SimonJHoulton

The Night Swimmer in this week’s Hastings Independent Press (print & online), available now :) Here’s a link to the online edition: hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/listings/spotl… #Hastings #IndieLit #BritishFiction #WorkingClassWriting

An Ode to the Sleepless The nights that don’t end and thoughts that don’t settle a prose poem open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

We harvest everything too early. even people. new piece: The Tears of Broccoli a rant on art and literature.... theoutsidersnotebook.substack.com/p/the-tears-of…

Orpheus Signs On A myth-inspired poem from a series reimagining the Greek gods in modern Britain. #poem #modernmyth #modernbritain #workingclass open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

My Life in Cats (Part IV: 1988-1990) is available to read now....Growing up in 1980's Hastings, Hillcrest school, Bunsen Burners, CDT, ferreting, and the occasional cringe-inducing fumble at the local youth club... open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

Two Drunks, an Otter, and a Street Dog ... Drunken absurdities and life in the Turkish Anatolian city of Eskişehir ..... open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

@TheTinMenBlog A huge mistake. I wrote a piece loosely touching on this recently, about male isolation and societal disregard: Disappearing Men theoutsidersnotebook.substack.com/p/disappearing…

Hearing more and more talk of Men's Sheds dropping its 'men only' status. If true, this is a huge mistake. Nothing against women having their own similar space, but the unique importance of a 'mens space' must be protected.

Some musings about isolation, alcohol, and loneliness. Disappearing Men - a short essay: open.substack.com/pub/theoutside… #Essay #Loneliness #MaleIsolation #MentalHealth #Writing

@oldspeak_books Sounds like an awesome bookshop, well done :)

7,000 Followers!! When I started Oldspeak Bookshop it was just a small defiant idea: a proper bookshop that refuses to bow to the current orthodoxies, that still believes in free thought, great literature, Britain, beauty, truth, and the things that actually matter. To now have 7,000 people along for the ride; Readers, thinkers, contrarians, friends, means more than I can easily say. Thank you for the follows, the messages, the visits to the shop, the orders, the shares, and the quiet solidarity. Every single one of you has helped build this little outpost. Here’s to more proper books, more uncomfortable conversations, more tea (and occasionally wine), and many more pages turned together. Grateful beyond words. Jo x #OldspeakBookshop #7000 #ThankYou #BooksMatter

My Life in Cats (Part III: 1986-1988) The third instalment in My Life in Cats. 1986. Halley’s Comet. Chernobyl. AIDS panic. Growing up with the Cold War. A new school, and more importantly, a new cat. open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

An English Christmas in Anatolia. What survives when tradition has to be improvised? open.substack.com/pub/theoutside… #Turkiye #Christmas #Christmas2025 #Turkey

Do inherited objects reshape our memories, or just echo them? open.substack.com/pub/theoutside… #PersonalEssay #FamilyStories #CreativeNonfiction #Inheritance #WritingCommunity

@FrustratedAuths Thank you both for this conversation. I’m genuinely moved by how closely you read The Night Swimmer. If anyone’s curious about the book, this episode gets to the centre of it: shows.acast.com/689e1824290bde… #podcast #writingfiction #fiction #indieauthor

Paint. Mould. Beer bottles. Madness. My first dispatch from The Outsider’s Notebook. #writingcommunity #Substack open.substack.com/pub/theoutside…

Our latest podcast - episode 5 no less - is out now featuring @RonButlinMakar's #TheSoundofMyVoice and @IrvingWelsh's #Trainspotting... what have they got in common? If anything. We're also discussing our own lack of progress in our writing ambitions... shows.acast.com/689e1824290bde…

New review for The Night Swimmer: "The prose is descriptive and immersive… I found myself completely engaged and read it in one sitting." -- Underrated Reads Dark, funny, and haunting. 🔗 underratedreads.com/the-night-swim… #booktwt #indieauthor #Hastings #BritishFiction

@smith_ali35183 That's very kind of you, thanks. But I am failing too hard at the moment to make connections outside of my line of sight. If I grow anywhere, it will probably be an ingrowing toenail. Best of luck to you 🤞

@edighafrancisca I have no idea, what's ACME in the author world?

@Pigritudous Haha yes, exactly like Wile E. Coyote chasing ideas with ACME gadgets that may or may not work! Speaking of which… have you ever come across ACME in the author world too?

After years of night sweats and rewriting, my debut novel 'The Night Swimmer' is finally out. A raw, unflinching dive into art, addiction, and isolation set in my hometown, Hastings. amazon.co.uk/Night-Swimmer-… #DebutNovel #AmReading #BookLaunch #LitFic #IndieAuthor #BookTwitter

@edighafrancisca In Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner?

@Pigritudous Have you ever come across ACME before?

@edighafrancisca Thanks :) That's an interesting question. I tend to listen to music when I write, it helps me focus, so I suppose sound.

@Pigritudous Huge respect The Night Swimmer sounds like a brave, intimate plunge into the depths of human struggle. Framing addiction and art within Hastings adds a tangible emotional geography. When shaping such raw themes, did sound or silence play a role in how you imagined certain scenes?