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 ❄️

Post your favorite Pokémon wrong answers only

I am reading this right now and it is the book my 15yo-obsessed-with-Bruce-Lee self would’ve drooled over.

I finally got myself a shimekazari for a New Year’s door decoration and I am not disappointed. I smile every time I see it ☺️

Ok, now my daughter is just full-on trolling me with #HouseOfLeaves

My kendo club had a ramen bar after class last night, and it was such a joy. I think we have a new annual tradition ☺️🍜 #kckendoclub

A really fascinating breakdown of productivity numbers for an author’s debut year. Wish I were this organized about tracking my work!

It was my turn to host our Well Fed, Well Read book club meeting and I picked AND THEN I WOKE UP by @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social —such a great book for discussing! Highly recommend for book clubs. I made porridge and grits for dinner (because, you know, the title 😄).