In the midst of so much ugliness, I found this to be beautiful and poignant (and I'm really enjoying this book!).

😂😂😂...😭

2026 is starting w/ the closure of BOTH of Pittsburgh's most widely read newspapers: the Pittsburgh City Paper (our free weekly) and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (a 240 year institution). I'm at a loss to process any part of our country. It feels like the collapse of everything, reality included.

Yup, the copyedit stage of a novel always serves as a reminder of how much you STILL don't know about grammar. 😜

Since I sent exactly zero cards this year, I made this communal greeting (out of previously purchased cards) for all my friends, family, and followers! Happy Holidays! 💕

We got a lotta snow!

Every year @emilyhughes.bsky.social puts together the definitive list of upcoming horror books... Coming in September: SOMETHING OF A CALLING! 😁

I CAN'T WAIT!!!! 🖤

A message for readers of BABY TEETH:

6:08 a.m. The snow is here...

The first issue of The End Times is here!! @badhandbooks.bsky.social

How I know my Duolingo Spanish is seeping in: When I play Spelling Bee I see Spanish words; when I see the name Ella in a book I think it means She.

Friday evening and feeling depressed. The world. The cold & darker days. Publishing setbacks. It doesn't take much these days to sap my energy. 🫤

Governors are so important right now - and I'm glad @governor.pa.gov is my governor!

This year it was Fergus's turn to try the bat wings. (Hamish is in the background saying "Thank God it's not me 😹) 🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻🎃👻 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Billie Eilish said this in a room full of rich people - including Mark Zuckerberg - right after it was announced that she was giving away $11.5 million (a sizable percentage of her wealth) to organizations that support food equity and the climate crisis. 🖤🖤🖤 BE LIKE BILLIE!

This year has been the ravaging of reality... every day is something new and incomprehensible. But the destruction of the East Wing feels so viscerally impossible. It's the physical manifestation of Trump's madness and thinking about it - seeing it - makes me feel ill.

No Kings rally in Pittsburgh... Very peaceful, very pro-America

Uh oh, Fergus has the red pen out... 😹

Book mail!! It's been a minute since I've gotten book mail. I've been in a major reading slump, primarily due to not being able to concentrate and needing mindless entertainment to block out the world. But I'm excited to read these, and it's been a long time since I felt excited about reading.

This is asinine, the Waterfront should be ashamed to deny bus access. The Giant Eagle & Target stops are the only stops I use. Do they want people to STOP going to the Waterfront?? It's already a terrible complex for people without cars & this will make it 10x worse. www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...

The world is a dumpster fire and I totally forgot to acknowledge the one year anniversary of DEAR HANNA's publication. From last year: I made a little video with some more info to get you ready for DEAR HANNA 😈😁😈😁 www.instagram.com/reel/Cw24eh4...

I'm always proud to see BABY TEETH on lists like this of books that include disability rep! the-line-up.com/dark-and-dis...

WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Social decay, societal collapse, and bad manners... That's about where we are.

Thank you to all the readers who got BABY TEETH to 82,000 ratings!! 💘

Here's another reason why AI should be banned -- because my friend Lisa did this to me. 🤣🤣🤣

Did I mention this little book has TWO asexual characters in it?? (Because friendship is the BEST.)

In case you missed yesterday's announcement about my next book... I'm very excited for this one, and after being in a long "mother/daughter" phase I'm now in my "detective" phase!

I can finally officially announce that my next published work will be with @blackstonepub.bsky.social!! 🎉 And I am transitioning from my "mother/daughter" phase to my "detective" phase! 😜 I believe publication is planned for Sept. 2026........Stay tuned!

From the Great British Sewing Bee: the most bonkers necklace I've ever seen. Yes, these tubes are filled with colored liquid (that sloshes around) and are affixed with carabiners. 😂😳🙄

Morning visitor...

All of my assistants are in the office today... None of them are working very hard. 😼

One of each of my novels at the Squirrel Hill library! ☺️

Seeing the images of dead & dying children in Gaza, skeletal from hunger...I'm sorry if I'm about to offend you but I'm reminded of the photos from Auschwitz. If you're appalled by this comparison but not by what's happening in Gaza you need to ask yourself why some lives are worth more than others.

My origami dragon family (the big one is made out of a cut-up paper bag).

The boys are getting so big! There were three bucks and a doe out this morning. For sure at least three of them spent part of their babyhood & youth here. The fawns who were here with their moms will come back for snacks year after year.

Yahoo Mail's AI-written email summaries are the dumbest effing things ever. Now I have to scroll past this bullshit just to get to the content of my email & why does anyone need an email summary in the 1st place?! Yahoo Mail get off the AI bandwagon, this is not a useful feature!! @yahoo.bsky.social

All month long!! #ebooks #booksale #amreading

One more chapter to write in my WIP!!

How many times while typing quickly do I misspell "possible" as "pissable"... (pretty much all the time).

Tomorrow is the 249th birthday of our nation...and I'm not sure we're going to make it to 250 - at least not as a democracy.

If you haven't read DEAR HANNA yet, this is a great month to do it!!

Right now, at my desk...

I got a new guitar!! I've played off and on for years - on full-size guitars - and ALWAYS wanted a smaller one. This is a 3/4 size Fender.

We're having thunderstorms and this Mama is trying to protect her baby. The fawn is so small it can barely walk ... ❤️

I just requested - and received - an A.I. restriction for my latest contract. Yes, you can ASK for this if it isn't included! (i) Publisher shall not license or otherwise authorize any third party(ies) rights to use the Work in the training of so-called “artificial intelligence” (“AI”) etc.

Murd#rbot is the bright spot in my life these days. Alexander Skarsgard is perfect in this - and hilarious. 🤖😂

Pittsburgh has canceled its International Parade & Festival out of fear that ICE will come and kidnap everyone. That's where we are in America.