53 minutes before the rapture is the *perfect* time to read a conversation among five multi-published authors (Anna-Marie McLemore, @exrpan.bsky.social, @ryansara.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, and me) about their varied approaches to the craft and process of beginning a new novel

Happy fall! The first issue of The Eavesdrop is now live. 🌱 This season, we're talking about Beginnings--everything from fears & joys to momentum & logistics. We discuss the hows and whys of writing, including: How do you know for sure that the beginning of a novel is right? Or right enough for now?

u know what 2 do.

In the past nine days, I've written two (2) and a quarter pages of what might become a new book, and there's more tinkering than drafting going on here for sure, but: I like them.

Happy Friday. Tato has some concerns.

I'm making a newsletter with my friends @exrpan.bsky.social, @novarensuma.bsky.social, @anicarissi.bsky.social & Anna-Marie McLemore! It's called The Eavesdrop. It's free, quarterly, on Ghost. Our first issue comes out on the autumn equinox, and you can subscribe here: thisistheeavesdrop.com

Something I'm psyched about: Anna-Marie McLemore, Emily X.R. Pan, Sara Ryan, Nova Ren Suma & I are creating a (free) collaborative newsletter, The Eavesdrop, which is a quarterly conversation about process & craft. If you'd like to find us in your inbox four times a year, here's the link to sign up!

Ever wanted to eavesdrop on a conversation with five writers? @anicarissi.bsky.social @ryansara.bsky.social @exrpan.bsky.social, Anna-Marie McLemore, & I are launching a new newsletter so you can do just that! Subscribe to get our first issue on Monday! www.thisistheeavesdrop.com/about/

Ahem. 🎶Haaaaaaaappy BOOOOOOOOOK DAAAAAAAAAAY tooooooooooooo meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…🎶 📖🎂🚀

Hi! What @anicarissi.bsky.social said! Very excited to be making this with Anna-Marie McLemore & @exrpan.bsky.social & @novarensuma.bsky.social & Anica!

We're using Ghost for our new newsletter, btw, because it's 2025 and no one needs to be on substack

I've been making something fun with friends, and our first issue drops on September 22. If you're interested in craft, process, and the creative life, I hope you'll subscribe! (It's free.) Find us at thisistheeavesdrop.com. Here's the pitch: 🧵

Meanwhile, on my windowsill...

The aesthetics here are so spot on that I almost didn't read it --- not wanting to deal with any doomerish crap so early in the morning. But this is hilarious and it keeps on going.

I play fiddle in and write lyrics for this electro-country band. After an intense summer in the studio recording tracks for our new album (coming in March 2026), we're pleased to be back onstage for three outdoor NJ/PA shows. More info in the alt text. Come dance and cry along!

Five years ago today, NOBODY KNOWS BUT YOU, my YA novel about an intense friendship formed over a single summer at camp—a summer cut short by murder—came out. If you missed the release, no worries. I too was preoccupied with other concerns in fall 2020. But maybe you should pick it up now!

"Didn’t all mothers scribble novels onto long yellow legal pads from the corner of the living room sofa?" Tuck Everlasting was important read for me as a kid (and I enjoyed revisiting it on audio recently)--but my favorite Natalie Babbitt book will forever be The Search for Delicious. Anyone else?

Also: Don't forget to do the chicken dance on your way out! Moving your arm around for a few minutes post-shot helps prevent soreness. (I learned this from a doctor and it has proven true for me)

Got the new covid vaccine this morning and I'm already 39% cuter. 10/10, highly recommend. CVS in NJ doesn't ask for proof of eligibility, btw--you just check a box to confirm you meet the requirements.

Wait, did you know you can take a free online class on Modern & Contemporary American Poetry through UPenn's The Kelly Center and spend the fall reading and discussing poetry and watching lectures? LET'S DO IT www.coursera.org/learn/modpo

Hi authors! Please remember to file a claim!

Favorite scavenger hunts in kid lit?

I will say the thing that AI does really well is emulate that precise feeling of meeting someone new, and they seem amiable and pretty verbose, but over the course of the conversation you start to realize that they’re very stupid.

I've been working on A Creative Thing all summer long (and before that, all spring and winter and...), and today's the last push for adding the finishing touches before the hard deadline tomorrow. I'm excited, I'm scared, and I'm drinking all the tea and blasting a good fight song. Let's go!

I can never find the quote again, so possibly I made it up, but someone once said that "style is what's left after you accept your failures as a writer" and I think about that all the time. Even if I made it up myself, it's been a useful thought 😂

My hill: kids are naturally creative and artistic. You give kids paper and something to draw with and you will get the wildest shit ever created. It's an actual tragedy & horrifically anti-human to be shoving AI on them and encouraging them to stunt that essential part of themselves.

This book is a gas--wickedly clever and full of cheeky fun. Excited to share it with my favorite kiddos 💚 Congrats, @danpoblocki.bsky.social and James Rey Sanchez!

Nova is not only a fabulous writer but also an incredible teacher. I highly recommend her workshops!

Registration opens Monday at 8:30am! This asynchronous online course includes feedback on your novel pages from me + your workshop cohort, a private Zoom conference with me, and weekly optional Zooms for discussion (recorded if you miss them). Join me! continuingstudies.stanford.edu/courses/crea...

This weather makes me feel like a dumpling.

I did an author event at my hometown library this evening and my beloved elementary school art teacher came to see me, and I am 😭

15 classrooms or school libraries will get a copy of The Incorruptibles, a set of bookmarks, and a virtual visit with me!!! US only. To win: 1️⃣ Comment with something fun you did this summer or what magic power you’d like to have 2️⃣ Repost/retweet this giveaway I’ll select winners by August 11th!

Maine friends, join DISES librarian Laura Lawford and me for a conversation about writing & storytelling on the Deer Isle Library lawn this Monday evening at 5pm. Deer Isle is where I grew up--and where my middle grade novel WISHING SEASON is set--and this wonderful library helped make me a reader 💙

The fact that we get a new Dory Fantasmagory book this fall makes me feel just a little bit better about the world. I freaking love this series. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753169...

Honestly, even if you merely like (or generously tolerate!) an author, this is a lovely thing to do for books and bookstores and bookfriends and bookculture. ♥️ Requesting that your local library order it goes a long way too (especially with lesser-known authors most library don't have on auto-buy).

If you love an author, preorder their next book as soon as you hear about it. They’ll love you forever, and when you get your copy the very day of publication, you’ll forget you ever paid for it and it’ll feel like you got it free. 3/2

Is it my imagination, or is every other car on the road* now a Subaru? *east coast, from PA to Maine, with a notable concentration of Teslas still in NJ

Boo! HIDE AND DON’T SEEK: AND OTHER VERY SCARY STORIES slithered into bookstores four years ago today. This collection of 20 original spooky tales (for readers ages 8 to 108) was an absolute joy to write. I love that it’s still making readers shiver, giggle, and shriek. 👻🖤

1. I didn't know black-eyed susans could do this 2. Why does it make me want to eat them

Cursed to never say cool beans at the right time

Wearing a pair of pants I purchased in 1999 and feeling almost on trend

Hashtag author life / Hashtag walrus life

Get you a brownie that can do both ✨

Hey, book lovers: It's a great week to purchase a book! @bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores, has free shipping through the 11th. (Let me know if you need any book recs!) Here's the link: bookshop.org

Cover reveal! GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE is coming on April 7, 2026, from Dutton/@penguinteen.bsky.social & I’m thrilled to share its gorgeous cover, which perfectly captures the sharp intensity of Destiny’s fracturing story. Cover art by David Roy Ocotla. Cover design by Kaitlin Yang. I feel so lucky

Cover reveal! GIRL REFLECTED IN KNIFE is coming on April 7, 2026, from Dutton/@penguinteen.bsky.social & I’m thrilled to share its gorgeous cover, which perfectly captures the sharp intensity of Destiny’s fracturing story. Cover art by David Roy Ocotla. Cover design by Kaitlin Yang. I feel so lucky

CANNOT WAIT to read this book! A new YA from @anicarissi.bsky.social!!

It's awkward going, "Hey, I fell off the face of the earth but I have a book coming out tomorrow if you're interested" but... Hey, I have a book coming out tomorrow. It's a MG fantasy inspired by 1001 Nights with a Blasian heroine. Might be fun? Might distract from the horrors?

Today I received the first typeset pass and tomorrow I get to show off the cover (at 1pm eastern), and the fact of this book becoming a book is starting to feel almost real

It was a pleasure to answer these questions from @deborahkalb.bsky.social about MOUNTAIN UPSIDE DOWN!