Nightmares comes true in Brooklyn 🖤 Welcome, The Twisted Spine: NYC’s first horror bookstore/cafe!!

🐈‍⬛ Agent post: it appears there are queries in the CAT submission inbox from last year that somehow didn't get sorted properly. If you submitted to me using the website guidelines & you didn't receive a reply last year, my apologies! I do my best to respond to every query in the submissions inbox.

Tonight is September's full Corn Moon & lunar eclipse; like the harvest it’s named for, this moon reminds us to gather what has matured, let go of what we’re ready to release, & step gently into the autumn season ahead - a new chapter that the moon will guide us in. 🌕

Every Body Move! by Jenna Elyse Johnson & Ananya Rao-Middleton www.barnesandnoble.com/w/every-body...

Bandage Buddies by Kathryn Rammell www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bandage-bu...

Where They Gather by Teresa Rodrigues & Jamiel Law www.barnesandnoble.com/w/where-they...

So excited to share some upcoming picture books to check out during the B&N preorder sale! Where They Gather by Teresa Rodrigues & Jamiel Law Bandage Buddies by Kathryn Rammell Every Body Move! by Jenna Elyse Johnson & Ananya Rao-Middleton www.barnesandnoble.com

Anatomy of a Proper Book Fair Haul. Read the field guide here on the newest Through Lines post: throughlines.substack.com/p/anatomy-of...

Happy Birthday to our girl, Mary Shelley 🖤

Looking forward to cool autumn evenings at the library and local bookstore

Wrote something for Horror Tree: bit.ly/3HKQekm

ICYMI yesterday, the first essay at my newsletter is all about the most frightening scene I've ever watched in any film. Go check it out and maybe sign up? (Yes it's about NOSFERATU, good eye.)

Plot twist: love is real

Recommendations for Fall/Halloween romcoms? Books or movies!

Sharing Noted Ops Studio for business owners, freelances, creatives, and families looking for remote administrative or operational assistance. Right now they're offering back-to-school setup for parents, amongst the usual support: www.notedopsstudio.com

Books Are Magic Brooklyn

Tonight's full moon invites us to sob on the F train, apparently.

Forever and ever

It's Katie Holmes summer.

Book events with kids are magic. Thanks to Paul Tremblay & Adam Gidwitz for the bestest conversation about stories for kids, which my young readers were super glued to.

This is how creativity works. We think we're heading toward one destination, and we end up somewhere completely different, somewhere we didn't even know we needed to go, while believing that the story wants to be told.

Tonight is July's Buck Full Moon, also known at the Thunder Moon. This lunation is one of determination, responsibility, and steady growth - it reminds us to focus on long-term goals while working to lay the groundwork of practical steps needed to achieve our ambitions. 🌕

Today I saw a man reading a hardcover novel on a picnic blanket in the cemetery.

Em dashes are sacrosanct, structure is crucial, and all good storytellers know how to use "the rule of three" in powerful writing. This is personal.

It’s my job to look for portents of doom.

“If you don’t believe that the picture book is real literature, then in some level you don’t believe that children are real people. And that’s unacceptable.” Thank you, Mac Barnett. #ala25.

Don't miss the amazing Writer's Block exhibit in the Grand Hall at #ALAAC25! Find it next to the Big Chair & meet artist Sheryl Oring! @amlibraryassoc.bsky.social

Because mic-dropping revisions deserve some jaw-dropping #prizes... sites.google.com/view/kidlit-... (Friendly reminder: Don't forget to pick those jaws back up and reattach them before you leave the page.) 🫠 #KidlitZombieWeek 2025 #WriterSky #KidLit #WritingCommunity

Cover reveal for Twisted Tales to Tell in the Night, published by Death by TBR Books. I’ve got a total goof in this anthology titled BOOGER SUGAR. You’ll never want to pick your nose… ever again. Thank you @deathbytbrbooks.bsky.social

Summer Friday.

Manic Pixie Dream Final Girl Summer is about bloodstained sundresses, RomCom mornings that give way to Slasher midnights, & wildflower meadows where no one can hear you scream. She's here for the story: to survive it, subvert it, & steal the scene while riding the Wonder Wheel.

Welcome Manic Pixie Dream Final Girl Summer! New Through Lines post: open.substack.com/pub/throughl...

What June is for, from Hannah Connolly 💙

Yes, I'm a Woman in the Arts.

A guy is helping us bear proof our chicken coop and today he was explaining how we’ll put a carabiner clip through the extra-heavy deadbolt to keep bears from opening it and this wave of sadness that bears don’t understand carabiner clips just rolled over me.

Some of the #kidlitart #kidlit truths I’ve learned (mostly the hard way): 📖 open.substack.com/pub/jacobsou... 1. Kids are real people and deserve art that honors them for who they are right now and not what they’ll one day become.

Authors & Publishers posting about illustrated books launching this week: pls credit ILLUSTRATOR. Doing a #CoverReveal? Credit illustrator & designer. Not only does this help boost artist but it shows people that you hired a HUMAN artist. #PicturesMeanBusiness Art @sarahmcintyre.bsky.social

FYI: Universal's Dark Universe is officially open! We're taking you inside Frankenstein Manor for a peek at Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein experiment. This incredibly high tech dark ride features impressive animatronics and all of our favorite classic Universal Monsters. Stay tuned for more…

Here’s some Joshua McQuary art to make your Sunday a little better.

This is the most basic question ever, but I'm trying to build my list of places to submit short stories. Are there good lists available online? Or suggestions?

Reflections on the literacy crisis in America: throughlines.substack.com/p/the-litera...

Illustrators (and writers): please read! This line really stuck out: "If you fall asleep, you’ve made a pretty picture that is devoid of story and is hopelessly boring, even if it’s technically sound."

Happy Book Birthday to middle grade mystery THE THIRTEEN DOORS OF BLACK HOUSE by Laura Lavoie! I can't wait to get this book in my hands! 🐈‍⬛

Congratulations to Jyoti Chand and Tara Anand on their graphics novel debut FITTING INDIAN hitting stores today, from HarperAlley!!!

I can't believe it's only 172 days until Halloween.

Today is May's Flower Full Moon, a lunation named for the wildflowers blooming at the height of spring. This open-hearted full moon gives us the opportunity to pause & reflect on how we're moving from one season to the next, allowing us to ask for what we truly want - even if it feels huge. 🌕

Urban fairy

This place is so haunted (complimentary).