IT'S NOT. BUT IT CAN BE. Posted on the mystery new storefront opening soon in Palouse, Idaho, next to the new farmer-owned coffeeshop. Sounds of hammering, and a table saw whining. (In the window reflection: iconic grain elevator, leaning electric pole, vintage old-west-town-storefronts.)

Now that ideas about coinciding realities are red hot, here is where my contemporary slipstream/dystopian graphics-rich book-as-toy lands on Goodread’s curated Listopias. 1. YA Novels About Identity, Reality, and Becoming – targeting teens exploring selfhood, resilience, & alternate realities. 1/

“Coming of age” is a peculiar phrase. It feels antiquated…aren’t we growing up differently now? Haven’t we aged out of these timeworn constructs? The hormonal surges are still the same, even if they have shifted downward in age. The outsize emotions still rage. The increased--

Q. In the age of adolescence, which of these words do not belong? Big feelings Powerlessness Absolute certainty Profound tenderness Raging despair Dreamy idealism Terrifying confusions Fiery hope A.All of the words belong. The Thin Door, a YA book-as-toy gift for your teens, discount ending 12/8.

Listen, it's not a book for everyone. This debut YA novel The Thin Door is an angsty younger teen's story--written for kids dealing w/ dysfunctional lives. I want to show them they are seen. I wanted to say, there is a way thru--for us all. Shop indie if u cn. #YA #Coming-of-AgeDebut #Dystopia

(From Goodreads) From the first chapter, Ramie felt like the kind of teen protagonist I rarely see written this honestly. She’s hungry for a story that makes sense of her life, but she refuses to pretend everything is “NORML” Not Only Real, Mostly Lies just to make other people comfortable. 2/

"I stumbled onto The Thin Door totally by accident. I was browsing for something YA that didn’t feel recycled something with imagination but also some emotional grit. The cover caught my eye first, then the description mentioned “Little Red Riding Hood enters the matrix,” and that was it. 1/ ?

Indie Author Q&A with Rho Weber Mack open.substack.com/pub/indielit...

What does a book-as-toy look like? Here's a quick look inside: But the physical paperback is where you can scrawl, sketch, journal, get playful. Launched this week, you can special order at indie bookstores everywhere, or on the big A. Early bird discounts end 11/25 read.amazon.com/sample/09915...

Launch Day Love Letter: The Thin Door

Quick link to "Look inside to read more" It's the best way I know to give you a feel for where this weird book may take your yawning self. read.amazon.com/sample/09915... Then do the free world a favor and order from your fave indie bookstore--not the AMZ behemoth.

"What does the enlightened teen look like?" I asked Baris Sehri, the young European book designer. So he showed me. #YA #Coming-of-AgeDebut #Dystopia

Everybody needs an Auntie, an Opa, a Gramma, a Big Sis. open.substack.com/pub/rhoweber...

Woot woot THE THIN DOOR is live on BookSirens--free downloads to the first 25 reviewers! This is ahead of my official launch on amz (I choke on the word, in deference to indie bookstores everywhere.) The Thin Door is officially launching and available w/early bird pricing on 11/11. #booksky

Today I got my own personal real-world hard-copy preview of The Thin Door, launching for you on 11/11, amazon.) For teens riding coming of age in a twisted world, for parents who wish understand difficult offspring, for counselors wanting to open hard conversations: a gift of story.

Wildfire smoke settles heavy in the Snake River canyon, and wafts through this graveyard of history's lost stories. The eyes sting. And it's #Halloween.

Wildfire smoke filters through the graveyard along the Snake River in Idaho. The dying breath of burning wilderness settles low along the graves. Your eyes sting.

The 2025 Echo of last century's "First they came for--" 1st of 50 lines: "I was going to be brave, but we're all on my health insurance... I was going to be brave, but I have a mortgage. I was going to be brave, but have you seen what college costs? I was going to be brave--" --Anand Giridharadas:

Compiling the evidence for ICE breaking the law: ag.ny.gov/federal-acti... Thank you, Leticia James. (You could drop her some support rn.)

To The Ink and others Let's call it what it is: The Casino Wing of the White House. The Trump Casino at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W. #whitehouse #demolition

Lovely literary smarts in Dear Head of Mine. Recommended.

Every slipstream story begins with a Map of the Realm. Here is the map in the opening pages of The Thin Door. Eight billion paths of the Hero’s Journey through initiation. One personal journey: Yours. Where are you on the path?

A very very modern fairytale bit of advice from a European friend.

“The heart is not merely a pump; it’s a sophisticated intelligence system with its own neural network, hormonal production, and electromagnetic field...This isn’t mysticism. This measurable, reproducible science validates humanity’s ancient wisdom about the heart’s central role in well-being.”

Short lesson in being completely alive.

Wait wait that's my book you're nudging. And changing your life is why I wrote it, so win/win.

United we ribbit. Divided we croak.

BEST Video of the Week! Walk with me through this list of signs of fascist times. Need a fresh high-impact NO KING'S DAY message? Here it is. substack.com/@thedingodav...

Human art comes out of our living personal growth, and personal growth only comes out of lived experience. When the writer/poet/artist stops working through experimental changes, the art itself stagnates.

To all members of our government who are still standing: Please hold a HISTORIC TRUTH COMMISSION in the United States capital, a PUBLIC FORUM of truth-telling to the regime. Call out the coup of lies. Publicly. Stream it on social media. Fight the fire with the firehose of truth. Agree?

In The Gap Riders, the follow-up novel to The Thin Door (out this October, grab it on launch special), two moms muse about their boys and one former tracker dad finds his own invaluable worth when the kids leave home—and need his advice more than ever. substack.com/@thedoorbetw...

This is beautiful. "Democracy is a spiritual practice." substack.com/@jamestalari...

Democratic Governors Can Arrest ICE Agents. What Are They Waiting For? open.substack.com/pub/cmarmita...

I just ordered proof copies of THE THIN DOOR. This is a shoutout to the two best partners in producing my one-off style: *Baris Sehri from Athens, Greece, whose bold, energetic cover style stops the viewer mid-glance *Lisa Kerans, wise, keenly sensitive and gifted book designer Gratitude!

Why I wrote THE THIN DOOR, and how time traveling adds an edge to point of view. THE THIN DOOR, a YA slipstream book-as-toy, will be released into the wild on OCTOBER 14. www.webermack.com has details.

The Fall 2025 issue of the Missouri Review is now at the printers and is set to go out in the next couple of weeks—here’s a peek at the marvelous cover: It’s going to be a true doozy, with new fiction from Brecht De Poortere, Seth Fried, Philip Hurst... Congrats, @brechtdp.bsky.social

Greenpeace's slingshot of many small actions joined together, against the monolith trying to make his SLAPP win against Greenpeace into an international ruling with not recourse. Steve Donziger leads the charge of international support for Greenpeace. Add your nickels. chuffed.org/project/help...

Gene Sharp. You may want to know his name.

5 Phone Calls Can Stop American Fascism. Here Are the Numbers. open.substack.com/pub/cmarmita...

Currently reading an ARC for Framing Fatherhood - Dr. Imani M. Cheers This is a coffee table book centering Black fathers and their children, featuring 125+ photos from 21 Black male photographers as well as several essays… It’s literally so sweet 🥺🥹🥰 #BlackBookSky 📚💙

Something always arises from the ashes...but what if this time that "Something" is the loss of important voices?

The story of initiation is the groundwork for my young adult slipstream novel THE THIN DOOR, a graphics-rich book-as-toy and journal. Now as an elder, I see the many ways we adults can illuminate that threshold into adulthood.

‘Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.’ ~ Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.

#handmaidstale #bookban #Alberta #cdnpoli #Canada

...and the chest opens in a breath..." Lovely, Annie Soudain.

I took this photo (in the current shy-anonymous-reader theme of the Ploughshares Summer 2025 issue) as a sly response to the launch image of the journal settled in a fluff of white feathers. The Palouse Prairie sky complied with wit.

The hollowing out of a sane society of critical thinkers.

In a world that is both madly wrong and perfectly NORML, the kid in the red hoodie rides a beater bike through the unplanned ride of her life. Slipping through THE THIN DOOR...she is on her own to figure out how to find her way home. THE THIN DOOR, coming out Fall 2025. www.webermack.com

When the news is scary, look for the helpers, Fred Roger's mother told him. Here are some of the helpers, wielding the transformative power of immigration court watch. wagingnonviolence.org/2025/08/insi...