Charlotte Ashley

@charlotteashley

Writer, bookseller, cafe owner, bibliophile, darkness-kicker, mild maniac, mother, iconoclast. Owner/operator of Trident Booksellers & Cafe, Halifax www.once-and-future.com Monsters are friends.

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Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· 8d

So far the policy is "I would prefer to platform your five-year-old's fingerpainting."

A hand-drawn poster reads "welcome to Trident Booksellers & Cafe's AI policy"

A hand-drawn poster reads "Trident is a space that centres human creativity, diversity, equity, kindness, community, and authenticity. AI is antithetical to these values."

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· 13d

Fun fact: this book was written by Ursula Le Guin's mother! It is delightful in so many ways.

The cover if "The Inland Whale" by Theodora Kroeber features a simple whale in black in a white oval

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· 15d

In case you were unaware, @venusenvyhfx.bsky.social is an absolutely BRILLIANT bookstore. You don't need a huge selection to have the right selection.

The cover of 2 Trans 2 Furious ed. tuck Woodstock & Niko Stratis shows a person transforming into a car Animorphs-style.

The cover of Oh Hell No! from Chronicle Books

The cover of The Very Secret Sex Lives of Medieval Women by Rosalie Gilbert

The cover of Madam of the Maritimes by Blain Henshaw.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jul 4

Look, I'm in a book! (Thx forever to @bsfa.bsky.social and @rickandwrite.bsky.social...)

The cover of a book reads FISSION #6 and features a man-creature wreathed in green and gold

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jul 2

Hey book nerds, I have this special edition @inkstonebooks.bsky.social copy of The Spear Cuts Through Water, but instead of being numbered, it is stamped by the publisher. Anyone know what this means?

The title page of The Spear Cuts Through Water signed by the author

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jun 11

I feel like I backed this DECADES ago. Nevertheless, this gift from Past Self is extremely appreciated! 🥰

The cover of Fifth Season: Roleplaying in the Stillness features a woman on her knees surrounded by an aura of power in front of a stone down and surrpunded by gem shards.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· May 21

I also spent a lot of my week outside trying to be a good host to @noumenon.bsky.social (🙏🙏🙏 saving me from my instinct to hyperfocus and work for 18h a day)

Three writers mug for the camera in front of some bookshelves

A woman looks washed out on the rocks overlooking the sea

A woman with a moth purse crouches near a crowd of ducklings

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· May 19

Huge fire ALL OF A SUDDEN on the harbour north of Young St in Halifax

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· May 10

I haven't published much lately cuz my style is currently all over the map. I can make words do good things, but I need to process what I *want* them to do. This story is one such experiment. Come to Dead Dove; Do Eat @tricon-hfx.bsky.social & you can hear some other stuff I've been working on 👀

A blue card reads "Dead Dove, Do Eat" with information on an 18+ reading event

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Apr 27

Ngl, the benefit of using an artisan silkscreen printer is that you can get him to print you a custom @tricon-hfx.bsky.social shirt. (THANK YOU, SCOTT KEDY 🔱🔥💀)

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Feb 9

My kid's GSA partnered with the school hockey team to get them Pride jerseys for their Pride matches, and now all the queerdos are going to hockey games and it is super fun, actually??? Also, sports stats are the nerdiest fucking fandom on the planet. How did we ever believe sports = for normies?!

A high school hockey team square off in black uniforms with rainbows

A rainbow flag with "GOAL!" written on it, in the audience of a hocket match.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Feb 5

...was this a question, Halifax?!

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Feb 1

With apologies to the new yorker, I don't think this one deserves a paywall. My people show up. We're not boring, unfortunately, but ffs, we've been fighting all along. Psalm For the Slightly Tilted by Ilya Kaminsky

This is not
a good year
But it has
witnesses.

When you see them protest the powerful,
since who else does,
they stand
like flagpoles outside the courthouse
after a northeaster.

They came with
the wrong shoes
for revolution.
Still,
they showed up.

Comfort, Lord,
their bodies--
each a question mark
doing time
as a coatrack,
hung with borrowed jackets.

They are your legion
of bent spoons.
They are the only ones
who showed up--
with their orthopedic flair.

I saw my people lean--
not toward hope but toward each other.
They chant off-rhythm
and mean it.

These are my kind of people:
no tears--just
steam from a kettle
that never quite boils.

In times like these, don't forget us:
the lopsided.

leaning on one another,
like sodden paperbacks
left out on the stoop--
Nobody opens them.
But they still insist
on carrying the plot.

Comfort us standing up--
half scarecrow
half saxophone
with a squawk.
While stiffness becomes state policy,
comfort us sitting--
in that collapse called calm.

In the year they come for us
watch my people
make protest signs
out of old pizza boxes.
Watch--

there are no boring people
which is unfortunate.
You'd think statistically
we'd get at least a few--
one-speed souls
with just meh stuff to do.

But none of them are dull.
Each--
a suitcase
held together
by duct tape.

These are your coffee-stained saints
who rise not with trumpets
but with Advil.
They stand
and wait
creased like maps
of a country
that doesn't exist anymore.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jan 24

This kind of thing scares me more than anything. It's not just about what I choose to share, with whom and where, anymore. They are scraping shit we chose not to share at all. (From TikTok's new ToS.)

A screenshot from a section of TikTok's new ToS.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jan 17

They just don't make em like they used to. #vintagepaperbacks

The cover if seaflame by valerie vayle featuring a buxom blonde and a dashing officer

The cover if hot freeze by douglas sanderson features a discheveled detective and a sultry woman in yellow

The cover of semi-tough by dan jenkins featuring a large-breasted blonde woman riding an enormous football

The cover of sex staved by webb jones featuring a woman in white lingerie being kissed by a dull man

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Jan 1

NYE 2025

A wooden sign hanging on a cafe door reads "No admittance except on party business"

Two women dressed in brown and red velvets pose in front of a buffet table

A sparkler twinkles over a crowd of gorgeous people holding champaign flutes.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Dec 24

This one contains bondage and wax play, I assume.

The cover of Georgette Heyer's Faro's Daughter has a cameo of a woman with a candle standing over a man who might be bound to a chair

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Dec 24

Help! I Have Fallen From My Chair!

The cover of Georgette Heyer's Regency Buck features a man and a woman in conflict, as another man falls off his chair nearby

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Dec 24

I assume the monkey is the Grand Sophie

The cover of Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy with a portrait of a man, a woman, and a monkey

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Dec 24

If this is a gay romance, I will eat my hat.

Cover of Georgette Heyer's Powder and Patch reads "A gay romance of the 18th century"

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Dec 24

Fun vintage paperbacks of the hour. TODAY WE CHOOSE FACES by Roger Zelazny. I choose a face every day idk

The cover of Today We Choose Faces by Roger Zelazny features a pulp hitman with a scifi gun

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Nov 30

I want a formal name for the depersonalization that writers sometimes get when seeing something they have written after a long time away from it. I remember writing *a* review of this book, but these words? I don't feel like I wrote these at all. Not a trace of recognition.

A text review of Breaking and Entering by Don Gillmore displayed on the webpage 49thshelf.com

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Nov 10

Finally got my day at @halconscificon.bsky.social ! The vendor room was spectacular as always, but most of my time was spent at the Writers' Federation booth meeting local writers and people-watching the incredible cosplays. 😊 Such a great event. Great work, all.

A brown-haired witch takes a selfie over her shoulder toward a crowd of shoppers in a latge convention centre hall.

The brown-haired witch smiles in front of a banner promoting the Writers' Federation of Nova Scotia

The brown-haired witch in a fox-print dress and leather jacket looks disapprovingly at the camera from several feet off on a tiled pedestrian street.

A poster for TriCon and two stacks of bookmarks sit at the edge of a table while costumed people pass by.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 24

Today, I went to @openbookcoffee.bsky.social (I hope that is actually them) to participate in the Writers' Federation of Nova Scota's Writing Rumble! We wrote two terrible stories and raised $6000 for the mentorship program and I loved every minute of it. 😊

The exterior of Open Book Coffee in Halifax

Two tables with blue Nimbus Publishing cloths next to a screen showing two stories being written.

A selfie including three other people in the background.

A woman in a garish Ms Frizzle-style dress reads off her phone next to a WFNS banner

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 23

Today is the WFNS's Writing Rumble!! I'll be at Open Book Coffee in Halifax all day, writing to a live projection screen (and/or cheering my teammates) so if anyone wants to come hang out, pleeeeease do! writers.ns.ca/workshops-ev...

Carnival-style poster reads "Writing Rumble! The Quilluminati vs The Word Slingers" with details on where and when the event will occur.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 21

My Can*Con book haul is now on the shelves at @tridenthalifax.bsky.social! Absolutely delighted to bring some indie published gems home to Halifax! 😊

Stacks of fantasy novels on a table in front of a coffee roaster.

Vividly-coloured fantasy books on display in a wooden bookcase

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 19

Can*Con Day 2 included: an absolutely PHENOMENAL panel on crones (eg amazing older women) in spec, my first panel on Reading w/ @haydent.bsky.social, a lot of time in the hot tub/pool, and the dance party. @neuvel.net has quite enough people tagging him on this already, so I shall not elaborate.

A panel of four older women present before a full audience including people sitting on the floor.

A man in a pink inflatable octopus costume.

Four specfic writers/editors pose cheezily

The final four people at the dance party.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 18

My Can*Con 2025 off to a solid start with incredible creative projects from The Shale Project, @richhorton612.bsky.social and @cycling2asylum.bsky.social, and anyone at the Brookfield with a picture window into their bathroom.

A baffled teenager demonstrates the window in the bathroom.

Three people sit at a panel table discussing Homecoming for Heretics.

Two authors stand aside while their publisher shows off their newly-published books.

Several very cool people sit on the floor, staring down the camera.

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 14

Last minute score of a Brookstreet room for @canconsffh.bsky.social! 🙌 See you guys in three days! 😊

Charlotte Ashley / TriCon's Can*Con panel schedule.

An October calendar showing when Can*Con will take place (October 17-19 2025.)

Charlotte Ashley@charlotteashley· Oct 10

This survey is baffling. WHY do they want adoption of this technology so badly???