Kate Heartfield

@kateheartfield.com

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Writer of novels such as The Tapestry of Time (2024), The Valkyrie, The Chatelaine, The Embroidered Book. Interactive fiction and Assassin's Creed tie-in novels too. Mostly former journalist. Teacher. She/her. 🏳️‍🌈
https://kateheartfield.com

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Kate Heartfield

I got to read an ARC of The Tapestry of Time, and I quite seriously need you to preorder it. It’s a stunning book. ❤️

Today is the 80th anniversary of this New Yorker cover by Rea Irvin, portraying the D-Day invasion in the style of the Bayeux Tapestry. Bayeux was the first town to be liberated (although the tapestry was, to the surprise of many, not there anymore; that story is the subject of my next novel.) 1/5

I appreciate all the love this thread has received. This story has occupied a lot of my working time for the last few years. If you're interested in non-fiction about it, Carola Hicks' The Bayeux Tapestry: The Life Story of a Masterpiece, while not the last word, is a good overview. Incidentally...

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Kate Heartfield

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Nora Reed (they/them ze/hir)

I used to think this was no longer a common misconception, but then once I mentioned it on Twitter and got "wait, what?" So: Columbus was not unusual in believing the world to be round, which was a very long held consensus. Opinions just varied on the distance between Europe and Asia, sailing west.

At least four books I want to read come out today, and I am currently two books behind in the research stack and three books behind in the blurb stack. Everything's fine. But here's a little thread to shout about them!

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Kate Heartfield

We're delighted to announce — with help from Electric Literature — the shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction. Congratulations to the authors! The recipient of this year's prize will be announced on Ursula's birthday, October 21st. electricliterature.com/announcing-t...

This anthology looks great and includes many of my favourite can't-miss writers. Pre-orders are available!

Northern Nights, the all-Canadian anthology of dark and strange fiction, is now up for pre-order. (Oct.1.) Behold the amazing ToC. It'd be a "prime" day to pre-order from your fave indie. Thank you! undertowpublications.com/shop/norther...

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Kate Heartfield

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Kate Heartfield

related: the actual Overlord Embroidery en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overlor...

Overlord Embroidery - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Took me a while to get through the full podcast about Neil Gaiman. (As someone who has experienced sexual assault, I was relying mainly on other people's transcripts.) I send my thanks and love to the women who came forward. I will not participate in any industry events or projects that involve him.

They've still got it. The latest cover, by Anita Kunz. (Hat tip: I saw this via Phil Lewis on here, but I wanted to add alt text and the artist.) www.newyorker.com/magazine

Absolutely horrific Israeli air strikes on displaced civilians in Gaza this weekend.

Photos: Aftermath of Israeli ‘massacre’ in Gaza safe zonewww.aljazeera.com Israeli air strikes on the al-Mawasi camp in southern Gaza have killed at least 90 people and wounded 300 others.

I want all of this Green Bone Saga merch, but especially the Twice Lucky tshirt: maraudersmarket.com/collections/...

Green Bone Sagamaraudersmarket.com Officially licensed merchandise from Fonda Lee.

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Kate Heartfield

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Runalong Womble

I'm readng Asunder by @kerstinhall.bsky.social, which comes out next month and is really great so far! Reminds me of everything I like about Robert Jackson Bennett's fantasy, but is its own thing in wonderful ways, with incredible characters.

Asunderus.macmillan.com "There is no doubt in my mind that Kerstin Hall is one of the great imaginative minds writing fantasy today."—Isabel Cañas, USA Today Bestselling author o...

One of my least favourite pat political phrases is "there is no place for [bad thing]." It's so mealy-mouthed. Clearly there is a large place for violence in American politics. American politics is full of violence! Built on it! Gorging on it! Say what you mean instead!

Yard work done and now I am settling in for some novel words under the watchful gaze of my supervisor.

I find it illuminating how often when I go to block some irritating reply guy, their bio will say something like "frequently irritating" or "replies a lot." Like ah, ok, so this is a choice. You go your way and I'll go mine.

Fell into a rabbit hole of competing scholarly theories about the deep symbolism of the animals Hamet says a cloud looks like (camel, weasel, whale) when he is messing with Polonius, and honestly I think Hamlet would find this very funny.

Wow.

Alec Baldwin’s ‘Rust’ Case Dismissed After Surprise Bullets Revealed in Courtvariety.com Alec Baldwin's case has been dismissed, as a judge blasted the prosecution for failing to turn over bullets.

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Kate Heartfield

I’m as big a tech enthusiast as you’ll find. But like Anil, I try to call the bad stuff out (Apple & right to repair; Adobe pricing; the mass deletion of history; Google & AI results). Let’s be clear: It’s not a techlash. It’s a corplash, specifically for companies that fail the public.

There’s a conversation about “techlash” happening on here right now, and it’s an interesting meme, mostly because it is as imaginary as “cancel culture”, and is contrived for the same reasons. (For context, I have been a multiple-time tech CEO & founder, leading companies with millions of users.) …

I read the study. The gist is that stories by writers with a low DAT score were "improved" up to a point, but unassisted humans with DAT scores > mid-80s performed as well as, or better than, writers of all scores using 5 AI ideas. You can do a version of the DAT test here: www.datcreativity.com +

AI prompts can boost writers’ creativity but result in similar stories, study finds

AI prompts can boost writers’ creativity but result in similar stories, study findswww.theguardian.com Ideas generated by ChatGPT can help writers who lack inherent flair but may mean there are fewer unique ideas

As he is wont to do, Suyi says very smart and true things in this episode 👇

Authors are expected to juggle many different demands on their time and energy--from social media and self-promotion, to side projects and live events. How do we decide what is or isn't worth our efforts, and where do we set boundaries to prevent burnout and overwhelm? 1/2

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Kate Heartfield

And it's official - CITADEL, my sequel to CATALYST, is coming your way in October 2025 🦑🦑🦑 I've been having a blast sending Mavrin, Eyasu, Deyeri, and Aulina on their next adventure, and can't wait for you to meet the new faces along for the ride 👀 Stay up to date on sneak peeks via my newsletter!

TA DA! 🥳 We have a title! We're very excited to bring you the second book in the Aspects of Aelda world - CITADEL by @brandoncrilly.bsky.social - October 2025!

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Kate Heartfield

“I couldn’t wrap my head around her attitude. If I would have had one of Alice’s books at home, I would have [tossed it] in the trash can.” (Non-paywalled link here: https:://archive.ph/2otw9)

Alice Munro told me her daughter was lying about being molested by her stepdad: OPP detectivewww.thestar.com “I couldn’t wrap my head around her attitude,” retired OPP detective Sam Lazarevich told the Star of meeting celebrated author Alice Munro in 2004.

Like most chairs, the chairs in my doctor's office are too high for me and the arms prevent me from my usual crossed-legged hack so I am doing my weird stacking dance, toes and knees everywhere. It is possible my bisexuality contributes to why I can't sit in chairs but honestly it is mostly THIS.

The Word on the Street Toronto is asking for help, in the form of $1 CAD (or more if you can spare it). It's a lovely festival and deserves support. toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca/loonie-for-w...

Loonie For WOTS – The Word On The Street Torontotoronto.thewordonthestreet.ca

Little thread about my mother in law, who had two kinds of dementia (vascular and Lewy body) for several years. Right up until her final days, *nobody* who talked to her when she was not in panic mode (including many doctors!) could tell, unless they asked her the right questions. +

Man I hate both "Biden clearly has dementia" and "Biden clearly does not have dementia" takes. You cannot diagnose (or rule out) based on how well a person talks! It is an umbrella term for an array of vastly different conditions that manifest differently in different people at different times!

Jordan Peele talking about why Shelley Duvall in The Shining is his all time favourite horror movie performance, at about 2:50. "The scariest person in the movie is the good guy."

Jordan Peele's Guide to Horror Films | WSJwww.youtube.com YouTube video by The Wall Street Journal

If you're planning to vote for the Aurora Awards, reminder that it closes on July 13 just before midnight ET. My novel The Valkyrie is on the ballot, but please vote for anything you loved, in all categories. More voters means a wider conversation. (Off to do my own ballot...)

Current Ballot – The Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA)SearchToggle MenuFacebookToggle Menu CloseSearchwww.csffa.ca