Wendy Palmer

I write light(ish) romantic fantasy fiction (CWs on website) and family-friendly puzzle walk trails while enjoying farm life with goats, alpacas & bees in WA's South West Boojarah region. No “AI” involved in any of it, unless AI stands for Apian Intelligence.

I follow & boost writing, reading, books, knitting, science, history, linguistics, environment, art & Stoicism.

She/her. Avatar AltText: silhouette of a woman in profile, with glasses & bobbed hair.

My fiction: https://wendypalmer.au/books/
Indie-direct sales: https://payhip.com/wendypalmer
WA Detective Trails: https://www.puzzlewalks.com.au/
Just my toots: https://justmytoots.com/wendypalmer@mastodon.au

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NIP-05 Address

wendypalmer_at_mastodon.au@momostr.pink

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Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

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Last Notes

2026-05-18 06:02:52 UTC

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tell you what, there’s nothing that undermines my enthusiasm for volunteering more than someone whipping out AI to do the job the volunteers gave up their time to do.

2026-05-11 04:05:30 UTC

Having naively elected to share an office space with my partner, what I dearly wish for now is a pair of headphones that have “not unless you are actively dying” printed all over them…

2026-04-29 02:33:44 UTC

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good on the group for taking a stand

2026-04-02 02:07:34 UTC

Just broke a lifelong rule and gave a hitchhiker a lift — the most non-threatening-looking young Japanese girl standing on the side of the road with a backpack and a shopping bag 😂
She’s been hitchhiking around Australia from Cairns and has made it to Southwest WA like an absolute champion.
Had to drop her at my turn-off about halfway to the next town, but I gave her my phone number in case she gets stuck. Not the first, I imagine!
10/10 non-murdery hitchhiker experience

2026-03-16 09:18:35 UTC

Nagi, of Recipe Tin Eats, posting on FB to answer some questions about Recipe Tin Meals, her meal donation program that costs her a million dollars a year to run. Casually explaining she’d rather spend that money for a good purpose than on conspicuous consumption.
Oh, Nagi, you’re a goddamn national treasure
#nagi #RecipeTinEats #GoodNews
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/116/238/103/727/487/705/original/06841a5bd457c194.jpeg

2026-02-10 02:15:26 UTC

I have a window-cleaning robot*. I think it’s dissing me for not cleaning my windows enough — it just passive-aggressively informed me it can be used monthly (this is the whole “we didn’t need to clean clothes nearly so often before we got washing machines” thing again, isn’t it…).
*don’t judge me, I have a lot of windows and glass doors**
**massive digression for Romance main character backstory: my father was a glazier, so we had more glass than walls when my parents built a new house. My mother assigned me all the window cleaning growing up but made me re-do them over and over due to streaks. Meanwhile, we had relatives with dark dingy houses which gave me childhood trauma in the other direction. Therefore I *must* have light-filled rooms, yet hate cleaning the windows and am also (weirdly, given the childhood practice) plain bad at it no matter the technique I use. SF plot twist: the romantic lead is not a professional window cleaner: I used the proceeds from writing romantic leads to buy a robot window cleaner instead 😂
#windowsButNotThatWindows

2026-02-03 09:04:23 UTC

The more details that come out about this story, the more heroic the kid is and the more amazing the rescue is!
Austin literally Doryed himself for four hours (“just keep swimming, just keep swimming”), then collapsed so completely the moment he’d called for help that he didn’t wake up again until he was in hospital. He’s getting around on crutches because his legs are so sore.
His mum and two younger siblings were in the water for eight to ten hours. The sun went down. That mum was floating in the dark thinking she’d sent her boy off to die and that they were all going to die too.
They’d managed to stay together but the waves were getting bigger and they were thrown apart.
Pitch dark. Rough water. Your kid screaming, floating away. Worse: can’t hear the other kid at all.
Holy fuck.
And then the sound of a boat engine.
If that rescue boat had come any later, even minutes later, than it did, my God.
And Austin’s first thought when he woke up was, I wasn’t fast enough. That came *so heartbreakingly close* to being true, and yet he couldn’t have done better.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-03/teen-speaks-after-saving-family-in-geographe-bay/106298798
#Australia #SeaRescue

2026-01-16 11:00:57 UTC

TIFU by forgetting a hose was on for four days and draining our rainwater tank so much that we’ll have to truck in scheme water before the end of summer 😬 🤦‍♀️
So, um, buy my books maybe? Fantasy with romance, often queer, available everywhere including Kobo Plus and Hoopla.
More info and retail links at my site:
https://wendypalmer.au/
#TheBloodyIdiotWaterFund
#books #SelfPromo #mmRomance #fantasyReads #QueerRomance #IndieAuthor
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2026-01-15 01:40:02 UTC

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“the real romantasy is not sex and romance with dragons and fairies, but sex and romance without misogyny and gendered hierarchy”
Nailed it
@npub1q60…kp90

2026-01-08 08:12:16 UTC

Just a quick note to my regular readers, if you’ve been waiting for my latest book, Grace & Favour*, to show up on #Hoopla, it’s finally arrived, a solid SEVEN weeks after releasing it for distribution (I have no idea why it took so long).
*Friends-to-lovers gay romance; the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace; one Very Good Boy.
#Books #bookstodon #GayRomance #Indie
Authors #readingCommunity
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2026-01-02 01:49:10 UTC

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I use Wordpress (com, not org) and have been happy enough with it 🤷‍♀️ I only blog once a month though (short book reviews).
I’ve heard others recommend Ghost as a good blogging platform, I think.

2026-01-02 00:57:33 UTC

My partner asked me why I’d knitted a tiny green penis.
GASP! It’s a WORM you philistine
#knitting #CraftFail
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2025-11-22 01:05:24 UTC

This dog is a breed that’s meant to have white/cream fur. But he has no fear of the rain and we have orange gravel…
#DogsOOfMastodon
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2025-10-13 13:03:35 UTC

I like the way CK McDonnell puts it in his author note for Relight My Fire (the Stranger Times series is great, by the way):
“creativity isn’t about imitating others to get it right, it’s about getting it wrong in the right way”
#WritingCommunity #creativity
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2025-10-06 03:25:31 UTC

For people who missed out the absolute riot that is My Dad Wrote A Porno podcast the first time around, they’ve just started releasing a remastered version of season 1 for the 10-year-anniversary.
Three old friends, one of them reading aloud from the porno his dad wrote, the other two providing commentary.
It is hilarious, and only gets better: sex positivity, pots and pans, international intrigue, found family, and a pony named Toffee Apple Chew
#MyDadWroteAPorno #RockyFlintstone #podcasts
#BelindaBlinks

2025-09-25 05:33:13 UTC

My editing thought process today:
I've described a group of widows and spinsters as a “gaggle”.
Hmm, a bit mean. Use “bevy” instead.
Wait, is it any less mean to use the collective noun for quails than for geese?
…
OK, well done you, brain, for not only retaining a random fact for something like 30 years, but also producing it on demand. I’m still using it.
#writing #editing @npub1hpf…4urc

2025-08-29 23:40:12 UTC

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I’ve already got it downloaded 😊 (it happened to be on Kobo Plus and I happen to have my subscription active right now).

2025-08-29 12:09:51 UTC

Queer Romance Club SEPTEMBER vote
Theme is mystery/suspense.
What we've ended up here is varying levels of suspense, from cosy murer mystery to intense SF thriller.
First, a few that didn't make the vote, mostly because I was trying to have plenty of variety in the choices, but all of which are worth a mention:
KJ Charles's Sins of the City trilogy, starting with An Unseen Attraction (Charles will be on next month's list with her new release)
Josh Lanyon. Long-time gay suspense/mystery writer.
Tal Bauer. ebooks only on Amazon (audiobooks more widely available).
Susan J Morris's Strange Beasts: f/f, first in a series. We already had two other historicals with stronger romantic plot lines (according to reviews anyway). But this one's on my TBR.
The vote list:
Mis En Death by Nikki Woolfolk - lesbian and trans characters, alternate-history steampunk mystery
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/mise-en-death-2
Prophet by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blache - m/m SF techno-thriller
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/prophet-30
Securing Ava by Anne Shade - f/f contemporary
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/securing-ava
Cat Sebastian's Hither Page - m/m historical, technically first in a series but AFAIK there's only two.
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/hither-page
@npub15nv…g9dy #QueerRomanceClub #Bookclub
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books

2025-08-19 10:30:41 UTC

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as a child, I loved Richard Adams (Watership Down) and William Horwood (Duncton Wood) as well as the authors you mentioned.

2025-07-29 05:44:13 UTC

New fire shed in the locality over from ours. Fully decked out with kitchen, comfortable couches etc.
Meanwhile, bunch of crafting grandmas need somewhere to meet after losing their previous location.
A brigade member tells them to use the new fire shed, it’s empty most of the time anyway.
Win-win!
But no! Some (excuse me while I go full Australian) bloody drongo shows up and tells the grandmas to bugger off.
Brigade member says, not on, mate, and tells the district fire chief.
Who signs the grandmas up as auxiliary brigade members.
Problem solved! With a side of not-very-malicious compliance.
(Also, now the grandmas will come to the annual meeting and you better believe they’ll bring snacks: win-win-WIN)
#LateralThinking #GoodNews #CountryLife

2025-07-04 23:48:11 UTC

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I will speak in the general sense though (very mild spoilers):
A major problem for me with this style of modern historical is that it wants it both ways - sympathetic leads with modern progressive attitudes, relationships and freedoms, but historical obstacles.
So this book ignores the social structures, strict class lines, and moralities of the time, right up until an obstacle or plot point is needed, and then it leans in on them. This is particularly the case with the mother enforcing a marriage on Beth.
At one point, Beth thinks, I can’t leave my mother with these terrible people aka the in-laws-to-be. If she called off the wedding, her mother would not be with those terrible people, right? But if she calls off the wedding, scandal!
And at what point, ever, in the worldbuilding of this book, was scandal an actual threat? It just makes her mother very hard to sympathise with, and the supposed obstacles irritatingly forced.
So while I did like a few things about this book — eg the little ways the MCs are shown to be comfortable with each other before they start realising they’re attracted, rather than it being an over-the-top lustfest immediately — overall, a big NO from me.
Finally, I can’t help mention the inaccuracy that possibly irritated me most — you cannot imagine how jarring I found the scene set in a fancy oyster bar (apart from the descriptions of slurping globs of snot-textured lumps). Oysters were a *working-class food*, cheaper than eggs, in the mid-nineteenth century. The idea that the gentry would go to a fancy restaurant to eat them 🤦‍♀️
(And don’t even get me started about having Gwen leaving her room in a mess, including discarded plates, as a sign of her emotional distress and it *staying that way* in an earl’s household…)
2/2
#QueerRomanceClub
@npub15nv…g9dy @npub1ny7…uv57

2025-07-04 23:43:33 UTC

Queer Reading Club - July - Don’t Want You Like A Best Friend (aka More Than a Best Friend
It was available immediately from my library, so I’m commenting early — I’ll probably read at least one of others on the voting list, and might talk about it later in the month.
This one is cosplaying as a historical, in that we have modern people in pretty dresses and fancy houses. I don’t mean to be derogatory with that — there’s plenty of cosy contemporaries that completely ignore real contemporary times, and this is a cosy historical that’s mostly ignoring real history.
And obviously you wouldn’t want to have it be *too* realistic, or everyone will be suffering from tuberculosis and rampant misogyny. It’s a balance, one authors are having to reevaluate currently with the crash in publisher/reader interest in historicals.
But pretty much, either you don’t mind an historical this far down the inaccurate end of the spectrum or you do, and you’ll know it during the first chapter (even before the first time “okay” is deployed in dialogue…)
And I don’t mind books that own it (Alexis Hall’s regencies come to mind), but I do mind this style.
So I am just not the right reader for this book, probably because I am far (far, far) too old for it. This is a starter historical, an early-adult contemporary in fancy dress (with a distressing amount of sport-based scenes), for readers who haven’t been reading historical fiction and non-fiction for 30+ years.
I could blast through my generous character limits multiple times over listing all the things that annoyed me, but I won’t, because it’s not fair, because I am so very much not this book’s intended audience. It’d be like picking on a kid’s cartoon for not being adult enough.
1/2
#QueerRomanceClub @npub15nv…g9dy
#books #historicalRomance @npub1ny7…uv57

2025-06-24 23:45:00 UTC

I’m reading Gold: the remarkable story of Edward Hammond Hargraves — charlatan, impostor and self-proclaimed driver of god in Australia by Matt Murphy
And I only just noticed the pull quotes on the front cover. They’re not about the book 😂
@npub1ny7…uv57 #history
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2025-06-23 12:26:16 UTC

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she played the hand she was dealt to perfection…it was just a depressingly curtailed hand.

2025-06-23 08:21:08 UTC

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yes, I realise I’ve tried Emma Alban before and didn’t warm to the style but I can’t only suggest books I know I’ll like 😂

2025-06-23 08:11:03 UTC

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It's basically the vibe and a low-stakes plot. I think I've got four lined up for the vote, let me know if you know them/know of any major red flags:
- Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacon and Rebecca Podos
- The Broposal by Sonora Reyes
- Don't Want you Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban
- Direct Descendants by Tanya Huff (this is the f/f cosy horror, I'm just fascinated as to how that works)
I like Olivia Atwater a lot, you're right about the cosy feel :)

2025-06-21 01:31:20 UTC

Change of plans for July’s Queer Romance Club’s theme.
It was meant to be the award winners for the Lammy Awards (https://lambdaliterary.org/awards/) but they’ve moved to later in the year, so we’ll switch to August’s Cosy theme.
AKA can we find a cosy the coordinator of QRC actually likes 😂
Suggestions welcome. We’ve had a few books now where the queer romance has been a subplot rather than the major plot, so suggestions for just a straight-up cosy romance, no extra genre needed, would be great.
Apparently Direct Descendants (f/f romance) is a cosy horror, which frankly sounds like a walking contradiction, but I can add it to the vote.
More about the QRC here (TL;DR: we read books with queer romance in them, everyone welcome to join in)
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104
Side note, I HAVE liked a few cosies, in the fantasy genre:
- The House in the Cerulean Sea (but not the sequel)
- Sorcery and Small Magics — I might put this one on the voting list, but it’s the first in a trilogy so the romance is not resolved.
- Swordcrossed, a previous QRC pick.
And I’m sure I’ve read more that I enjoyed but forgot about quickly (as the nature of cosies for me)
#QueerRomanceClub @npub15nv…g9dy #BookClub @npub1ny7…uv57

2025-06-18 00:11:12 UTC

#AmReading The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson and am enjoying it so much that I’m actually glad it’s Book 1 of a trilogy instead of merely a doorstopper of a stand-alone.
#books #fantasy @npub1ny7…uv57

2025-06-14 02:44:58 UTC

#QueerRomanceClub June selection— Navigational Entanglements
I do like a novella (I resent paying upper-end novel prices for novellas, but that’s a different story), and I especially like Aliette de Bodard’s Xuya universe. I thought I’d been quite patchy at reading them but looking at the titles, I realise I’ve read almost all of them over time.
This one is typical of the rest — deep and very effective Viet-influenced world-building without wasting too many words explaining it, a plot that involves juniors in a strict hierarchical structure having to in some way rebel against their elders, with a low-key f/f romance woven through it. Nice to have an almost entirely female cast too. Was not sure why a navigation clan needed assassins, though, but it was taken at face value, so I guess the politics are just robust (as we go on to learn…but then, why the shock from the juniors then…)
De Bodard often has a f/f dynamic which is older/powerful/mysterious woman and younger, wide-eyed girl, so it was nice to have a relatively equal flaws-compliment-each-other relationship, and I liked the way mutual trust played into the finale.
But the downside of a novella is that there’s not always the full depth devoted to the relationship, so it all happens a bit fast. Also, I didn’t always follow why the characters were getting annoyed at each other eg we’d be told Nhi was being unpleasant but the dialogue just didn’t *sound* that unpleasant (this is likely just me being accustomed to sassy banter).
Annoyingly, and no fault of the author’s, Sư phụ (master) displayed as S ph on my Kobo ereader, and feel like if the publisher is charging that much, they could have afforded having a minion check that.
@npub15nv…g9dy @npub1ny7…uv57 #SFF #SFRomance

2025-05-29 00:07:46 UTC

I’m only a few sales off setting a new record for the month, and it’s a milestone I’d like to reach, so….
#selfPromo
I write fantasy books which are neither epic nor cosy (but closer to the cosy end of the spectrum, I call them cosy-adjacent).
They have happy-ever-after romance in them, though not the epic romantasy kind, and usually queer.
They’re usually stand-alone, even when part of a duology (no ten-book series here, if you don’t like commitment)
They are mildly funny, and sometimes morally complex, but mostly just fun escapism where the bad guys always lose.
You can check them out on my website, and find the buy links - widely available, including via Hoopla and Kobo Plus, and direct from me (via Payhip):
https://wendypalmer.au/books/
(And CWs: https://wendypalmer.au/content-warnings/)
Boosts appreciated.
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #fantasy #romance #LGBTQRomance @npub1me9…z28v

2025-05-24 06:32:14 UTC

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I know, it’s dangerous to the TBR list, isn’t it!

2025-05-24 06:31:49 UTC

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great, thanks!

2025-05-24 02:54:04 UTC

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thank you 😊 I’m a fan of all three

2025-05-24 02:52:48 UTC

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fantastic, thank you 😊

2025-05-24 00:44:15 UTC

#QueerRomanceClub June voting suggestions — Pride theme
We’re “read gay, do crime” all year round, but for the June pick, I need suggestions of LGBTQ books specifically by LGBTQ authors, specifically in the Romance genre (the relationship is central to the plot and there’s a Happy Ever After).
I have TJ Alexander and Alexis Hall on my radar but I confess I don’t usually pay attention to authors, just books, so more suggestions appreciated (especially in the L and B zone)
Indie authors welcome, but must be widely available (no Amazon-only books).
More about QRC here:
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104
@npub15nv…g9dy @npub1ny7…uv57 #bookclub #LGBTQ

2025-05-11 05:20:52 UTC

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I liked the non-linear telling for the “my god, what on earth did you *do* to cause this, you foolish boy?” aspect 😊 but it would have been nice to see more of them just being together, yes

2025-05-08 11:19:33 UTC

The unethical treatment by the local tech guys of my mum’s elderly neighbour is something to behold.
She’s had trouble with her email, iiNet, which sold off their email service and it stopped working for her (probably because she hadn’t paid the new company due to drowning in spam).
Took it to a computer shop, charged her $110 to tell her nothing’s wrong.
I got her set up with a replacement email.
All worked fine for a while, then something happened and her email stopped downloading and she had password problems.
A second computer shop charged her $90 to tell her they’d fixed it (except they looked at it for 2 minutes and didn’t give her a new password or anything).
I sorted it out as much as I could.
Password problems started up again the next day. I don’t know what’s happening, but before I can go back, she’s called in a third guy, supposed to be experienced with helping the elderly.
He sold her a new laptop.
What a fucking arsehole.
I just got the text to please come and help again, as the new laptop is having the same problems *quelle surprise*
#Elderly #TechHelp

2025-04-30 23:33:29 UTC

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good article, thanks for sharing 😊 nice to see some of my favourites, Zen Cho, India Holton, and Alexis Hall getting recommended!

2025-04-30 22:59:34 UTC

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well, bearing in mind this is Australian dollars and Australian book prices my “spree” was really only three books, I just managed to actually pick some instead of being paralysed by indecision 😂
but I couldn’t even touch the non-fiction section, and the more academic of the non-fic books on my TBR list are well over AU$100 even in ebook form, so I feel your pain!

2025-04-30 05:32:00 UTC

How to spend $100 of book vouchers in a record 15 minutes:
Park in a 15-minute parking spot 😂
@npub1ny7…uv57

2025-04-29 10:18:23 UTC

MAY selection for the Queer Romance Club — The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by EM Anderson
I can’t say this SOUNDS much like a cosy fantasy romance — I’m looking forward to it anyway but I think I should stop being quite so trusting of certain book lists 😂
***
Blurb:
This mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past in order to embrace his found family.
Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.
After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.
Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he’s ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead — until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter’s drawn into the townsfolk’s lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.
But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won’t.
As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter’s well-being against that of his new friends and the man he’s falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.
***
QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and @npub15nv…g9dy tags.
No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it. CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.
(Feel free to tell us what else you’re reading in #queerRomance too)
More about the club here
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104
@npub1ny7…uv57 #RomanceReads #FantasyReads #books
@npub145p…j2zc #LGBTQRomance
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2025-04-15 10:23:41 UTC

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😂 I played netball as a kid and I just do not remember this rule at all! Maybe it was quietly waived for my little school comp

2025-04-15 08:33:46 UTC

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An update on my Melbourne plans — no quilt convention, boo, but I do get a tour of the dome of the Royal exhibition building and some scones afterwards so things are looking up 😊
Meanwhile, in the netball championships, I’ve become acquainted with the concept of “addressing the line” when one of my son’s teammates accidentally didn’t do it.
He got a turnover, not because he stepped over the line on an inbound, but because he DID NOT MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE LINE before passing in.
This has to be the most archaic rule I’ve come across (in the very few sports of my acquaintance). Respect the line. Acknowledge the line. Genuflect to the line. 😂
#netball

2025-04-14 23:02:29 UTC

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OH NO IT WAS LAST WEEK 😭

2025-04-14 23:01:28 UTC

Visiting Melbourne while my kid plays netball championships, have a few spare mornings thanks to fixtures
Me, noticing the Australasian Quilt Convention is on: ooh, that’s my Thursday morning sorted
My partner: laughs
Me: I’m not joking
#TextileCrafts #quilting

2025-04-01 19:25:12 UTC

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Loved the description of Tennal’s mind when Surit delves into it.
I did expect the sync to happen straight off and am glad it didn’t; this is currently instead a science fiction twist on fake-dating :) I’m looking forward to seeing how they go.
I like it when authors really lock in *why* two people are each other’s HEA, and this is a really neat moment for that:
“Behind that focus, Tennal didn’t sense caution, or bafflement, or anything Tennal usually engendered. Instead there was a single glimpse of clockwork arranging itself around Tennal’s quick-fire ideas, of a vast, immovable will bending itself to a purpose. Something that never let itself be stopped. Something that could meet Tennal and not be knocked off course.”
Prediction: the salvage op (and/or research mission, as they were told different things and it hasn’t been quite cleared up yet) is to do with Surit’s traitorous gen-parent.
2/2

2025-04-01 19:23:53 UTC

Queer Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
Very mild spoilers to end of part 1, but I know some readers don’t want even very mild spoilers, so into the secret-sauce box it goes…
I’m thoroughly enjoying this so far. I did have a moment where I thought, mind control powers are acceptable but mind-reading is despised, that seems unlikely, but then I realised in a military-dominated society, that’s pretty much exactly how it would go. I’ll be interested to see Tennal (or someone) do a deep-read.
I like both characters. I like Tennal and his self-described “rich-kid bullshit” — he’s annoying as shit, and IRL I would avoid him like the plague, but in fiction, very distinct from contemporary settings, I can enjoy his stubborn malicious-compliance tactics. I’m assuming there’s more than what feels like ADHD-driven historical adolescent conflict with his aunt behind his behaviour and bad habits, possibly to do with the unaccounted-for gen-parent.
I fully appreciate that he’s following the rules as a little shit and Surit is following the rules as a good little soldier, to the same effect, and then the commander waltzes in and swats them both like bugs with a fine-boys-we’ll-follow-the-rules-then strategy.
1/2
#QueerRomanceClub @npub15nv…g9dy
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #LGBTQRomance #SFRomance

2025-03-26 02:54:35 UTC

APRIL selection for the Queer* Romance Club — Ocean’s Echo by Everina Maxwell
As is fairly standard for QRC, the voting ended in a tie, so I’ve deployed my coordinator tie-breaker to go for Ocean’s Echo (the one I would have voted for, if I took part in the poll).
This should be widely available at libraries. Though it’s in the same world as Maxwell’s first book, Winter’s Orbit, it is a stand-alone. I’m looking forward to this one :)
***
Blurb:
“Change begins with the meeting of the minds”
When Tennal - a rich socialite, inveterate flirt, and walking disaster - is caught using his telepathic powers for illegal activities, the military decides to bind his mind to someone whose coercive powers are strong enough to control him.
Enter Lieutenant Surit, the child of a disgraced general. Out of a desperate need to restore a pension to his other parent, Lieutenant Surit agrees to be bound to Tennal and keep him conscripted in the army, a task that seems impossible even for someone with Surit's ability to control minds.
Tennal just wants to escape, but Surit isn't all that he seems. And their bond may just be the key to their freedom.
***
QRC is open to all, read at your own pace over the month and post about it under the #QueerRomanceClub and @npub15nv…g9dy tags.
No rules: let’s hear reactions, theories, reviews, favourite quotes etc, any time throughout the month or indeed whenever you happen to read it. CW for spoilers if going into details but general observations can be open.
Or let us know what else you’re reading in the #queerRomance genre. One of the other titles on the voting list? An undiscovered gem? An old favourite?
More about the club here
https://mastodon.au/@wendypalmer/113144943004145104
@npub1ny7…uv57 #RomanceReads #ScienceFiction #books #bookclubs @npub145p…j2zc #LGBTQRomance
*I realised I typoed in the voting to Queen Romance Club. Which would have had quite different selections ;)
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2025-03-18 23:21:46 UTC

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I love her work 🥰 and gosh I love that cover!

2025-03-18 01:16:38 UTC

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Oh, I just saw this
https://connectified.com/@masukomi/114180723145768691

2025-03-17 23:07:25 UTC

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You’ve probably read anything recent I can suggest (Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander, I Shall Never Fall in Love by Hari Conner…)
Back when I had KU, there was a really nice fantasy novel by writing duo Sarah Honey and Lisa Henry, called (I think) Anhara, with a trans character, but just as a by-the-by rather than a feature, IYSWIM. You don’t find out till late-ish and it’s just a fact. That was years ago, but presumably it’s still on KU.

2025-03-15 01:46:49 UTC

Spotted at a red light in #Perth
#puns #gandalf #LOTR
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2025-03-15 00:32:03 UTC

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thanks for sharing that, I appreciate her flat statement (with data!) that readers aren’t deserting indie writers by leaving Amazon. It’s been getting a bit *distracted boyfriend meme* on a few sites, the way some exclusive authors have been complaining about customers finding indies at other sources instead.

2025-03-10 12:01:19 UTC

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my friends made a point of taking me to Daunt’s when I visited them in London a decade ago

2025-03-08 10:41:02 UTC

Last day of the #Smashwords #ebookweek25 sale!
It ends 11.59pm Saturday 8 March Pacific Time (which is 3.59pm Sunday in Perth, Australia, and that’s the last timezone help I can give anyone 😂)
It’s a great chance to stock up on DRM-free ebooks — browse those two hashtags to check out the huge range of Mastodon indie authors with their books on sale.
https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/
#books @npub1ny7…uv57 #ebook #IndieAuthors #IndieBooks #DRMFree
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2025-03-03 09:08:34 UTC

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I’ve only read the first couple of chapters, but I’m impressed so far, she really made her own way

2025-03-03 07:14:42 UTC

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I’ve just started the biography, I didn’t know they were releasing a collection of stories in tandem!

2025-03-01 01:04:26 UTC

Bit of a historical non-fiction binge recently:
James and John by Chris Bryant — a deep-dive on the last men executed in Britain for sodomy, an absolute travesty of justice.
Strangers by Graham Robb — older book, subtitled Homosexual Love in the Nineteenth Century and does what it says on the box — single-handedly prevented me from making the MC of my next book, set in 1842, petrified of getting caught and executed by providing the wider context of the narrow focus of James and John.
Embers of the Hands by Eleanor Barraclough — excellent, intimate look at the real lives of the Vikings as drawn from their most remarkable artefacts. Highly recommend!
Empireland by Sathnam Sanghera — an fair-handed overview of British imperialism, good historical account and context for some modern arguments (one inadvertent parallel that struck me: the ill-advised strike of a colonised people against British women and children, followed by the massive literal overkill of the British response, pretty universally condemned now with the distance of the intervening decades and centuries).
Just started Outrageous Fortunes (about Mary Fortune, early Australian crime writer), and I love her already
Looking forward to The Palace by Gareth Russell (a social history of Hampton Court Palace) and Vagabonds by Oskar Jensen (life on the streets of nineteenth century London)
#historicalNonFiction #books @npub1ny7…uv57
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2025-02-26 14:19:12 UTC

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thanks - I was fairly skeptical but you’ve persuaded me to give it a go this weekend

2025-02-16 03:54:03 UTC

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I enjoyed this one too 😊 and will read the next one.
I also liked her previous witch-based trilogy.

2025-02-14 00:15:51 UTC

❤️ It’s already Valentine’s Day here in Australia and it’s coming for you too ❤️
📚 If you’d like a romance read, all my books are on sale through the end of Feb 15 🎉
https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/wendylpalmer
(If the sale’s not showing publicly yet, use code NUF6V)
Non-epic Romantic fantasy: it’s down the cosy end, but check for content warnings here:
https://wendypalmer.au/content-warnings/
#books #booksale #romanceReads #fantasyRomance
@npub1ny7…uv57
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2025-02-10 14:09:46 UTC

#AmReading Small Bomb at Dimperley by Lissa Evans
Historical novel set just after World War II, following a young and recently demobbed baronet and his family as they cope with the changes wrought by the war. His dowager mother has Downton Abbey vibes.
So far, well-written, authentic, and funny in a wry English sort of way, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/small-bomb-at-dimperley
I was about three chapters in before I went looking to see what else Lissa Evans has written— and it turns out she also wrote Wed Wabbit, only one of my ever favourite books that I read to my kid.
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #historical #LissaEvans

2025-02-06 09:38:08 UTC

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I liked this one too, I’m looking forward to the third one

2025-02-03 12:43:06 UTC

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I guess that depends on which Wendy Palmer you think I am 😊 I’m the Australian one who writes indie fantasy books…

2025-02-03 08:49:45 UTC

Look, I made a flowchart to help readers decide if they’d like to read my books ;)
(https://wendypalmer.au/books/ if this silly thing actually piques your interest)
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #FunWithFlowcharts #ReaderDecisionTree #IndieAuthors
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2025-02-03 04:32:21 UTC

Look at this story about “fainting Sundays” recounted in Law’s history of Hampton Court Palace, as told in the memoirs of the sub-chaplain at the time 😂
#history #regency #FaintingSundays #ShaggyDogStory
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2025-01-31 01:49:55 UTC

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Sadly, true
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jan/30/us-authors-guild-to-certify-books-from-human-intellect-rather-than-ai-human-authored

2025-01-31 01:40:23 UTC

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OH MY GOD YOU PEOPLE 😂
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/920/413/058/744/176/original/91f0b845f8ef2990.jpeg

2025-01-29 00:26:59 UTC

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I reckon you’ll love it then, but forewarned is forearmed 😂

2025-01-29 00:20:22 UTC

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I tried to read the first one and bombed out early — I didn’t like the sheer volume of YA tropes: society explicitly murdering its teens [as opposed to our implicit efforts…]; parent inexplicably determined their child should die; MC selflessly-to-the-point-of-sainthood helping complete stranger at very real risk of her own life; handsome childhood male friend, broody violent male enemy-to-become-love interest-as-part-of-love-triangle; classroom scene to give background info and I’m out!
But I like neither YA or epic fantasy as a rule, so was probably the wrong audience 🤷‍♀️ obviously heaps of people love it.

2025-01-27 01:46:22 UTC

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that dovetails nicely with my personal theory that people cope with constant climate anxiety/fear by moving right.
Even the climate deniers know deep down something’s wrong so their sense of dissonance must be intense as they chase growth and blame everything and everyone else…

2025-01-26 11:43:58 UTC

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good, I hope you enjoy it 😊 Alison Goodman is an Australian author too

2025-01-26 11:42:57 UTC

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me too (the sale is what alerted me to the new one on the way 😊)

2025-01-26 11:32:28 UTC

The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies is on sale at Kobo AU (maybe other places)
Older protagonists, well-researched Regency, mysteries based on real events, some romance but the central sibling relationship shines, fun but not fluffy — grim realities of life in those times confronted. Recommend!
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/the-benevolent-society-of-ill-mannered-ladies-4
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #Regency #HistoricalMystery

2025-01-26 08:18:35 UTC

#AmReading The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner, in which we finally find out just what the deal is with the murder rate in “Cabot Cove”…
I really liked Waggoner’s first two books, which were quirky historical fantasy. This one is a fresh and funny paranormal with Grady Hendrix and T Kingfisher vibes and an older female lead who’s very Jessica Fletcher on the outside but all kick-arse librarian on the inside — I’m LOVING it.
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #MurderSheWrote #paranormal
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2025-01-24 11:32:53 UTC

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😂 I don’t remember my initial spark for him (though it was a podcast) but you can throw stuff my way on that too if you like — he, or his garden gnomes, really, are next years’ project

2025-01-24 11:26:56 UTC

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that’d be great, thank you! I got my idea from an After Dark podcast and have got some Not Just the Tudors episodes lined up, but anything that gives me more background would be very welcome 😊
(And my next book is set around the guy who introduced garden gnomes to England, so if I can plausibly shoehorn Kew in there, I’ll try it 😂)

2025-01-24 10:16:57 UTC

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oh thank you, I was just kidding about it being Kew Gardens 😳 but that podcast and book both sound useful regardless, so I appreciate the recommendation

2025-01-24 09:12:06 UTC

I’m going to spend the next week or so reading and taking notes from
- The Palace by Gareth Russell
- also volumes 1, 2, and 3 of the 1890s History of Hampton Court Palace by Ernest Law (thank you Internet Archive)
- also the slightly later and shorter Hampton Court by Walter Jerrold unless he proves to be copying Law too much (thank you Project Gutenberg).
This is because my next book is set at Kew Gardens 🤪
It’s at HCP, obviously, and oh boy do I wish I’d had this book idea *before* I visited the place ten years ago, I would have taken lots more photos and paid much more attention to the layout. (TBF, I was wrangling a four year old who couldn’t have cared less, so was distracted)
#WritingCommunity #AmResearching #HamptonCourtPalace

2025-01-24 02:17:41 UTC

Queer Romance Club February vote 👇
As is traditional for QRC (ie as was done last year 😂), we’ll focus on BIPOC authors/stories for February
Leather, Lace and Locs by Anne Shade — contemporary f/f/f friends to lovers
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/leather-lace-and-locs
One and Done by Frederick Smith — contemporary m/m one night stand becomes more
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/one-and-done-10
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson — fantasy m/m, it’s a unusual one but it’s still romance 😊 might say Book 2 at your source but stands alone
https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/a-taste-of-honey-34
Runnin’ No More by GT Dipe — brand new release (not out til mid-month!) m/m contemporary, probably quite heavy given the blurb but also vey highly rated
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/221544569-runnin-no-more
@npub15nv…g9dy @npub1psm…eneg @npub1ny7…uv57
#QueerRomanceClub #BookClub #LGBTQRomance

2025-01-22 05:44:14 UTC

Big, big props to Emily Skrutskie’s Bloodright trilogy, just finished the final book in a downright binge. Read the last few pages with a huge smile.
Over the top, space battles galore, sweet central queer relationship plus found family.
@npub1ny7…uv57 #SpaceOpera #DisasterGays #QueerRomance

2025-01-13 01:55:10 UTC

This whole thing about a company needing more “masculine energy” reminds me of those old research stats about how men assume women are talking too much, ie more than 50%, during a conversation when the actual percentage is ridiculously low.
Or judging that there’s too many women in a movie’s crowd scene once it’s about 25-30% women.

2025-01-12 09:32:15 UTC

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😂

2025-01-12 09:02:41 UTC

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oh, both good points 😊 and handsfree so you can eat while you read 😂

2025-01-12 08:59:29 UTC

I just heard a podcast ad for the Sol Reader and I honestly thought it was a spoof ad at first: it’s a wearable ereader.
https://solreader.com/
I don’t know how to feel about this. I’m trying to work out who or what it’s *for* … if you struggle with distractions, a standard ereader (or plain old print book) and putting your phone out of reach works just fine. This feels like they went “VR! But for books!”
@npub1ny7…uv57

2025-01-11 03:44:16 UTC

#AmReading (more accurately, was reading, since I just finished) Helle and Death, a nod to the classic British country house whodunnit with a charming Danish lead — thoroughly enjoyed it, and there’s a sequel out in a few weeks I’ll be sure to get hold of.
(It’s one of those books with a startlingly low rating on Goodreads, I wonder if people were expecting Scandi Noir, or didn’t like the denouement, or who knows. I adored it, YMMV!)
#bookstodon #MurderMystery
@npub1ny7…uv57

2025-01-09 01:49:27 UTC

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love the placement of the round red dress fastener — tell us you’re not allowed to depict nipples without telling us you’re not allowed to depict nipples…

2025-01-07 10:36:07 UTC

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that’s the danger of browsing Bookstodon 😊
https://o.mastodon.au/media_attachments/files/113/786/624/449/236/130/original/a8bc6ed5e6a20b8c.jpeg

2025-01-07 09:16:02 UTC

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great, I hope you enjoy it!

2025-01-07 08:26:19 UTC

#AmReading Thoroughly Disenchanted by Alexandra Almond
Bounced off a couple of light books that weren’t the escapism I was looking for, a historical romance and a what-happens-to-the-heroes-after-they-win fantasy, both of which were perfectly fine, but were both contemporaries in disguise as is a current trend (the historical had young characters with completely modern attitudes in pretty dresses, the fantasy had tv, phones and coffee shops via magic, neither are what I read those genres for).
But then tried this one on a whim and enjoyed it (with a few minor quibbles), Australian debut author, cosy fantasy mystery with a sweet queer romance and a very pleasant set of MCs that I liked spending time with.
And it was only when I read the author bio at the end where she mentions her love of football that I twigged that she is my friend’s sister, because Australia is a very small place 😂
@npub1ny7…uv57 #books #romance #QueerRomance

2024-12-29 14:32:08 UTC

I don’t normally mind “the disembodied eyes” thing in books aka “her eyes flew across the room” or (famously) “his eyes slid down the front of her dress”
But I just read “his eyes drop to my lips with an audible gulp” and I am dead 😂
#books @npub1ny7…uv57

2024-12-13 01:50:14 UTC

This appears to be the time of year where companies who leaked my data during 2024 send me emails on how I can keep my data safe. Thanks so much, Ticketek, I’ll be sure to follow your advice.

2024-12-11 10:35:30 UTC

Today's Book Quote Wednesday's word is 'eye'. #BookQW
Flirt all you like, Jonas. Teo is going to stubbornly refuse to notice for *quite* some time.
https://books2read.com/domesticatedmagic/
#fantasy #book #romance #QueerRomance #IndieAuthor
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2024-12-06 01:11:33 UTC

I am in a *ridiculously* fragile mood today (as in, almost burst into tears because my kid didn’t put sunscreen on fragile) and now have to wait around in town for a friend’s morning tea and ooh I am not fit for human company 😔

2024-12-05 00:25:03 UTC

#WIPWednesday:
#knitting: cursed cushion cover. I am actually following a very nice pattern, but I’m also using up every last one of my bulky multicoloured yarns…it’s chaotic and I hate it and I love it 😂 I’m about 20 rows from the end, and playing yarn chicken, but that’s ok because it’s already cursed.
#writing (but knitting related): My MC (also cursed, BTW) is gathering gossip and wants to put his audience (waiting to see the doctor) at ease. A nailbinder is, of course, a reference to a nalbinding needle in our world.
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2024-11-30 10:54:54 UTC

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random colours are working surprisingly well 😊

2024-11-30 10:46:41 UTC

I have made progress in my stash-bust-quest (though my second beanie, ladybug style, turned out more of a tea cosy)
Currently musing over what to make next…
#knitting
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2024-11-30 01:41:03 UTC

#EngenderedWriting Nov 29: Could / would you write a gay romance?
Yes.
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2024-11-27 01:25:55 UTC

#AmReading The Bright Sword by Lev Grossman
Not usually into Arthurian stories, but picked it up because I like the author. It’s very good. Might make my top ten for the year.
#books #fantasy #camelot

2024-11-22 10:27:02 UTC

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I’ve just started it tonight 😊