so thrilled my new novel, SOON YOU’LL BE JUST LIKE US, has found a home with Creature Publishing!🩸i spilled my guts all over this weird, dark tale of psychological horror that while writing led me to truly unexpected places. i hope readers will likewise feel a delicious gasp of surprise.

Okay, so this made my day today! A huge thank you to @immcarvalho.bsky.social for including me in her list of favorite poets on BlueSky and X and featuring one of my poetry films! So thrilled!!! Check out the other fabulous writers who made Maria’s list and read their work here ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Really enjoyed this novel, absorbing account of the Illinois mine wars pieced together by a 1980s punk with a demon of her own to exorcise. Historical fiction of the best kind, grounded in deep research and curiosity with a compelling personal story. #americanbuffalobooks #prairieashes #bennadler

From Alison C. Rollins's poem "All the World Began With a Yes": "Morality flexes its musculature, trusts // that truth sets out to penetrate mysteries / only for man to rebuild them with fury." #favoritelinefridays #alisoncrollins #libraryofsmallcatastrophes @coppercanyonpress.bsky.social #poetry

Review of Stewart O'Nan's novel Evensong, which launched last month. Good for those on your holiday list who might like stories about the challenges of aging, feisty older women, or Pittsburgh. www.cherylwalsh.net/blog #stewartonan #evensong #AtlanticMonthlyPress #aging #pittsburgh

I’m happy to announce that you can now find THE MONSTERS AMONG US on shelves at two excellent bookstores in New Paltz, NY: Inquiring Minds and Barner Books!

A favorite line from Barbara Kingsolver's novel *The Poisonwood Bible*: "Illusions mistaken for truth are the pavement under our feet. They are what we call civilization." #favoritelinefridays #barbarakingsolver #thepoisonwoodbible #womenwriters #postcolonialliterature

"On Passing the New Menin Gate" by Siegfried Sassoon, 1927 #RemembranceDay #ArmisticeDay #siegfriedsassoon #worldwaripoetry #wwipoetry

For those who will bear witness. For everyone who pretends there was benevolence from 'employers' & governments, and no slavery in Australia; who believes Tony Abbott's version of history. Debra Dank writes with beauty and anger of the truth we cannot dodge. theconversation.com/friday-essay...

New blog post--review of a new book out this week: Lorissa Rinehart's biography of Jeannette Rankin. Someone I've always been curious about, and the book is a pleasure to read--there's lots about Progressivism, woman suffrage, and 20th-century American politics. www.cherylwalsh.net/blog

Welcome news this afternoon. www.press-citizen.com/story/news/2...

A favorite line from @jenniferfawcett.bsky.social's brand new book, *Keep This for Me*: "When did all their tiny movements get so layered with meaning? It was exhausting." #favoritelinefridays #keepthisforme #thrillerbooks @atriabooks.bsky.social

Tommy Orange got a MacArthur! HELL YEAH! www.macfound.org/fellows/clas...

New blog post up today, a review of @jenniferfawcett.bsky.social's new thriller, #KeepThisForMe --out this week. As a child of the Great Lakes, I was totally into the Lake Ontario beach town setting. www.cherylwalsh.net/blog #bookreviews #thrillerbooks @atriabooks.bsky.social

New specs! #newglasses

Come check out booth #223 at the Brooklyn Book Festival!

Favorite lines from T. S. Eliot's poem "East Coker": "Do not let me hear / Of the wisdom of old men, but rather of their folly, / Their fear of fear and frenzy, their fear of possession, / Of belonging to another, or to others, or to God." #tseliot #eastcoker #favoritelinefridays #poetry

I'm sort of pinching myself here. I got a book signing in November at Barnes and Noble. SO very excited! Dopamine and the Devil, out now with Coffeetown Press. Thanks always to my wonderful friends!

In celebration of UNEQUAL TEMPERAMENT's second birthday, here is one of my own lines for #favoritelinefridays. #unequaltemperament #debutnovel #WomensFiction #americanbuffalobooks #harpsichord #meteorology #booksky #writingcommunity

Happy birthday to UNEQUAL TEMPERAMENT, launched into the world two years ago today! To celebrate, I'm giving away a few copies--DM if you're interested. #unequaltemperament #bookbirthday #debutnovel #harpsichord #meteorology #WomensFiction @buffalo-books.bsky.social

A favorite line from Jim Harrison's wonderful novel *Returning to Earth*: "I awoke delighted with life on earth despite its desperately compromised nature." #jimharrison #favoritelinefridays

Today I made guacamole with garlic chive blossoms and it was fantastic! #backyardherbs #guacamole

A favorite line from Linda Pastan's poem "Cosmology": "Someone has spilled the moon / all over the trees." #favoritelinefridays #LindaPastan #poetry @wwnorton.com

Dragon tongue! I don't grow green beans because I can't see them to harvest. So I grow purple or speckled beans instead. Dragon tongue is a very tasty variety. Stringless, bush habit. #gardenbounty

I just learned that an old and dear friend of Bru's, the best man/emcee at our wedding, Neil Hornick, passed away last spring. Such regret that we have been so out of touch that I didn't know until now. We cherish his memory. Long live the Phantom Captain! www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/a...

Great news! Court overturns massive #coal mine approval on climate grounds stopping 876 megatonnes of #carbondioxide for selling and burning overseas. #climate #auspol #nswpol www.smh.com.au/environment/...

This line from Anne Enright's novel *The Wren, the Wren* made me laugh out loud: "I never tell my mother anything. I am not that stupid." #favoritelinefridays #anneenright #thewrenthewren

First new blogpost in a while: Welcome to the Darkroom. www.cherylwalsh.net/blog #filmphotography #darkroom #cognitivedecline #grief Photo of John Pochee and Bernie McGann © Bruce Hart. All rights reserved.

I've got 3 extra copies of YEAR OF THE BUFFALO, would love them to be in the hands of a reader rather than in my way on my desk. hmu and I'll send you one.

A favorite line (of many) from Charlotte Wood's novel *Stone Yard Devotional*: "The subtlety of the lilting chant belies the blunt instrument of the words themselves." #favoritelinefridays #charlottewood #stoneyarddevotional #booksky @riverheadbooks.bsky.social

If you don't have time to get to your local independent bookstore this week, Bookshop has free shipping through July 12. Check out my five-star recommendations. bookshop.org/lists/cheryl...

Another five-star review. #StoneYardDevotional is an intriguing exploration of grief, spirituality, and forgiveness during a time of isolation and covid lockdowns in Australia. What does is take to be a good person in times of environmental and personal crisis? #charlottewood #yournextread #booksky

Did you know 85 percent of Western voters support creating new national parks, national monuments, and national wildlife refuges and Tribally protected areas for historic sites or areas of outdoor recreation? Learn more: buff.ly/N83RiEc

Happy July 4th— the first year I’ve thought more about the list of grievances than the famous opening paragraphs. But both parts are essential.

A favorite line from C. D. Wright's prose poem, "Song of the Gourd": "I confess the abject urge to weed your beds while the bittersweet overwhelmed my day lilies." #favoritelinefridays #cdwright #gardenpoetry

A few pictures from last night's #book release party for The Everyday #Naturalist! Nature walk went well in spite of rain, and I am pretty happy with my book talk, too. Of course I had to show off with some homemade snacks to go with the customary veggie and fruit trays! 📚💙 #books #nature #PDX #PNW

Annette Gordon-Reed, from her book *On Juneteenth*: "As painful as it may be, recognizing--though not dwelling on--tragedy and the role it plays in our individual lives, and in the life of a state or nation, is, I think, a sign of maturity." #favoritelinefridays #annettegordonreed #juneteenth

New 5-star reviews, meaning, I loved these books! Linda Pastan's *Insomnia* (poems) and Myla Goldberg's *Feast Your Eyes* (novel). bookshop.org/lists/cheryl... #LindaPastan #insomniapoems #mylagoldberg #FeastYourEyes @scribnerbooks.bsky.social @wwnorton.com

was asked for "a list of 5-10 or so recent collections you want to vouch for" and so threw this together, and am counting it as my "writing" for the day

A favorite line from Jim Crace's novel *The Gift of Stones*: "We do love lies. The truth is dull and half-asleep. But lies are nimble, spirited, alive." #favoritelinefridays #jimcrace #thegiftofstones

One of my all-time favorite Far Sides.

My newest story. @writingcommunity.bsky.social @literarycommunity.bsky.social @rodmannix.bsky.social @literaryreport.bsky.social @literarybulletin.bsky.social @literaryretweet.bsky.social

Delighted that #UnequalTemperament is included this month in the Women's Fiction Writers Association themed list on BookTrib. This month's theme is personal crises. Check it out for #yournextread. #womensfiction #tbr #booksky booktrib.com/2025/05/28/t...

A favorite line from Walt Whitman's poem "This Compost": "Now I am terrified at the Earth, it is that calm and patient, / It grows such sweet things out of such corruptions." #favoritelinefridays #waltwhitman #gardenpoetry

Congratulations to poet and fiction writer Kevin Ducey, whose novel Electric Ophelia has won the 2025 American Buffalo Books Fiction Prize. Electric Ophelia will be published in 2027.

It's time to plant tomatoes! "For the tomato is an orb of holy light," as Ann Fisher-Wirth has written in her poem "Haecceitas." And congratulations to her on being named poet laureate of Mississippi! #favoritelinefridays #annfisherwirth #haecceitas #gardenpoetry

If you're looking for a magical writing workshop/conference/retreat, join us in Santa Fe, NM this October in a thriving artsy community for the Writer Unboxed Un-Conference. I'll be there with many other great writers and workshop leaders! #writingcommunity writerunboxed.com/2025/03/31/i...

This is going to sound obscure/esoteric but it is not: NSF Unidata announced it is furloughing "nearly all" of its staff today because of the NSF funding freeze. They provide weather forecasting infrastructure/server hosting/and more that NOAA as well as academia and companies use.

May's issue of Inner Monologue (my author newsletter) is out! Download it for FREE at bit.ly/InnerMonologue-035