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Jo Walton

@bluejo

Writer of SF and fantasy. Superintelligent shade of the colour blue. "Even better than cold carrots." Vocateur reader. Philhellenist. Loves tea, trains, travel.

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Latest posts by Jo Walton @bluejo

Cover to the just-released NONESUCH, by Francis Spufford

Cover to the just-released NONESUCH, by Francis Spufford

BABOOM.

10.03.2026 07:07 πŸ‘ 30 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1
We are looking at a flower bed in front of the stone medieval chapel at the Hall. It has bright yellow narcissi and various shades of pink cyclamen.

We are looking at a flower bed in front of the stone medieval chapel at the Hall. It has bright yellow narcissi and various shades of pink cyclamen.

Just some spring flowers and medieval stonework for your delectation and delight.

We do love a daffodil. πŸ’›

10.03.2026 12:47 πŸ‘ 92 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

This demonstrates the importance for time travellers of having a change purse with clearly marked compartments for different currencies. (Pick one up any year after 1893)

10.03.2026 18:47 πŸ‘ 83 πŸ” 31 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

SQUEEEEEEE!!!!

10.03.2026 14:54 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Oooooooh... this sounds *great*! πŸ˜€

10.03.2026 16:10 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Book giveaway for Everybody's Perfect by Jo Walton Mar 10-Mar 24, 2026 Enter to win one of 50 free copies available. Giveaway dates from Mar 10-Mar 24, 2026. Piranesi meets Swordspoint in an elegant relay race through fantas...

Ooh, Goodreads Giveaway for my forthcoming novel Everybody's Perfect! 50 copies available!

www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sho...

10.03.2026 15:02 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 7 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

You want to read this, I promise you.

10.03.2026 14:45 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

So excited for the collection to come out! It’s amazing how much richer vi-authored work becomes as we traded pieces back and forth.

10.03.2026 14:28 πŸ‘ 33 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
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Two weeks from today, Trace Elements by @adapalmer.bsky.social and me will be out in the world.

Here are my author copies! Contains the history of SF publishing from Lucian of Samosata on, why I read, an examination of why SF and fantasy might be disguised as each other, lots and lots more!

10.03.2026 14:21 πŸ‘ 52 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 4

Thank you.

10.03.2026 07:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thank you. Good to know.

10.03.2026 07:46 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
A duck-like bird perched on a stone wall, with yellow stone pillars in the background. The bird is a vibrant brown with white underwings and a white head, with a red beak and feet.

A duck-like bird perched on a stone wall, with yellow stone pillars in the background. The bird is a vibrant brown with white underwings and a white head, with a red beak and feet.

#SomethingBeautiful a bird by the Ponte Vecchio. Maybe some kind of duck?

10.03.2026 07:23 πŸ‘ 21 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
The mosaic is a large square divided into four strips of scenes featuring men and animals, bordered by a chain-style frame. The top two sections depict intense hunting scenes: a shepherd fighting a lion, a soldier fighting a lioness, and two horseback hunters defeating a bear and a wild boar.

The lower scenes are pastoral but with a hint of the exotic: a shepherd watching his goat and sheep graze in the shade of trees; an ostrich on a leash held by a dark-skinned man; and a boy holding the leashes of a zebra and a spotted animal that looks very much like a camel but might be meant to represent a giraffe.

The mosaic is a large square divided into four strips of scenes featuring men and animals, bordered by a chain-style frame. The top two sections depict intense hunting scenes: a shepherd fighting a lion, a soldier fighting a lioness, and two horseback hunters defeating a bear and a wild boar. The lower scenes are pastoral but with a hint of the exotic: a shepherd watching his goat and sheep graze in the shade of trees; an ostrich on a leash held by a dark-skinned man; and a boy holding the leashes of a zebra and a spotted animal that looks very much like a camel but might be meant to represent a giraffe.

#MonsaicMonday - 6th-century AD mosaic in the Diakonikon-Baptistery of the Moses Memorial Church in Mount Nebo, Jordan, depicting a hunting-and-herding scene, interspersed with various animals.

09.03.2026 13:57 πŸ‘ 144 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
My photo shows a Roman floor mosaic depicting an octopus. The octopus is composed of small black tesserae (tiles) and has eight writhing arms with suckers and narrow curling tips. It is set against a white tesserae background. Octopus detail from a monochrome marine mosaic featuring Triton with a cherub and various sea creatures, including the octopus, dolphins and a cuttlefish, at the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in Herculaneum.

My photo shows a Roman floor mosaic depicting an octopus. The octopus is composed of small black tesserae (tiles) and has eight writhing arms with suckers and narrow curling tips. It is set against a white tesserae background. Octopus detail from a monochrome marine mosaic featuring Triton with a cherub and various sea creatures, including the octopus, dolphins and a cuttlefish, at the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in Herculaneum.

Spectacular octopus from the floor of the women’s changing room at the Central Baths in ancient Herculaneum.

πŸ“· by me

#MosaicMonday
#Archaeology

09.03.2026 14:02 πŸ‘ 947 πŸ” 201 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 2
Cover of Trade Me, a white man holding an Asian Woman. Text: "Milan knocks it so far out of the park that it's 200 miles away." - Fresh Fiction

Cover of Trade Me, a white man holding an Asian Woman. Text: "Milan knocks it so far out of the park that it's 200 miles away." - Fresh Fiction

"What a fantastic book. I don't know where to even start with the raving." -Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
/jb

Amazon: www.amazon.com/Trade...
Apple: itunes.apple.com/us/...
Nook: http://www.barnesand...
Kobo: http://store.koboboo...

#ContemporaryRomance #Romance #Romancelandia #HEA #CycloneSeries

09.03.2026 16:06 πŸ‘ 58 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Generally speaking all pre-orders are equal. Publishers note where the preorders are coming from, but mostly for their own information. That said, remember you can also pre-order books at your local bookstores! It's not just an online thing. Pre-ordering locally helps the bookstore and the author!

09.03.2026 16:11 πŸ‘ 280 πŸ” 38 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 3

We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.

03.03.2026 01:30 πŸ‘ 1636 πŸ” 712 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 20

I became a historian because of sf/f: LEST DARKNESS FALL. Then, when I couldn't make a living at it, I poured what I'd learned back into sf/f. The river of branching and intersecting streams...

08.03.2026 22:09 πŸ‘ 64 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0
A Burrowing Owl wears a bright green towel or towel-adjacent fabric like a headscarf. His eyes are wide and yellow, with oval pupils reflecting a trio of ceiling lights. Feathers are brown and white, with a thatch of tan across the chest. His rictal bristles around his pale yellow beak are damp and pink, presumably from his latest meal, but due to lack of time / awareness / shame / napkins he has been unable to clean himself for the photoshoot.

A Burrowing Owl wears a bright green towel or towel-adjacent fabric like a headscarf. His eyes are wide and yellow, with oval pupils reflecting a trio of ceiling lights. Feathers are brown and white, with a thatch of tan across the chest. His rictal bristles around his pale yellow beak are damp and pink, presumably from his latest meal, but due to lack of time / awareness / shame / napkins he has been unable to clean himself for the photoshoot.

Burrowing Owl 'Marathon' in Arizona received laser treatment for a leg injury when one of the volunteers snapped this cute picture. Want to donate to Wild At Heart Raptors? wildatheartraptors.org/donate/?refe... Source: fb.com/526080430065... #owlsintowels πŸ’›πŸ¦‰

09.03.2026 03:48 πŸ‘ 112 πŸ” 18 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

I illustrated these in scratchboard, (with digital colour) and they were such a joy to read and illustrate.

09.03.2026 04:54 πŸ‘ 127 πŸ” 29 πŸ’¬ 5 πŸ“Œ 1
The corner of the Baptistery with the facade of the Duomo and Giotto's belltower visible behind

The corner of the Baptistery with the facade of the Duomo and Giotto's belltower visible behind

#SomethingBeautiful but here's the reason why, awesome as it is, you don't see it celebrated much. It's literally overshadowed by the Duomo

09.03.2026 07:35 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The slices of the white roof, among the red tiles rooftops of the city

The slices of the white roof, among the red tiles rooftops of the city

#SomethingBeautiful the roof of the Baptistery seen from the Palazzo Vecchio, looking like a white tent. This is also the only view that shows you how close it is to San Lorenzo. And you can see that it is big.

09.03.2026 07:35 πŸ‘ 9 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
The green and white octagonal building with other Florentine buildings around it

The green and white octagonal building with other Florentine buildings around it

#SomethingBeautiful the corner of the Baptistery in context of the street

09.03.2026 07:35 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Angled looking up so you see the door, the wall, and the sky

Angled looking up so you see the door, the wall, and the sky

#SomethingBeautiful close up of the doors Ghiberti made for the Baptistery starting around 1400. You can also see how the walls are essentially mosaics. This isn't a facade, it's what they're made of, it's the same inside.

09.03.2026 07:35 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
The octagonal baptistery, green and white striped marble with bronze doors

The octagonal baptistery, green and white striped marble with bronze doors

#SomethingBeautiful the Baptistery in Florence, built in 1100, seventy years later they were already saying it was a repurposed temple of Mars, because for them Roman meant "awesome". A thread.

09.03.2026 07:35 πŸ‘ 18 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Jo Walton
Autrice de littΓ©rature SFFF, elle est galloise et vit aujourd’hui Γ  MontrΓ©al. Son oeuvre est riche: Morwenna (journal intime), De griffes et de crocs (romance et dragons), Mes vrais enfants (uchronie intime), Pierre-de-vie (fantasy champΓͺtre), Le Cercle de Farthing (uchronie policiΓ¨re).

08.03.2026 17:37 πŸ‘ 26 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
A sunset by the river with puddles in the foreground, trees and the river in the middle and mountains in the background.

A sunset by the river with puddles in the foreground, trees and the river in the middle and mountains in the background.

β€œThere’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, and they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss so many of them.”
β€” Jo Walton

08.03.2026 22:58 πŸ‘ 378 πŸ” 83 πŸ’¬ 12 πŸ“Œ 1

I've just finished a pleasant weekend rereading the Small Change series by @bluejo.bsky.social
www.jowaltonbooks.com/books/the-sm...

09.03.2026 00:48 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 2

See, so perfect that you were reading Cherryh!

08.03.2026 19:45 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Fresco of Sappho holding writing equipment.

Fresco of Sappho holding writing equipment.

β€˜Glittering-Minded deathless Aphrodite,
I beg you, Zeus’s daughter, weaver of snares,
Don’t shatter my heart with fierce
Pain, goddess’ ~ Sappho for #InternationalWomensDay

08.03.2026 08:55 πŸ‘ 98 πŸ” 23 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0