Met my annual goal of reading an average of one book per week a little early this year with this banger. Def earned a spot on my Favorites shelf. 🖤🧡🖤🧡🖤

Absolutely! Don't forget to subscribe! www.dworkinsubstack.com/subscribe

Genius

The Blues Brothers was on last night, so we gave it a watch. We're of an age that we saw the OG in theaters a thousand years ago. A classic IMO, but a few things def have not aged well.

squirrel: *points gun* me: what do you want me to do? squirrel: *gestures at sign* me: alright, i get it *opens book drop* squirrel: *makes hurry-up motion* me: NOT A SQUIRREL! squirrel: *disappears into book drop* me: *whispers* forgive me, keith

What a breath of fresh air as the grotesquerie of conspicuous holiday consumption looms. Kudos @daily-stoic.bsky.social and The Painted Porch Bookshop 💙https://teamfeed.feedingamerica.org/participants/19745

Learn something new every day. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Pi...

And order them via Octavia’s Bookshelf, the Pasadena bookstore dedicated to Black women writers: www.octaviasbookshelf.com

My latest Substack post is available. Thanks in advance for reading, liking, commenting, sharing, and subscribing. open.substack.com/pub/lissajoh...

Had a delightful chat with author Alma Scarborough about her memoir at the TBF last weekend. almaschoice.com

A picture-perfect afternoon for visiting the Texas Book Festival

Great meeting of the Chickasaw Community Council of Central Texas (CCCCT) in Austin yesterday. If you're a Chickasaw tribal member and qualify for PPP (their version of SNAP), here's how to apply. The links aren't live in this image, but you can type them in manually to access their site. Chokma!

Wisdom

A friend recently reached out to catch up. It's been a while, and apparently she's written a book in the interim. Gotta love this title: Mom Loves The Dogs More 😆 www.cindyowrites.com/book

So excited for my writer buddy Rob Espenscheid. He'll be at the Texas A&M booth (10th and Congress) at the Texas Book Festival 1-3pm this Sunday, promoting his latest book. Drop by and say hello! a.co/d/aO9JTZk

Don’t forget to vote today! Your vote is your power. And don’t forget to thank your clerks and election workers.

Great time visiting Portland last week. Our hotel (the Moxy) hosted a pop-up craft fair one evening. Had to have this tee bc Halloween, natch. And the cards I bought are so cool, I will probably never send them and just keep them for myself. Art by @dancingheron.bsky.social

Sorry I’m busy I found a “Are we dating the same guy?” group in my city that’s public and I haven’t had this much fun in years

"Now, centuries later, the witch hunt looks different, but it’s still here. We still mock or sideline women who are too smart, too independent, too visible, or just…old." www.torreybalsara.com/post/of-witc...

There isn't a perfect Halloween dog costu --

"People think there's such a thing as writer's block. There isn't. Write's block is, you haven't done the work." OUCH. Prepping and motivation for NovNov (and beyond) comes from the oddest places. #writingcommunity youtu.be/jvlsKCbwCi4?...

Feeding my growing obsession of clocking bookstores in all their glorious forms #booksky www.today.com/life/inspira...

Wake up babe sesame street just dropped some new iconic scicomm

I've tried, but I can't even with these fine point pens. Give me medium point gel or give me death. #writingcommunity

Every state

Really enjoying Pro Writing Aid's rebranding of NaNoWriMo, henceforth to be known as 'NovNov' (Novel November). They're offering a wealth of free webinars during 'Preptober'. Also gotta ❤️ how Zoom chat keeps autocorrecting 'pantser' to 'panther'. 😆🐈‍⬛ prowritingaid.com/novel-november #writingcommunity

Respect to those who got here first.

So blue hair is asshole repellent? Got it. If I was a young single woman I would definitely dye my hair some wild unnatural color.

This is such a clever idea on taking kids to museums/galleries www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Picked up Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield at The Painted Porch a while back. Motivational gold. Let's do this! #Authors #Writing #WritingCommunity #WriteLife #WriterLife #Indie

❤️ this quote from Betsy Lerner (possibly a fellow Gen Jones?) on why she enjoys interacting with the young people she meets by posting on TikTok: "They're not talking about their knee replacements and their mortages and Medicare . . . " 😆 #writingcommunity podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Who else is participating in the November challenge? I just signed up. I participated several times under the previous admins (NaNo). Curious to check out the vibe under PWA's leadership. #writingcommunity prowritingaid.com/novel-november

If you're thinking of coming to the launch this Saturday then could you possibly DM me? It means I can make sure that you're on the guest list. It's in the George on Wardour Street and it's from 7 til 10.30. Fran Lock will be reading too and Ian Montague and Linda Moylan will be providing the music.

"If you love crime fiction with just the right amount of spice, this is a great book for you!" Thank you to one of my reviewers. Couldn't have said it better myself. www.amazon.com/dp/B0F39JJ9Y5

My laatest Substack post. Thank you for reading, liking, sharing, and subscribing. open.substack.com/pub/lissajoh...

Proud to say I've never seen anything Kardashian-related.

Because I canceled my NYT subscription last fall, I was not aware of Jamelle Bouie. So glad to discover him when I randomly turned on NPR this morning. A delight! @jamellebouie.net www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

PSA

"The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." - Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey. Thx Simon Haisell for sharing over on Substack.

I’ve had worse earworms www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8A8DyN6/

Finally made it over to Laguna Gloria. Beautiful day for it. A couple of my favorites. I only had one and a half that I didn’t care for.

Saw this anonymous quote on Buzzfeed recently and yes, for the love of all that is unholy, as one Boomer to another, I'M BEGGING YOU

TIL Hitchcock’s iconic film The Birds was an adaptation of a story by Daphne du Maurier, author of the equally iconic novel Rebecca. slate.com/culture/2025...

Under the heading of 'write what you know': next time I need to torture or murder a character, I'm gonna use fire ants.

ya sex is nice but have you ever made a particularly pertinent comment during book club and everyone starts snapping in approval

Have I mentioned what a joy it is to discover these little nuggets of wisdom in the various newsletters I subscribe to? Keep 'em comin'!