It's a dreary day. I needed to feel something good. Then mail came. This gorgeous collection of @marchxness.bsky.social essays from all the tournaments, including my first-round loss in March Faxness, my very first time playing.

NEW @martinseay.bsky.social ESSAY DROPPED, scrambling to rebook my whole morning so I can give this the attention Martin's essays always deserve!!!

Just finished & my lord, what an essay, @martinseay.bsky.social ! I can picture that Bookstop, tho 95 would have been my last summer in Austin. & definitely long for good old KGSR sometimes. Not many radio stations like it now.

Actually lol’d when I got to the jump in the email, because of course: “Seay writes long, so this post is too long to reproduce here in its entirety.” Give it a read and contemplate the Lorca directive re: your own rooted place.

Rejoice, @marchxness.bsky.social fans! The annual can't miss @martinseay.bsky.social essay has dropped! His # didn't come up this year but he's still bringin' it with this extracurricular to help you get ya game face on for March 1!

Thanks to @gregzimmerman.bsky.social at the New Dork Review of Books for including Man Overboard! among his Most Anticipated Books of 2026! "Quirky and fun! " www.thenewdorkreviewofbooks.com/2026/01/new-...

🚨 🚨 Martin Seay! Writing about music! Turn it up! 🚨 🚨

old school analog time we like it

Just 7 weeks till March Sadness starts, y'all! To get pumped, I wrote a piece for @marchxness.bsky.social about history, epistolary narratives & "Tell Mary," the saddest song you've probably never heard:

"Funny, heartfelt, and always charming, Kathleen Rooney’s writing is like a warm hug. [...] The perfect summer read!" Thanks to the @chicagorevbooks.bsky.social for including MAN OVERBOARD!--forthcoming in July--in their list of Most Anticipated Books of 2026! chireviewofbooks.com/2026/01/06/o...

This one apartment building on our street puts an old toilet out as garbage in the alley every couple of months and has done so for what seems like years. What’s going on in there?

New substack with news on the hardcopies of the anthology, @meganc.bsky.social's Best Movies of 2025 list, and a new extracurricular by @katprow.bsky.social on Crystal Waters! open.substack.com/pub/marchxne...

This is the shit you come across in an open world post-apocalyptic video game where you’re trying to piece together what went wrong

"Kids these days, standing up to hatred and fear, are seeing a lot of themselves in books at the moment, that’s for sure." Huge thanks to librarian Betsy Bird for this amazing write-up of LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social at @slj.com! afuse8production.slj.com/2025/12/16/3...

Tomorrow! Sunday 12/14! Come to Chicago Artisan Market for a hot, fresh poem while you wait from 11 am to 5 pm! Use the code "poems" to get free tickets! chicagoartisanmarket.com

It was a delight to speak--with @bethrooney.bsky.social--to @rubyprosenthal.bsky.social of Newcity about LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social (& about how capitalism is corrosive & inner children are crucial): lit.newcity.com/2025/12/04/h...

You may have heard that it's #GivingTuesday, which means it's a perfect time to contribute to our Annua Subscription and Support Drive for @rosemetalpress.bsky.social. Contribute to continued excellence in hybrid genre literature here, & thanks! rosemetalpress.com/support-rose...

"Time" a typewriter poem by yours truly from the Art Institute poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8018259...

Thanks to @jhiggy.bsky.social for including LEAF TOWN FOREVER in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's "38 Books for Holiday Gifts in 2025!" www.jsonline.com/story/life/2...

A fun thing I get to do is be on the Advisory Council for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. They're holding a Silent Auction end-of-year fundraiser with lots of unique & wonderful items, including books from @rosemetalpress.bsky.social. Get your bid in here! new.biddingowl.com/items?QueryA...

Sunday, 11/30 from 11 am to 5 pm at Artifact Events in Ravenswood! Come get a hot, fresh Poem While You Wait just in time for holiday gift-giving! poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8011939...

Watching the Detective by Deborah Shapiro from @bside-editions.bsky.social is such an excellent blend of personal writing and cultural criticism that @martinseay.bsky.social and I bought three copies: one to keep for ourselves and two to give over the holidays. Add to cart!

Save the date! Tuesday 12/2/25! 5 to 8 pm! Free admission to the International Museum of Surgical Science! Get a hot, fresh Poem While You Wait, tamales & champurrado from Tamales Mi Chula, & 10% off everything in the Museum Store, including copies of LEAF TOWN FOREVER, which I will sign for you!

So @essaydaily.bsky.social is doing our yearly Advent calendar this year and we have a few more spots if you'd like to write about visual media (games, movies, shows, anything visual is ok). Drop me/us a line.

"Leaf Town Forever celebrates community in a most beautiful way." hanks to @lhertzel.bsky.social for this lovely review of Leaf Town Forever by @bethrooney.bsky.social & me & illustrated by Betsy Bowen in the @startribune.com! www.startribune.com/art-coulson-...

"Loretta Haiku" a typewriter haiku by yours truly from the Connections for Abused Women & Their Children gala: poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/8000161...

at night, all cats are Gary

Deborah Shapiro, Watching the Detective.

This Saturday, November 8 at 10:00 am at the Rain Taxi Twin Cities Book Festival! Come see Beth Rooney & Betsy Bowen & me read and do an activity from LEAF TOWN FOREVER from University of Minnesota Press! twincitiesbookfestival.com/leaf-town-fo...

Flying squirrel cam

"Leaf Town Forever is the perfect book to let go of “real” and enjoy creating and imagining with a child." Thanks to Nancy Bo Flood for this amazing review of LEAF TOWN FOREVER! nancyboflood.com/lets-pretend/

"Love" a typewriter poem by yours truly from Randolph Street Market: poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/7992001...

The theme of the Halloween party was "childhood idols" & we did the assignment

Many thanks to Amran Gowani for this hilarious haiku-filled write-up of the launch party for Leaf Town Forever last weekend! www.amrangowani.com/harrowing-ha...

"Everybody thinks this about their favorite celebrities, but I truly believe that Christ and I could be friends." Thanks to @lespritlit.bsky.social for providing an excellent home for my poem-essay about Jesus! lespritliteraryreview.org/2025/10/26/c...

Thanks to City Lit Books in Logan Square for having @bethrooney.bsky.social & me read from Leaf Town Forever at story time today & thanks to all the cute families & one adorable pup for coming!

Are you scared of the ocean? Do you wonder what is up with men? Ever wish you could talk to dolphins? If you answered yes to any of these, then my fifth novel Man Overboard! is for you. It now has a cover! And is available for pre-order from Gallery Books! bit.ly/ManOverboard...

Suburban Chicagoland! Beth and I will see you at Anderson's Bookshop in Downers Grove this Tuesday at 6:00 pm for LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social! Register here! andersonsbookshop.com/event/2025-1...

New book, Watching the Detective, ostensibly about the year I got weirdly obsessed with watching Columbo, but really about so much more. Out 11/18/25. Available to preorder on www.bsideeditions.com 🖤

Love my city

Thanks to @largeheartedboy.bsky.social, @bethrooney.bsky.social & I got to make a Book Notes playlist for LEAF TOWN FOREVER from @uminnpress.bsky.social, including Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Edith Piaf, Joni Mitchel, the White Stripes and more. Check it out here! tinyurl.com/yhhycr7x

I’m sorry but is the dog the hero or the villain here

Cracking up so hard at the old Western prank of baby mixing

Hey @marchxness.bsky.social fans! It's cover reveal + preorders day for HIT REPEAT UNTIL I HATE MUSIC: THE MARCH XNESS ANTHOLOGY, edited by @angermonsoon.bsky.social and @meganc.bsky.social! Available for preorders (+ ARC requests) NOW, link in our bio or www.splitlippress.com/march-xness-anthology

"What an outsider sees is a vague space, but, inside the mind and wonder of the child, the building is substantial and organized and beautiful." Huge thanks to Patrick Reardon of the @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social for this dreamy review of LEAF TOWN FOREVER! thirdcoastreview.com/lit/2025/10/...

Do you like cities? Do you think they're miraculous instances of collective creativity, not despite but because of the fact that they always involve complex & improvisatory negotiations among dissimilar individuals? Would you like to explain that to kids? Allow me to recommend LEAF TOWN FOREVER:

It's publication day for LEAF TOWN FOREVER, the picture book I co-wrote with my sister @bethrooney.bsky.social, illustrated by Betsy Bowen & published by @uminnpress.bsky.social! See you at one of our upcoming events, & in the meantime, add to cart! www.leaftownforever.com/news-and-event

"The children Fiona, Rose, & Lucinda, are Leaf Town Forever’s main characters & Leaf Town’s architects. Paco, the cardinal, is there with them the whole way. Was he there when the real Leaf Town was built too?" Thanks to Christine Sneed for this interview! christinesneed.substack.com/p/inside-the...

I’ve followed @inauthenticity.bsky.social ‘s amazing, sharp rundown of horror oddities every October & it’s a revelation every year. Plus, I have a four year old so this is really the only way I get to experience movies these days.

Thanks to @mrdankelly.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute to this @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social feature for Banned Books Week where "Writers Recall the 'Forbidden' Books of Their Youth"--I recall the Anastasia series by Lois Lowry. Check them all out here! thirdcoastreview.com/lit/2025/10/...