Anna Mazzola

Accidentally invented a thyme machine. We’re still stuck in the hideous present but everything smells slightly peppery.

Christening a baby is nothing like christening a ship. I know that now. Once again I can only apologise.

The haunting art of Serafino Macchiati (1861 to 1916). He became an illustrator of stories, including those of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and developed a taste for depicting crime, the paranormal, and Spiritualism. Also, his name means many macchiatos. What a guy!

I’d forgotten that Don Quixote is about a middle-aged man who reads so many books he goes mad and visits the pub, believing it’s a castle. I think I might be entering my Don Quixote era.

Turn spooky authors into desserts: Edgar Allan Pie, Mary Jelly, Anne Rice Pudding, Sherry Trifle Le Fanu. Dona Tart. Who else? This fantastic illustration is by @alisolomain.bsky.social

The wax head of Marie Antoinette that Madame Tussaud was forced to make just after the Queen’s execution, and Marie Antoinette’s last note. It reads ‘Lord, have pity on me! My eyes have no more tears to cry for you my poor children; farewell, farewell!’ She was executed #otd in 1793

Shocked and horrified to learn that vile racist dogs are attracted to my anti-immigrant dogwhistle racism scum party.

@soozuk.bsky.social Got a bag of hot salad and thought of you x

Public executions were not abolished out of tenderness towards the criminal. They were abolished because of the effect on the people watching, and the dangers of making human death a source of commercial entertainment. Here's Charles Dickens in The Times, after witnessing an execution in 1849.

Remember! Ghosts are not just for October. They are for Christmas, the anniversaries of unavenged murders, and really any time you least expect them.

Thank you, anonymous writer in @thebookseller.com today. As a lawyer, I find it mind-boggling that there’s supposedly no way of holding publishers accountable when they renege on things they agreed to do. We deserve honesty even if information is hard to give. www.thebookseller.com/comment/who-...

England is a made up thing. It has no basis in the ineluctable laws of nature. Its extent is defined by Edward II getting his arse handed to him. Athelstan conquering York. The Welsh of Cumbria were incorporated, the Welsh of Gwynedd were not. It is a political idea, an aspiration - not taxonomy.

Goth Robin! 🖤

The Official Conciergerie Inventory listing the meager possessions Marie Antoinette left in her cell before her execution. Somehow, this one of the saddest things I’ve seen about her.

Dorothy Parker. Still true.

Munchkin pumpkin sculptin now in. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...

La Mulata de Córdoba was a legendary woman accused of witchcraft in colonial Veracruz. One famous tale says she drew a ship on her prison wall, stepped aboard, and vanished. When the authorities returned, only the drawing remained. #WyrdWednesday

Really hoping our racists will have an ‘are we the baddies?’ moment soon.

New mini cat just crossed your path. Consider this good luck.

Fell in love with a wolf I fell in love once and she might eat me 🎵

If only someone could have predicted that teen boys who watch trash-hunting videos wouldn’t want to buy a novel written with some bloke their dad reads.

Just found out that, in the Netherlands, instead of 'Irish goodbye' people say 'taking the rat taxi', i.e. scuttling away. Which makes more sense than 'Irish goodbye' given actual Irish people say goodbye at least five times or just don't leave at all (my mother's side is Irish).

The Library is devastated to learn of the passing of Dolly Parton, a music legend and titan of children's literacy. Her Imagination Library program has earned multiple Library Literacy Awards and, in 2018, she visited us to donate its 100 millionth book to our collection and host a story time. 🦋❤️

Dolly Parton was the opposite of Elon Musk. She created, she donated, she gave, she loved. We all need to be a bit more more Dolly now that she’s gone.

Brilliant article by brilliant @annalisadinn.bsky.social on how funding is being quietly withdrawn from disabled creatives. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Maybe they should….NOT do that?

I love everything about Widow’s Bay, but in particular I love The attention to sinister detail. The Daddy’s Home game with its whisky bottle, belt and other things to hit with. The Stephen King book next to YOUR TURN, and the hilarious opening page.

Writing a novel is like doing a giant jigsaw puzzle where you have to create all the pieces yourself and many of them are misshapen and don't fit, but when you FINALLY put all of the pieces together you have an immense sense that the puzzle is shit.

School summer holiday status: heard the song ‘you’ll never walk alone’ earlier and it sounded like a threat.

Looking at the first draft of my novel through a colander so as not to blind myself.

"PSA: don't leave the house. Make our low-paid contractors do it for you instead."

If you didn’t get the grades you wanted today, remember: the world is frying and we’re all going to die soon so it doesn’t matter anyway.

Protect your eyes during the eclipse by reading a book instead

I love the idea that in 2009 people were going around farting profusely thinking it was going to help them lose weight.

The only taxidermied blue whale in the world, 1865 CE, now housed at the Natural History Museum in Sweden. The public was allowed to enter the whale up until a couple was found having sex inside it. Now the whale’s jaws are opened only for special occasions, such as Swedish election days.

David Hume here, making me think publishing in the 18th century had some similarities to now. Love his resilience, though. I need to work on my sanguine temper.