Brussels (stop #2 on the Fine Specimens book tour) was incredible! Thanks so much to @Waterstones for hosting the event, Paddy for leading our conversation, everyone who came along (especially @maxvoltar, @drbparsons, @dannycalders, @matratype, and Kaat Vandenbroeck), and everyone who’s following the tour via my pop-up newsletter (https://buttondown.com/notes-from-a-different-typesetting). Photos by Tim, Paddy, and Doc.

Next stop: Düsseldorf at @btconf!

I hope my friends on Substack will once again consider leaving the service that gives a platform to abhorrent people like Andrew Tate.

(via @kottke on Bluesky)

I’m so excited to be attending @btconf in two weeks’ time. Honestly, it’s consistently one of the very best conferences out there. And yes, I’m doing a Fine Specimens launch event there, too, but would be there anyway!

https://beyondtellerrand.com/events/dusseldorf-2026

I’m super-late sending out the 2nd issue of my pop-up newsletter about the book tour (a combination of a family Easter break, doing my back in, and catching up on some much needed sleep), but I think today might be the day.

Here’s the link if you want to get it (pop-up = no online archives):

https://buttondown.com/notes-from-a-different-typesetting

Ever wondered why “was”, “am”, and “be” are such different words, despite expressing different tenses of the same verb, “to be”? @colingorrie goes deep in the latest issue of his linguistics newsletter (which is fast becoming one of my favourite weekly reads):

https://www.deadlanguagesociety.com/p/why-the-verb-to-be-is-so-irregular

En route to Belgium! 🇧🇪

Tonight, I’ll be in conversation with my good mate, the author-illustrator Paddy Donnelly, at Waterstones in Brussels. We’ll be celebrating the launch of Fine Specimens and chatting about good ol’ books in general.

Come along if you’re in town — it kicks off at 19:30, it’s free, and there’ll be beer!

https://www.waterstones.com/events/meet-the-author-fine-specimens/brussels-161495

Here, in video format, is a selection of pages from Fine Specimens. You can buy it from anywhere that sells books. Here are some shops (although the best one is your local bookseller):

https://geni.us/FineSpecimens

(Also, a reminder that the next leg of the UK / EU book tour is tomorrow night at Waterstones in Brussels!)

Next Wednesday, 1st April (this is not an April Fools!) I’ll be having a launch party for Fine Specimens at @Waterstones in beautiful Brussels.

The event kicks off at 19:30 and I’ll be in conversation with my good friend Paddy Donnelly. Come and join us! It’s totally free, but please do RSVP by emailing the lovely Waterstones folks at [email protected]