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Author: Warren Ellis

4nov26

Published November 4, 2026 by Warren Ellis

Saturday night, I started to get sick. Not ideal, as on Sunday we had to drive down south to visit the kid and her partner. I was probably not good company for two days, as I got sicker and sicker on the drive down, and talking became very difficult. But it was, as ever, a joy to hang out with them, and we got to take them out for dinner one day and lunch the next.

I am still extremely fucked up, and the chances of my producing work this week are slim to none.

ACCESSIONS:

A care package from Zoharum:

Zoharum Bandcamp. And previous care packages from Zoharum.

New Laura Cannell. I actually missed one of her releases, which I am still irritated by, but it’s also a reminder that being a completist is probably weird and unhealthy.

STATUS: deth
READING: THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+)
LAST WATCHED: some weird true crime thing called TWISTED SISTERS about two apparently superhuman Swedish women, the Eriksson sisters – the footage of them being run over and then getting up, one of them punching out a cop and having to be restrained by six people, was quite something
DRINK: whisky, chopped ginger, lemon juice, cinnamon honey, boiling water
PAPERWORK: bought a pile of washi stickers of old astronomical/lunar images to use in the notebooks to mark things up with.

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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2nov26

Published November 2, 2026 by Warren Ellis

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27oct26

Published October 27, 2026 by Warren Ellis

Went to see The Owl Service play at the Fickle Pickle last week and I may have bought quite a lot of CDs from the merch table:

OPERATIONS: Planning to get at least a dozen pages out the door today.
STATUS: Fell back a bit last night, lost too much time to processing stuff on the phone. In my defense, I am in the middle of handling a lot of bank-related stuff, and I lost a lot of time yesterday dealing with banking and ordering new phones. But today needs to be better.
READING: THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+)
LISTENING: EA, The Alvaret Ensemble
DRINK: made herself a blood orange Negroni last night with some success. One part each blood orange gin, Campari and vermouth, several dashes orange and cinnamon bitters, blood orange soda to taste
PAPERWORK: started a new notebook last night. Filled the last one in a month.

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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morning computer horrisonant

Published October 27, 2026 by Warren Ellis

the horrisonant forest

THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+)

Mieville has always had an eccentric vocabulary. I had to look this one up.

Borrowed from Latin horrisonus.

Adjective

horrisonant (comparative more horrisonant, superlative most horrisonant)

  1. Having an unpleasant sound.

Amusing title and cover.

Jonathan Knight’s “Exhale” series:

Doomscrolling alternatives:


There is, of course, a lot of this stuff going around. Robin F Williams:

What a weird set of compulsions and anxieties we created for ourselves. The horrisonant bell of the supernatural glass. The reminder to exhale.

morning computer: some useful things first thing in the day.

Press the floating Subscribe button to have these notes sent to you.

My free weekly newsletter is at https://orbitaloperations.beehiiv.com/

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26oct26

Published October 26, 2026 by Warren Ellis

It’s a touch damp out there today.

It’s Monday.

everybody’s getting back on X The Everything App. And by “everybody” I mean:

Nope.

Hannah Hauxwell (1926-2018) lived alone and maintained a farm “in almost unendurable conditions of farmers in the High Pennines in winter,” notes a film producer. Upon the deaths of her immediate family, then 35-year old Hannah took over management of the farm and made it her life dwelling in solitude.Hannah came to media attention in 1972 when a random hiker told a researcher about Hannah. She was the subject of successive television documentaries chronicling her solitary life in the Northshire wilds: “Too Long A Winter” (1972), “A Winter Too Many,” (1989), “Innocent Abroad” (1992),

New issue of The Modernist magazine. First thing learned: those generic one-piece plastic chairs you see everywhere have a name. They are Monobloc.

OPERATIONS: This week is Beast Mode. Got a script out the door yesterday, need to get at least half of one out today. My to-do list takes up a whole index card, vertically. And I have to get next Sunday’s newsletter started, as I’m on the road this coming weekend.
STATUS: Frantically trying to get my focus back! Last night I made roasted cabbage with black truffle sea salt as a side, and it was surprisingly successful. I now have a freezer compartment filled with chopped fruit. Already blew a bunch of time talking to the bank and dealing with accounts and I still need to call the phone company. See, this is why Brandon Sanderson has a team of a hundred people. Being a one-man-band for thirty-odd years is fucking exhausting.
READING: THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+) and aforementioned magazine.
LISTENING: SOAKED, Philip Jeck + Jacob Kirkegaard

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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25oct26

Published October 25, 2026 by Warren Ellis

Clocks went back and I didn’t notice. But mancub did. So I got beaten until I climbed out of bed to feed the little bastard.

MONDAY is the last day you can talk to your local comic shop to order GHOST DRIVE STATION.

Nobody orders for the shelf any more unless it’s a big DC or Marvel book. Your chances of seeing a copy on a shelf are slim to none. And comics shops need a signal that someone is going to buy something ahead of its publication date. If they don’t get that signal? They just won’t order any.
The order code/UPC is: 70985304934000111.
If you want a copy, you will need to email, text or message your local comics shop or drop in on them.
If you don’t? You won’t see a copy.

ACCESSIONS:

It was very well reviewed, appears to be pleasantly short, and suggested to be fresh. And 99p on Kindle, currently.

FLAT EARTH, Anika Jade Levy (UK) (US+)

OPERATIONS: Beast mode. I have a frankly terrifying number of words to get out of the door this week, because I have some travel coming up.
STATUS: Also trying to get ahold of my email – turns out my spam filter went mad at some point. If you’re waiting on an email from me, please nudge me. Pinch of cinnamon in morning espresso.
READING: THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+)
LISTENING: TELYN RAWN, Rhodri Davies

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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19oct26

Published October 19, 2026 by Warren Ellis


READING: THE ROUSE, China Mieville (UK) (US+)
LISTENING:


DRINK: Autumn being here means I made a cherry Negroni for herself and a Godfather with orange and cinnamon bitters for myself last night.

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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18oct26

Published October 18, 2026 by Warren Ellis

Went to Konsztrukting Soundz last night, for what turned out to be an abbreviated session. Here’s Lev Dudas, the creator and organiser, finishing the setup for what he did not expect to be a ninety-minute evening.

The first set, with Lev and Lawrence Casserley, was incredibly good, and later in the event Viv Corringham did a frankly magnificent vocal improv.

Going offline aside from messaging apps for the rest of the day, as I have lots of house stuff to do. And then Monday begins another very busy week.

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14oct26

Published October 14, 2026 by Warren Ellis

I ordered some bulbs for the garden some months ago.

They arrived today.

It is possible that I may have overdone it.

TODAY:

OPERATIONS: big scripting day – I fell behind again. I have put Sunday’s newsletter to bed already.
READING: RED SHEET, James Ellroy (UK) (US+).
LISTENING: COMPLETE CELLO WORKS, Kaija Saariaho (UK) (US+)
LAST WATCHED: MEGALOPOLIS
DRINK: Radlow Hundred Rose 2023
PAPERWORK: read part of a very unusually-made magazine called CIRC, which has a weird foldout design

MISSION CONTROL: I can be contacted via the Cheng Caplan Company or Inkwell Management. Link in masthead to join my free newsletter.

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13oct26

Published October 13, 2026 by Warren Ellis

Been off for a few days. Went to a birthday party at the weekend, at a pub I haven’t set foot in for almost forty years.

Partway down the Little Wakering Road. Go allll the way down that road and you’re into Barling Magna, where I lived with a girl for a year. We used to go to this pub for lunch at the weekends.

ACCESSIONS:

Ordered a bunch of magazines from the excellent MagCulture that arrived yesterday.

I do appreciate a thoughtful bit of packaging.

MONOCLE is there because I haven’t read an issue of it in about fifteen years and I was simply curious. I’ve read EYE and REAL REVIEW before. The others are new to me.

I need new inputs. And there are kinds of input you can only get from print. Going back to the source and back to analogue means going back to small magazines.

TODAY:

STATUS: after a crappy couple of days, I am trying to pull my focus together.
READING: RED SHEET, James Ellroy (UK) (US+).
LISTENING: Ultimate Calm with Erland Cooper ft: Claire Rousay
PAPERWORK: (pens pencils paper etc with amz)

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