Doing holiday shopping for a gardener? Cynthia Brian has a Gifts and Grifts guide to help you avoid falling for scammy AI plants and products. She also has some books to recommend from real, live garden authors. #gardensky 🌱 #gifts #booklover open.substack.com/pub/cynthiab...

Kids ask the darndest things! Actually, they ask the coolest things. For this week's episode we got questions from a class of elementary-school kids who wanted to know the whys and wherefores of why plants are the way they are. It's a delight! plantsalwayswin.com/2025/11/25/e... #gardensky

It's If You Go Walking's book birthday! I'm celebrating with a free downloadable teaching guide. erin-alladin.com/books/ If you teach outdoor education or want to bring more outdoor ed into your classroom, this is made for you! #teacher #cankidlit #authorsky

And YouTubers do this FULL TIME? Exhausting! But hey, here's a video about why I wrote If You Go Walking and how it can help you build up confident, curious, nature-connected kids. #outdooreducation #cankidlit #kidlit youtu.be/ugMdnbOvtpE?...

I'm OBSESSED with these video close-ups of Miki Sato's 3D collage art in If You Go Walking. The fluffy chickadees! The splashing water! The vellum fog! #cankidlit #kidlit #authortok vt.tiktok.com/ZSfr2V1kH/

If You Go Walking was written as an antidote to nature deficit among kids. Kirkus Reviews calls it “A heartfelt paean to proto-scientists and everything left in this world for them to discover.” PW says it's “a thoughtful tribute to the power of observation.” erin-alladin.com/books/ #cankidlit

Bay Today on If You Go Walking: "Alladin said, 'There’s so much nature deficit among kids today, and it impacts them in ways that we don’t necessarily see in the short term, but it influences how well they focus in school, how confident they feel about taking risks.'" www.baytoday.ca/local-news/a...

In the latest of about 100 scam emails I've received as an author this fall, this sender forgot to edit the template: Your work has deeply resonated with our members. Its [lyrical prose / emotional depth / compelling themes customize as appropriate] offers a perspective that feels... 🙃 #authorsky

What level of plant nerd are my cohost and I? Well, we made a reaction podcast to Little Shop of Horrors based around the accuracy of its representation of carnivorous plants. #plantnerd #gardensky #littleshopofhorrors #halloween

ClearWater Farm runs one of the coolest apprenticeship programs I know. Their "agripreneurs" learn skills in regenerative agriculture and experiment in a safe environment, driving innovation. ClearWater has been nominated for an ECO Impact 2026 award. Learn more & vote: ecoimpact.ca/conference/f...

Authors: got an inbox full of suspiciously flattering emails? Wish you could check them against what other writers are receiving to confirm they're spam? This post shares the emails received by me and several other @scbwicanadaeast.bsky.social authors. erin-alladin.com/2025/10/06/t... #authorsky

Editors Canada isn't just for freelancers. We're a national hub for editors who are salaried, freelance and contract, and for students still learning the craft. Are you an in-house editor? Learn about the benefits of belonging to an editing association:

I'm up for a Horti Award! If you'd like to support Wait Like a Seed as a People's Choice gardening book of 2025, cast your vote at vote.gardencomm.org/2025-horti-a... #GardenCommUnity #HortiAwards @transatlanticagcy.bsky.social @pajamapress.bsky.social

Wearing out my voice today rehearsing my presentation for Saturday's webinar with @scbwicanadaeast.bsky.social's That Professional Polish: Self-Editing Your Manuscript for Submission. Registration still open for @scbwi.bsky.social premium and preview members #authorsky www.scbwi.org/events/that-...

How do you find a publisher you can trust? How about a freelance editor, book designer, or book publicist? We hear enough horror stories that it can be daunting, so I've pulled together a post to help you navigate: erin-alladin.com/2025/08/25/h... #authorsky #publishing

Reading my way through breakfast with my copy of The Garden Against Time propped up against a giant zucchini. I love August.

Plants Always Win Podcast hits 30 episodes—and makes it into the traditional media 🙂 #gardensky 🌱 www.baytoday.ca/local-news/r...

The problem with trying to get Japanese beetles out of my grape vine: now I have to get Japanese beetles out of my hair. #gardensky 🌱

My little soda pop!🎵 Ever wondered about the origins of soda flavours like root beer and cola? The root in root beer is North America's Sassafras albidum. Cola comes from the nut of West Africa's cola tree. But which is the most interesting? Listen and decide! www.plantsalwayswin.com/podcast/epis...

We are searching for an Acquisitions Editor for University of Alberta Press. The posting is up and the deadline is September 10. This is a rare opportunity: please spread the word. https://bit.ly/3J3rHqS ##UAlberta @abbookpub.bsky.social‬ @cdnpublishers.bsky.social‬ ‪@writersguildab.bsky.social‬

I'm not going to try rotating potatoes anymore. I've just ended up with potatoes growing in every part of my garden from tubers that got away from me 🙃 #gardensky 🌱

One of the services I enjoy offering the most is manuscript evaluations. If an author isn't ready for a full substantive edit, or if it's beyond their means, an evaluation is a great place to start. They come away with a report full of actionable big-picture advice and a follow-up call. #editing

I just want to create eternally. Sew this quilt. Plot my novel. Write a blog post. Play with pastels. Plant more flowers. What is this "11 pm" nonsense? Who told my synapses they could get sleepy? I'd like to lodge a complaint. Possibly in rhyme.

Working on a press release mailing list. It really is depressing how almost every newspaper in this country has been bought by one of two media groups.

My native plant garden is coming into its best bloom season. Now will someone please send me bees to enjoy it? This is getting frightening. I live out in the wild!

I used to write and post daily poems. Some were serious and lyrical. Others were pure nonsense. That past self really took over with this spontaneous thought: Sandwich lords and sandwich ladies. Sandwich children, sandwich babies. Who will be the sandwich king? He who wears the sandwich ring.

If you're at @slj.com's Picture Book Palooza, I'm hanging out in Pajama Press' booth for the next hour to answer questions about Wait Like a Seed, Outside, You Notice, and the upcoming If You Go Walking. #PictureBookPalooza

Looking forward to sharing the For the Very Young picture book panel with @tashahilderman.bsky.social, @benjamingottwald.bsky.social, @tjitskekamphuis.bsky.social & Toni Yuly tomorrow at @slj.com 's Picture Book Palooza! www.slj.com/event/slj-pi...

To those posting art for #PortfolioDay: Use alt-text! Not only does it help the visually impaired & neurodivergent, it will help your art get DISCOVERED. Thanks to @nicktankard.bsky.social for sharing tips on how he comes up with alt-text for his art: publish.obsidian.md/debbieohi/al... #ArtSky

Struggling to distinguish between YA and New Adult? There are the obvious things, like the age of the protagonist and whether they're in high school or college/entering the workforce. Except it's not always obvious, and authors get told they've written for the wrong audience all the time. #authorsky

Oh, and this has to be specified these days: the newsletter is free! You can tip if you like, but I'm here to remove whatever paywalls I can between authors and knowledge about writing and publishing. The opacity of the industry was a constant frustration when I worked in house.

I can't sleep, so here's a late-night pitch for the twice-monthly newsletter I write for authors. It covers industry insight, self-editing, craft, & marketing tips from a current editor and former book publicist who's worked freelance and in house. #authorsky #editor erin-alladin.com/newsletter/

Have you heard the argument that tomatoes are indirectly carnivorous? Flies die when they come into contact with the hair-like trichomes on the tomato's stem, and when they fall to the ground they feed the soil microbes that feed the tomato! #gardensky www.plantsalwayswin.com/podcast/epis...

ABUNDANCE! What's bringing you joy in your garden? #garden #gardensky 🌱

Enjoying this year's first cup of wild rosebud tea. It is serenity incarnate, but troubled by the fact that the rust I've been finding on the wild blackberries in recent years is starting to spread to the roses.

When I have to run errands during the business day it's always hard to find the energy to sit at my desk once I'm home. So today the desk is Georgian Bay.

Cover Reveal! IF YOU GO WALKING is a companion book to OUTSIDE, YOU NOTICE. I wrote it to help kids overcome the resistance so many have today to self-directed exploration and to celebrate all you can learn by using curiosity and observation to build on what you already know. #cankidlit #canlit

Watch for Turtles: a photo essay

Jennifer's first home hydroponic garden has given her lettuce through southern heat waves and northern blizzards. Listen to the full episode to learn how her indoor gardening has leveled up since then. #gardensky #hydroponics 🌱 #gardening www.plantsalwayswin.com/podcast/epis...

It's a shrub showdown! This week's Plant Face-Off is Serviceberry vs. Haskap. Depending on where you're from, you might call it Saskatoon vs. Honeyberry. Or Shadbush vs. Swamp-Fly Honeysuckle? Plants have a lot of names! Tune in and vote for your favourite. www.plantsalwayswin.com/podcast/epis...

Come to think of it, I did largely the same thing with starting Garden@Kimbourne after I moved to Toronto. It wasn't the first thing I tried to meet my community, but it was certainly the most effective. It realized my dream of running into people I knew on street corners even in a metropolis.

What does the study of death, dying & grief have to do with gardening? For @imperi.bsky.social a lot! From meeting one group Master Gardeners at a cemetery to coaching another in the wake of wildfires, she's seen first-hand how everything connects to the soil. www.plantsalwayswin.com/pod...

I've been gardening before breakfast every day to make sure I make some progress in spite of a hectic week. I wish my employer (me) could give me a paid vacation to get the spring garden set up and planted at this time of year! #gardensky 🌱 #garden

With Canadians distracted by Trump and Carney, Doug Ford is launching an all-out assault on the environment. We have 4 days to stop him – sign and share: action.eko.org/a/doug-fords...

I looooove my slatted potting bench. Between it and these new-fandangled seed snails, starting seeds for my garden has been way more efficient this year. #gardensky #gardening 🌱

I had a wonderful time launching WAIT LIKE A SEED at Parry Sound Books on Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came out, got books signed, and indulged me in singing about butterflies and acting out the life cycle of a plant. #CanKidLit #Kidlit @pajamapress.bsky.social @transatlanticagcy.bsky.social

Help build a better democracy! Your donation fuels the fight for proportional representation, ensuring every vote counts. Chip in today: www.fairvote.ca/donate-to-fa...

A tale of two elections... First-past-the-post means record vote shares can still mean no seat, shutting leaders out and forcing costly by-elections. With proportional representation, every vote counts, no matter which party you support. #cdnpoli

It's book launch day at Parry Sound Books! @pajamapress.bsky.social

Putting the Cricut through its paces ahead of Saturday's book launch