✨ No is a complete sentence. ✨ melanieconklin.substack.com/p/no

The audiobook of A Perfect Mistake is on sale! (Link in 🧵)

✨ “I am so small. I am so insignificant, but the force that flows through me is so powerful that I must go forward.” —Hilma af Klint ✨ melanieconklin.substack.com/p/i-am-so-sm...

Just saw Superman. Was gonna do a whole bit about it walking in. That’d be a disservice. It’s an important piece of work and I’m not joking. I don’t even like superhero movies. Sprint to see it. Bring your kids and explain it to them. James Gunn had a time machine when he made it.

My unvarnished opinion on AI and the scoop on what I’m writing next for my paid subscribers 💃🏻

Yesterday I got the news that Every Missing Piece will be out of hardcover soon. If you need a copy for your school or library, grab them now! It will continue to be available in paperback and ebook. www.lbyr.com/titles/melan...

Here I am talking about one of my favorite components of story: the PROBLEM you give your character! www.instagram.com/reel/DLDBret...

This is not normal. A sitting president refusing to call the governor of a state after two elected officials were shot, one fatally, is beyond words. A typical president, regardless of politics, would pick up the phone. Offer condolences.

“Stochastic terrorism is a form of political violence instigated by hostile public rhetoric directed at a group or an individual…Stochastic terrorism is accomplished with indirect, vague or coded language, which grants the instigator plausible deniability for any associated violence.”

Springfield, Mass 6/14/25

One thing I wish people understood is that obeying laws is a CHOICE. Lawyers cannot wave a magic wand and make lawbreakers follow the law. The only way to stop a slumlord or a lying cop is litigation. We have to ask a judge. That's not a defense of the system. It's a description of it.

I asked two MAGA white men who flipped us off from their car if they supported the assassinations and they said yes. So much for the 10 Commandments.

I just had two MAGA white men tell me that they support the assassinations that happened last night. Do you understand now? www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjGEDvHk/

✨Art as resistance ✨

Every flashbang could instead be a meal for a poor kid. Every hotel room for a National Guardsman deployed to fire at our neighbors could house a homeless vet. Every "less-than-lethal" bullet pulled from a journalist's eye could be already needed healthcare for anyone else. All of this is a choice.

Today I got the incredible news that When You Have to Wait is on the Bank St. Center for Children's Literature’s BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR list! Each year, @bankstreetlibrary.bsky.social selects the best children’s books & I’m THRILLED that my & @leahhong.bsky.social book received this recognition.

It’s easy to underestimate the power of community, but there is little that is more powerful than human beings banding together. 🧵

A #metoo story set in middle school. A page-turning mystery. A best friend breakup. Social media, consent, and boundaries. This is the story you’ve been looking for to discuss social media with your young readers. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/melan...

Last weekend I journeyed into the Berkshires with my younger son to visit my friend, Ruth. She lives in a magical little nook on a mountain replete with car sized boulders and lush green ferns. 🧵

Hope you're a punctuation superhero today. #writingcommunity #amwtiting #booksky #writesky #writer #writing #writingtips

It’s spring in Massachusetts, and I’m spending a LOT of time weeding. My new house was neglected for decades and sometimes it feels like I’ll never be done. I feel that way at the beginning of a book revision, too.🧵

Do you know why we use the phrase, “Trust your gut?” melanieconklin.substack.com/p/trust-your...

The Democratic Party’s age problem isn’t just bad, it’s much worse than Republicans’. Half of registered Democratic voters are under 50, yet half their senators are over 67. Despite claiming to represent the future, party leadership systematically blocks younger voices from gaining power.

I removed my recent post about the election data because I received some criticism about the way it was portrayed. To be clear what I’m saying is I would like to see a recount of the paper ballots in a few key Pennsylvania counties in order to put these questions to rest one way or the other.

With the firing of the Librarian of Congress, book bans, and book burning dominating the headlines, it can be scary to speak up, but artists are in the business of speaking truth. melanieconklin.substack.com/p/an-artists...

“Abolish ICE” is the moderate position. Radical is “prosecute every ICE employee under RICO.”

I’m a huge fan of Edward Gorey’s work, particularly The Gashleycrumb Tinies, which is a hilariously dark alphabet book in which each letter is represented by a child who meets a horrible (and often ironic) fate.

A #metoo story set in middle school. A page-turning mystery. A best friend breakup. Social media, consent, and boundaries. This is the story you’ve been looking for to discuss social media with your young readers. www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/melan...

So awesome to see CRUSHED out in the wild! 😍🥰

WHEN YOU HAVE TO WAIT has been selected for the Kansas NEA Reading Circle! Super stoked that this reassuring picture book written by me and illustrated by @leahhong.bsky.social will be shared with countless young readers in Kansas. 🥳🎉 us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

For anyone looking for ways to promote empathy in young readers, I wrote a book about a sensitive boy battling toxic masculinity in middle school. It’s called A Perfect Mistake. www.lbyr.com/titles/melan...

LET’S FREAKING GOOOO NC!!!

After growing up never finding souvenirs with my name, the amount of joy I get each time Christiana Mall is mentioned in @erinentrada.bsky.social’s FIRST STATE OF BEING! Also do I detect a @melanieconklin.bsky.social quotation? Or is this coincidence? I’m so glad to finally be reading this!

I’m loving the book so far, the writing is surprisingly not dry lol

The speech bubble reads: I was just doing my job

They all bought low & made a fortune!!!

We found the government “waste, fraud, and abuse”.

Election analysis of Pennsylvania counties indicate vote manipulation. I’m going to share some screen grabs to break it down for you as the report is lengthy. 🧵

FACT: Social Security has a fraud rate of 0.00625%, which is far lower than private sector retirement programs.

I’m at a protest at a Tesla charging station and a white man just walked by recording all of us and shouting, “smile for ICE!” what a CLOWN

The world is REALLY loud right now, so it’s imperative to give yourself some time inside a safe space every day, where only you and your creativity reside. melanieconklin.substack.com/p/get-in-you...

How do protests help? They raise awareness. How can one person’s presence help? If people see ONE friend at a local protest they will get curious and ask why you went. You can make a HUGE difference. Our next protest date is April 5th. JOIN US. #resist www.mobilize.us/indivisible/

It's critical for everyone to remember what an Executive Order is. It is the President communicating orders to members of the executive branch. Policies to pursue, actions to take, etc. They are not laws. They are not close to being laws. They are formalized memos to employees. That's all.

This continues to be the biggest story in the country: DOGE has already squandered half a trillion dollars in 6 weeks. Not billion. half a trillion, $500 billion talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/irs-p...

Did you watch #Adolescence on Netflix? Did it shake you? If you want a book to combat toxic masculinity in your kids, this is the one  www.lbyr.com/titles/melan...

This walks you through what to do if your book is on LibGen’s list #AIstolefromME www.instagram.com/p/DHcTNahvPF...

Fellow authors, there are CLASS ACTION lawsuits in progress RIGHT NOW. I’m doing research and have been told to start with The Author’s Guild for case info. I also learned about this class action suit against m3t@

✨ It is easier to reach your goals when you focus them.✨ #creativeliving

For those of you who are new to a boycott on spending welcome to #NoBuy2025. We reuse our glass containers here. We only buy on sale & with coupons. We get items secondhand from our local Buy Nothing group. We give away stuff we don’t need to help others avoid spending. Books, however, are allowed 💞

Today I’m at a protest in Chicopee, Massachusetts. All of the people who have flipped us off are white. 80% are white men. #resist