A new funny, heartfelt, weird-formatty story has struck me like lightning today so while I'm drafting, please enjoy my OG funny, heartfelt, weird-formatty story! Just a perfectly normal travel forum thread about a definitely-not-demonic car rental agency. magazine.trollbreath.com/cryptid-car-...

Fellow Californians, please vote today! Here's your one-stop shop for everything you need to know: iwillvote.com

Happy Pride! Folks on the asexual and aromantic spectrum are queer too. The A in LGBTQIA+ belongs to us, not allies. Being queer isn't only about who you fuck.

A lack of scientific understanding leads to this. 🌊 #STEM #MarineScience Trump Administration to Dismantle Ocean Monitoring System www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/c...

They believe "MA public schools are sexualizing and indoctrinating kids," and are working to decide what book OUR kids have access to in their schools & what teachers can teach to OUR kids. Passing H.3594/S.2328 will help protect our teachers, librarians, & kids.

We're making our big push to pass H.3594 out of the House before the end of the legislative session, to protect the right to read in Mass. It can be easy to believe reading is safe in Mass but as deep blue as it is, we still have groups like Massachusetts Informed Parents...

Checking in for folks in the Boston area who heard/felt that giant boom?

My 3yo: I wish we had a doggie AND a kitty. Me: That sounds nice. What color kitty would it be? 3yo: A blue kitty. Walt: What would their name be? 3yo: Tootie the Bathroom Kitty.

Sometimes, when the ghosts speak, we have to listen. The Ghastling, Book 23, available now: theghastling.com/the-ghastlin...

Do you live in Oklahoma? There are two bills you need to advocate against, one in the House & one in the Senate. House Bill 2978 and Senate Bill 1250 deal with restrictions on school library material, attempting to prohibit "obscene" content from students. Contact your state reps!

Recently I saw Quinta Brunson talk about how she likes to know how each of her characters would act if they found a $5 bill on the floor. #kidlitchat

My favorite ways to get to know a character are a) finding songs that seem to connect with them and b) having an idea who I’d cast in the movie version #kidlitchat

I just watched video of 5 ICE agents abducting a guy from a courthouse in my area of Massachusetts. Periodic reminder that ICE hasn't gone anywhere. They are still here and still terrorizing immigrants.

TLDR: call your house reps to demand they vote NO on 8705 and 7661 Call your senators to demand they vote NO on 2616 All three seek to ban books nationally. All three are the fever dream of bigots. All three must be stopped.

🚨Bad news. A THIRD National book banning bill has passed committee in the house.🚨 Meet the CHARLIE act that will prohibit the teaching of what they call: equity ideology (not white supremacist jingoistic history) More from @authorsabb.bsky.social when we have it. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...

Call. Even your GOP sens/reps. Use their local offices as most of them are in their districts right now. If they know their district does not support this headed into the general, they'll keep quiet and not run on banning books.

Just passing a bill like this in the House is discouraging and scary, but we can't retreat from the moment. I think we should wonder if they rushed it to try to AVOID our pushback & use that as motivation to push harder on the Senate & on 7661.

And HR 7661? The national book ban bill that would see any book with vaguely defined “sexually oriented material” removed from every public school in the country? Still alive. So while you’re making your calls, please also call your representative again, and tell them to VOTE NO on HR 7661...

Also if you are represented by 1 of these 8 Dems who voted in favor of this terrible bill, let them have it: Henry Cuellar (TX), Don Davis (NC), Cleo Fields (LA), Laura Gillen (NY), Vicente Gonzalez (TX), Marcy Kaptur (OH), Marie Glusenkamp Perez (WA), Eugene Vindman (VA). The hell they thinkin?!?!?

It now moves on to the Senate as SB 2616 so step 1 is contact your Senators & tell them to loudly & publicly oppose the bill. Call them, mail them a postcard or a letter. Step 2 is get some of your friends to do the same...

HR 2616, as written, is an attempt to target and eliminate not just trans and nonbinary books, but any mention of the existence of gender non-conforming people. It is a direct attack on human rights..

HR 2616 mandates that any school receiving federal funds require parental permission before using a student’s preferred gender, pronouns, or name, or allowing them to use the bathroom or locker room that most aligns with their identity. The bill also prohibits the teaching of “gender ideology"...

Hope you had a great long weekend! Time to get back at it! Last week, HR 2616 grabbed some book banning language from HR 7661 & passed the House. What is HR 2616? Don't feel bad if this is the first you've heard of it because Republicans moved fast on it. Here's the deal...

We’d been watching the original Star Wars trilogy with my 7yo and it was Return of the Jedi night. But it was clear early on he was NOT okay with Jaba’s palace so we turned it off and put on The Emperor’s New Groove instead That movie absolutely holds up, no regrets.

Some thoughtful person provided a link to a non-paywalled version of this article: gcaptain.com/drowning/

“As of today, very few of the relentless defenders of that one author and none of the juggernaut media outlets that covered this backlash bothered to write an article about this bill… that hurts marginalized authors but, most importantly, hurts CHILDREN” katrynburywrites.substack.com/p/what-it-me...

AOC: “Trump is less popular than he has ever been. He is underwater on virtually every issue. If you oppose & are disgusted by what this administration is doing, you are in the company of a majority of Americans. You are not alone”

I keep seeing comments on articles about Mac Barnett saying that "he's right, 95 percent of kidlit is crud," and "the number should be higher."

this was HR 2616 which also bans books by or about trans and nonbinary people from schools START CALLING YOUR SENATORS NOW CIS FRIENDS TRANS KIDS NEED YOU

Not specifically craft-focused, but Book Friends Forever is a favorite podcast. They definitely talk about craft, but also publishing, marketing, etc. #kidlitchat

With alt text:

CALL YOUR REPS NOW! SPREAD THE WORD! HR 2616 was snuck onto the calendar for a vote TOMORROW. This is a pro book banning bill which seeks to ban ALL books by or about trans individuals.

So excited that WINTER WHITE is a Best Fiction for YA Featured Title over at YALSA's The HUB! #books #reading #writing www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2026/...

"...this is an approachable, well-paced story for selective readers looking for a gritty, realistic tale." Excited to see WINTER WHITE by @anniecardi.bsky.social as a Best Fiction For Young Adults featured review! #TeamTriada #BookSky www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2026/...

Islamophobia is not new. But this entire administration is deeply, openly hateful of Muslims and has not just okayed violent Islamophobia but has encouraged it. So literally no one should be shocked about the results. If you're still quiet about this admin's grotesque bigotry, you're complicit.

More of this energy, please. www.dailynews.com/2026/05/17/d...

Not too early to canvass for Brad Lander. Only 4 more weeks until early voting begins in the Dem. primary. Lander for Congress in NY 10!

The really nice part of #writing is when you stare at a Word document for an hour and fiddle with the words and then you're like OH that's who you are.

Hey readers, writers, and librarians in Arkansas! Make sure to send in your feedback by June 7th! (I'm guessing you'll have some on a proposal like this

In Utah, nearly all statewide book bans originate from just 2 school districts, sending novels to the shredder, Tribune finds. www.sltrib.com/news/educati...

America in 2026.

If you don't want this to happen in every school district in the country, including yours, call your US representative NOW and tell them why you oppose HR 7661, the national book-banning and speech restriction bill. The bill will be up for a vote soon.

Now's a great time to support LaVonnia Moore, a rural Georgia librarian who was fired because she approved a library display (set up by community members) that included a book featuring a transgender character. Her legal case enters the mediation process this week. 📚 www.gofundme.com/f/help-lavon...

In-office day, plus a kid coming home sick. Still writing.

Such a great take on the story of Wendy and Peter Pan.

OMG @mariahaskins.com reviewed my novelette for @locusmag.bsky.social and had such very lovely things to say. Am I dreaming?? "Mother, Darling" @strangehorizons.bsky.social: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

Happy book birthday to A GARDEN FOR LILI by Melissa Iwai! As in DUMPLINGS FOR LILI, I love the focus on community and culture and how together we can make something beautiful. bookshop.org/p/books/a-ga...

I don’t need ChatGPT, my brain can give me confidently wrong answers all on its own.

Every year Bob’s Burgers has an episode that will make me straight up cry it’s so meaningful and damnit they got me again.

Walt: Montreal beat Boston in the playoffs. Me: I know! It was in double overtime! Walt: So now they’re playing…they might be playing another Canadian team. Me: Really? I thought there was just one. Walt: No, there’s a few. Me: Wait, who are you talking about? Walt: Who are you talking about?