I’m sharing this again bc I’m really proud of how it turned out. Also, my friend said it looks like he’s mansplaining how to cook chicken to her, and that made me laugh so hard. #DnD #PaladinsBeMansplaining #RoguesBeLikeBitchDontTellMeWhatToDo

Welp. I’ve got Flu A. For those of you keeping track, yes, I literally just had Covid. And I got vaccinated for both back in October. I do not like these Xmas presents, and I would like to return them.

So I play scrabble online with random people. Maybe like 5 min a day. Just a fun little distraction. Never once has a woman I was playing with resigned from a game that they were losing. But it happens with guys all the time. What are you, five? You’re just gonna take your ball and go home? 😆

New piece I did this weekend of a paladin catching up to the rouge who swiped his pack. I absolutely love stories where by-the-book characters are forced into situations with rule-bending characters, and they are forced to rely on each other to survive.

And in point of fact, the axolotls established in the laboratory and pet industry are not fully axolotls anymore. In order to create albinos they were hybridized with western tiger salamanders in the 50’s

The newest friend in our household. Everyone, meet Sir Strawberry II.

I didn’t come up with this meme, but I endorse it.

Happy holidays, everybody!

Many of my loving memories around Christmas involve cooking & eating with family. We have a lot of food traditions this time of year, which carries a bittersweetness now that most of my family is gone. So I literally cannot think of a worse time of year to be UNABLE TO TASTE ANYTHING.

Per earlier musings

Someone I work with doesn’t celebrate Xmas & didn’t grow up around it, so she was confused about the Grinch vs Scrooge. “Like, they’re both grouchy & hate Xmas. So what’s the difference between them?” Her question got me thinking. 🧵 (1)

I honestly don’t think anything they have or will find in the Epstein files is gonna make a damn bit of difference to Trump & his supporters. That assumes that his supporters will: 1.) Ever hear about it from someone other than der Führer, 2.) Give a crap even if they do.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I don’t have time for this. I’m supposed to be making things magical and shit.

I cannot stress enough that a massive publisher like HarperCollins would NOT drop such a profitable author unless the evidence against them was absolutely overwhelming. In fact, they already tried not to! They paid off a former employee who left because of sexual harassment from that author.

Keep going, y’all.

Until I sat through an hour of 6th graders attempting music via string instruments, I did not fully comprehend the meaning of the word cacophony. In other news, I now believe in weaponized music.

Thanks so much, Jen. 💚

"we only use AI for coming up with ideas" no you don't. you use AI to come up with the a bland version of other people's ideas. there is currently NOBODY more replaceable than you

Thanks so much, Nimblewitlit!

So, there’s been stuff going on with my 6th grader’s homeroom teacher being homophobic and transphobic to students. I had planned to address it with her during parent-teacher conferences. But then she never held any. I’ve FINALLY managed to arrange a meeting with her through the guidance office.

Autocorrect changed my INTENDED text message “Monday or Tuesday” to “Monday orgies.” And I just gotta say… Monday seems like a terrible day to schedule an orgie. TBH. In case anybody’s working on their social calendar rn.

I am TRYING to find a non-fiction children's book about axolotls for my youngest for xmas, but everything I'm finding is self-published by people I've never heard of, and a lot of which is clearly AI slop. Can anybody recommend a #kidlit nonfiction book about axolotls??

My birthday ink is finally done. I’ll be honest, all the shading got suuuuuper spicy after like four hours 😅. I have a friend who has a full sleeve blackout tattoo—from her wrist to her shoulder— and my respect for her badassery has grown exponentially.

Yes, yes exactly!! Gul Dukat shows just enough charisma & sympathy that you could almost convince yourself he’s redeemable. Until he doesn’t get what he wants. Then ALL of that falls away, & we see his primary drives have always been narcissism, & feeling the universe owes him power & adoration.

Use only ONE piece of art to convince folks to follow you.

When educators have their pronouns listed in their email signatures, yet repeatedly misgender your child in emails.

This SHOULD have been the color of the year. And next year. And the year after that....

It's the last #KidLitArtPostcard day of 2025, so here’s a fashion elf taking his job very seriously. I’m queer, neurodiverse #KidLitArt illustrator who favors sketchy lines, playful patterns, & quirky characters. www.authorkellymangan.com/portfolio Rep: @tajmccoy.bsky.social

Wombats are my creature teacher.

You don’t know true humiliation until you’ve accidentally texted “I need toilet paper” to someone who is not, in fact, your spouse.

Check out the cover reveal for @vvjonez.bsky.social 's graphic novel, MARTY MILAGROS DOOMS THE EARTH! Marty is a payaso (according to his mami), but now he has an alien AI living in his brain & might accidentally end the world. Or... save it? This funny MG graphic novel series is SO worth the wait!

This has been an amazing year, and we are so grateful to everyone who who supported our books-- whether you bought them, read them, checked them out from the library, promoted them on social media, or simply added them to your TBRs or holiday wish lists! We thank you. Stay tuned for more in 2026!

I knew I’d be sad when my little old man passed. But I didn’t realize what a hole he’d leave. Nobody greeting me every time I open a door, or following me from room to room, or keeping me company while I work, or sitting at my shoulder & purring into my ear while I drink my morning coffee. 🥺

Lost my bestest fuzzy friend of 18 years today. Rest peacefully, my sweet old man.

My contributions to the thanksgiving table. Well, some of them. I also made the mashed potatoes but everybody knows what mash looks like. 😆

My fav picture book as a kid was A Little House of Your Own, by Beatrice Schenk De Regniers & Irene Hass. It’s about respecting everybody’s right to alone time & personal space. It was published in the 1950s, so I have no idea how I ended up with it. But it spoke to me so much. I still have it.

Those under 26 you can get a Seattle library card through the Books Unbanned program. Intended to provide access to ebooks other libraries will not license because of right-wing campaigns. It was founded by the Brooklyn library system they will provide if under 21. www.spl.org/programs-and...

I work in a kitchen when I’m not writing & illustrating to support my 2 kids. In 8 yrs, I’ve been lucky to make $11,000 in publishing. That works out to $1,375 a year. Authors & illustrators aren’t the petty bourgeois. Stealing from us doesn’t make you a working class hero: It makes you a scab.

I am begging school administrators: Please don’t bury vital dates & info in massive email newsletters about concerts, awards, and other non-essential niceties. Parents already get an ungodly number of emails. Especially if you have kids at multiple schools.

hiiii today is my BIRTHDAY!!! 🎉(′ꈍᴗꈍ‵)🎉 it would mean a lot if you shared my art! peace n love 💖

The seventh & final prompt to close out #FolktaleWeek: Dawn Somebody get Aurora a cup of coffee before her shift. @folktaleweek.bsky.social #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekDawn

#FolktaleWeek Day 6: Storm In Greek mythology, harpies personified the destructive power of storm winds. They're often characterized as ugly (as ferocious women often are), but I've always found them oddly beautiful. @folktaleweek.bsky.social #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekStorm

#FolktaleWeek Day 5: Charm "Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy, hand in hand. For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand." ~WB Yeats @folktaleweek.bsky.social #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekCharm @debrastyer @louve.draws @matejalukezic.bsky.social

#FolktaleWeek prompt #4: Book Brigid was the Celtic goddess of poetry & wisdom. Christian monks later made Brigid the Saint of poets. It seemed only fitting I should quote an Irish poet here: the divinely talented @nikitagill.bsky.social @FolktaleWeek #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekBook

#FolktaleWeek prompt #4: Book Brigid was the Celtic goddess of poetry & wisdom. Christian monks later made Brigid the Saint of poets. It seemed only fitting I should quote an Irish poet here: the divinely talented @nikitagill.bsky.social @FolktaleWeek #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekBook

#FolktaleWeek prompt #3: Rain Champ is a cute little monster that lives in Lake Champlain. Seems like a decent bloke to me. @folktaleweek.bsky.social #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekRain @debrastyer @louve.draws @matejalukezic.bsky.social

#FolktaleWeek Day 2: Echo There was once a new king in the ancient kingdom of Shilla. His ears started growing bigger after the coronation, and eventually became like those of the donkeys’. The king was so flustered snd embarrassed by this phenomenon that he kept it a secret. (1/?) #kidlitart

#FolktaleWeek prompt #2: Echo An oracle hearing the echoes of the The Fates (Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos). @folktaleweek.bsky.social #FolktaleWeek2025 #FolktaleweekEcho @debrastyer @louve.draws @matejalukezic.bsky.social

Little spot illustration I did today.