Best thing that happened this week is that SCARLET MORNING, the next kidlit bestseller #MG #fantasy, came out AND @gingerhaze.bsky.social came to our weird lil beach town and made my kiddo's day by signing her Horde pin. AND she got to introduce him. 💜😭 Can't express how 🤩 we are. BUY THIS BOOK! 🏴‍☠️

Hey #kidlit folks! My 6th grader is studying ancient civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Rome & Greece. We've got Greece covered (plenty of Percy Jackson), but can you suggest some great #MG fiction that would provide a launching pad for these topics? Thx #writingcommunity!! 😊

When I'm anxious, I often stray to social media for a mental palate cleanser, to think about something else. However, social media rarely offers a respite. I think I'm going to take a short break, because I'd rather direct my energy toward writing, my kiddo, my community, and healthy practices. 🧡

🎉We're baaacckk!!!🎉 RevPit's #10Queries October event opens for submissions October 10! #amwriting #writersky #writersofbluesky

Wow. Has anyone else read this? Such a trip. Many of my MCs are unhoused or close to it, so this book drew me right in. If anyone is looking for a conclusive ending, you won't find it here. But it will suck you into its delirious spell. #amwriting #amreading #SFF #speculative

I was 24 years old on the morning that I heard my 21-year-old niece had died on a plane crashing into a field for political reasons I barely understood at the time. Thus began a period of grief and turmoil and transformation in my family that never really ended. 9/11 and the subsequent 🧵

I can go either way with MG, but I especially like first person with YA. First person present tends to be my preference because I enjoy the level of intimacy and urgency. #kidlitchat

Having fun digging into this one. He was in love with "monsters and skeletons and circuses and carnivals and dinosaurs and, at last, the red planet, Mars." What would my list be? "fairies and merboys and artists and cyborgs and tyrannical queens..." What would your list be? 😊 #writingcommunity

Final word count of THE MYTHOS GAME after the "big" revisions: 94K. Now I get to fine-tune it. 🎉 In recent conversations with an author and an agent, I heard 80K-95K was a good amount right now for querying YA speculative. So, I think I'm in a pretty good spot. #WIP #writingcommunity #amediting

You know how they say write what you know? I think this dystopian #YA #WIP has more "me" in it than any of my previous #MG and #YA manuscripts. Now that I'm revising the final chapter, it's pretty bloody obvious. 😭 It's all good. I'm fine. How are you? #writingcommunity

As we recognize Labor Day this weekend remember that it’s the labor movement and the support for unions that made America a better place. Child labor laws, worker safety, healthcare benefits, and pensions: we owe votes for unions and improved workplaces. This weekend, celebrate the labor movement!

This #MG pirate #WIP needs to see daylight...!! 🏴‍☠️🦜☠️ Pirates plus doughnuts... 🍩😋 #writingcommunity

They're so helpful, aren't they? HAPPY BIRTHDAY, @amynelder.bsky.social!! 🎉☺️

This right here.

You ever write something and think "Who the hell is this person writing this?" That's me with this #YA #WIP. 🙃 In shades of...

It's way past my bedtime, but I'm nearing the end of major revisions, and the chapter I'm re-writing now is flowing. If I wasn't falling asleep, I'd keep going and going and going... #YA #WIP

theonion.com/book-charact... I think I found my new dream job: writing for The Onion! (please, please) 😆

Just wrapped another great Writers Ensemble zoom mtg! We've been meeting, sharing writing, and helping each other improve on Sundays since (drumroll) 2022! 🤯 #amwriting #kidlit #WIP #YA #MG @billeisele.bsky.social @lizzyinlille.bsky.social @uriiswriting.bsky.social and more! 🧡

What music do you use to help you focus, #kidlit folks? For this #YA dystopian #WIP, my spouse got me into Spaceman 3 - Dreamweapon. It's basic, it sets a tone. It is not distracting.

Yeah, you know, just an ordinary Monday hanging with legend Bobby McFerrin plus the spontaneous participation of audience member Jack Black... 🤯 How was your Monday? #monday #amwriting #aminspired #improv

Oof. I just rewrote one of the most challenging chapters I've ever written. It still needs work. But it makes sense now. 😅 Past midnight. Eyelids drooping. Kitties bathing each other with wild abandon. Time to call it a night. "IT'S A NIGHT!" 🌜🌟 #WIP #amwriting #amrevising #YA

Periwinkle (aka Peri) is master of the chill 😹 Happily, she loves belly rubs 😊 Happy last hours of #caturday!

RAZOR in my #YA #WIP: Wings of corrugated steel. Silver hands gripping snakes made of razor wire. Gears turn in eye sockets as reinforced mouths shriek like tea kettles. “Guilty!" they scream. "Guilty!” “Monsters,” he whispers. “I think we found them.” #WIPSnips #WriteSky #writingcommunity

More revisions! Working my way through chapter by chapter, ensuring a logical progression of events. 80% there. My dystopian #YA is now at about 85K. Echoes & threads: Eros & Psyche, Pygmalion, Metropolis, the movie AI, Edward Scissorhands, She-Ra & the Princesses of Power, Wicked, Hunger Games...

I love a good actor-director "objectives" moment 😊

I have an #MG adventure about preteen fairies facing an evil queen that I WILL query again someday. But now is not the time. I miss it, miss my MC. One day, I hope kids will meet him. But my #YA Eros and Psyche are due to arrive soon. 💘🤖 My #MG MC can shout encouragement to them from the shelf.

#WIPsnips #writesky #amwriting #mythos Here's an excerpt from my dystopian #YA #WIP with the word "split." I'm in revisions, and my current word count is 82K.

My writing journal is putting Pepper to sleep. Maybe that's not a good sign 😅😆😹 #WIP #YA #amwriting #amediting

This is happening. Right now. 😢 We can't look away.

I'm convinced Nimona is a perfect movie. The GN is also perfect. Also, I heard ND Stevenson may be coming to our bookstore, and we're all geeking out. 🤩🤩

Bravo to the protestors. 🧡

Kiddo is off to first day of middle school. It's been a wild couple of days. This morning, I had to drive after her because she had my phone. 😅 Deep breaths, parental figure. Deep breaths.

This is Percy. He's experiencing his first rainfall. Wants to know if you're seeing what he's seeing. 12/10 (TT: percy.boy.jackson)

Writing in Mendocino 🧡 #WIP #YA #mythology #dystopian #appletrees

I highly recommend workshops with kidlit author @emilycolinbooks.bsky.social. She goes above and beyond to answer questions and give a convoluted synopsis a much-needed kick in the butt! 😅 Now I can face the revisions of my myth-based #dystopian #YA with a bit more bravery. 🎉 #amwriting #WIP

Mini retreat with writer friends in SF! The sound of fingers typing is truly a soothing balm. Not to mention being surrounded by the stunning work of @amynelder.bsky.social! #amwriting #WIP #YA #dystopian #writingcommunity #MGDucks 😍🎉

Shakespeare Intensive wrapped up! Whew! Time to change hats back from director to writer again. (BTW, my kiddo played Puck and made this hat!) 😄🍃 #amwrting #writingcommunity #WIP

It's Shakespeare Intensive week for me: helping 12 kids and teens develop a production of Midsummer Night's Dream. The deep dive into character, motivation, and story is going to be fulfilling, because the more we practice stepping into another's shoes, the more we learn how to fight the darkness. 🧚🏽‍♂️

While reading and watching every #dystopian narrative I can get my hands on, my kiddo and I stumbled onto City of Ember. Whoa, dude. #WIP #YA #amwriting #wriringcommunity

My kiddo DEVOURED an ARC of ND Stevenson's pirate-y work of genius and is dying for a sequel. Naturally, book 1 must be released first! 😆🎉🏴‍☠️ She's a huge fan of Nimona and She-Ra, and keeps asking her dad who works at Bookshop Santa Cruz if @gingerhaze.bsky.social may come for a reading. We hope! 😅

Glenn Kirschner : New Supreme Court Ruling WILL NOT Help Trump Cancel Constitutional Birthright Citizenship Guarantee--when the merits of Trump's lawless conduct gets litigated in trial and appellate courts. Trump will lose June 29, 2025 youtu.be/JtlPNwPVo0c?...

Here's a dose of #caturday in the midst of everything. Staying on chairs while sleeping is challenging sometimes. Or so Peri says. #writingcommunity

It's nearly midnight, just finishing a writing sprint, and several sets of curved claws are digging into the underside of my bedroom door. Good thing I know I have cats. 😅🤖

Our statement in response to the Supreme Court ruling in Mahmoud v Taylor. Image thread with alt text. 1/4

#WIPsnips - challenge Here's a snip from my dystopian #YA. 🤖💘🏹 #WIP #amwriting #writesky #writingprompts #writingcommunity

Vaccination schedules on the CDC website have already started changing under RFK Jr. So we published a guide to the evidence-based vaccine recommendations in place *before* all 17 members of the advisory panel were abruptly dismissed by the new admin. www.scientificamerican.com/article/see-... 🧪

I've recently found having a daily word count goal has kept me on track despite the fact that I want to scream at the news. Another trick: A long drive down a long road! Even when my brain is shouting at me, the act of driving always seems to bring me back to the narrative. 🚗💫 #kidlitchat #WIP

Here's my #YA logline so far: In a future America, where the myth-obsessed CEO of an AI corp modifies humans into cyborgs, 17-year-old Psyche must use her psychic abilities to find her sister and free captivating rebel Eros from the CEO’s VR Underworld or become a cog in the game forever. #WIP

Bombing for peace is like burning books to promote literacy.