Nothing gets you closer to your editor and fellow writers than an inexplicably small Uber XL. This photo doesn't fully capture the impossibility of knees in a back-backseat. #bouchercon

COVER REVEAL! Here's RUBY FALLS, coming 3/3! @atlanticcrime.bsky.social One body. Five suspects.Total darkness. Set almost entirely underground at the onset of the Great Depression, RUBY FALLS is a twist on the locked-room mystery, as well as an exploration of loss and what it means to start over.

May you one day have a friend with a new book that gives you the chance to make a tongue bouquet. (Fake tongues. Don't panic. Also tulips.) Congrats to @alinaetc.bsky.social on her beautiful book of poems that's now out in the world!

As a kid, I always asked my grandmother to make me cream of wheat for breakfast when I spent the night. I love the memory of her at the counter swirling honey into the bowl and I love that even if my son’s childhood has been plenty different from my own, here I am, swirling honey into his bowl.

This is one of my favorite kinds of writing days. I might not write a word, but I'll walk through the neighborhood for a few hours while I move the pieces of my next novel around in my head. (This is also the dogs' favorite kind of writing day.)

UAB has such power in Alabama--they have a chance in this time and place to make a compelling argument for doing the right thing. They're choosing to do the opposite. www.al.com/news/2025/04...

When you wonder if a character could hear three drops of blood hit the floor and decide to test it out in the kitchen with hot sauce. (Yep. Audible splats.)

One joy of editing a novel set in the 1930s is that each round is a chance to add a few more fantastic words that I never get to use in conversation: Saphead. Duped. Flimflam. Cocksure. 😊

Ah, the inevitable arc of book research: you start out studying hunger and crime in Chattanooga during the '30s and instead wind up learning how to can lima beans.

I can tell I’m thinking about my next book release because I start craving nice new Sharpies. 😏

In 1st grade, my son loved making up albums. One was by a fictional band called the Lee-Birds, which included hits such as "Let's Take Medicine Just in Case" and "Look at Those Soccer Players"..... 1/2

The answer to what do you give a 13-year-old actor at the end of a play if he's not into flowers? Moonpie bouquet.

I always tell the grocery store bagger to make my 2 or 3 recyclable bags as full as possible, no extra bags. They usually say "this is really heavy, ma'am" or "sure you don't want a cart?"--and I reiterate, nicely, that they cannot make the bags too heavy for me. (1/2)

Never underestimate the power of a great snout.

As often as I go for a hike or a run to think through some problem in a manuscript, my best ideas come while walking in endless circles around the dining room table. Usually in the dark. While everyone else is asleep.

One last moment admiring the loveliness of swans before I hauled my butt out of reach of this guy.

One thing about having your car in the shop for multiple weeks--don't even get me started-- is that you really appreciate a bookstore in walking distance. I've postponed a lot of things, but I still got my hands on Nancy Johnson's latest, so thank you @thankyoubooks.bsky.social .❤️

Pascal got a haircut and now he looks like he belongs on the cover of a WHO WAS ...? book. #bigheadsmallbody

One thing I love about this stage of life is that some of my clothes are older than plenty of humans I know. I remember buying this skirt at the Express in Montgomery Mall during college. That means it's nearly 30 years old, which makes it feel more like a friend than a skirt.

A little piece I wrote on the joy of murder. With shoutouts to @richardosman1.bsky.social , @tomryanauthor.bsky.social , Andromeda Romano-Lax, and Marybeth Whalen. booktrib.com/2025/02/18/w...

Very excited to welcome @ginphillips.bsky.social and Ruby Falls to @atlanticcrime.bsky.social!

Some news. 😊

Not sure how I feel about the teenage years, but at least my 13-year-old still wants me to blow up a glove when we go to the pediatrician’s.

If you want to feel better about how long the publishing process takes, get yourself a dead engine and wait for a call back from the car dealership. It's like waiting for edits on a manuscript, only you don't get edits. You just get a bill.

Circle of life. There are years where someone slices and scoops your grapefruit for you--thanks, Memama--and then it's eventually your turn to labor over someone else's grapefruit.

Cancer research. Birth defects. Heart disease. Alzheimer's. It is unimaginable, what's being cut. And all of us are going to feel it, Alabama. www.al.com/news/2025/02...

Happy Pub Day to @nancyjauthor.bsky.social and PEOPLE OF MEANS, which is getting all sorts of great buzz! I've got a copy waiting for me at @thankyoubooks.bsky.social , and I can't wait to start.

Super excited about this! groveatlantic.com/meet-atlanti...

I like to see any swan playing chess, but this one is particularly serious about it.

Yep. Resegregation is the word we should all be using.

A little Patricia Highsmith with my coffee this morning. I've been meaning to read her for years and wish I hadn't waited so long! Thoughts on which one I should pick up next?

Last night, I wrote in my newsletter, Civil Discourse, about Trump's new coup. I base my analysis on the facts and the law, not hyperbole. We are at a serious tipping point. I hope you'll subscribe if you feel the same way, or if you just want to learn more. joycevance.substack.com

I can never resist a staircase to nowhere.

If you’re in Birmingham, go check out Kerry’s reading of her new and highly anticipated children’s novel, Werewolf Hamlet! Tickets here: tinyurl.com/werewolfhamlet

My child saying his prayer last night: "I'd be okay being sick and staying home tomorrow, God, or I'm okay going to school. You don't need to get involved. You have other things you should be spending your time on."

THREE handwritten notes in the mail, one a yearly update from a retired professor I met at a book event a decade ago. I vote we phase out social media and go back to handwritten letters. They're pretty, and I like requiring the effort of finding pen and paper before putting your thoughts out there.

Have realized hitting the middle of the week is officially, demonstrably WTF.

A 13-year-old in a nutshell: Asks how unions get started and how strikes work. Asks if it's possible to have thoughts without having language. Wonders if we can ever have a world without war. Also shows me a weird black thing on his finger and says, "Do you know what this? I found it in my mouth."

Lately I think a lot about when my kid was little and he made up his own Twitter, which was entirely pictures of birds. Any non-bird post got blocked. You were allowed to post two birds a day, so you had to use them wisely. I would take that social media option ALL DAY LONG.

This book made me do a little dance when it hit the shelves yesterday--we talk about the benefits of pre-ordering for authors, but what about readers? The suspense! That magical text from your local bookstore when it arrives! It is Christmas morning EVERY TIME! @seacity21.bsky.social

I am in People, yes *that* People, recommending some books for you. I tried my hardest to find books for different styles of reader. (And yes, I have my favorites, and no I will not say which ones.) people.com/10-books-to-...

I wish I could tell younger me not to fret about filling up my bookshelves. The true and eternal challenge comes from figuring out how to fit more on them when they have been filled for a very long time .

Thanks to Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen for their insights into their wonderful show "Somebody Somewhere." Upcoming schedule: Jan. 14: @erikaswyler.bsky.social FMC Jan. 17: Amanda Hawkins Jan. 21: Maurice Carlos Ruffin Jan 28: @browneallover.bsky.social Subscribe and tune in: apple.co/3XMnpcc

Usually when snow is predicted in Birmingham, you wake up to …nothing. But every now and then, you get magic. Now for the sledding!

I feel like I compliment my child plenty, but it occurs to me that I tell the dogs how good they are EVERY TIME I MAKE EYE CONTACT.

If you walk past a paper towel or napkin ripped in half, I might be in your house. I mostly live like I was raised in the Great Depression.

Ever since kids, I've accepted that I won't get any writing done over the holidays. But this year--with edits due soon--I made my peace with working in small increments and committed to editing 25 pages/day. (1/2)

I am always here for pieces on the importance of daydreaming. Loved this. Chris Hayes: I Want Your Attention. I Need Your Attention. Here Is How I Mastered My Own. www.nytimes.com/2025/01/03/o...

I never feel closer to my grandmother than when I tear a stick of gum in half.

There has never been a more brilliant writing choice than to decide that--of all possible professions--Hermey the Elf wants to be a dentist.