From INDIVISIBLE by @danaleman.bsky.social

"Why do you say I’m dying when I am reading, holding the hand of an author I know like a lover though they died years before I was born?" -- @catemarvin.bsky.social, "The Death of the Humanities" www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazi...

Author Barbara Kingsolver has opened a recovery facility with royalties from her novel “Demon Copperhead,” whose plot revolves around Appalachia’s opioid crisis. The home offers a supportive place for people to stay while learning to live without drugs. reasonstobecheerful.world/appalachia-o...

I don’t have an X/Twitter account. Someone there is impersonating me, offering writing advice and inviting DMs. Those posts are complete fiction.

Going back to Baton Rouge for the fabulous Louisiana Book Festival along with a stellar lineup of other authors. Will revisit my twenties in south Louisiana and say hello to the river—my old best friend. 💙

“Mississippi’s law, by contrast [with UKLaw], would block everyone from accessing the site—teens and adults—unless they hand over sensitive information, and once they do, the law in Mississippi requires Bluesky to keep track of which users are children.” mississippitoday.org/2025/08/25/b...

The MAGA movement is focused on touting only the exceptional parts of our past “because having to look too closely at the disturbing parts of American history would mean having to look closely at the disturbing parts of themselves,” Clint Smith argues:

The Girls in the Stilt House (The Girls from the Lake House?) is out today in Romania. Am wondering what those readers will think of this Southern Gothic story.

Once again, @hubcitypress.bsky.social is looking for experienced readers for paid manuscript reading this fall—both fiction & nonfiction. You'd be the first eyes on submissions and help us decide what requires a closer look. Email relevant experience to [email protected]. DM with questions.

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but one day you will finally have a bookshelf with a rolling ladder.

In addition to throwing 16 million people off their healthcare, cutting food assistance for 2 million hungry kids, and slashing taxes for billionaires, the Republican budget bill would punish states that adopt AI regulations at any point over the next decade.

From INDIVISIBLE by @danaleman.bsky.social

Colum McCann: "The big lie is writers actually know what they're going to do and they set out to do. They realise that afterwards, after they've struggled and like sat there and shaped and reshaped and tried to put some story together."

Having to ask homeowners for permission to take things out of their houses would kill the theft industry.

My god. I think this is the best thing I’ve ever read on the art of trying to get life down on paper. From Cannery Row by John Steinbeck.

I'd go for a mountain cabin porch on a rainy day rather than poolside, but it's fun to see The River Knows Your Name in some good company here. www.bookbub.com/blog/new-boo...

A pair of U.K. scholars discovered the mislabeled document in Harvard Law School's digital archives. The university bought it for just $27.50 in 1946. It turned out to be an authentic copy dating to 1300.

And on it goes . . . www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Seriously, folks, do not feel bad about ferociously hustling your stuff right now. It's needed, it's necessary, it's valuable. There's enough room for everybody, and there's nobody that can do the thing you're doing the way you're doing it. Keep on.

This is a gem of a podcast featuring authors with ties to Appalachia. Much thanks to Eliot Parker and Authors on the Air for inviting me!

April’s silvering touch

The head of our country’s government is in the early stages of consolidating total power. We must of course reject this, but that is not enough. We have to respond by creating a different and better kind of American politics than we have seen before.

Lovely review. Thank you!

Adolf Hitler's “Mein Kampf” is still on U.S. Naval Academy shelves. “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” and “Memorializing the Holocaust” are not. An order by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s office led to a purge of books that are critical of racism — but preserved volumes defending white power.

Always a fun time at The Back Room. Come chat with us on Sunday, April 6th! @hankphillippiryan.bsky.social #alkajoshi #nitaprose @elisehooper.bsky.social @peter23.bsky.social

Goodnight. Månesskinn (Moonlight), Harald Sohlberg, 1907.

“Legal action is already underway against Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, Anthropic, and other AI companies for using pirated books. If your book was used by Meta, you’re automatically included in the Kadrey v. Meta class action in Northern California without needing to take any immediate action…”

FULL REVIEW MAY 2. The writing and storyline are just pull-you-in amazing. A marvelous, heartfelt, as well as heartbreaking read with wonderful characters you will love and feel for. You will not want to put the book down, and you will need tissues at times. @kellymustianauthor @sourcebooks

President Trump's executive order to eliminate the Institute of Museum & Library Services would have disastrous effects for communities nationwide. We call on all Americans who value reading & learning to reach out to their elected leaders. Read ALA's full response: www.ala.org/news/2025/03...

As many of you, we read a lot for work, but we also read a lot for fun. We are looking forward to the multiple non-academic books with rivers as a central theme being released this year! Any we missed? What river-based book is your current favorite? #books #newyearsgoals #reading #rivers

Promoting the upcoming launch of my new novel feels like watering the plants while the house is on fire. Cheers to all the authors with books coming out this year.

#AncientBluesky #Archaeology www.bbc.com/news/article...

The two guys who are cutting the FAA never fly commercial.

This is where we are now: An elementary school at Fort Campbell has removed all books from its library that so much as *allude* to slavery or the civil rights movement. The wholesale erasure of history in real time.

Worth a listen.

Via a word puzzle, learned a new word in French: ribambelle. Refers to a paper doll chain, with each figure holding the next one's hand. Expanded use: people closely behind one another (teachers followed by a ribambelle of kids) or a large amount (a ribambelle of things to do). Also, a swarm.

Claire Keegan

If I went back in time with a label maker, they would make me a king

Did some holiday shopping for my towering TBR bookcase.

My new novel making its way into the world. It's up for preorder at all the usual places, for any preordering angels.

Life’s too short. Write in the fancy notebook.

When I was a buyer at a large indie, my rule of thumb was: 1 preorder: huh, let me take a closer look at this one 2 preorders: we need to stock this book 3 preorders: we should order enough to face this out 4+ preorders: this should be on front-of-store display

Niall Williams’ latest novel is out in UK/Ire & in US next week. Readers who loved This is Happiness can return to Faha :)

What if, instead of trying to have a productive writing day, you aimed for a satisfying one instead?

I am such a fan of the work of @wralpheubanks.bsky.social . I've written about the contrast of beauty and brutality in Mississippi in the years he describes here, and his perspective on that subject is always moving and powerful. Take a trip down the Mississippi with him here.

We have limited space in the N.C. Writeaway in February 2025. Sign up now for a week of private writing consultations with Mimi Herman and John Yewell. www.writeaways.com/weymouth-wri...

My new novel has a cover! It'll be in bookstores on April 1st, but is up for preorder now online. My thanks, as always, to everyone who took The Girls in the Stilt House to heart and made this one possible.

Really, who couldn't write a novel in a room with a view like this?