Nice foggy morning for early voting. Fast and easy ✅ Glad I brought my cheat sheet because party affiliations aren’t listed on the ballot.

Twas a slimy cold day outside today but thankfully I have a cozy coffee shop a few minutes from my house 🥰☕️ I got a ton of editing done.

Had a lovely time, as always, at the Johnson County Library Writers Conference. I particularly enjoyed chatting with Misako Rocks and gaining sage writing advice from Steve Almond 📚 #jocowrites #jocowritersconference

🐇 💀 COVER REVEAL 💀 🐇 I’m SO excited to reveal the UK cover of my next novel, The Bone Door! A fantasy/horror escape room novel, coming 7 May 2026

Had a great time at the #HeartlandBookFestival today 📚 I listened to Nnedi Okorafor talk and got an autographed copy of DEATH OF THE AUTHOR (an amazing book—highly recommend). I was very impressed by the turn out and will definitely try to attend next year! @nnedi.bsky.social

If you’re in the Kansas City area, come to the Japan Festival tomorrow at JCCC! The KC Kendo Club (including my entire family) will be running an outdoor workshop at noon and a demonstration in Polsky Theater at 3:30pm. Kcjapanfestival.org #kendo

Congrats to @jrbolesauthor.bsky.social for the release of LOVE AT THE FALL FAIR! If you’re looking for the perfect autumnal read, this is it. My kids and I had fun attending the launch and eating the fall-themed cookies 🍂 ☺️

Goodbye summer, hello autumn 🍂☺️🍁

I'm thrilled to announce that I am now represented by Lily Dolin with Sterling Lord Literistic. I have, of course, pulled out a bottle of sparkling sake to mark the occasion (as I always tell my Creative Writing students: celebrate everything!).

Perhaps a bit early to be drinking in August, but I couldn’t help but snag a Pumpkin Spice Latte when settled in for some work this morning ☺️🍁☕️ #PSL

If you’re in the Kansas City area, come to the Ethnic Enrichment Festival on Sunday, August 17th to see my kendo dojo perform onstage 👀 #kendo #kcethnicfest

Had an amazing time at the Midwest Kendo Federation’s Summer Training Camp this past weekend, culminating in my husband earning the rank of 4-Dan 🥳 #kendo

I created a book trailer for my current WIP: THE FOREVER WIDOWS BOOK CLUB 👀📖

My family went to a gorgeous Japanese Gardens in Rockford Illinois over the weekend. I had so much fun taking photos and noticing all the little details that remind me of scenes from my novel, THE SECRET GARDEN OF YANAGI INN (there was even a boat!). #japanesegarden #thesecretgardenofyanagiinn

I cannot WAIT for this book 🔥🔥🔥

Kendo Suikawari 🍉 #kendo

Having a lovely coffee shop just a short walk from the Honda dealership means I don’t mind having to wait for the car to be worked on 😄 Parisi makes a killer shandy (this one is strawberry rose cold brew shandy 😋). #amwri̇ti̇ng

Here's May's Wireside Chat, featuring Online MFA instructor @amberalogan.bsky.social. Enjoy! www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iWb...

Today is Tanabata! 🎋 Our lucky bamboo looks a bit overwhelmed by our wishes and decorations this year. I have a story story about Tanabata that you can read (for free!) here: www.whiteenso.com/amber-logan-...

A lovely place to get some writing done ☺️ #royalcaribbean #cabosanlucasmexico #amwriting

So excited to have a Daiso in town now! My daughter and I went this morning and I couldn’t help but pick up a few items (how cute is the daruma bag?). Always feels like a little slice of Japan at #daiso ☺️

First mugicha of the season! Goodbye Spring, hello Summer ☀️

Had a great anniversary weekend (22nd anniversary was on Saturday) in Omaha 🥰 I love how, even though we’ve been married for decades (and have teenage kids ourselves), it sometimes feels like we’re still just dumb teenagers pretending to be adults, lol.

A lovely morning for writing out on the patio ☺️ #amwriting

Had a lovely Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) yesterday. The koinobori enjoyed the lovely weather, the daruma enjoyed his helmet, and the family enjoyed eating some yawamochi 🎏

Fellow kaiju nerds! Check out my review of this excellent nonfiction book on kaiju and kaiju films for the Science Fiction Research Association. #kaiju #bookreview The Kaiju Connection: Giant Monsters and Ourselves sfrareview.org/2025/04/18/t... via @sfranews

For the past month I’ve been screening manuscripts for the Association of Writers & Writer Programs (AWP) 2025 James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel, and it has been such an honor to read these amazing submissions. It is a joy to be paid to read excellent stories 🥰 📚

Finally got my hands on DISSOLUTION by @bingewriting.bsky.social and I’m already loving it. I adored ASCENSION, and I’m a sucker for surreal stories about memories so this comes as no surprise.

Feeling grateful for libraries with coffee shops inside 🍵 📚 #amwriting

Opened up my April First Reads email from Amazon and was delighted to see The Artist of Blackberry Grange by @pkennedywrites.bsky.social as one of the options! I’ve loved all of her books to date (and this one promises to be Ozark Gothic 😍), so this was a no-brainer 📚

Had a great time at the Taylor Cup kendo event in St. Louis this weekend. I felt like my kendo has been improving, made some new friends, saw my kids win medals, and my daughter earned her 1-Kyu rank.

I found the cutest yokai stickers at a stationery store yesterday!

Goodbye winter, hello spring! 🌸

I passed the test back in October, but I was awarded my 1-Dan kendo menjo last night in class 🥳 I love how it’s so much bigger than the kyu rank certificates.

I just finished reading an ARC of @garethjohnbrown.bsky.social ‘s upcoming THE SOCIETY OF UNKNOWABLE OBJECTS and man, it was even better than THE BOOK OF DOORS! Check out my review on Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/book/show/22...

So excited for this! I’ve adored all of Richard’s fantasy novels so far, so of course I can’t wait to read what he can do with sci-fi! 👀

Getting ready for the Super Bowl! Made a delicious batch of Furikake Chex Mix (recipe from Just One Cookbook) - think Chex mix with Japanese flavors 😋 Willow, of course, wanted to help.

GRAVE EMPIRE by @richardswanauthor.bsky.social is now out in the world! I read this as an ARC and didn’t know flintlock fantasy was a thing, but now I’m obsessed. #graveempire #richardswan #flintlockfantasy

A VERY cool opportunity for unagented crime writers 👀

Beloved readers! Do you want both books and the satisfaction of helping a poorly pup? Course you do! I have 10 complete paperback sets of Songs of the Drowned to send you in return for a donation to my sister's fund to help her pay for her dog's treatment (see below). 1/

Kansas City area writers: My critique partner Amy Leigh Harden and I will be leading a book discussion on WIRED FOR STORY by Lisa Cron tomorrow (Tue 1/28) at the Johnson County Library - Leawood location. Please come join us! The discussions are always lively and informative. #jocowrites

An excellent deal for an excellent book. If you love spy novels, definitely pick this one up 👇

Very excited to get my hands on an advanced copy of THE SOCIETY OF UNKNOWABLE OBJECTS by @garethjohnbrown.bsky.social. I adored his THE BOOK OF DOORS (that is fun to say aloud) and can already tell this will be a new favorite 🥰📚 #thebookofdoors

Had a lovely time leading the @jocolibrary book discussion on SAVE THE CAT WRITES A NOVEL by Jessica Brody. Such great discussion with fellow authors and book nerds 🥰📚 On 1/28 we’ll be discussing WIRED FOR STORY by Lisa Cron—stay tuned! #jocowrites #savethecat

Happy book birthday to LIGHTFALL by @edcrockerbooks.bsky.social — seriously the best vampire book I’ve read in a decade. Vampires, werewolves…but zero humans 👀 And my blurb is on the back cover! 😭 #lightfall #edcrocker #newrelease #vampires #vampirebooks

I love librarian humor

My daughter didn’t want her tatami mats in her new teenager room, so my husband secured them for our den. Now we have a cozy tatami area for our kotatsu 🥰

Enjoy this photo of a squirrel on my back deck eating a large shredded wheat in the snow ❄️

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