Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez: “The Government of Spain will not applaud those who set the world on fire just because they show up with a bucket.” 🍿

Something Wicked This Way Comes? Eberhard's epic 18th c. journalistic attempt to debunk the supernatural and superstition left this stunning record of witch hunting and ghostly hand burns that only raises more questions! @newberrylibrary.bsky.social (Case B 85 .386) #FoldoutFriday

the lurking umbra hiding in every corner the turmoil of rainclouds that #overcast my skies the call of the dark despite dancing in the light you are eternal and i bow to your will #vss365 #poetry

In honor of Mr. Rogers’ birthday, here’s your regularly scheduled reminder that the quote of his you keep sharing, that in times of crisis we should look for the helpers, was for his audience of children. We’re adults now. We’re supposed to *be* the helpers.

Our Carolina jasmine is blooming on this Spring Equinox! This is always my first sign of longer days and new growth.

Happy March 15. Here is my favorite Ides of March meme:

☹️☹️☹️

is THIS enough to convince you to read The Red Winter? 👀 🎨: Christina Mrozik

I've fallen into a creative hibernation the last few weeks. Lots of reading and writing. Social media fell to the wayside, but that's okay. In fact, it allowed me to finish my first draft. Now my fav part of the writing process: I take something messy and wild and shape it into something magic. 📚💙

The most helpful any everyday technology has ever been is GMail's "You wrote 'Attached is' but no files are attached." reminder and I don't need any tech to be more intelligent than that.

what once was symphony became dissonance black clouds leak their melancholy pelting at the windows soaking to the bone uncertainty marrs the days but i hold on to the sunrise seeking new horizons and for #harmony once more #vss365 #poetrt

The Beauty of Age In youth I loved flowers I protected them fiercely with chemical products And enjoyed my flowers immensely With age I understand chemicals harm Nature I use natural remedies in #harmony with life And enjoy my flowers immensely Flowers bloom Wisdom deepens Roberta ❤️‍🔥 #vss365

I'll be teaching a webinar on Sat., April 11 at 11 a.m. CT on The Mechanics of Writing, where I'll go over the basics of punctuation, dialogue mechanics, and self-editing that every writer should know, as well as examples of common mistakes I see in submissions. Register at www.thewritingbarn.com.

👨‍🔬Victor Frankenstein is the worst, and we have receipts. Mary Shelley's classic work is not kind towards it's male characters, but Victor in particular has us rolling our eyes. 🙄 Tune in to our latest episode for more quotes and rants. Out on all podcast platforms! 🎧🎬 💙📚🖋️⏳🪐 📽️ #books #film #classic

The Etiquette of Longing | Chapter 4 - with art by @twodaysmissing.bsky.social War comes, wedding proposals are made, and Neuvillette and Wriothesley spend their first, and final night together, before Wriothesley is sent to the front lines 🖇️below! #Wriolette #リオヌヴィ #狱审 #莱那

Anyone reading the book before the movie comes out? If you're struggling--which I totally get!--check out my latest post on Substack. open.substack.com/pub/kathlene... 💙📚

📚💙⏰ Friendly reminder, our Based on a Book Season 4 @thestorygraph.com Challenge is officially underway! If you’re reading along with us this season you can join the challenge now & read with us through June! ⬇️ tinyurl.com/252urte8 #books #bookish #read #bookchallenge #reading

Currently reading: A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. Paying attention to pacing and atmosphere --> the gothic vibes in this book are amazing! It's a perfect companion read for my gothic lit personal curriculum. 🪐📚💙

Is anyone else shocked that Edgar Allan Poe had such precise, neat handwriting? I'm diving into some internet sleuthing about him for my current WIP, and I would have expected something a bit more wild, given his subject matter. Happy #NationalHandwritingDay.

Late-night writing sprints are HARD for me. But having this sweet boy by my side certainly helps. 📚💙

I didn't know National Thesaurus Day was a thing, but there are so many amazing words out there. A few of my current favs: Soliloquy. Effulgence. Flutter. What are your favorite words? 📚💙 #NationalThesaurusDay

This year, I started a personal curriculum focused on Gothic fiction: core texts, criticism, and creative exercises. It’s a way to study the tradition I’m writing in instead of relying on vibes or nostalgia. Click here for details: https://kathlenebrown.substack.com. 📚💙 #personalcurriculum

I miss the times when evil billionaires would try to buy their way into Heaven by funding massive public libraries.

"Wonderlust" In light i am ravished Desiring the night When sex touches me Sending me into ignited fire Maybe it's the feeling Maybe it's the taste I am lost in desire Wonderful my climax

My desk is overflowing with coffee mugs, index cards full of ideas, and (too many) notebooks. But today is National Clean Off Your Desk Day. It's like an exorcism, but cozy and oh-so-freeing. Time to clear out the corners of my desk AND my mind. What tends to clutter up your desk...or brain?

What I'm working on this month: Finally finishing my draft! This story has been a slow one, and at times, it's felt like pulling teeth. I'm so glad to be sprinting every day with the Writer's Sanctuary January Writing Fellowship to get through to the end. ✨ 🪐📚💙

Wanna avoid responsibilities while appearing responsible? Wanna escape your mess of a life while looking like you have it all together? Wanna stave off people without coming across as rude? Try reading a book in public! 📖 #WritingCommunity #BookSky

You left a trail a print on this world with your juggling of language with your wit and irony and stories that twisted and turned Nobody can say you really wrote all those plays but you remain a legend a man of myths right up to this day #vss365 #myth

September was a dream: My first publication, Crimson Ink, came out in Spellbound. Thank you for celebrating with me. Community is the real magic.

Publication is thrilling, but the writing journey never stops. Back to drafting my Brontë/Poe gothic fantasy + querying my R&J retelling.

Crisp air, blankets, candles, pumpkins… 🍂 Fall is my favorite season, and nothing pairs with it better than books. What’s on your autumn TBR, and what should I add to mine?

It’s here. ✨ My first publication ever, Crimson Ink: A Brontë Tale, is out today in the SPELLBOUND anthology. Thank you for celebrating this dream with me. 🖤 Please like and share to help this first-time author! Purchase links (and free eBook!) can be found here: https://linktr.ee/kathlenebrown 🪐📚💙

Check out @writerjennshaw.bsky.social's lovely post about SPELLBOUND, our anthology releasing on Tuesday: open.substack.com/pub/musingsi... And if you'd like to help a new author, please share, add to Goodreads, or preorder now: www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQB1GXJ1 🪐📚💙

Next week! My debut story Crimson Ink: A Brontë Tale releases in Spellbound. Blood-bound magic. Gothic Brontës. A door best left shut.

It's International Literacy Day! Books were my first love, and I'm still a library kid at heart. What's one book that made you fall in love with reading?

Branwell Brontë’s gift wasn’t writing — it was magic. My debut story Crimson Ink: A Brontë Tale appears soon in Spellbound. #Booksky #FantasyWriters

Just 6 years ago anti-vaxxers were a laughable fringe group. Now their victory is so total they're setting government policy. This is like if schools started teaching Flat Earth. A complete failure of education and science comms. Kids will die because we couldn't convince their parents of the truth.

When people say "We used to drink raw milk from our own cow and it was fine," That's... usually not the case! In families w their own cow, the mom usually boiled it before using. We just forgot bc that's a boring chore that mom did. And who pays attention to that? youtu.be/vKDPast9WFk

enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits

The past is set in stone The events of tomorrow #Elude my attempts To see or manipulate To any real extent All of my power Is here and now In this moment only Can I make a difference Only in the present Can I be grateful Gracious Abundantly alive #vss365

September always feels like the first page of a new story: routines return, creativity stirs, and fall coziness calls. 🍂 What are you looking forward to this month?

A literary family. A blood-inked magic. A doorway that should have stayed closed. My first published story, Crimson Ink: A Brontë Tale, is coming soon in Spellbound! 🪐📚💙

It shouldn't be up to American children to save each other from getting shot. It's the job of American adults to stop shootings from happening in the first place. Ban assault weapons again now.

✍️ Midweek Check-in: 4,271 words written so far this week. Also, this book is giving me life (and major WIP inspiration). I love when a story reminds you why you write. 📚💙 #amwriting

Florida bans "The Diary of Anne Frank" in school libraries. Whoever made this decision should have to eat every page of that amazing book, page by page.

They want to regulate what you and your family are allowed to read - www.bookbanpetition.us

Big news: My debut story, Crimson Ink: A Brontë Tale, will appear in the anthology Spellbound this September! It's a gothic Brontë reimagining with blood-bound magic & dangerous doors. 🖤

Card of the Day: The Chariot. "I choose who I am becoming, and I run toward it with conviction and consistent motion." Who else needs this mantra from the #LightSeersTarot today? #Tarot #CoTD

Midweek Check-in: Only 931 words so far. But here's a great image I stumbled on while researching my WIP: The Barghest, an old Yorkshire legend, is a beastly hound foretelling death who also appears at funerals. He gathers all the local dogs, howling and barking, like a canine funeral procession.

I found a forest today unmaking itself. The trees creaked and leaned, groaning where they'd collapsed into one another, call and response. Where they'd fallen, the earth heaved at their feet, higher than my head. It was eerie, and somehow wondrous, standing in that slow and beautiful ruin.