I’m hosting Xmas Eve. We’re doing a truncated Feast of the Seven Fishes. It’s a lot of work. I love every minute of it. Whenever I make a big meal like this, I never eat. I just can’t. I’m too worked up and nervous about everyone liking what I make.

Every year I get at least a gift card for BN or Amazon, so I’ll always have books for Christmas. #kidlitchat

This year has felt surprisingly light on the classics on TV. I haven’t seen ELF or CHRISTMAS VACATION in weeks. #kidlitchat

And my favorite adaptations are Scrooged and The Muppet Christmas Carol. #kidlitchat

I read A Christmas Carol every other year. This year was the off year. #kidlitchat

Last #kidlitchat before the holiday! Looking forward to it!

Here’s the thing, I think that there’s a razor slim margin of error for a YA romcom written by a straight dude and I’m not hitting the mark. Oh, well. Merry Christmas!

Got a rejection….TODAY….but I’m okay with it. It was kind of a Hail Mary and I like the agent so I don’t mind so much. Think it might be time for my YA romcom to take a place with one of my YA fantasies on the shelf.

When I was in my 20s someone called me “a big chooch” and the name stuck for years. It’s an Italian term of endearment that basically means you’re a goofball/ jackass. If you know me at all, it’s very appropriate.

I yell “MARCO!” when I’m in busy stores with my kids in the hopes that one day some kindred spirit will yell “POLO!” back to me. It hasn’t yet, but I hold out hope for the world that it will.

Okay, something you need to know about me: I say Merry Christmas. It’s my holiday and I enjoy celebrating it. It’s not intended to marginalize anyone but include them in the joy of the season. I’m speaking secularly of course and I think most sane people understand that.

The #1 movie when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 is going to go.

Holy Scrooge: Form rejection from a 6 month old query the last Friday before Christmas. I mean it really is almost like they’re trying to be cruel.

If you’re wondering, I’m the kind of maniac that sends out a query today.

There’s something so off-putting when a wildly successful author (that’s had some recent duds) starts a podcast for the sole purpose of passive aggressively airing their grievances over the publishing industry that’s treated them very well over the years like every week is Festivus.

Suzanne Collins like, I wrote it better.

I almost threw a grenade on Reddit but deleted the comment. People were NOT going to like it. I feel accomplished today.

Watching some of my colleagues playing Mario Kart on the smart board. I wonder if this was how my dad felt when I was a kid playing Super Mario Brothers.

Honestly, the best line in all of The Muppet Christmas Carol is when Michael Caine utters “Fozziewig’s rubber chicken factory” with all the gravitas of an actual line of Dickens’ writing.

What are your five favorite episodes of television, any show, any genre? 1. The Splendid Source-Family Guy 2. In The Pale Moonlight- DS9 3. Stand By Gene- Bob's Burgers 4. The Ricklantis Mixup-Rick and Morty 5. 30 for 30: June 17, 1994 (This might be a questionable entry.)

Sorry, got tied up in something else. Night guys! #kidlitchat

I've really leaned into being the "writer guy" at work which takes up massive amounts of time and energy. I actually have to look at drafts tonight to give students feedback on a project. #kidlitchat

I just picked up and started playing with an old project for a little bit. Not kid friendly but it's writing. #kidlitchat

I did release a book on my own this year. I tuckered out marketing it, but I've had some sales. Nothing major (approx. 30ish). But I got stuck on the sequel's third act. #kidlitchat

I've frequently talked about my lack of motivation since last June on this chat. I've been in an endless loop of "why bother" in relation to rejections and lack of any traction when it comes to my work. #kidlitchat

I have thoughts about tonight’s topic but I have to take a second to do somethings BRB. #kidlitchat

I'm ready. I'm here for #kidlitchat.

I was just listening to The Muppets 12 Days of Christmas and noticed that Gonzo sings “three French hens” because of course he does.

Holy crap!

I was thinking today, did someone like Patrick Rothfuss make enough money off the first two books of The Kingkiller Chronicles to just not give a f**k anymore?

My wife is rewatching Scandal. This show relied too much on smart people making really dumb out of character decisions for the sake of the plot. That being said, I was and always be Team Mellie.

The Plight Before Christmas and The Amazing Rudy episodes of Bob’s Burgers have joined the pantheon of TV shows that I’ve had an allergic reaction to.

The tough part of this is which book do I pitch?

It's funny I've got a bucket of 50 G2 pens open on my phone and I'm thinking about texting it to my family for Xmas. #kidlitchat

My kids keep asking me if there's anything writerly I want and I can't think of anything. #kidlitchat

Good writing books: On Writing Save The Cat (and any of the associated books) #kidlitchat

Notebooks and pens....neither of which need to be fancy for me: old school college ruled composition notebooks and Pilot G2 .7mm ink gel pens. #kidlitchat

I'm actually early for #kidlitchat.

Cause he wasn’t cool enough, RL Stine wrote GI Joe toe-in novels in the 80s. There goes my hero.

Good God, I just watched The Plight Before Christmas episode of Bob's Burgers. Nobody touch me, I'm a mess. It's so good.

It just feel like they needed to empty their inboxes out for the end of the year. So discouraging.

I mean no wonder I’ve been in a months long malaise. Sliding into “what’s the point” attitude at this point.

So six useless rejections in the last week. Nothing helpful. The beat goes on. Happy holidays to me.

Just a quick reminder, there’s is someone impersonating me here, please be aware that they aren’t me! They’ve just reposted all my posts to look like they posted them. Please report them if you can, especially if they try to contact you as me!

All the new imposter is doing is reposting my posts I think in an attempt to make it look like they are me.

Once again, for some unknown reason, someone is impersonating me. Besides the artist, who I don’t think is on Bluesky, I’m the only John Zeleznik on here!

You guys, I think I found the Ark of the Covenant!

Even through all the disappointment and rejection....I live by one mantra. #kidlitchat

I really am happy for all of you that had great Autumns! It's pretty awesome. #kidlitchat

I've been querying, but that's been disappointing. It's all very frustrating right now. A lot of "not for me" rejections. Frustrating. #kidlitchat