Strikes don’t just work at the time—they keep working long after we’ve put away the handwarmers and posters and noisemakers. I’m so proud of @hcpunion.bsky.social, more than words can express.

A poet.

Not to assign homework the first week of school, but here’s some supplemental reading for my MSWL

The bag is lying deflated on the ground as the cat runs downtown to on a fresh adventure. See you in my new inbox, friends!

I turned my book in @scribnerbooks.bsky.social today, and I swear to whoever is running the account, you can add Taco Bell Quarterly next to Stephen King, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. Corporate at Simon and Schuster already said it was already okay to add me in the bio, totally legit

My first draft of this story was in my notes app, bedraggled after a long day in the office, waiting for my train at Grand Central. Which I think is simply to say you don’t need an aesthetic setup to write. So start writing.

New to me artist I think about daily 🐔

I’m sweating because of corn?

I started a little substack that both is and isn’t about publishing and the art of crafting a literary novel. Come hang out with me! open.substack.com/pub/literall...

Alexa, play “Another Day” by Wings

You loved the White Lotus season 3 ending. You hated the White Lotus season 3 ending. All *I* care about is that there can be peace in my house again now that we no longer need to debate whether the theme song was better with the wee woos

As we gear up to plan for this year’s bookstore crawl, if you’re an author in the region who wants to be in the mix, reach out! I send 50+ local bookstores a spreadsheet of writers and their books in the region. And if YOU want to sponsor or partner up, give a shout! www.phillybookstorecrawl.com

I was a little ghost flitting around #AWP this year. The only photo of me is this one and it’s not even at the conference. I do my best work in the background. That’s where the magic happens.

Me telling myself I can definitely fit any books I buy this weekend at #AWP in my carry-on

Me pitching my work innie how fun #AWP will be but they recognize an ORTBO when they see one

Me checking in for my #AWP flight while reading about plane crashes

Another March Madness, another opportunity to base my picks solely on the cuteness of the mascots much to the chagrin of my family

I just watched The Substance and not to be an a**hole and spoil it for anyone, but I’m just never going to stop thinking about that boob on an umbilical cord hitting the stage at the end. Like a sandbag bringing down a curtain. Horrific and hilarious.

Have a little Mitski as a treat

Rainy workdays are for the Rose Room at NYPL

Clocking in for #MSWL Day duty 🫡 I’ve updated my profile on the website (will be linking below) but the tldr of it is that I’m looking for #horror #speculative #contemporary #upmarket and #literary #fiction for #adult and #ya. For #nonfiction I want to see #jounrnalism and #culturalcriticism

“If I hadn’t already been radicalized, giving birth definitely would have radicalized me.” I hope you’ll read this interview and preorder @shayneterry.bsky.social’s LEAVE (coming to shelves 2/25/25)

If you’re looking for an editor who will hold your book’s feet (lovingly but firmly) to the fire, that’s kind of my jam. New profile up on Reedsy after much cajoling, so come work with me 🤓 reedsy.com/ashley-lopez-2

I was the EIC of Bitch Media for nearly five years. Few things bother me more than people saying “I wish Bitch still existed” because keeping it alive was so damn hard. I wrote about that conundrum for @theflytrapmedia.bsky.social. If you want an indie pub to survive, then please pay for it.

Spent a few hours today at MoMA to feel something

If you are a writer who felt a small shudder of relief last night when the weird little pop-up apologized about the scrolly sanctuary being down because now you were forcibly freed from the algorithm and could finally work on your book… 📣📣 KEEP THAT ENERGY📣📣

My one regret today is that I didn’t leave my little glass office near Grand Central to go see Adam Scott in his little glass office in Grand Central.

As a longtime Brooklynite, and lifelong library lover, could I be more thrilled to see THE SLOW ROAD NORTH on The Brooklyn Public Library's list of Favorite Books from 2024? Fuhgeddaboudit!

I know it’s bad form to reference a video on TikTok on a social media app that is not TikTok, but I believe this is the interpretation of the Macbeth witches Shakespeare would have wanted us to have www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYTxDrsa/

@readandbreathe.bsky.social’s first book went viral and has gone to multiple printings for a reason! WHAT MY FATHER AND I DON’T TALK ABOUT is going to be an absolute banger. The bookends to all our trauma: Mom AND Dad!

Be the unhinged out of office message you wish to see in the world.

Okay, but what does it say about you if you see yourself in the Existentially Anguished Planter?

This may be too niche, but I just keep thinking about that woman on TikTok who couldn’t believe a housekeeper would have a T Anthony bag. And also what is a T Anthony bag. (No one tell me. I have Google but there’s so little mystery left in life.)

Yes, because the issue isn’t that we don’t have disintegrating and limited media coverage for the books already on the shelves. Let’s add 8k more titles into the mix courtesy of these gentlemen.

At the end of the night Kate told us to get back to work 🫡

Oh to be a little cat sharing a bed with another little cat blissfully unaware of the world outside or how rude it is to touch another person’s face without permission

This is how you become a writer: just pick one of the things that is deeply wrong with you. Make it a character. Now send it on a self-help journey or try to kill it. Now call it a book.

The term used by WHOM???

This is the biggest Split Lip roundup in history! We really need all this good news right now! Congrats to @raniqualee.bsky.social @amystuber.com @alinaetc.bsky.social @isleofanalia.bsky.social @cavar.bsky.social @cdeskilson.bsky.social @kimmagowan.bsky.social @ashleylopez.bsky.social & MORE!

It feels like this party might be getting started finally? I’ve been hiding out in the kitchen avoiding awkward conversation, but it’s nice to see some friendly faces just walked in 👋