Gary Panton

Happy to say I've chucked a couple of Notwitches books into this year's Children in Read auction. All proceeds go to BBC Children in Need, and the winner's books will be signed (with a dedication, if you like) by me and Dotty Sutton. All the info is below. Please go support this excellent cause! 😊

The fact that a major company with a sizeable marketing budget is seeing enough of an anti-AI backlash to hook its whole advertising strategy onto it feels like quite a positive development.

As the most ghostly of days is almost upon us, here's a quick shameless plug for a bunch of pant-wettingly terrifying books I've written over the last couple of years. I put some plastic spiders next to them and frankly they're making me feel a bit sick even though I know they're not real.

Had a whole community here during the summer! The snorting and gnawing sounds are on a different level when they come by :)

I will never understand the number of people expressing concern about how AI will affect our jobs and our security while forwarding their friends AI memes of monkeys riding donkeys or asking Chat GPT what to cook for their dinner.

WRITERS! New Writing Scotland seeks a new co-editor for English- & Scots-language work. Applicants should be currently based in Scotland & have a strong publishing record, with a focus on poetry. Post is up to 3 years: stipend £1500 per issue. #writers #writing Pls RT 👇 asls.org.uk/new-writing-...

⚡️ [BIG BISEXUAL THUNDERCLAP] ⚡️ London, I WAS A TEENAGE BISEXUAL will be back from the dead for a night at @pleasance.co.uk! Come kick off #PrideMonth on 1 June with a funny, spooky monster mashup of vintage horror & '90s teen movies about the perils of being bi. www.pleasance.co.uk/event/i-was-...

Anyone else finding they're now unable to scroll down through their drafts on here? I have a *lot* of half-baked, poorly informed opinions I can't get to and I'm not happy about it.

Little reminder that this is happening in Edinburgh this Saturday and we'd love to see you there. There's going to be lots of drawing (mainly Dotty), blood-curdling screaming (mainly me) and a prize for the best Halloween costume. It's completely free and tickets are available from Waterstones.

Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk

If you're a sparrow or chaffinch this morning, let loved ones know you're safe.

I am quite genuinely fascinated by the psychology of this. After two or three Facebook posters for local events which were so busy they honestly made me feel a bit nauseous, I snapped and said that AI posters give me headaches. And the person who made this this asked me HOW I CAN TELL IT'S AI:

When Channel 4 shows those old US sitcoms in the mornings I sometimes wonder if anyone has actually checked them to see if they're, like, OK for daytime viewing? There's an Everybody Loves Raymond on at the moment that is pretty much entirely about sex, which seems a bit icky at 8.30 on a Saturday?

Just count frogula getting ready for Halloween … #kidlitart

I obviously post them on here but if you want Gig Updates from me, sign up to my mailing list: sendfox.com/rossmccleary...

You know what I love seeing and hearing in the sky at this time of year? Geese. Loads of geese.

I'll always remember where I was the day Gary Barlow went to lunch in a jumper.

You ain't seen me. Right?

Other than the Channel 5 years I've watched every series of #BBUK, and this year's is swiftly turning into the most uncomfortable watch in a long, long time. An actual abusive relationship unfolding in real time and you have to wonder at what point the producers step in.

Sensationally passive-aggressive taxi driver in Glasgow this morning. Asked him if he takes card payments and he was silent for a few moments before saying: "Yes we love it when you cost us money." Didn't say another word for the rest of the journey.

This is really sad, especially about BBC Scotland which has some really good content, including live lower league Scottish football which presumably now just disappears from broadcast completely.

Put your thinking caps on! Who do you know in West London who loves classic horror? We are making a plea for help to sell the final tickets for our Dr Jekyll & Sister Hyde screening at ActOne / Acton on the 30th Pls tag a friend who lives nearby or give a repost actonecinema.co.uk/ActOneCinema...

A very needy post just to say that voting in this year's Laugh Out Loud Book Awards closes this Friday so pleeeeease vote for me and Dotty if you have a spare moment. Our book, The Notwitches, is in the 6-8 category, but grown-ups are very much allowed to laugh at it too. HUGE thanks for any votes!

If anyone would like to see a short video of a Bush Baby grabbing a tasty snack before promptly sodding off again (and that’s what I’d do too, to be honest), this is your lucky day.

This is going to make it sound like I'm from the 1700s, but when I was growing up in Scotland pumpkins weren't really an available thing so at Halloween we had to carve faces out of rock-hard turnips.