I am doing the final, final page edits of The Velvet Knife at the dog cafe, where next to me, a guy is sharing his Indian grandmother's secret recipes and I am trying not to let on that I am leaning in and trying to hear and type them out.

The next James Bond should be Gary Oldman in his Jackson Lamb persona.

LOTS going on with the NY Freedom to Read Act. Something needed right now from *librarians and educators who work in NYS only*. Can you fill out this survey for @nyclu.org and share it with other NYS librarians/educators? Sent it to each other please! x5h4gde8rss.typeform.com/to/cRdPf2Gp

This is the situation I refer to the most when trying to explain a the state of book bans right now. Utah has state mandated book destruction for books like Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood, and Damsel by Elana K Arnold. The vast majority of the books are written by women.

Dreamt @maureenjohnsonbooks.com resolved a longstanding liturgical debate among YA readers by suggesting that we can all marry both Edward AND Jacob, establishing for the first time that love triangles can actually just be polycules.

Put this next to the Reflecting Pool you cowards.

HEY! FELLOW NEW YORKERS! You an author? Your book been banned? Has it been banned somewhere in New York State? Please do this survey to help Authors Against Book Bans et al gather data on the extent of book ban issues in our state: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... everyone else: please boost

If I chartered a boat this summer that was a Last of Shelia sunset cruise around NYC where we just watched this movie and played a murder game would you buy a ticket for that should I do it.

Open hatred. This feels like something out of a movie like Footloose. Surreal.

The Confederacy rises again.

Book banning seems so crazy and unlikely--until you see it. Until you notice the book just...isn't there. Until you get your first threatening letter. Until you see the well-funded Moms for Liberty member at the school board talking about taking the books. Until you see the fired librarians.

I wrote this essay last fall for print only & I'm republishing it with their permission bc we're talking about didactism in kidlit right now and I have HAD thoughts about the connection between instructive lit and book banning. I'd be honored if you read it. www.prettyokmaggie.com/blog/2026/5/...

NEXT WEEEEEEEEK: Rebel Spirit Season 2 drops. This season, we take on... the Confederacy. Trailer out today. rebelspiritpodcast.com/episodes/com...

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...

Pro tip: it matters where you cut the headline. Count your words. Do the meth.

People outside of the US: yes, it really is like this here.

Learning to write is just coming to terms with how much you suck and experiencing the euphoria that it literally doesn’t matter until someone either pays you enough to afford rent or they murder you in jealousy and disgust at what you‘ve done.

Friendly disagree. What we have now are *policies* that could be changed by a different administration. We do not have laws. There is no reason to veto a necessary, commonsense law because of policies that could be wiped away. Also, this bill as currently drafted provides further protections.

Also! Did you know that New York State, the CAPITAL OF THE PUBLISHING INDUSTRY, the place known for writers, the home of many (LIKE ME), has no Freedom to Read legislation? As a member of @authorsabb.bsky.social, I'm in a large and amazing coalition of people trying to change that...

You can still watch this today! I took the opportunity to rewatch it while it was still online. If you haven't, TAKE THE TIME. It's a brutal but necessary watch. It will change how you see the topic. It will get you ready to fight for the freedom to read.

Happy birthday to John Brown, who knew exactly how to handle the south’s “Peculiar Institution”

When we come to PA to be with family, she gets to rest outside in bed and this is the smile:

For his 100th birthday David Attenborough should get to surreptitiously release an animal of his choosing into the home of a big game hunter.

I changed a propane tank by myself tonight for the first time and I think a twenty minute standing ovation and maybe a commemorative postage stamp are in order.

When I’m fully disassociated and I put on my active listening face

The fact that the Kid Lit ambassador wrote this is genuinely bananas. We are under fire on all sides, and that means PICK YOUR WORD CAREFULLY, because you are the KID LIT AMBASSADOR who should maybe be aware that this is an easily pulled quote.

So the Anthropic copyright settlement website turned out to be extremely weird and glitchy! This encounter @maureenjohnsonbooks.com had is living rent free in my mind www.vox.com/culture/4878...

It's #buyastrangerabook day's 8th birthday tomorrow. EIGHT YEARS! I've done some maths and I think that thanks to your amazing help, over 12,000 books have been given away since it started! It started here. www.bigissue.com/culture/book... THANKS!

One of the things I love about Icelandic is how easy it is to make up words by just cramming other words together to make a new one. The word "kjörklefakúkari" for example, means "a person who poops inside voting booths" and yes, we have that word for a reason.

I've got a bunch of good writing and cool announcements coming up and would love love love if you took 10 seconds to sign up to get em straight to your inbox. No fee, no nazis, no spam, just good times. dansinker.com/follow/

Now would be an excellent time to pre-order Chris Smalls’s forthcoming book. www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/724036...

PS if you want to translate my books or invite me - or any other Icelandic author, of which there are MANY - to a literary festival, or to promote a book, the Icelandic government will probably also pay for that!* *although the translation grants only cover parts of the translation cost

We could have news like this all the time if we wanted it enough.

What if Elliott Smith wrote Hey Ya? What if he didn’t? What if you got a job? What if my phone exploded making my face sooty black and my mustache spin around like a propeller? What if I drank a whole thing of dishwasher detergent?

Beautiful

*vegetarians going ha ha yes sickos*

Decency! Easy! Quick! Fun! Requires nothing! Anne gets it.

I’m on an NYC subway and someone has what looks like a fresh bag of Wawa sandwiches and I have locked in.

Where and How Book Censorship Is Impacting Children’s Publishing Right Now. Publishing imprints for young readers are shuttering thanks to a softening school and library market. That's the result of book censorship. bookriot.com/book-bans-an...

Just ONE WEEK LEFT for you to stream THE LIBRARIANS for free on the PBS app and YouTube channel! Already seen the film? Be sure to let your friends and family know to watch it before May 9th while it's still FREE to stream! Watch and share now: tinyurl.com/TheLibrarian...

I'll start this imprint myself if I have to.

ME, A HARPER AUTHOR FROM ANOTHER IMPRINT, ON READING THIS: well, i guess i can just go fuck myself i guess BLINK: you can’t do that either garbage face

All Hail Chaos, book 2 in the Time of Iron series, is out May 12 and book 3 is out July 2027. So we thought you guys might like to know the title… I called the book that because Imma do it. Trust me, I’m telling you stories. #booksky

Jim Crow Didn't Die. It Went to Law School. #CivilWarMemory open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

Genuinely, their database is so utterly borked and insane--I don't know how any of this is going to play out. Again, when I spoke to them on the phone and they agreed there were many mistakes in it, they said, and I quote: "Coding is hard."

when we mourn le guin, we mourn one of our greatest writers & thinkers. but we also mourn one of our all-time greatest haters

every time a publisher's employees unionize, the future of literature gets a little brighter