This Memorial Day, I’m honoring my uncle Harry Doyle, who served on a navy submarine in WWII. Whenever I asked what he did, he didn't want to talk about it. What Harry did like to do is garden & drink beer, preferably Miller High Life. He was a gentle man, one of the kindest I've known. I miss him.❤️

💖Happy Independent Bookstore Day! 💖 I'm celebrating my local Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore, a gorgeous, light-filled place filled with ways to get & stay inspired! 🌠🌻🌠 #booklovers

🔥 Tomorrow (4/18) marks the 120th anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the deadliest in U.S. history. 3000+ people died & 250,000 (1/2 the city!) were homeless. Yet afterward, eyewitnesses said the air was filled w/a holiday-like spirit, maybe b/c people were happy just to be alive! ✴️

This past Fri, when I saw 4 #astronauts - incl. a #woman - splash safely down, I cried. Our times are eerily like those of 1969 when the 1st human landed on the #moon: the country's hugely divided & we have a #corrupt president waging an unwinnable war. #Artemis II showed us the good in humanity.

❄️ The winter was full of snow & freezing temperatures in Tahoe, but that didn't deter this Incline surfer & his dog! 🐕 (Photo by Tom Doyle) #surfing #snow

⭐️How amazing to see Maxine Hong Kingston & her husband Earl alongside me at Sat's No Kings protest! Hong Kingston wrote 1 of my favorite #books in the world, WOMAN WARRIOR, soon out in a 50th anniv. edition. All of us have been protesting insane wars & rogue presidents since the '70s! 🔥🔥 #writer

💥Excited to see my story "Voices" published in Ginosko Literary Journal's new issue! Many thanks to Editors Robert Paul Cesaretti & Ben C Davies! Read this story on p. 50 💥💥 open.substack.com/pub/ginoskol... #author #writer #story

🌱🪻Our Mar. 14 Babylon Salon features 5 fabulous writers: ⭐ Charlie Jane Anders ⭐ Grant Faulkner ⭐ Mark Ernest Pothier ⭐ Grayson Thompson ⭐ And our very own Lauren Johnson! Bay Area friends, come on out to The Sycamore @ 5:30pm. As always, our shows are free! ❤️ www.babylonsalon.com

💥💥Look what fell out of a book when I was organizing yesterday! The Rolling Stones “Bridges to Babylon” ticket at the Oakland Stadium (as if was called in 1997), for all of $65. The Stones were more energetic and less wrinkled then -- an amazing concert, esp. the encore “Brown Sugar”!🎶

🌺I discovered these flowers stubbornly blooming in my garden, even though it's winter. We could all use a bit of beauty right now! 🌞🌞 #resistance #iceout

Standing in solidarity with Minnesota today and their “Day of Truth & Freedom” protest in the wake of the killing of Renee Good and invasion of ICE troops. Thank you for paving the way! ❤️💚💜

A recent walk on the #Berkeley campus led me to the Hearst Mining Building, an architectural wonder! Most people don’t know there's a secret tunnel nearby reaching into the Hayward Fault. In 1900s, it gave mining students—incl. my dad—hands-on experience. news.berkeley.edu/.../hidden-b... #writer

💥Another trip around the #sun! So many now I only celebrate the single digits. Notice how Marco's #dog Oakley is much more interested in the champagne! 🥂 #writers #author #story #birthday

⭐️ In spite of the rain on Jan. 1, we took ourselves off to Golden Gate Park to be surrounded by electrifying beauty at the Botanical Garden Lightscape! What a way to welcome in 2026! 🌿🌺💥 #newyear #light #garden

Every year we take out Sam's grandmother's 90+ year old menorah to #celebrate #Hanukkah. I treasure this nickel-plated menorah for its simplicity & imagine the many #children - Sam and his mother (who's passed) among them - who gathered around in awe. Here's how it lit up the rainy night yesterday.

❤️ Here's what greeted me as I finished up my hike in Tilden Park yesterday! One of the very best parts of living in the Bay Area are the flaming winter sunsets. 🔥 #writers #hikers #beauty

💥 TONIGHT! Bay Area peeps, please join us! As always, admission is free 🎆

Great news! My essay "Intruder"made it into the Notable Essays of 2025 in the new American Best Essays collection! Many thanks to Lori Ostlund & Anne Raeff for their invaluable comments along the way! ✨✨✨ #writer #author #readers #books #writing

Our last swim of 2025 -- on the most gorgeously long beach in Santa Cruz!

💥Had an amazing time this weekend at Tahoe Literary Festival! I met so many great writers, including my fellow authors at @sibyllinepress.bsky.social: Julia Park Tracey, Kim Culbertson & Karen Nelson! 💖💖

💥People always ask me how I got started as a #writer & what it's been like since. This interview in Bold Journey magazine shares my story--as well as my thoughts on the #creative process.🌀 #writing #story #books #creativity boldjourney.com/meet-laurie-...

🔥These words from Anton Chekhov ring 1000 times true every time I read them: "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." #writerlife #writer #writing

🔥 It was wonderful to hit the streets last Saturday to protest Trump's cruelty. We saw many signs like this one! ❤️ #writers #NoKings #protest #indivisible

I'm thrilled to be introducing poet & playwright Paul S. Flores TOMORROW 6/14 at Babylon Salon. Pls join us at The Sycamore in the Mission at 5:30pm. As always, free! www.babylonsalon.com #writing #books #reading

🔥On Sat, 6/14, Babylon Salon proudly presents #authors Kate Folk [Sky Daddy], Paul S Flores [We Still Be], Duane Horton [No Hero Alone], S.G. Browne [Lost Creatures] & Lauren Parker [Spells for Success]! Come out to The SycamoreSF for drinks at 5pm! Reading, 5:30. Free! Deets: www.babylonsalon.com 💜

It was great to be part of the Page St. Writers' event at Sebastopol's Lit Crawl on Sat 5/17! I read about my family's roots in Healdsburg, CA - a first for me! #writer #books #authors #reading

🌿Please join us this Sat 5/17 @ LitCamp's #reading at Sebastopol's #Litcrawl when 15 #writers-- including me--share short takes on a having a super bad attitude! 5pm, 186 N. Main Street. FREE. It'd be great to see you! 💜 #writer #writing #books

Happiness abounds! Wishing a wonderful launch to @loriostlund.bsky.social whose new story collection ARE YOU HAPPY? will astound & delight you! I highly recommend this book! loriostlund.com

🌠VeRRy VERRRY happy to say I just signed w/Sibylline Press, who'll publish my historical #novel LIGHT AND ASH--which takes place during the 1906 San Francisco earthquake--in Spring, 2027. Many thanks to Vicki DeArmon & @juliaparktracey.bsky.social, who, among others, made this happen! 💜📖 💚 #writers

Excited to be reading w/ Brandy Collins & Leslie Kirk Campbell! Please join us! 📖💥 @thewritersgrotto.bsky.social #writers #fiction #writing #reading

💥I've been demonstrating since my 20s & I'm not about to stop now! So heartening to see that tens of thousands of protesters hit in the streets Saturday! Here's what we looked like in Berkeley, CA! 💜

I obsess about ,,, commas!

🌠 I had a wonderful time #reading at Lit Nights on Friday! My fellow #authors were awesome, as was the Prosecco! ⭐ #writers #books #novels

💖 Friends! I'm excited to be offering "Great Writers Steal: How the Work of Master Writers Can Inform & Inspire You" starting Th, 4/10 online @thewritersgrotto.bsky.social! We’ll study the stories of Baldwin & others to get insights for yr own work. Details: www.writersgrotto.org/classes-and-...

I love this! ♥️

I'm excited to be sharing some of my forthcoming novel LIGHT AND ASH at "Lit Nights" on Fri 3/28 @ 6:30pm @Page Street in SF! The amazing Janis Cooke Newman will be MCing! 💖 Free & open to the public! Pls join us! www.litcampwriters.org/our-events #books #writers #reading

An eerily gorgeous photo taken near the Strait of Magellan by my brother Tom🍃

TONIGHT! Please join us! ❤️❤️❤️

Buy nothing today! Fight inflation & the billionaire takeover 💪

Nina & 4 other incredible authors will be reading at Babylon this Sat, 3/1 at The Sycamore SF, 5;30pm. We'd love to see you! As always, admission is free!

sam sax's new book "Yr Dead" was just longlisted for the National Book Award! 👏 👏 👏 Join us at Babylon this Sat, Mar 1 to hear sax & other amazing authors a—we’ll be in The Sycamore SF's covered patio in back! Doors, 5pm, Reading, 5:30pm. www.babylonsalon.com therumpus.net/2024/08/06/s....

Celebrating Victor Hugo today & every day! #writingcommunity

Stoked about hearing @jonvhickey.bsky.social read from his new novel @babylonsalon.bsky.social this Saturday! ♥️

What could be more beautiful than Lake Tahoe in winter? 💜 ❄️ 💜

Jane Fonda still kicking ass! ♥️♥️

VAST Congratulations to @vanessahua.bsky.social ♥️🥳

Time for some good news! We are thrilled to announce that Vanessa Hua’s flash, “Forecast,” has been selected for Best Microfictions 2025! Congratulations, @vanessahua.bsky.social ! https://buff.ly/3WqCFus

On Sat, Mar 1, we at Babylon Salon are thrilled to present these 5 amazing authors: ⭐ Jon Hickey ⭐ Mercilee Jenkins ⭐ sam sax ⭐ Nina Schuyler ⭐ Emily Jon Tobias Come out to The Sycamore for drinks at 5 in the back covered patio! Reading starts at 5:30. As always, admission is free! ❤️