I'm making a newsletter with my friends @exrpan.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, @anicarissi.bsky.social & Anna-Marie McLemore! It's called The Eavesdrop. It's free, quarterly, on Ghost. Our first issue comes out on the autumn equinox, and you can subscribe here: thisistheeavesdrop.com

Ever wanted to eavesdrop on a conversation with five writers? @anicarissi.bsky.social @ryansara.bsky.social @exrpan.bsky.social, Anna-Marie McLemore, & I are launching a new newsletter so you can do just that! Subscribe to get our first issue on Monday! www.thisistheeavesdrop.com/about/

I've been making something fun with friends, and our first issue drops on September 22. If you're interested in craft, process, and the creative life, I hope you'll subscribe! (It's free.) Find us at thisistheeavesdrop.com. Here's the pitch: 🧵

LAST CHANCE! I have a webinar on Friday with @thewritingbarn.bsky.social. Join me for a deep dive into character-driven coming-of-age stories! Friday, Aug. 22 at 11am Central / 12pm Eastern... But if you can't make it live, you'll still get the recording! Just $35!

I have a Craft Webinar with The Writing Barn coming up on August 22! This is webinar features my own personal tips, tricks, and creative exercises to develop and deepen the young characters in your novels. If you can’t attend live, not to worry—you can still register to watch a replay.

"How to Report ICE" zine editions now available for free printable download: NYC Philly Durham, NC Pittsburgh, PA All of Massachusetts Northern California from Humboldt to Monterey Counties! More to come! Please share widely. drive.google.com/drive/folder...

🔮 Registration is now open for my 10-week online Speculative Novel Workshop with Stanford Continuing Studies! There are only a handful of spots left so sign up today if you want to join me: continuingstudies.stanford.edu/courses/crea...

I wrote about how I only ever want to read novels written by humans even after our corporate overlords shove AI down our throats and destroy our communities and livelihoods and abandon us to what's left of our planet. Plus I mention a book I recently loved. newsletter.novaren.com/a-novel-only...

I’m teaching a new 10-week online course with Stanford Continuing Studies this fall. It’s called Speculative Novel Workshop: The Unreal, the Surreal, the Fantastic, and registration opens Monday, Sept. 18 at 8:30am Pacific! continuingstudies.stanford.edu/courses/crea...

I'll be sharing prompts and ways of looking at character that I used when writing my new novel WAKE THE WILD CREATURES, for writers of all genres looking to create dynamic, layered characters in your coming-of-age stories. See you there maybe? Register here: thewritingbarn.com/class/compel...

How does a writer change lanes after such a successful career? Listen to my discussion with the exceptional @novarensuma.bsky.social about how she discovered what truly matters in her writing life. #writingcommunity #authorshelpingauthors #writingadvice 7amnovelist.substack.com/p/nova-ren-s...

I have a Craft Webinar with The Writing Barn coming up on August 22! This is webinar features my own personal tips, tricks, and creative exercises to develop and deepen the young characters in your novels. If you can’t attend live, not to worry—you can still register to watch a replay.

Domestic terrorists…

The latest on my newsletter: I Hope You Read This: On expectations (and hopes) when publishing a new book, some thoughts on worldbuilding and estrangement, and some news. newsletter.novaren.com/i-hope-you-r...

Cover reveal! GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE is coming on April 7, 2026, from Dutton/@penguinteen.bsky.social & I’m thrilled to share its gorgeous cover, which perfectly captures the sharp intensity of Destiny’s fracturing story. Cover art by David Roy Ocotla. Cover design by Kaitlin Yang. I feel so lucky

Happy book birthday, Sabrena. 🩵 Releasing from Greenwillow Books today on hardcover or audio, this middle grade fantasy is perfect for readers who enjoyed The Last Mapmaker, Mañanaland, and Graciela in the Abyss.

You are cordially invited to our Anti-Prime Sale, where every purchase will financially support bookstores, NOT billionaires 🥳

It’s honestly so disrespectful and irresponsible that the national media has mostly ignored the DC33 city worker strike in Philly so far. It’s a huge story with massive implications for the 6th biggest city in the country. Hell, I’ll write about it for ya! Email me! www.inquirer.com/politics/phi...

CANNOT WAIT to read this book! A new YA from @anicarissi.bsky.social!!

Buy their books, buy their books, buy their books; ask your libraries to buy their books

Graffiti along Minnehaha Creek.

The entire Latino population in the U.S. is 65 million. She means all of us.

the president just opened a concentration camp

hard to exaggerate just how personally this strike is going to hit so many people in Philadelphia, even beyond the looming citywide trash apocalypse. closed libraries, community centers, and pools… a skeleton crew of 911 dispatchers… it’s truly so grim that the workers have to fight this hard

wildly pissed off that I can’t pick up my library holds because our evil mayor won’t pay the goddamn library workers properly

This is a concentration camp

📚 This post is for book people and librarians! 📚 So ALA is in Philly and I'll be around at the conference on Saturday! I'm local this time and don't have my usual conference stress about an overstuffed suitcase that I'm barely able to zip up... which means I can bring home books this time!

Will you be at the ALA Conference in Philly this week? I’ll be signing my new book WAKE THE WILD CREATURES (*and also THE WALLS AROUND US!) on Saturday, June 28, 11:00am–12:00pm! I’ll be at the Little, Brown Young Readers Booth 205. Come say hi! @lbschool.bsky.social #ALAAC25

I love recycling

ICE raided LA elementary school in an attempt to kidnap small children.

This is a fever dream. The city is not under migrant occupation. This whole thing kicked off because ICE began an intense operation across the city to raid Home Depots and nail salons and places where random undocumented immigrants might be going about their day working a job.

PHILLY:

Let us put a little futurism into your feed and remind you that 2025 Tin House Autumn Online Workshop apps are due in THREE DAYS! Together we'll reach for the creative stars, attend amazing craft lectures, and, of course, karaoke the night away! Apply here: tinhouse.com/workshop/aut...

More information on this despicable case here: thehill.com/homenews/sta...

Want to explore STRANGE PLACES with me in your writing? I'm doing a new online craft intensive with Tin House on July 13, and registration is open now! tinhouse.com/product/summ...

AI is Getting Worse, but It's Getting Worse

You wanna see something really scary? open.substack.com/pub/amandagu...

I just C'mon The tool that gives you like 50-100 words when you're stuck is inside your skull!!!! Or maybe weed! Or a nice walk! Or literally anything else!

I wrote an essay in CrimeReads about one of my great fascinations: Outlaw Women in Fiction, and how this fascination shapes my new novel WAKE THE WILD CREATURES. The essay begins: "I was twelve years old when I met my first outlaw." Read the piece here: crimereads.com/outlaw-women...

Are you working on a novel this summer? Join me in September for four weeks on developing plot and structure. Perfect for analyzing a rough draft and kicking off revision--or breaking through the messy middle if you get stuck. @writingco-lab.bsky.social

Fabulists & futurists & fantasy writers, oh my! Don't miss out on the 2025 Autumn Online Workshop, where the strange, the weird, and the unknown are all welcome. Apply here: tinhouse.com/workshop/aut...

If you want non-A.I.-generated book lists, containing real books that actually exist, please do support this and similar columns!

Wilderness Pill debut S/T EP "…hypnotic guitar patterns & minimalist structures … an ambient dirge for a collapsing world … an act of quiet defiance carved from feedback & ruin…" wildernesspill.bandcamp.com wildernesspill.com Released: May 2 2025 Available on Bandcamp & streaming everywhere 🖤

Ms.Rachel is showing more humanity than our politicians

I am just so incredibly honored by this! Click the gift link to see what @charliejane.bsky.social said about WAKE THE WILD CREATURES in the Washington Post! 😭😭😭

There really is little better as a writer than being edited well. What a joy! What a relief! What a pleasure to have someone make me seem smarter and more articulate than I am!

Writers! I have a few upcoming opportunities to work with me, and here’s the first one! I’ll be on faculty with the Tin House 2025 Autumn Online Workshop, which runs Oct. 4–13, and is focused on speculative fiction this time! Apply by June 9... There are scholarships! tinhouse.com/workshop/aut...