Post a picture of when your pet was little.

In just a few hours, I’m picking up my writerly pals at the airport for a DIY writing retreat at my house. I can’t wait! I try to do something like this once a quarter to really carve out time for my personal writing. Day job calendar blocked, food prep done, now bring on the words!

Most banned books feature people of color and LGBTQ+ people, report finds

Cis allies! Please support transgender people and comment today. The reddit below contains links to the official comment pages for the new passport rules that we need to fight against. bsky.app/profile/erin...

I don't enjoy banging this drum about the need for adding alt-text to images, but it's one of those cultural things I think it is really important to emphasize to all Bluesky users to distinguish it from other social media platforms; just like how quote-dunking and rage-baiting isn't tolerated.

post a gif from the last show you watched ✨

It feels weird to talk about happy things given everything that’s going on. But…I’m hosting a retreat at Highlights in June with my pal @emilycolinbooks.bsky.social and it’s a major bucket list item for me. Talking revision. With my pal. At Highlights!

I hit the point in the mushy middle on this novel where I didn’t know what came next. How it ends, sure. But I needed a plan to get the characters there with everything that changed as I wrote the first half. Spent the week on my synopsis and now I have a plan! It’s such a great tool for plantsters.

It’s extra important for your GOP senator to hear from you right now if you’re in one of these states. Call your senators and tell them to vote NO on Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director: indivisible.org/resource/cal... Or send an email to your senators: act.indivisible.org/sign/demand-...

This is all a good reminder that, “no help, no votes until the criminal conduct stops” is neither a big ask nor a politically perilous one.

Hey, friends. Just checking back in. The weight of wickedness heaped upon our country and world feels almost too great to bear. I hope you're holding onto your own beauty. Breathe in and kindle your light. Breathe out and share your light. I love you so much. There is so much good in the world.

Hope you're staying warm out there. Today seemed like a good (chilly) day to share what tortellini soup taught me about writing... julieartz.substack.com/p/what-torte...

Hello Friends! Welcome to #MSWL Day 2025! 🎉 This is our first #MSWL Day on Bluesky, and we have new features to share! Rather listen than read? Here’s a how-to! vimeo.com/1055984106 Here’s our Bluesky search guide: youtu.be/LnZt1MCjKZE?...

Am I in Whamageddon purgatory if I heard “Last Christmas,” but it was a cover?

Here are the anti-library & pro-censorship bills already prefiled for the 2025 legislative session across the US. It's your job to keep tabs on these, write your representatives, & speak up about the dismantling of public institutions of access + democracy. wellsourced.substack.com/p/the-pro-ce...

Efforts to block gender affirming care will harm our most vulnerable children.

My youngest kiddo is on the ground safe and sound in Denver! Home for five weeks. SQUEE!!!

Loading a client book I’m particularly excited about onto the ereader. Who needs sleep?

StoryGraph folx: Share your link and what you like to read and let’s follow each other on StoryGraph! I love a good spicy romance, poetry/NIV/memoir, all things character driven in the speculative space, and the odd upmarket: app.thestorygraph.com/profile/juli... #amreading #booksky

I’m proud to participate in today’s #LGBTQnotgoingback day of action. I hope you’ll join me in reaching out to your reps to protect our LGBTQ+ siblings ♥️🧡💛💚💙💜 open.substack.com/pub/julieart...

I love StoryGraph. It would be great to see more folks over there!

“Our children are not going to stop being transgender just because you strip them of their care. Stripping them of their care is cruel, but they will continue to be who they are and parents like myself will continue to do what we need to do to protect them and keep them safe and alive.”

Stuck in the airport and found this story a really moving distraction while I wait…

Here is my #LGBTQNotGoingBack post, which includes a MASTER LIST of everyone else's posts! plus instructions for how to be added to this lists & how to call your representatives today! on Substack: juliaserano.substack.com/p/lgbtq-peop... or Medium: juliaserano.medium.com/lgbtq-people... #LGBTQ

We are not going back! Will you join me in a simple, everyday action to change the world? #LGBTQNotGoingBack

I’m proud to participate in today’s #LGBTQnotgoingback day of action. I hope you’ll join me in reaching out to your reps to protect our LGBTQ+ siblings ♥️🧡💛💚💙💜 open.substack.com/pub/julieart...

Last Friday's tip is an important one - make sure you take care of yourself first. Want to receive each week's tip in your email box each Friday morning? Sign up for AASL Friday Forecast: bit.ly/3YQnwmv. Want to see an archive of tips shared? Visit: bit.ly/4hEWze2.

Support your libraries! action.everylibrary.org/emailreps

This is true!

It’s December. Time to break out my favorite holiday shirt. May have to wear it every day for the next 4.5 years.

Calling freelance illustrators who have been paid for work: pls take a few mins to answer an anon 7-question (multiple choice) survey re: how you found paying work? illustrator-promo.paperform.co Researching for my #SCBWI wkshop at #scbwiNY25 + will share aggregate results publicly. Thank you!

Politics only matters because of what we love, what we care about, where meaning comes from. And this is part of what I love and where meaning comes from, for me.

That time you maxed out your library hold requests based on a single thread (okay two threads—there’s one for novellas too!).

We’re on our way to the airport to drop our college-aged kiddos for their trips back to school. One minute, they’re in a heated debate about dark mode and the new iPhone UI and the next they’re both sound asleep. Some things never change 💕

The angst of finding a typo in the first post of a thread 😱😱😱 Where’s the edit button on this thing?

I’ve been talking more with friends and family about the myriad reasons to shift funds from the big A into our local communities by shopping local, especially at indie bookstores. Buying books from local booksellers (and/or getting them from the library) supports not just of them, but authors too—

Got a very nice email from a reader and this is just a reminder that if you like someone's book, please tell them. You will make their day 🖤

And if you don’t have a local, check out @bookshop-org.bsky.social (and @librofm.bsky.social for audio). This is one switch we made a few years ago that I’ve never regretted.

Reminder that your favorite local indie bookstores make a lot of their yearly income during the holiday season. Go shop local today. ❤️

Uhhh, hi! It's me, Bookshop.org, a place to buy books online where every purchase financially supports indie bookstores instead of some billionaire.

Study of trans athletes concludes blanket sports bans are a mistake. The lead researcher of a landmark IOC-funded study looking at strength, power & aerobic capacity of trans athletes says “sports federations should consider its findings carefully.” www.outsports.com/2024/4/12/24...

It’s time for my ever-growing thread of tax write-offs for authors & illustrators to keep in mind as we head into year-end. ✨ Book-related travel ✨ New computer/equipment ✨ Internet / office space ✨ Paper, office stuff, packaging items, stamps ✨ Software like Word, Scrivener, Canva Pro etc.

Happy Eat Pie For Breakfast Day to all who celebrate.

How to explain book bans to those who *actually* want to understand what's going on. Conveniently, I decided to rerun one of this year's most popular book censorship posts this week and it seems like I need to just rerun this every week. bookriot.com/ways-to-expl...

It’s time for my favorite tradition: the annual playing of Alice’s Restaurant. coloradosound.org/how-arlo-gut...

In case you need to hear this: 74 million is not half of 335 million. It’s not even half of half. Hope that helps. Honestly.

It's Thanksgiving. Maybe donate to @iwrising.bsky.social or another indigenous mutual aid fund. (I did.) www.iwrising.org

We lived in Finland from 2010-2014 and while I was there, the international community we were a part of was fascinated by American Thanksgiving. So I cooked a turkey and had a large communal meal each year we were there. I loved sharing part of my childhood with new friends, but at the same time…