Today in Labor History July 25, 1853: Joaquin Murrieta, the famous Californio bandit known as the "Robin Hood of El Dorado", was supposedly killed. However, many disputed the news of his death and people continued to claim to have seen him long after his death. According to legend, Murrieta was a 49er gold miner and a vaquero from Sonora, Mexico. White men falsely accused him and his brother of stealing a mule. They horse-whipped him, stole his mining claim, hanged his brother and raped his young wife. Swearing revenge, he hunted the men who had violated her. The state of California offered a reward of $5,000 for him, "dead or alive."

John Rollin Ridge published the novel “The Life and Adventures of Joaquín Murrieta: The Celebrated California Bandit” in 1854. In the early 20th-century, Johnston McCulley based his character Don Diego de la Vega (Zorro) on Ridge's 1854 novel about Murrieta. Pablo Neruda wrote a play about Murrieta, “The Splendor and Death of Joaquin Murrieta.” And Isabel Allende’s “Daughter of Fortune” (1999), includes a portrayal of Murrieta.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #joaquinmurrieta #gold #racism #robinhood #mexico #novel #goldrush #fiction #historicalfiction #books #play #writer #author @bookstadon

Huge thanks to everyone who pre-ordered or came along to the album and book launch for Irvine Welsh's Men in Love (published by Jonathan Cape) at our funky neighbours, Thorne Records.

Signed copies available now.

From the store: ‘Wanderlust: Poetry & Photography’

https://creativeramblings.com/poetry/store-24/

Two more in-person events this month! Saturday, July 26, and Wednesday, July 30. Get the details on my blog!

https://katherinepickettauthor.com/2025/06/26/upcoming-events/

#Summer 2025 is almost here, but here's a final #mystery #author or at least their #WritersDesk

A tight focus here on the job in hand: the blank page. But who could this focused #writer be?

#books #reading #writing #fiction #ShortStories #translation #comics #podcast #bookstodon @bookstodon

September is a great month to publish a book.

Which means right now is a great time to get started writing one!

On Leanpub, you can publish your book after completing just your first chapter.

Everyone who buys your book gets updates for free as you add more chapters over time.

Build an audience while you write!

Get started today:

https://leanpub.com/create/book

Check out John B. Rosenman

Sci Fi

John was an English professor at Norfolk State University where he designed and taught a course in how to write Science fiction and Fantasy. He is a former Chairman of the Board of the Horror Writers Association and has published 250 stories in places such as Weird Tales, Whitley Strieber’s Aliens, Fangoria, Galaxy, Endless Apocalypse, The Age of Wonders, and the Hot Blood ...

https://www.limfic.com/mbm-book-author/john-b-rosenman/

#AuthorSpotlight #Bookstodon @bookstodon #author

The contract was signed last night, and this morning I received an onboarding email that encouraged me to share the news. So it is my sincere delight and joy to announce that I have signed with Kelly Thomas and Serendipity Literary Agency in New York for The Storyteller's Guide to Folklore and my fiction and non-fiction to follow it.

The sun would pause to watch her spin,
A bloom so bright, with joy within.
No stage, no crowd - just earth and air,
And Daisy dancing everywhere.

Women at War
Grant Hope 227
https://www.granthope.net/p/women-at-war
https://youtu.be/0sF0QAgjTDQ

Women at war
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it.
The scars of death and smoke and gunfire
infiltrating and perhaps getting held in enemy camps
The world has enough sin groaning from its belly

Another #mystery #author another #WritersDesk

The glass desk suggests a writer who prefers clarity. But who is it?

#books #reading #writing #fiction #ShortStories #translation #comics #podcast #bookstodon @bookstodon

The launch date feels more theoretical by the day. My book, Drystone – A Life Rebuilt, is already out in many readers’ hands and in bookshops across the country.

If you spot a copy in the wild or if you’ve picked one up, I’d love to see a photo.

And if you’ve read it, a review on your preferred platform would mean a lot. It really does help.

Here it is in Toppings St Andrews (spotted by a friend)

Got asked to sign a bunch of bookplates for the release of my book in JUST ONE WEEKS TIME!

Never been happier to have my hand hurt!

@FaberBooks #kidlit #childrensbook #writer #author

https://youtube.com/shorts/IzvFp4GnUFo

Very happy to see my #paper: "Positioning of the #lowcode movement within the field of model-driven engineering" (https://modeling-languages.com/low-code-vs-model-driven/) as one of the top cited papers of the #MODELS conference (according to #ACM https://dl.acm.org/conference/models).

I'm especially happy because:
It's a #workshop paper. We should not forget the value of discussing our ideas. Even if they have not fully developed. And even less validated. Ideas and discussions are still very valuable for #research advancement

It's a #single #author paper. I think it's important for any researcher to still publish single papers from time to time. Obviously, these papers will most likely workshop contributions (or similars) as current validation trends make it very difficult for a single author to "check all the boxes" (maybe with #LLMs...). But it's always something especial when you work alone.