Time for the traditional watching of the Christmas Godfather. First of all, lemme just say, if I was marrying DON CORLEONE’S DAUGHTER, I’d act right. 😡

Me today, as I bought a new scarf and hat because it was brisk out (never mind the 10000 scarves and hats I have at home) AND dropped about a billion doll-hairs on new glasses: “My New Year’s resolution is to be more mindful about my spending — but it’s not the New Year YET!” 🥴

I saw a little video about making a list of intentions for winter solstice, etc — and somebody in the comments was like “but what do I put on my list of intentions?” And somebody else was like “just ask ChatGPT” … We’re cooked 💀

Whoville’s electric bill must be through the dang roof!

All due respect, but the Grinch desperately needs therapy.

Watching the Netflix movie Champagne Problems and the main girl goes to a charming Parisian bookstore. A charming WOODEN bookstore, complete with rickety wooden staircase and filled, obviously, with old books. And LIT CANDLES ON EVERY SURFACE INCLUDING JUST LOOSE ON THE STAIRS WHY??? 😭😭😭😭

"What’s happening on our shelves isn’t a local quirk, it’s a national stress test of your rights... If they can get away with it here, it’s coming to your libraries too." time.com/7341120/book...

It’s a pleasure and an honor to help bring books into the world. But we wouldn't get to do it without all of you. Thank you! From all of us at ABLA, we wish you a spirited holiday season. May the New Year bring you joy, inspiration, & many beautiful books! 2025 Holiday Card art by Marissa Valdez

I’m rewatching Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth version) and am reminded of the theory I started developing about how Mr Darcy is deffo on the autism spectrum. In this essay, I will

I’m wrapping pressies for various children. My sister (who, for the record, NEEDS TO WEAR GLASSES) squints at the wrapping paper and goes, “okay I get that it’s mostly Paddington’s regular outfit — but why is he also dressed as a rabbi?” Paddington: marmalade enthusiast AND dapper ursine rabbi?

According to r/pubtips today, Kayla Bramante is STILL at it on TikTok, sucking in gullible writers. Please pass it on...she is NOT legitimate.

manifesting: 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯 ai bubble 🕯 🕯 to pop disastrously 🕯 🕯 for all involved 🕯 🕯 🕯 🕯

This week on the Book Faire Podcast, we have an interview with @alexgino.bsky.social author of Chris Makes a Friend! #podcast #kidlit #middlegrade open.spotify.com/episode/2CPs...

I have some Confessions: I don’t know who Dan and Phil are (and yes I HAVE looked it up, and I still don’t understand who they are?) Also I’ve never watched Supernatural. Also I know nothing about fanfiction. As you can imagine, tumblr has always been a somewhat lonely and confusing place for me

I’m on a plane and I just watched The Roses and now I feel deeply weird and uncomfy. Mind you, I’m old — but I kinda think I’m too young for that movie????? 🥴 🥀

How can both these things be true? 😩 👵🏼 I call shenanigans!

I’m so early to the airport that they haven’t even assigned a gate yet. So I just went to the Fortnum and Mason store in the terminal and bought a mess of chocolate owls and a pot of Stilton to bring home. I’m using my free will wisely!

This nice post is about me (nobody was paid to write it!!!) - anyway it’s all true, I do dole out publishing advice on the tumblr. If you want to ask questions that’s great, but I beg you to look at the FAQ first — after a decade, many of them have been asked many times! 😘

I perversely wanted to see what an English restaurant would do with Chicken and Waffles. The first sign of trouble is when the waiter asked: “Do you want cream? Or ice cream?” Instead of a) asking why would I want *either* of those, or b) saying “neither” — I panicked and said “CREAM???” 😩

I can’t even describe how CROWDED London has been this weekend. Imagine a polite mosh pit, but miles long, and somehow *everywhere* you want to walk. I have either contracted several diseases or been inoculated to them from exposure. It’s a full-contact pox party out there. 😩

A Thanksgiving-minded imp of the perverse possessed me last night and caused me to order the — and I can’t stress this enough — *BRITISH AIRLINES* “Turkey Dinner” — well, lads, it was an effort made and I appreciate that, but in future maybe you aren’t allowed any of those ingredients 🥵

Flying on Thanksgiving evening is AMAZING. I got to the luggage drop off and found out that I needed to download an app and apply for a visa 🥴 — they let me just stand there and do the whole application and nobody was behind me waiting. Then got to security and there was NO ONE in front of me 🙏

I'm going to London tonight! Like, I leave for the airport in a few hours! :D In preparation, I've: -- restocked pet food! -- washed litter box! -- done dishes! -- hung outside xmas lights! -- eaten the lion's share of a babka! -- scheduled emails for next week! HAVE I PACKED? Absolutely not.

I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.

Hey new illustrators! If you're creating a picture book w images that are a full (2-page) spread, be mindful not to put anything important in the gutter. (aka the middle, where pages connect to spine) For ex: If the main character is dead center in your image, he'll be cut in half by the gutter. :/

My sister keeps singing “I’m gonna keep on dancing at the Pink Poppy Club, Pink Poppy Cluuuub” to the dog (poppy is the dog), and in return I’m singing 🎶 MOO BAA LA-LA-LA 🎶 to the tune of Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance

Lest this be misconstrued: I don’t hate turkey by any means. (And my fam does make good turkey!) But IMO the best parts of it are: the ceremony of the whole thing, the sandwiches after, and the carcass gumbo after that. For *just plain eating of meat* — sorry, I prefer roast chicken. 🤷🏻‍♀️

You were all having a good day and I am here to ruin it: All of the birds given as gifts in “12 days of Christmas” are edible birds, and I am not sure why so many of you believe they were all intended to be kept as pets for years after receipt.

Tell me your Thanksgiving Dinner Hot Takes. I’ll start: — Sweet Potato Pie is VASTLY superior to Pumpkin Pie — The best turkey in the world is not as good as an average roast chicken. — Stuffing should not actually be stuffed inside the bird for several reasons but mostly: Ew

🎨 Spotlight on Mark Hoffmann (@studiohoffmann.bsky.social)! Mark's Illustrator Page Mark is represented by Jennifer Laughran (@literaticat.bsky.social) and is open to illustrating picture books.

The malwarebytes Google opting-your-emails-into-ai-training thing is not true. The post is based on one bad tweet. I know anti-tech lamenting is a Bluesky core principle, but please use the same judgement you would for any other clickbait. www.theverge.com/news/826902/...

A starred review from Kirkus for The Queen's Granddaughter! @ecfeinberg.bsky.social @literaticat.bsky.social @mackidsbooks.bsky.social

Still celebrating that these 3 titles are Amazon's best books of 2025! THE SNIPS: A BAD BUZZ DAY by Raúl the Third @raulthethird.bsky.social FISH DON’T GO TO SCHOOL by Deb Pilutti @dpilutti.bsky.social WHEN THE TIDES HELD THE MOON by Venessa Vida Kelley @venessakelley.bsky.social

Did you see that @publisherswkly.bsky.social included 5 ABLA titles in their best books of 2025 lists? Congratulations to our amazing clients: - Chelsea Lin Wallace - Kate Messner - Meg Medina - Steph Littlebird - Andrew Joseph White 🥳👏

In today's Ask the Agent Question of the Day, I talk about a publisher's non-compete clause, and why authors ALSO shouldn't want to compete with themselves. (I had WAY too much fun with this metaphor, I apologize in advance, especially to anyone named Brad) www.tumblr.com/literaticat/...

It is genuinely incredible to me how much evidence there is to support investing in the public good and how much animus there is to do this simple, effective thing.

Hooray! @authorsabb.bsky.social is *OFFICIALLY* a nonprofit, and is now open for donations! For the last two years we've been doing all this w free tools, or paying out of pocket, & we were STILL able to get SO MUCH DONE. Imagine what we could do with $$$ www.authorsagainstbookbans.com/donate/

It’s that time of year again — Book Angel time @oblongbooks.bsky.social ! You can come into the store to choose books for the kids in our program — or you can donate online and the booksellers will shop on your behalf. 📕 👼 📚 oblongbooks.com/bookangel

I got home from an eventful night and day in the city to find THE CAT MISSING. She is an indoor baby but had snuck out — the dog found her hiding under the deck and told us where she was, but it took a solid hour of lying on the ground in the rain and waving churus to lure her 😭 stressing me OUT

Listen do I like political dynasties or nepotism or whatnot? No! But also: Jack Schlossberg running for office and using his platform and strong jawline to EVISCERATE his brain-worm riddled cousin? I’m SAT. 🍿 GET EM, JACKO!!

HEY! Being an adult is SO bad! I don't know or WANT to know about arcane tax laws or what an "irrevocable trust" is or does, and yet somehow I am being asked to learn about them? WHY? ME? No, you have the wrong person. WHAT??? STOP! PLS!!! LET ME JUST THINK ABOUT CHILDREN'S BOOKS AND TOYS 😩

🎉 Congratulations to CHRIS MAKES A FRIEND on being an Amazon Editors' Pick for the month of November! 🎉 Cheering for and celebrating with you, @alexgino.bsky.social! @literaticat.bsky.social

This holiday season, give Jeff Bezos and Amazon the gift of zero dollars. 🥰

Authors, Beware! There's a firm called "ClaimsHero" doing aggressive social media outreach claiming to "help" you file to get $ in the Anthropic class action. In fact, it's a bait-and-switch, they are luring authors to sign up with them, then OPTING THEM OUT of the class action so they'll get zilch.

Ask the Agent Question of the day: What would I tell people who query “too soon”? Well, I’d tell them the story of when I tried out for Teen Jeopardy! www.tumblr.com/literaticat/...

How smart are your pets? Our dog Mayo is really smart. Our other dog Noodle…not so much. Happy #kidlitartpostcard day. My name is Mark Hoffmann and I’m a kidlit author/illustrator. I am rep’d by Jenn Laughran (@literaticat) with @andreabrownlit.

Happy Book Birthday to THUNDER NELSON DOES THE IMPOSSUMBLE by @marthabee.bsky.social, that latest in the Kids in Mrs Z.'s Class chapter book series, in which Thunder finds a baby possum and brings it to school. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? (hijinx and hilarity ensue) 😜 bookshop.org/p/books/the-...

Happy Book Birthday to CHRIS MAKES A FRIEND by @alexgino.bsky.social, about a 12 y.o. bookworm who resents having to spend summer at her grandparents. She wants to chill and READ, not play outside! But when she meets a kindred spirit, an unexpected friendship blooms. 😍 bookshop.org/p/books/chri...

It's a Booklist star for SQUIRREL: HOW A BACKYARD FORAGER SHAPES OUR WORLD by @nancycastaldobooks.bsky.social! ⭐ "An entertaining examination of [squirrels’] lives and relationships with humans.” ⭐ Read the full review here @literaticat.bsky.social

I just accidentally opened “threads” and was smacked in the face with aggressive hot takes about “audiobooks aren’t reading” — ARE WE STILL TROTTING THIS OLD NAG OUT? For the love of god, let it go to pasture already, it’s *exhausted* 😭😭😭 YES, AUDIOBOOKS COUNT AS READING 😭😭😭 DON’T MAKE ME FIGHT YOU