A single white hair has appeared at the front of my eyebrow like it's planting a flag. What is the evolutionary PURPOSE of this? Did my ancestors need one reflective eyebrow hair to fool predators when they became a certain age? Who looked at this and said "yes, keep that in the genome"?🧐

"Both sides are the same" is doing a LOT of heavy lifting right now. Like, structural-engineering-on-a-condemned-building levels of heavy lifting.

Me: Time to write! My brain: But have you checked the news about Iran lately? Me: … My brain: You're welcome. Concentrating in a world gone mad is its own kind of superpower. One I do not have today. ☕

Why on earth did Texas start the THCA ban *on* the 31st? Texas starting the THCA ban *on* the 31st makes zero sense, unless the goal was to trick us olds who logically assumed the end of the month would be the last day to buy. Oops. 🤦‍♀️

In other news, water's wet.

The fun part of writing 22 books in a series is when your character walks into a room and you think "wait, did I burn this building down six books ago?" Monday mornings are for fact-checking yourself.

The absolute luxury of editing with Google Antigravity: Highlighting a line, asking "Is this true?", and watching my little AI minion scour 21 previous books to find out if I hallucinated a piece of my own lore. Having this kind of instant continuity-checking power while editing is incredible. 🦉

I'm starting to think the only version of COTA I'll ever see is the Christmas one. MotoGP is there this weekend, my hub's a vet so tickets were half off, and he still said no because they were too expensive. And yes, he's a huge fan. (Yeah, I don't even bother asking about F1. I know the answer.)

The new Costco in Liberty Hill means you can now buy 48 rolls of toilet paper AND a rotisserie chicken without ever getting close to I-35. We're living in the future.

I first read about Cynthia Plaster Caster in Pamela Des Barres' groupie memoir years ago and thought it had to be exaggerated. It was not. Her collection ended up at MoMA PS1 and the Kinsey Institute. Sometimes real life is just too weird to be fiction.

David Muir: "Airports are in crisis." Congress: "We'll look into it." Narrator: They did not look into it. Congress is working on the airport situation with the same urgency they bring to everything else. So, see you in 2035.

A runaway parade float & a legacy built on a lie! 🐱 Burgers, Bunting, & Betrayal is LIVE in KU! 🇺🇸 leanneleeds.com/books/burgers-bunting-and-betrayal (Check the link for German, French, & Dutch translations! 🇳🇱 Dutch also available on Kobo!)

Somebody explain the Fetterman-Marjorie Taylor Green body swap episode. He's out here sounding like a Fox News audition tape and she's… not? It's funny. Both sides are staring at members of their own team going "wait, WHAT?" and honestly, that's the most bipartisan unity we've had in years.

"Every war is not only a defeat of politics but also a shameful surrender to the forces of evil." #PopeFrancis #PrayForPeace

Five chapters into edits and I just realized I contradicted my own lore. From three books ago. The cat didn't even have the decency to look sympathetic—she just yawned and rolled over on my notes. 😩📖

Anthropic walking back their safety commitments feels less like a surprise and more like an inevitability. Ethics are cute until the revenue numbers come in. 💸

We went from 'fake news' to full Ministry of Truth real fast.

Absolute gold from the AP today. A serial burglar gets tackled at Lunar New Year by two undercover cops hiding inside a dancing lion costume. If this doesn’t end up in a cozy mystery by 2027, the entire genre has failed us all. 📚🦁🔍

Supreme Court: "You can't use emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs." The Administration, 5 minutes later: "Cool, I'll just use this other 1970s law to do the exact same thing." I've seen less predictable plot twists in a Hallmark mystery. 🙃

Mystwich Hollow’s wildest family reunion is LIVE! 🧛♀️✨ Fortuna Delphi is back, and her midlife crisis just got teeth. Her vampire husband’s twin sister is in town. The bad news? She’s a vampire hunter. Dive into the latest Mystwich Mindslider Mystery today: leanneleeds.com/books/crysta...

Me: *writes fiction about people getting away with things for too long* Reality: *arrests Prince Andrew on his birthday* Y'all, I cannot compete with real life's plot twists. 👀 I have been awake for twenty minutes and I need to sit down already. Whoah.

Colbert: *books Texas state rep for an interview* CBS Legal: No. Colbert: Can I mention it? CBS Legal: Also no. Colbert: does both, posts interview to YouTube Here's the interview a network censored before the FCC even made them. 🙃

I switched my whole book writing process to Markdown and I gotta say — after years of fighting Word formatting like it owed me money, processing everything in plain text feels almost suspiciously easy.

Me: *opens laptop, ready to conquer the week* Cat: *sits on laptop* Me: Okay so we're starting like THAT. Happy Monday, y'all. ☕😼

I’ve officially run out of pithy observations. The world is weird, the news is a fever dream, and I have the energy of a room-temperature cup of coffee. If you need me, I’ll be over here participating in the Olympic sport of staring at a wall. 🫠💤

Watching "The Librarians" and it is compelling. It's about librarians caught in the middle of the book banning battles happening across the country. Whatever your politics, it's worth your time—these are real people dealing with real consequences. #IndependentLens #Documentary #BannedBooks

Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein trying to 'take down' the Pope sounds less like a news headline and more like the plot of a Dan Brown novel that was rejected for being 'too unrealistic.' How is this real life? 🕵️‍♂️🇻🇦🤌

ProWritingAid: 'YOU HAVE 8,432 ERRORS.' Me: clutching chest & mentally drafting my will ProWritingAid: '7 of your quotation marks are straight. The other 8,425 are curly.' ProWritingAid giving me a heart attack over 8,000 'errors' that turn out to be 7 straight quotes is the ultimate gaslight. ☕️📖

Ever since the Bad Bunny halftime show, my brain has been stuck on a loop singing 'Piragua' from In the Heights. I am currently a one-woman crossover event that nobody in my family asked for, but everyone is getting. 🍧🎤

Such a tiny typo, but I never would have gone looking in other books for the line in a 20+ book series. NotebookLM is such a game changer in handling these reported oopsies that make it through editing.

If I hear the word 'safe' one more time in this Tell-All, I’m calling a plumber to check the drains because I’m pretty sure that’s where my brain cells are going. It’s Part 4. We are all just hostage at this point. 🏳️ #SisterWives

It’s a crap day for a lot of reasons, and I wish I could fix everything for everyone. I can’t. But I can make sure this little guy has a heated house for the Austin cold front. Focus on the small wins when the big ones feel impossible. ❄️🏠

I’m currently at that point in the draft where I’ve typed 'something happens here' in brackets multiple times for three pages straight. My AI editing assistant is looking at me with what I can only describe as digital disappointment. 🤖📉

A massive cold front is hitting Austin on Saturday, or as we call it here: 'The Annual Stress Test for a Power Grid held together by thoughts, prayers, and repurposed guitar strings.' I’ve already secured three weeks' worth of HEB tortillas and a generator I don’t know how to use. 🕯️🌮

Thanks so much to everyone who has checked in about what it’s like in Minneapolis right now. This should answer most of your questions:

Have you picked up my newest release, Owl Be Dreaming? 🦉 Wondering about those circus references? The Magical Midway is the complete series that sets the stage that answers all your questions. Grab singles or binge the discounted bundle! 🎪 Start the adventure here: leanneleeds.com/magical-midw...

Something is granting impossible wishes with a catch. Can Astra find the source of these sudden departures before her family is lost to a fantasy they never knew they wanted? English: leanneleeds.com/books/owl-be... German: leanneleeds.com/books/eine-e... French: leanneleeds.com/books/le-rev...

Reading Is a Vice www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Happy New Year! May your 2026 be full of joy, peace, and cancelled plans that let you stay home in your pajamas. The dream."

While you are all having visions of sugarplums dancing in your heads, I am currently orchestrating a homicide in Chapter 3. 🔪 Nothing says 'Merry Christmas' like a fresh body in Mystwich. You're welcome.

Mystwitch Book 3 is out now! Read English, German & French versions on Kindle/KU, or grab Dutch version on Kobo/in KoboPlus! English: leanneleeds.com/books/crysta... German: leanneleeds.com/books/krista... French: leanneleeds.com/books/reflex... Dutch: leanneleeds.com/books/krista...

🥧 Pies, Poison, and Peril is Out Now! 🐾 Join our favorite newlywed as she investigates a deadly poisoning at the annual Thanksgiving bake-off. A prize-winning pie has a fatal secret, and it’s up to Ellie and her four-pawed witness to solve the case. leanneleeds.com/books/pies-p...

🚨 START MY NEW SERIES FOR FREE! 🚨 It's launch day for the Amateur Sleuths FREE Book Fair! I’m giving away Crystal Clear Visions, Book 1 of my NEW Mystwich Mindslider series! Get it + dozens of other free cozy mysteries now. Nov 6 - Nov 8. Don't miss it! ➡️ books.bookfunnel.com/amateursleut...

Spatial anomalies, portal-prone casserole dishes, a killer who stamps “REJECTED” across an adjuster’s forehead—Mystwich Hollow is collapsing into chaos. Join Fortuna as she uncovers a conspiracy that threatens Mystwich Hollow’s fragile magic. leanneleeds.com/books/crysta...

Trying to work on ads for the new series this morning. The cats think that's fine as long as doing so doesn't require more than 10% of the desk,

Fortuna has built a life in Mystic's End—married to Jeeves, the captivating vampire, with her faithful companion Gideon still watching over them. But the peace Fortuna has found is about to be disrupted by a new mystery rooted in her very origins. leanneleeds.com/books/crysta...

"I inherited a psychic shop from a father I never met. Plot twist: he was murdered, his soul is trapped in a rock, and I'm apparently the new boss of an ancient telepathic coven. Just another Tuesday." leanneleeds.com/books/crysta...

Really excited about releasing the Mystwich Mindslider series this month. Getting to revisit Fortuna at 40, married to Jeeves, dealing with mysteries about her father's inheritance feels like catching up with old friends who've lived whole lives since I last saw them. leanneleeds.com/mystwich-min...

The newest Owl Star Witch Mystery is here! ✅ Get Owl Take Thee now: leanneleeds.com/books/owl-ta... Also available to read FREE with Kindle Unlimited on Amazon!

🐾📚 The Pets & Cozy Mysteries Book Blast is here! From now until September 18th, you can download a massive collection of cozy mysteries for FREE, including my book, Star of Sage & Scream! 👉 books.bookfunnel.com/petsandcozie... #FreeBooks #CozyMystery #BookGiveaway #InstaBooks #AmReading