue 137.3 Journal of the Society of Author Which they would sort their LRB discount out.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Current reads: -Schattenfroh -Consider Phlebas -Steering the Craft -The Poet’s Companion -Getting Published #imamultibookdipper
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I know who made the wigs
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
out and about. happy hour £4 for a wine. who says London is expensive. plus interesting artwork.
writer slam fitzsimons sat in front of a bunch of dick drawings. colourful.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
so i changed my blog so it no longer shows an email address. too many scammy emails. they amused for awhile but now im bored.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
good news comes to those who wait www.thebookseller.com/news/harperc...
thebookseller.com
David Walliams' backlist dropped by HarperCollins
HarperCollins has dropped the backlist of children's author David Walliams, The Bookseller understands.
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Reposted by slam.fitzsimons
StephenCox Wiz-4 "funny raunchy romantic, satisfyingly twisted" @stephencoxauthor.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
And if you can't stand Kobo, message me and we'll sort something out.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
my god - the content quality of the guardian has really plummeted. ‘the best way to…’, ‘the greatest …’ gossip presented as news.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
that kid would probably find me an establishment nerd and dull and wonder why I don’t fight the system or rebel against dress codes. he would find my lack of interest in current music disappointing. he would love I write but wonder where the ground breaking English novel is.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
sleep pattern trashed at moment. dozing off during the day. waking up in night and early. not helpful. but the early start does means i could get things done if anywhere was open.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
I’ll be heading to Manchester soonish for a few days. where are the best literary places to hang out? what shouldn’t I miss?
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
rebellion if you sit down in a room or in a corner of a cafe or bar and write you are engaging in an act of rebellion. you are choosing to go against the norms of polite society and do something out there. you have made the conscious decision to shun communication and contact with your family,…
stephenfitzsimons.com
rebellion
if you sit down in a room or in a corner of a cafe or bar and write you are engaging in an act of rebellion. you are choosing to go against the norms of polite society and do something out there. you have made the conscious decision to shun communication and contact with your family, friends, colleagues in order to sit down and put words on the page.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
and there is more to come. the next section is known. more thought of. a wealth of material available. can i pull it off. it is yet to be seen.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
25,000 odd words where the character hasn’t done much. no dragons to defeat. no gold to find. no planet to explore. no love to get.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
my current writing habit is to draft into a notebook first by hand as much as i want to get done in a writing session. then take a brief break before writing it up in scrivener. as i type it up i make edits to the work. it may not be the most efficient method but it is my method.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
it is an experimental piece where nothing much happens. if and when it is published it will test readers. but i have faith in them.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
a brief break from writing. it took a while today to get started but ive now completed a new section of the book. it is moving forward week. to those who have heard extracts it is a marmite book.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Jasper Fforde’s ‘The Well of Lost Plots’ foresaw the rise of AI and its impact on books.
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Reposted by slam.fitzsimons
Stephen Collins @stephencollins.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
Cartoon by Stephen Collins for The Guardian. Script as follows:

[scene is Winston Churchill in a bbc studio, giving his 'finest hour' speech]

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CHURCHILL:
The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. 

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CHURCHILL:
Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war.

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CHURCHILL:
If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free 
and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sun-

BBC PRESENTER:
Thank you prime minister 

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BBC PRESENTER:
Mr hitler, your response?

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HITLER [in the studio]:
Vell zis is hysterical woke nonsense as usual from mr Churchill

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HITLER:
What we are proposing -

CHURCHILL:
Hang on

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HITLER:
Let me finish - what we are proposing eez a simple power-sharing arrangement -

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CHURCHILL:
What's he doing here

BBC PRESENTER:
It's important we hear both sides of the debate

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CHURCHILL:
This isn't a debate 
You don't debate fascists

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HITLER:
Oh here we go with ze Godwins law!

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HITLER:
Why must you people always compare ze things you don't like to 'fascists, Nazis, Hitler'...

CHURCHILL:
Because you are a fascist Nazi Hit-

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HITLER [standing up, saluting]:
RAUSS!

BBC PRESENTER:
*Please* Mr Churchill let him speak

[ends]
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
so im at the stage of life when my children ive focused time on don’t need me. no cuddles on the sofa. no sitting around a table, having a meal, discussing the day. no watching cartoons on the telly together. all i can say is yippee! im off to the pub!!
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
the only thankful bit is at least im no longer teaching. there is no way i could be on my feet all day with this issue. not helpful for any class management. be grateful for small mercies they say.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
no one seems willing to take responsibly for my toe problem and arrange it to be sorted. so far seen by two different doctors - A&E and gp and im no closer to a resolution.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
maybe i should just Google the solution and do it myself.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
willing to fix. so may have to go private to fix something that nhs should be able to cope with. when I was a child this sort of problem was fixable.
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
the saga continues with my toe. the doctor at go surgery would not take the dressing off to look as he can’t do dressings. I will need to see nurse on Wednesday to change dressing. foot clinics apparently no longer deal with feet but mainly diabetics. so im left with a problem that no one seems
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slam.fitzsimons @slamfitzsimons.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Apopalypse Now is just a brilliant movie. how Martin Sheen wasn’t a bigger star actor I’ll never understand.
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