64 Comments
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Sara Siegler's avatar

You are a refreshing wind of creative joy in an otherwise dark and vapid time/space of the US right now. Thank you Tom for fun and imagination: they are sorely needed. 🙏

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Sandra Oberbroeckling's avatar

Ditto!

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thank you both. I hate to think how worrying everything must be over there right now.

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Sandy's avatar

It's terrifying and depressing. This story was a bright spot this morning.

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Sandra Oberbroeckling's avatar

It gets worse every day. My few consolations are my clowder, books, your Substack posts, your books, your mutual love of felines, and classic movies. Thank you.

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Eleanor Mayer's avatar

Sitting on my verandah this Morning on a mid Auckland NZ summer . Chuckling away at your stories about your pals ..SO GOOD !! thanks Tom .

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thanks Eleanor!

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Sallyfemina's avatar

Your little free tales here bring so much... cozy oddness? odd coziness? into my life. Plus DAD AND HIS ART, and Mum's, and the animals.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thank you!

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lunafaer (she/they)'s avatar

i am a fan of all things wales/scotland/ireland/england (wish there was a name for that region that didn’t erase two to three entire countries). your humor is an exceptional exemplar of the entire area and i appreciate that you share with us.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thank you!

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Liza Green's avatar

Your friends are so much more interesting than mine.

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Hector Spacecake's avatar

Pished ma chaps laughing.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Best review I’ve had in 2025. Thanks Hector!

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Sandy S's avatar

Pretty sure scarecrows are the ghosts of ancient farmers of the land, even if they are in get-ups of a modern day. I hope these make-do princes will always survive the ages. Yours are each exceptional examples and thoroughly enjoyed.

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Christina Sparksman's avatar

Just found your stuff totally randomly on Substack, and have just had to buy one of your books.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Hurray! This is one of the reasons I love this site.

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Yvonne Elizabeth  Aston's avatar

It’s amazing! I never ever realised that scarecrows were really people in disguises that they could throw off in a minute. Obviously not when there were any crows about. I wonder if there’s any laws against impersonating a scarecrow? I should have guessed really, when I look at some of my friend’s husbands I can see that they are mid transition. No not that! From human to scarecrow doltish reader.

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Frances Nicholson's avatar

I'm still trying to decide whether these characters actually existed or whether you built them around those fantastic scarecrows. Either way, bloody brilliant pairings. I woke up in a bad mood. Now I feel cheerful, so thanks!

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thanks Frances! That’s really nice to hear.

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Linda Louise “Tosca” Hueston's avatar

I read the Story of John Meets “ Train Boy” over morning coffee here in -30C weather in northern Canada. In this tale ( and I will read the others later) there is a deep drone almost subterranean. Tom can hear it and its evident in his prose. Beautifully described and moving to the point where I will think about this piece as reading it has changed the way I view life. “Is this all there is before death.” Indeed. A true artist would say it and a true artist would remember it and share. Thank you Tom.

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Becca's avatar

Thanks Tom, these properly made me laugh! I've met them all at one time or another. Darren's a bit of a live wire.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thanks Becca!

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Annette Fournet's avatar

I loved your scarecrow stories. I am a fine art photographer and photographed scarecrows in Eastern Europe for thirty years. Truly, each one has a secret story!

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Tom Cox's avatar

They definitely do! Thanks Annette.

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Linda Louise “Tosca” Hueston's avatar

This writer is Dostoyevsky come back to us. Bravo. Top Marks.

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Cate's avatar

Made me chuckle and spill my tea...

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Tom Cox's avatar

Cheers Cate!

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Nadine3892's avatar

Wonderful, thank you for this! How imaginative and delightful this was to read, this rainy afternoon in April.

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Tom Cox's avatar

Thanks Nadine! Glad you enjoyed it.

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