For the love of God DO NOT Give pets as Xmas gifts. Too many of these “gifts” end up at the shelter . A Dog/Cat is a gift we give ourselves and they come with many sacrifices. Time,money, and a certain amount of collateral damage in their puppyhood.

The handmade, human qualities of your work are more valuable than they've ever been. Don't doubt that for a second.

I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of writers were suddenly revisiting their first-week sales.

I've jettisoned everything I wrote on this novel earlier this year and am starting afresh! And apparently with a cold opening, which I think I might be addicted to.

Making notes on a novel that is not the next one I thought to be writing, because sure.

I write without editing as I go. I think it’s most important to just get the words out. The amount of editing that I’ll have to do always makes me nervous.

I was *supposed* to post and write a newsletter about how my books are on sale at Smashwords, but I had to clock in for my shift at the Getting Yelled At Factory, lol anyway. TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

Author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt and science journalist Catherine Price discuss their collaboration ‘The Amazing Generation: A Guide to Freedom and Fun in a Screen-Filled World,’ and helping kids lead less tech-dependent lives buff.ly/37f9hX1

So Down & Out went out of business in October without paying their authors, including the great @beaujohnson44.bsky.social. Now they’re back “under new ownership”? Do what you want, but I’d encourage writers to stay away from this one.

Thinking about doing an edibles/food/write all afternoon kinda thing…

Today we remember the thousands of Americans who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor 84 years ago. Nearly half of those lost were aboard the USS Arizona, and I remember what a moving experience it was when Gabby and I visited the memorial. We’ll never forget their sacrifice.

📚🎁 Reminders for everyone looking for specific books to purchase online as gifts: 1. If you haven't called your local independently-owned book shop, try there first. (If you don't have one, try Bookshop.org) 2. Don't put it off - shipping time for Media Mail can be 12 days. Priority is 5 📦

In terms of what’s understood to be socially acceptable behavior, normalizing the filming/taking pictures of people in public who are minding their own business (and putting it online) is one of the worst developments of the past 15 years.

I was trying to write The Pearl at Black Diamond in 2017. Didn't come until 2024. Had to let her cook! buy.bookfunnel.com/68gxnkveg3

It's always funny how reading more makes me want to write more. Something something participating in the cycle of art and its creation, rather than staying stagnant. Or whatever.

Release the Epstein files. Lock up war criminals.

NEWS: The Institute of Museum & Library Services has restored ALL previously canceled federal grants to libraries, following a ruling by a federal judge in Rhode Island last month. This is a massive win for libraries & communities in every state & territory! Learn more: www.ala.org/news/2025/12...

Sure, I’m out of a contract, struggling to finish this novel, and have no clue what’ll happen next in my career, but I’m writing exactly the kind of dark, sad, weird, violent, magical mosaic of a book I want to write and that’s what this whole gig is really about.

People like romance because romance requires craft like every other form of writing

Also, lets stop encouraging indie authors to publish every quarter. Fuck that! If you can do that and not burn out? Cool! But the rest of us? Oh, you might get lucky with two books a year.

I once got an email from my editor with a blurb from Daniel Woodrell and couldn’t reply right away because it felt surreal. Winter’s Bone is great and The Bayou Trilogy is an education, but Tomato Red and The Maid’s Version got me through a rough spot. We lost a giant.

Me: discovers a new books series I MUST read immediately My library holds: hey, we’re all here at the same time

It’s 14 degrees here in the hill country and I’m burning my draft chapter as I revise (fortunately with some sturdier fuel too)

My mom just told me her friend tried to buy my book on Amazon and it’s temporarily sold out. 🥹 Now I need a favor: if you bought my book it would be so helpful if you could leave a review. I don’t care if it’s Amazon, Goodreads or my publisher’s website. Let me tell you why this is important.

Canadian author Lucy Maud (L.M.) Montgomery was born #OTD in 1874. Best known for a series of novels beginning with 𝘈𝘯𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘎𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 (1908). The book was an immediate success. Montgomery was famous in her lifetime & had an international following. lmmontgomery.ca#OTD#fiction #booksky #literature

I should probably talk about the various writing projects I'm working on but I firmly believe that if chatter about it gets ignored it'll kill my will to continue with said projects, which isn't something I want.

Got to the end of my Gothic horror novella. 41.4k words. ALAS. Still need to find 1.5k to cut. I'm sure I can, but it's going to mean rereading again. Pant pant. #writing

lol returning to the hometown after an international book release is weird in a way I can't articulate. Everybody who knows me knows about it and keeps talking to me about it.

The bad news: I found out yesterday that one of my publishers is shutting down next year. The good news: I have another publisher willing to republish all of my books that are with them. Phew!

I love it that when contacting an author in order to scam, these folks using fake "book clubs" or pretending to be other, real authors, give you the rehashed back of the book blurb. Like you need to be reminded what you wrote 😂 OK, sometimes I do, but not like that.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wrote a short thing about that 5-9 nonsense. gabinoiglesias.substack.com/p/your-9-5-i...

Writers, there are SO MANY unique ways for your characters to have side effects or overdoses from medications, compounds, and the natural world. Don’t just make stuff up. Ask your friendly neighborhood doc/toxicologist for ideas to add some flair and realism #writing #scriptsky #gamedev #booksky

Yeah, s*x is cool, but have you heard the sound a page in a book makes when you turn it? 🫦 #WritingCommunity #BookSky

Tuesday afternoon before Thanksgiving ...

Arrest Elon Musk for data crimes.

Folks, if your library doesn’t have a book you want to read, ask them to buy a copy. Most have a convenient form and will let you know when it comes in. If your library offers ILL, they can even borrow books from other libraries.

Okay, actually doing the writing sprint this time

Imagine knowing your platform was a playground for predators, fueling teen depression, eating disorders, and suicide and deciding the best course of action was… absolutely nothing. Meta didn’t just “miss” anything.

What if the true meaning of Christmas is supporting small businesses so the oligarchs have a very shitty season? 😚

#Earthquake Update: A magnitude 1.74 earthquake took place 5 km NW of Redlands, CA at 6:31:58 PM. #micro For details from the USGS:

Read to your kids 📖 No kids? Read to your friends’ kids. No friends with kids? Make a friend—preferably one who comes with kids to expedite the operation—and start reading! It is imperative that children are read to ☝️ #WritingCommunity #BookSky #ReadToKids

Almost a year now since I received this absolutely classic burn from the Canadian government.

getting ready for winter by reading The Penguin Book Of Christmas Stories and like half of the stories (almost all 1800s, almost all european) end with someone dying or something terrible happening. there's hardly any santa at all!

I dream of a future in which, amongst other things, we never see or hear from Karoline Leavitt ever again.