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Thomas Taylor

@thomastaylor.bsky.social
1.4K followers 560 following 156 posts

Author of Malamander, and the Eerie-on-Sea Mysteries. Secret new book on the way…

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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Contemplating my relationship with Sredni, the squirrel who lives above my studio, I can’t decide if he’s thinking “that human leaves nuts out for me. Maybe he’s nice,” or “I know where that human hides his nuts. What an idiot!”. Actually, who am I kidding… 😐
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Jacqui Sydney 📚 @jacquisydney.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
My love of #Malamander is legendary and I cannot articulate just how excited and grateful I am that I have a proof copy of @thomastaylor.bsky.social’s new title The Lantern and the Labyrinth to read. Out 08/04/27 for middle grade readers, my enormous thanks go to Thomas. @puffinbooksuk.bsky.social
Bright yellow hardback copy of the book held in my left hand in front of some bedding plants. The cover has no illustrations but carries the book’s title with Thomas Taylor above it and the Puffin Press logo beneath.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
The seaside today. For anyone who needs to see the seaside today.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
I watched the eclipse on the back of an envelope. You?
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My latest newsletter is all about my obsession with building book props, my patchy record on making them work, and how I have failed to learn any of the lessons. And also where you can see my newest one go live😎 open.substack.com/pub/thomasta...
open.substack.com
Thomas Taylor -- Newsletter 011
In which I fail to learn my lesson about making ambitious book props.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
I’m excited to be appearing at the 2nd edition of the fabulous ✨Ipswich Book Festival✨ this October, bringing Eerie-on-Sea back to town, but also introducing my next book — The Lantern & the Labyrinth — by attempting to summon an actual fairy creature into being, right there, live in the library🧚🏽‍♂️😬😉
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
I wasn’t sure how to wrap my stepfather’s birthday present, so I dressed it in a hat and tie instead.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Latest newsletter, in which I share some actual news for a change. substack.com/@thomashtayl...
substack.com
NEWSLETTER 008
In which I share some actual news for a change
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
My marmalade sandwich and I helped dance up the sun on the clifftops in Hastings this morning, so now it’s summer. You’re welcome.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
My latest newsletter, where I add my own mouse’s roar to the general angsting about AI in writing.
substack.com
Thomas Taylor -- Newsletter 007
In which I have thoughts about AI, and get (for me) quite spiky.
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Carrie @carrieprimary.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
I usually start with Malamander but with moving to P5, I thought I was best waiting until Term 4. Started it today and as soon as I finished ‘oh, read a bit more!’ @thomastaylor.bsky.social
Photo of the book ‘Malamander’ by Thomas Taylor. Two children stand on the top of a crooked house. A yellow sky behind them.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Thank you @fireflypress.bsky.social and Eloise Williams for this proof. I’m excited to head back to 1970s Wales, because I was actually there!
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
You know you are visiting a seaside school when there’s a free exhibition of seagull bottoms in the foyer.
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H S Norup @hsnorup.bsky.social · 12/09/2025
“The Changeling Child is a great sequel, with heart, and marvels galore — moth magic! — which leaves more treasures to come as the series develops. This one body can’t wait.” Thank you @thomastaylor.bsky.social ! 💚🧚💙 Find out more: linktr.ee/hsnorup 🧚 @pushkinchildrens.bsky.social
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
I’ll be making a rare 2025 public appearance on the 3rd of October, as part of the Ipswich Book Festival. There will be scribbling, story creation, live drawing, and book signing if you like. Dancing optional. Maybe see you there!
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Saskia W. @saskiawezenaar.eurosky.social · 24/06/2025
Tamsin Rosewell is an British artist, historian and broadcaster with a background in politics. As an an illustrator she uses various techniques to tell stories in her work, such as mathematics and geometry for composition, and color and silhouette figures to convey emotions and stories.
a drawing showing the Uffington White Horse rising from the hill in the sunlight
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Stephen Dilley @stephenjdilley.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
119. The Seamaiden's Odyssey by @berliedoherty.bsky.social, illustrated by @hobslantern.bsky.social An enchanting tale of the deep sea with utterly gorgeous illustrations!
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Tamsin Rosewell @hobslantern.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Always a joy to celebrate a new book by @pennychrimes.bsky.social - and what a lovely launch for Hero, The Highway Girl! New from @fireflypress.bsky.social - Hero is a fast-paced adventure in the wildnerness of C18th London. It has wolves, secret caves, gargoyles, chandeliers and great outfits.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
I had a fun time at the launch of @pennychrimes.bsky.social ‘s fabulous new book last. And I even got to try on the hat! Congratulations Penny✨
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
Hurray! Thank you @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social for sending me The Poisoned King by Katharine Rundell. I loved ‘Impossible Creatures’ (of course!), so I can’t wait to go back to the Archipelago. I’m delighted to be getting there early😎 #poisonedking
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
Thank you, once again, for inviting me on your brilliant podcast.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
I loved this too. And the Joan Aiken comparison is well made.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
This was was glorious. A heart-filled pistol-flash of an adventure, filled with daring deeds, odious villains, and amazing hats. A wronged girl with her vengeful wolf meets an outlaw boy with a stallion only he can ride? Yes please! Thank you @fireflypress.bsky.social and @pennychrimes.bsky.social
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 23/05/2025
I had to disguise some boxed-in wiring in my new bookshelves. Eagle-eyed readers of my Eerie-on-Series might spot how I did that…😉✨
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
Another beautiful book from ⁦‪@ManderleyPress
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Book post! Penny’s new book looks wonderful. I might wear my tricorn hat to read it. Out in September — definitely one to look out for. Thank you @fireflypress.bsky.social for the proof. @pennychrimes.bsky.social ✨
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
The vet appointment is in ten minutes😑
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
I’m delighted to have been sent an advance copy of ‘The Changeling Child’, sequel to the brilliant ‘Into the Faery Hill’ by ⁦‪H S Norup‬⁩. I only opened it to take a look and I’m on Chapter 8 already. Thank you ⁦‪@PushkinPress‬⁩ ✨🧚
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 06/04/2025
Well, that was wonderful. My slow read thru of Joan Aiken’s brilliant ‘Wolves Chronicles’ has reached Book 3: ‘Nightbirds on Nantucket’. And now I know why Dido Twite is such a beloved character. A joy to read, and perfectly illustrated by Pat Marriott in these Jonathan Cape editions.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
In which I make a new feline friend, and discover that his name is Bigfoot.
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Ian Staerck @ianstaerck.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
@thomastaylor.bsky.social Just wanted to share this with you! Since reading the fabulous Malamander to my Year 6 class, so many of them have got hold of their own copies of Gargantis! I count 9 copies and 3 Shadowghasts! I've got boys reading it in their lunch break! Thank you!! 😀🤜🤛
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 23/03/2025
Thanks for including Malamander, Tom🧜🏻✨☺️
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
A great evening at the Cartoon Museum yesterday, hearing Berlie Doherty and @hobslantern.bsky.social talk about their collaboration on ‘Seamaiden’s Odyssey’. It was wonderful to hear Berlie’s thoughts on the changes she’s seen in publishing. Makes me want to travel back and be a writer in the 80s!
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
It’s weird to reach my vast old age and discover a new favourite Diana Wynne Jones, but this book! ‘Fire and Hemlock’ is one of the most maddening and slippery stories I’ve read in a long time, but I loved every wonderful page of it, and will read it again this year, I think. Have you read it?
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 05/03/2025
Nothing ridiculous going on here. Nothing ridiculous at all.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 19/02/2025
I was privileged to take part in the pilot session of this workshop, and it’s brilliant!
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
I’ve been dog sitting, and to mark the end of my time with the little darlings I’ve made dachshund lasagne…
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
Someone should write a book about all the crackpot theories that have ever been proposed about Stonehenge, and title it 'Unhenged'
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Nathan Human @thehumanish.co.uk · 30/01/2025
Teachers! Parents! The latest episode of The Chatterbooks is here. It’s under 8mins so a great ‘filler’ to get your class chatting about books. This episode, Year 6 rave about Malamanda by @thomastaylor.bsky.social and Crater Lake by Jennifer Killick. www.thehumanish.co.uk/chatterbooks
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Dr Francis Young @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
I’m reading Patrick Harpur’s ‘Daimonic Reality’ (1994) and I wish I’d known about this book when studying for my Philosophy degree at Cambridge; it would have enraged my lecturers delightfully
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Reader, I bought her.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 26/01/2025
I finally read The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken, for the first time. A joy, but also a little baffling until I discovered, half way through, that it was written as a Dickensian parody. Once in on the joke, I enjoyed it all the more, and will certainly be reading the rest of the series.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Interesting little curio shop in town, which is new, but which also looks like it has been there forever. Shall I go in and ask about this boat?
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Look, all I’m saying is: Dry August would be easier. #draugust
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
Great to see Malamander in such fine company. Thank you, ✨Tom✨
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
This jigsaw has one piece too many.
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Manderley Press @manderleypress.bsky.social · 14/01/2025
Each of the buildings represented in the repeat pattern of these endpapers (and matching gift wrap) were of relevance to Mary Shelley’s brief but influential time living in Bath. We’ve created a book all about it and artist Eleanor Macnair has brought it to life beautifully! tinyurl.com/ykn2scn3 💙📚
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 13/01/2025
People ask why I didn’t do the cover art for my Eerie-on-Sea books, and, fact is, I did have a go. Here’s the result, unearthed as I tidy my studio. Book covers are hard work, subject to enormous scrutiny, so I’m glad George Ermos took on the burden in the end. But nice to find this again.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 12/01/2025
Good morning.
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Thomas Taylor @thomastaylor.bsky.social · 07/01/2025
I’ve been searching through old artwork, and I turned up this sketch of Eerie-on-Sea, drawn while I was still writing Malamander (back in 2017). The town wasn’t set in my imagination yet, but I think you can see Hastings here, and also Cromer.
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