Catherine Harrison
catherineharrison.bsky.social
Catherine Harrison
@catherineharrison.bsky.social
Writing historical fiction right now, like *right* now. She/her.
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
I get that the news cycle is packed right now, but I just heard from a colleague at the Smithsonian that this is fully a GIANT SQUID BEING EATEN BY A SPERM WHALE and it’s possibly the first ever confirmed video according to a friend at NOAA

10 YEAR OLD ME IS LOSING HER MIND (a thread 🧵)
September 24, 2025 at 8:30 PM
When AI art shows up on a video thumbnail on my YouTube feed I immediately block the channel. Zero tolerance. I'm bummed that some channels I really like have done it. Let's all do this, maybe it will stop.
March 12, 2024 at 2:20 AM
Are there any journals or magazines that accept historical fiction short stories? Preferably not too terribly hard to break into?
#HistoricalFiction+ #HistoricalFiction
March 9, 2024 at 6:59 PM
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
"King Nyx is a complex fever dream of a gothic narrative, a little bit Jane Eyre, a little bit Bluebeard, a little bit feminist historical fiction, a little bit remote location murder mystery, even a little bit steampunk"

Mahvesh Murad reviews gothic horror King Nyx:

reactormag.com/book-review-...
Lost Girls, Found Women: King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis - Reactor
A review of Kirsten Bakis' long-awaited second novel.
reactormag.com
February 28, 2024 at 7:15 PM
Here's my first WriterDeck. The mouse and lamp strap inside the box, and I used silent switches so I'm not That Guy in the library. I feel like Martha Gellhorn writing on this, though I'm sure she'd find it outlandish. #writers #WritingCommunity #currentlywriting
March 5, 2024 at 6:18 PM
Thank you for agreeing to postpone. I lied, though. I wasn't babysitting, I just couldn't deal. Here's the thing. I don't want to deal Thursday, either.

#whistpr
March 5, 2024 at 4:14 PM
Love this!
Fossil hunters

You're turning every stone. How you love dead dinosaurs, desperate for a bone.

I'm beached, daydreaming the sea's surface seen from the underneath.

You tell me you've found vertebrae. I think that's what you say. I've curled into an ammonite and floated far away.

#mpotd #whistpr
March 5, 2024 at 4:06 PM
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
New Audiobook: The story of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, one of the most intriguing men of the Elizabethan Court.
 
🇺🇸 www.amazon.com/dp/B0CVBMQQ4K
🇬🇧 www.amazon.co.uk/Essex-Tudor-...
 
#Elizabethan #Tudors #HistoricalFiction #Audiobook
March 3, 2024 at 6:37 PM
My writing soundtrack. I found this years ago in Master and Commander (in a super sad scene, iykyk), and my daughter said, oh, that's that hymn. Thomas Tallis, 16th century. I imagine my early 17th century MC singing it at church. This Fantasia is from 1910. Treat yourself if you've never heard it.
Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis / Oundjian · Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Visit us online: http://www.tso.caFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/torontosymphonyorchestraTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/torontosymphonyInstagram: http:/...
youtu.be
March 3, 2024 at 5:08 PM
I expected, as someone hoping to be published, to feel threatened by the intrusion of AI in writing, but I feel weirdly encouraged. Some people can't tell the difference, and I'm writing for the people who can. I feels like being part of the rebel underground. Too dramatic?
If only we could use the AI that’s writing those crap books to instead hunt out that kind of shyster offering and flag it up for review or something.
March 3, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
Goddamnit ‘Gray’s Thaumaturgy’ was right there.
‘It’s a drama about doctors, like ER set in Mordor.’
March 3, 2024 at 4:26 PM
This is the drafting machine I made. It goes clickity clack and soothes my soul. #writerdeck #writers #writing
March 2, 2024 at 4:17 PM
But her next soft step cracked ice, a puddle hidden under snow and leaves, and the forest went silent. She listened for a telling snap or a jagged catch of breath behind her. #whistpr
March 2, 2024 at 12:47 PM
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
Artists & Creatives, there's a browser plugin to remove AI sites from your search results. (Good for getting real references.)

Get the plugin here: iorate.github.io/ublacklist/d...
Then add the AI blocklists here: iorate.github.io/ublacklist/s...

🔁 Please Boost 🔁
Introduction | uBlacklist
uBlacklist is a Google Search filter for Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
iorate.github.io
February 24, 2024 at 12:24 AM
Bad news is I've only written 487 words, good news is I now know that a goshawk is a good choice to hunt grouse, and who you needed to bribe in 1617 to skip the queue at the Port of London docks. #historicalfiction #currentlywriting #writing #writers
March 2, 2024 at 1:38 AM
Sometimes I have to sleep on it. It always comes though, even if I have to sit down and type gibberish until it breaks
Anyone else find that when you get stuck on a scene, as soon as you get up and start doing something else the bit you were stuck on just plays out in your head?
#writingcommunity
February 29, 2024 at 7:57 PM
Reposted by Catherine Harrison
‘How do you do, fellow intellectuals?’
February 29, 2024 at 10:48 AM
Here comes the soundtrack of my day; bless you.
February 29, 2024 at 3:01 PM
I love the challenge of writing to the framework of history. The Corsairs attack is *here* in time and the Janissary rebellion is *here*. How do Camila's plot beats get her from A to B, and how is she different at each touchstone? #historicalfiction #writers #writingcommunity #writing
February 29, 2024 at 2:58 PM
Had to take a break from writing to feed my head with more political history. How do you maintain momentum when you have to break? I'm going to keep writing a page a day till I finish this research bump. #writers #writing #historicalfiction #writingcommunity #seventeenthcentury
January 22, 2024 at 3:19 PM
I have a chapter to show the reader why all these "minor characters" matter, why their suffering when The Bad Thing happens is as tragic as my protagonist's. They're not scenery. I hope I do them justice. #writing #historicalfiction #writers
January 15, 2024 at 6:37 PM
You know Stephen King's the Langoliers, how reality unzips itself behind you as you go? This morning I was strolling with my girl (in 1617), a gentleman said hello, and suddenly four people disappeared from last night's dinner party. Can anybody relate? #writers #firstdraft #WritingCommunity
January 14, 2024 at 5:21 PM
I more often study the anatomy of what I love. Pulled down P&P to recall how Jane Austen starts chapters. Turns out, lots of ways! A source of rhythm I had felt but didn't understand. #WritingCommunity #writer
January 14, 2024 at 5:14 PM
So, I think it's an important part of the story, this walking around seeing and touching things, having conversations, drinking chocolate. Things will happen later and readers need to know these people to care. But part of me thinks nothing is exploding so maybe this is boring? #writing #writers
January 13, 2024 at 11:12 PM
I love it when I think I know what I'm sitting down to write, and then a new character shows up, fully formed and suddenly essential. Why hellooo, you, saying that thing someone needed to say! #writing #authors #historicalfiction
January 12, 2024 at 8:27 PM