My first review for ACCORDING TO PLAN came in and it’s a star from Kirkus! I’m presenting it without comment because honestly I’m speechless. Thank you, Kirkus!

My second book is up on Netgalley! I’m so excited (and anxious but that’s the norm) for this cast of characters to meet the world. I am really proud of this book! Check it out if you love a cozy-but-complicated coming of age queer romance. Mal’s story is for you!

To Brag: I visited Ohio Renaissance Festival yesterday and through a series of events which mostly include me being an insufferable extrovert and Emotional On Main IRL, I was named the Queen’s Royal Author. Thanks for unlocking this Author Goal I didn’t know I had, ORF!

If your boyfriend won't let you join their tabletop roleplaying game, maybe you should find your own group to play with. Which is exactly what Hollis Beckwith is trying to do in THE NO-GIRLFRIEND RULE by @bycrandall.bsky.social #MTCBA #thenogirlfriendrule #ireadya #yabooks #teenreads

Bookseller pals! The Kids’ Indie Next nomination deadline is November 3, and I’m asking you to consider ACCORDING TO PLAN for yours!

When Hollis is blocked from joining her boyfriend's group to play the tabletop roleplaying game, Secrets & Sorcery, she finds a group of her own... and it changes her entire life. Find out more in the next book on our list of 2025 nominees, THE NO-GIRLFRIEND RULE by @bycrandall.bsky.social #Booksky

Me, out loud, while reading a kissin’ scene as I finish pass pages, sitting alone at my desk, with no one home but the cats who are both in another room: “Gay.”

HEY THAT’S MY MENTEE!!!! SUMMER V. ROBBIE RIBALDI is full of heart and growth and all the good things I love about Middle Grade. @tracierenee.bsky.social is a talent AND just a delightful person, and I am so proud! Agents and editors, TAKE NOTE. Tracie is brilliant!

Delighted to see my #amquerying #MG #NIV on this list--especially after an early draft failed to place last year. This version was deeply revised with the guidance of my awesome writing mentor @bycrandall.bsky.social. Thank you so much, @iaminprint.bsky.social and #agent Penny Holroyde!

I reached my peak of marketing today. I’m afraid I’ll never be as good as this again.

@bycrandall.bsky.social Just now finished The No-Girlfriend Rule, and needed to immediately come and tell you how special it is. Thank you for creating these amazing characters. They were an absolute delight to spend time with, even when I was crying.

Y’all, I have pass pages for According to Plan and this book is about to be so so so pretty.

I know I neglect this app but I'm revising a cool thing right now and need the internet to know about this line because it makes me laugh each time I read it: The stupid industrial-strength mattress cover on the dorm bed crinkles like it’s a paid actor in this absolute crapshow. .....okay byeeee.

🌈Pride guide 2025🌈 The 2025 Read with Pride Guide has arrived! Inside you will find 100 recommended titles and 100 ‘read also’ suggestions. That’s 200 books celebrating LBGTQ+ love, joy, and identity. Find out more and download for free ⬇️ childrensbooksireland.ie/our-recommen... #ReadWithPride

THRILLED that The No-Girlfriend Rule by @bycrandall.bsky.social is included in the CBI Read with Pride guide 🏳️‍🌈 'This charming LGBTQ+ coming of age story shows us that we can discover the most about ourselves in the unlikeliest of places' 🌈 More Pushkin pride coming soon! @pushkinpress.com

My second newsletter went live on Substack today! If you want to know more about According to Plan or my undying love for pickles and libraries, check it out. 😎🥒📚

Exclusive Cover Reveal: According to Plan by Christen Randall Today on the site I'm delighted to welcome Christen Randall to reveal the cover of their upcoming bi4bi contemporary YA romance, According to Plan, releasing February 3, 2026 from Simon & Schuster! Here's the story: As editor-in-chief…

I’m excited to partner with @lgbtqreads.bsky.social to reveal the cover of my next queer YA romance, ACCORDING TO PLAN! I can’t wait for y’all to meet Mal and Emerson in this cozy neurodivergent love story about finding your place, your people, and your own path. Cover illustration by Liz Parkes.

Meet the 21 nominees for the 2025 Mass Teen Choice Book Award! This is the only award in the Bay State that invites students in grades 7-12 to vote for their favorite recently published books.

I am way too neurodivergent for April Fools Day.

Bragging on my WTMP mentee real quick: I just finished my read-through of her revision on her MG novel-in-verse and Y’ALL!!!! She CRUSHED it. I laughed! I cried! I feel like trying…and maybe learning to skateboard. @tracierenee.bsky.social and ROBBIE RIBALDI are ones to watch!

The No-Girlfriend Rule is out in paperback today! 🥳🎲✨

My SubStack is LIVE! Check out my first newsletter and subscribe! bychristenrandall.substack.com/p/writing-my...

HEY check me and MK’s giveaway out over on Insta! Book shipping will be US only, but fear not, international friends! We will ship some cool flat swag to you! If you enjoyed TNGR, you’ll definitely like Roll for Love! Check it out!

Giveaway! ✨ To celebrate the paperback release of The No-Girlfriend Rule and the upcoming release of Roll for Love, @bycrandall.bsky.social and I are doing a giveaway of our nerdy sapphic YA romances over on instagram! www.instagram.com/p/DGlTOoPgYcw/ Enter for your chance to win the following: 👇

Okay but Anita’s YA debut coming out this summer, DONUT SUMMER, instantly became one of my favorite books ever when I got read an ARC. So I am 🥹🥹🥹

ACCORDING TO PLAN, by @bycrandall.bsky.social YA contemporary; ARC; out October from Atheneum (no cover released yet) This is all about queer kids in Kentucky finding community and empowerment through ZINES and making art and it was so truly inspiring and important and I loved it so much

I am VERY HYPE for this love coming up on Sunday!!! Come hang out with me and MK and chat all things nerdy and queer. 😎😎😎

If y'all are still over on instagram at all, @bycrandall.bsky.social and I will be doing an IG Live this Sunday at 7pm Eastern! There'll also be a giveaway going live on IG running Thursday through Sunday. Stay tuned! In the meantime... 👇

I’m not sure if this is the kind of place where we are emo on main, but I’ve been extra thankful for my writing pals lately and just need to say it somewhere. Truly the best of them, y’all.

The No-Girlfriend Rule comes to paperback March 4th! Even cooler: the first chapter of my next cozy, feel-good romance ACCORDING TO PLAN, is included at the end! Be the first to meet my new nonbinary, neurodivergent af lead, Mal Flowers!

I just started a new thing and y’all the girls are flirting.

This weekend Louisville’s Mandala House is hosting their first LGBTQIA+ Legal Rights Day, a free event offering a wealth of resources designed to inform, educate, and uplift the LGBTQ+ community in an uncertain time. queerkentucky.com/chat-with-vo...

If you’re doing the BN Preorder Sale, consider preordering the paperback of The No-Girlfriend Rule! The first chapter of my next cozy, queer YA romance, ACCORDING TO PLAN, is in the back! 👀👀👀

THAT’S MY FRIEND!!!

Book Two tattoo! Book Two tattoo! Book Two tattoo!!! Thank you to Robyn Roth at Mothers in Covington for making this one for me.

ALEXA PLAY EL SON DE LA NEGRA WE JUST WON THE STONEWALL AWARD

The No-Girlfriend Rule is a #PADIBA Longlist Selection!

It’s truly an honor to see The No-Girlfriend Rule on this list with so many amazing books and authors I admire. Thank you, @federicoerebia.bsky.social and the committee, for seeing my book and for doing the important work of uplifting intersectional voices. 💛🧡💜

The 2025 Pedro and Daniel Intersectionality Book Awards announced the LONGLIST: MG/YA Feel free to tag authors, illustrators, publishers. Winners & Finalists: late April. The submissions window for the 2026 awards will be July 1 - August 31, 2025 For more information: ReadYourWorld.org/awards

Hey #Cincinnati! Come hang out with me and Kristy Boyce to celebrate her swoony new romance, DATING AND DRAMA! We’ll be in conversation at Joseph Beth Cincy on Sunday, January 12 at 2PM!

@bycrandall.bsky.social Hi Christen! I wanted to let you know that No-Girlfriend Rule is one of my top books of 2024 (I think I'm on my 3rd read right now?) I didn't realize I was trans until my mid-30s & the first place I tried out new pronouns was with my DnD group. Your book hit me in the feels.

Hey! It’s my birthday! If you want to so something nice for me today outside of the Buy or Review My Book thing, a donation to the Ion Center would be rad! They’re my local violence prevention center and they do good, impactful work in my Northern Kentucky community.

Today I learned you can turn Kindle pages with kitty nose boops. Unfortunately, so did Gellie.

Today’s Author Snacks are brought to you by the colors orange, red, and yellow.

I also love when authors sneak in little reoccurring elements into their books—cats, coffee, etc.—and I realized today that mine may be… Tater Tots. They’re in The No-Girlfriend Rule as well as my forthcoming YA, and just got drafted into this adult romance I am working on.

I did not write yesterday or today! BUT I have done some other important stuff like go to the eye doctor (new glasses coming soon!) AND have tree removal folks out AND snuggled Gellie extra, so I am still counting them as wins.

You can read my queer D&D-inspired YA novel, THE NO-GIRLFRIEND RULE for FREE today as part of @simonteen #25ReadsOfDecember! Spoilers: there’s a Critmas party scene that is one of my favorite moments in the book!

Author! Snacks!