I'm delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 Chapter One Prize, selected from a record 956 submissions from all over the world. Congratulations, all! Please join me in congratulating our winners. Check them out; these are writers to watch: gutsygreatnovelist.com/winners-2026...

Being actively influenced by @thelincoln.bsky.social’s book reviews. (Lincoln’s Substack, Counter Craft, is also one of the best newsletters about writing, period.)

Millions of American voters wanted to be villains. They came to believe it’s the key to success, while goodness is weak, woke, loser stuff, done only to signal. Offered the option of unvarnished villainy, they enthusiastically took it. Seeing others suffer more made them feel big. And here we are.

This is the most first-world problem, but I have so many notebooks that I can't remember which one I used to write the poem draft I need to finish, and now I'm throwing everything off the shelves in desperation.

“I Will Not Comply”: Librarian Luann James Fights Censorship Demands of Rutherford County Library System’s Board RCLS's director continues to fight back against a library board that demands she remove books, share private info. This is the job, folks! bookriot.com/librarian-lu...

A lovely starred review of my memoir from Kirkus! “A brilliantly poignant exploration of nature, masculinity, and the struggles of depression.” www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews...

I've been working on a card game for almost a year now, and after lots of playtesting, rules revisions, and art commissions, I finally have some sets printed up and ready for broader beta testing. I present... POPULAR FRONT! 1/7

I've written and submitted three grants in one week. I am unstoppable. Do not try to fight me right now.

reading a new book as soon as I bought it has me feeling like I can do just about anything

Narrative voice is emotion coming through on the page—it’s passion, it’s opinion, it’s personality. Here, I provide five tips for honing your unique voice, along with two writing exercises to put your skills into practice. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifSm...

I’m deeply honored to receive the Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award for my fiction! I can’t express how much this means to me.

As I watch footage of explosions in Beirut and dust clouds towering above apartment blocks in Tehran, I keep coming back to something that I witnessed back in the summer of '04, during my first tour in Iraq. But first, let's start with a question: Have you ever heard someone wail? 1/

I had way too much fun playing 20 Questions: Cryptid Edition with author @jarodkanderson.bsky.social! Jarod K. Anderson’s fantastical new novel STRANGE ANIMALS is out now, featuring mysterious cryptids from his imagination. Already one of my fave reads of the year!

I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

a simple draft check for a poem is retyping it, if you hate it then it needs work, and if you like it but don’t discover any possibilities in retyping then it also needs work

I wanna make myself clear: -Fuck ICE -Fuck Trump That is all, good day

a writer's voice is what they do despite being warned against it coincidentally this is also what it's like to live with lactose sensitivity

just shoveled out 10 neighbors and if you’re seeing the news in Minneapolis and feeling helpless I can’t overstate how emotionally helpful it is to just do something small for the people around you right now

MLK was only 39 when he was killed. Growing up, I thought that was old. But I’m 43 now and I’m stunned by the burden he shouldered at such a young age. I’m also a lot more aware of how hard it is, at any age, to carry the hopes and dreams of an oppressed people on your shoulders, as so many do.

i think this MLK day the thing to focus on is the strategic focus and tactical brilliance of the civil rights movement and the way it was laser focused on a set of achievable goals

What a beautiful idea—a fantasy and science fiction special collections library for research, founded by author Andre Norton. I'm reading my first Norton novel ("The Year of the Unicorn") and about her influence on the genre as a whole. www.andre-norton.com/contents/hig...

I had a cookie and chips ‘n’ salsa for breakfast. Pretty good start to the day, I’d say.

Libraries really do have everything...

I wrote a perfectly concise fifteen-minute video script on narrative voice and then FOR SOME REASON felt compelled to add a five-minute aside about voice vs. style vs. tone (I promise this will get trimmed for viewers' sake).

Imagine a crowd of people staring at you wordlessly as you walk through a small town in the French countryside. You’re looking for your lost spouse and child as the relentless rain pours down… This is “That Time of Year” by Marie NDiaye, a French surrealist novella translated by Jordan Stump.

Meeting anyone of great significance in our lives feels like a grand fluke. There's a popular quote that goes, "You haven't met everyone who will love you yet." That idea is the heart of this beautiful, bittersweet story by @anniejowrites.bsky.social. ashortstorylong.substack.com/p/a-love-sto...

I have so much sadness and rage I don't know what to do with. That has always been the case, but it's becoming more impossible to remain soft, to feel that anything really makes a difference. I'm thinking about this quote from author Mia Tsai in Charlie Jane Anders's newsletter:

The paradox of reading (and writing) is that you go away from the world in order to come back to it closer than you were before. (It’s the same way that returning from a trip temporarily makes home more visible.) All good books provide this experience in some measure. Probably most good art.

When this administration ends, the next Democratic administration and Congress needs to spend a substantial amount of time investigating, reporting, and punishing corruption and the misuse of power. I don't care how it polls, accountability is essential to the survival of the Republic.

What will be the big book market trends in 2026? Why are so many people gravitating toward horror and cozy fantasy? I discuss all these questions and more with author and bibliophile K.C. Norton, who made it her goal to read ONE THOUSAND books last year. open.spotify.com/episode/0C0W...

My camera roll is now just screenshots of Truman Capote quotes from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories” because I went over Kindle’s 10% highlight limit. (Pay no attention to the other 96,000 items.)

Started drafting a new short story by hand, but now I'm stuck typing it all up immediately because I know I won't be able to read my handwriting tomorrow. (I've been doing this for hours now, and somehow there are still eight pages left, and actually some things are already unreadable. 😅)

In no particular order, here are some of the books I’ve loved this year! (Sorry to Matt Dinniman, as I forgot to put Dungeon Crawler Carl in the video, but it’s in my top picks for fiction!)

“Besaydoo” is an absolute feast of a poetry collection. These poems explore family mythology, odes to Black women across time (Nia Wilson, Nina Simone), & relationship to place (Sierra Leone; Oakland; Indiana). Yalie writes, “I am made from the obsession of detail"—that rings true across every poem.

Psyched for this! And I’m a big fan of cover animations. ❤️‍🔥

Do you know what you need in your life? More poetry! And if you don't believe me, you can ask @quotidianwriter.bsky.social. She'd never steer you wrong. (Also, if you buy it for someone for Christmas, the purchase would also be a present for me. Two for one. That's value, folks!)

How the hell is a Benoit Blanc murder mystery the most sincerely respectful treatment of religion on film I have seen in years?

Also, congratulations everyone who made something this year. A comic, a song, a film, a novel, a painting, a poem, a short story, a sculpture, crochet, embroidery, whatever it is. In this era of slop and theft, if you *make* something you are a shining jewel and I am so grateful for you.

This year I've been reflecting upon and writing about my life as a neurodiverse author. Here's one of the most personal essays I've ever written about being on the spectrum. In addition, an updated version of my free booklet "Tips and Strategies for Neurodiverse Writers" is available.

A poetry reality show?! I was invited to lure three of my friends into a room and force them to listen to bespoke poems I had picked out for them. The result? A super fun conversation about poetry, fiction, stalking, and the creative process. ❤️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=36Lb...

I keep having anxiety dreams about my cats escaping. Last night, I dreamt I was driving somewhere, and I looked in my rearview mirror and saw them trying to follow me, eight lanes of traffic back. (I don't let my cats outside, but apparently, this is my greatest fear...) Kittens, why??

Benson Boone’s “Mystical, Magical” is a Disney villain song.

This is going to be awesome!!!

NEW: ALA is sounding the alarm after the Administration announced new steps to dismantle the Department of Education. School & academic libraries across the country rely on Dept. of Ed. funding and knowledge to best serve their students and faculty. More: www.ala.org/news/2025/11... #ForOurLibraries

I wanna open an Escape Room It'll just be a nice soft room full of stuff to help you escape from the real world. Games, puzzles, kittens, musical instruments, books, writing supplies. Someone will ask you if you've had any interesting dreams lately. You can't leave until you've fully escaped.

Found Sentence #3: "People have a higher acceptance of cruelty than personal discomfort." (poet Laura Da')

New author pics, courtesy of Caroline Chidester and taken at Inniswood Metro Gardens, which deserved its own ode in my poetry collection! Growing up, I'd go for walks there with my dad, run, ride bikes, plant geocaches, and take family photos, and now I've posed for the next chapter of my life.

What’s your opinion on paying submission fees for literary magazines, #writingcommunity?

Love: Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin Hate: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad TBR: Dead and Alive by Zadie Smith