I did a Substack with @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social Pretty sure I said that wrong 😆 An invitation to the world: open.substack.com/pub/betweent...

🎉HAPPY BIRTHDAY! It’s PUB DAY for my YA contemporary novel, TAKING BACK AUGUST! This novel has been tagged as my ‘best yet,’ & I’m intensely proud of it 🎉 KU=free Kindle=99¢ Link: bit.ly/4nWdP24 CHECK OUT THE PHOTO👇for some exciting REVIEWS 🥳 #newrelease #novel @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

🚨My 1st EDITORIAL REVIEW👇 “TAKING BACK AUGUST—a story about the family we’re given, the family we choose, and the lengths we’ll go to reclaim what we have lost—might be [Shifman’s] best novel yet.” —William J. Donahue, author of FIND YOUR WAY BACK TO ME & ONLY MONSTERS REMAIN Thank you, Bill!

Father’s Day means they have to engage in your dumb idea for an “unboxing” video. Two days until TAKING BACK AUGUST hits the world! Now 99¢ on Kindle! 👇 bit.ly/4nWdP24

Please consider supporting an independent author (that’s me) by gathering your change and buying TAKING BACK AUGUST for 99¢ on your Kindle. Release date is 06/23/2026. bit.ly/4nWdP24

remember that tomorrow is Litha, celebrating the glory of the sun at its peak, known for fabulous bonfires, chanting and dancing, donning flower wreaths, dressing up in bear suits, and the shrieking so much shrieking…

TAKING BACK AUGUST is 99¢ Preorder Kindle 06/23/2026 bit.ly/4nWdP24

✨SUPER EXCITED! My YA contemporary novel, TAKING BACK AUGUST, launches in FIVE DAYS on 06/23/2026!✨

Stories that don’t fit the mold

Next, a break from in-person book events for the first month of summer… I’ll be back at it on July 18th at the Fairless Hills, PA Barnes & Noble to promote TAKING BACK AUGUST, which releases 06/23/2026!

The @montco_book_fest today was AWESOME! MET SOME GREAT PEOPLE, SAW SOME FRIENDS, & SOLD MORE BOOKS THAN I EVER HAVE AT AN EVENT—14 COPIES! A LOT FOR ME 😊🎉✨🌞💛🩵

August is one of those words that if you look at it too long it looks wrong

Entering my Teletubby era eh-oh!

Please click on the pic for the alt text and the best laugh you will have all day (I promise)

Happy Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

That time I went to Patricia’s Sunset Cocktails #widow’sbay

Update: I bought it and we did a practice run putting it up today and it’s pretty good 😊

What’s the least fun synopsis to write and why is it a chapter-by-chapter synopsis

Slick sell sheet for TAKING BACK AUGUST! Thank you, @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

Great news! You can PRE-ORDER my latest YA Contemporary novel, TAKING BACK AUGUST, coming 06/23/2026! A story of identity, family secrets, and the courage needed to forge a new life. Teens & adults! Kindle: bit.ly/4nWdP24 Paperback: btwnthelines.com/product/taki... @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

Loved HALLOW ROAD! Chilling, creepy, and deeply thought provoking. Rhys and Pike are fantastic

Okay I finished KING SORROW by @joe-hill.bsky.social. I burned through it over the holiday weekend. A rollicking good tale! I loved every place he took it, including the major twist (ugh—should have seen it coming but didn’t). It’s a best read of 1H 2026 along with THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER. Bravo!

My publisher, BLP, is starting a Substack page. It’s going to be great, so please subscribe! @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

When Harry met Sally & Grogu

INDIE AUTHORS: is CROWN SHADES a good brand of 10x10 pop-up tent for book events? Seems like 10x10 tents are all about $150 if they come with a side wall, weights, and rolling bag. Are these tents pretty much all the same? Thoughts? #indieauthor

Gritty and surreal 👇

What in the John Carpenter is happening to my bush

WHAT WE HIDE movie on Prime you’re welcome

In the Oval Office, no one can hear you scream

🚨I’ve been called up! I’ll be MCing an open mic for indie authors, AND I’ll be selling my books from 1-4PM tomorrow, Saturday, 5/2, at the Bucks County Book Fest! 10 Doyle Street, Doylestown. See you there! 🎉✨💜 PAPER AIRPLANE, BROKEN BONES WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

Journalist Katie Phang is suing the USDOJ for their non-compliance with the EFTA. Please follow her to support this cause.

Sold some books, made new friends, got compliments on my Public Enemy T-shirt 💜 🎉 #independentbookstoreday @doylestownbookshop.bsky.social

100x that they GOT CAUGHT

Wrestled a guy in hs with the last name Spear and it went about the way you think it did

🚨NEW BOOK ALERT!🚨 Coming 06/23/2026: A new YA Contemporary novel by R.B. Shifman Title: TAKING BACK AUGUST Wicked twist. Poignant, coming-of-age storyline. From @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social Check the blurb in the photo #youngadult #novel #indieauthors #ComingOfAge #author

You have bitten your inner bottom lip while eating an orange. There is blood. You have two days to wait for the inevitable painful sore to erupt. You know it’s going to suck. You are filled with a special kind of woeful irritation

✨BIG ANNOUNCEMENT✨ I’m thrilled to announce I’ve signed contracts for 2 adult-audience novels to be published in 2027 by Richard Shifman! One is a surreal, mirror-world fantasy. The other is a sci-fi—equal parts fun, mind bending, and emotional. Novels #5 & #6 w/ @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social

I absolutely LOVED the new Netflix series, SOMETHING VERY BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN! Surreal, creepy, darkly funny and horrific in turn. Perfect ending imo. The first episode was like if AFTER HOURS was a horror series. #somethingverybadisgoingtohappen

Good God, this first image is perfect. Do you know someone like Ani? WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES #antifascist #novel #ya #dystopian

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 🎂🎉 One year ago today, PAPER AIRPLANE, BROKEN BONES was published by @btwnthelinespub.bsky.social! It’s been a 🔥 year, with many events, more book contracts, launch of WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES, and a FINALIST slot for PABB in the 2025 CIBAs! Hopefully more awesomeness to come! 🤞

My greatest victory today I made my daughter laugh

you didn’t win the lottery today but also you didn’t get struck and killed by a meteorite so you’re doing okay

This. And my older eyes are thankful

SINNERS is an epic, modern horror opera. Should win. #Oscars

Exactly

I SOLD A COUPLE OF HANDFULS OF BOOKS at Barnes & Noble today! Several copies of WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES & a few copies of PAPER AIRPLANE, BROKEN BONES, too! A good day! 📚 😊💜 Thank you to B&N Doylestown Thanks also to @buckscountybeacon.com for all the kind mentions here! #booksigning #novels #ya

they say as a writer you shouldn’t compete with other writers but sometimes when I lose the grind I don’t even feel remotely as good as myself anyone know what I mean?

Author @rshifman.bsky.social on his anti-fascist, dystopian YA novel We Were the Cuckoo Bees, which was largely inspired by Moms for Liberty/Christian extremist capture of Central Bucks School District's school board & the resistance that won power back in the last 2 elections: tinyurl.com/ynm8mfp9

ICYMI - I was on a podcast talking about my anti-fascist, dystopian YA novel, WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES! age: generally 15+

I’m on a podcast discussing WE WERE THE CUCKOO BEES! 🎧