Jennifer Azantian

a scene from an illuminated manuscript by John Skylitzes in which a woman is stabbing a man with a spear in the first panel. In the second panel, a group of men are handing over various things to the woman who stabbed said man in the previous panel

for no reason whatsoever, I am bringing out my favorite 12th-century illumination today, which depicts

1) a Thracesian woman killing a Varangian Guard who tried to assault her

and

2) his comrades praising her and giving her all of his stuff for her very understandable and justifiable actions 🙏

Book cover. One Level Down. Mary G. Thompson. Small girl over blue cubes.

Awards consideration post! Check out my novella One Level Down, published in April, 2025, by @tachyonpub.bsky.social! Listen free on Spotify with your subscription—it’s only 3 hours long! @jenazantian.bsky.social

This piece is so wonderful, but this part made me cry a little bit not gonna lie

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

I wrote a new adult romance about an incredibly bisexual, chicano, Crocs-wearing soccer goalkeeper who falls for his philosophy classmate after kissing him at his first college party and finds the courage to fight for himself, his dreams, his greatness, and the guy he’s falling in love with 💙🍍⚽️

Icebreaker Check out Icebreaker - <p><b>A. L. Graziadei's <i>Icebreaker</i> is an irresistible YA debut about two hockey players fighting to be the best—and the romance that catches them by surprise along the wa...

Ya'll, I just finished Heated Rivalry, and it was so good! If you enjoyed it, too, I highly recommend checking out Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei, which is a YA/NA about rival hockey players with all the yearning, banter, and emotional complexity you want! <3

bookshop.org/p/books/iceb...

🎉❤️

when i say bring that baby home i mean EVERY BABY

illustration of Catherine O'Hara as Delia Deetz for the Beetlejuice Tarot card, "Queen of Swords"

💔

So excited!! 🎉

A terrible day.

The U.S. government vs. the free world.

From the stateofMN community on Reddit Explore this post and more from the stateofMN community

I don’t have a huge platform or anything, but I want to use whatever influence I do have to share this. What’s happening is frightening and unconstitutional.

Know your rights and protections.

www.reddit.com/r/stateofMN/...

ICE deports 5-year-old US citizen from TX to Honduras, group says Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos and her mom were arrested in Austin on January 5.

Her mother called 911 for help… and got turned into ICE instead.

They placed her and her five year old daughter in a hotel and told them not to contact anyone.

ICE didn’t want the community fighting for them.

Mother & daughter have been deported to Honduras and the local police were complicit.

$1 BILLION per nation to stay on the Gaza “Peace Board” — with Trump controlling the money.

Obscene, indefensible corruption. Monetizing the slaughter. There is no bottom. finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-w...

21-year-old activist injured by ICE:

I will be blind for life. I have fractures in my skull that they can't fix. They pulled a piece of plastic the size of a nickel out of my eye. I had shards of metal, glass, and plastic behind my eye and in my skull. They said it was a miracle I survived.

😍

So excited to work with you, Tory! And congrats on the debut! 🥳

🎉🎉🎉

screaming. crying. chewing on concrete.

The Iron Garden Sutra is on ANOTHER LIST WHAAAAAAAT??? i am in amazing company and can't wait to read everyone's books!

You know it's January as a literary agent when your inbox is "New Ideas" "A New Book Idea" "A New Book" all in a row. <3 I do love this part. The excitement of opening a new idea from a client and going YES!

"Rejection is redirection, so never give up. And you know, it's never too late to shine like you were born to be."

As said by EJAE, singer, songwriter, and Rumi's singing voice for KPOP Demon Hunters during her Golden Globe acceptance speech for winning Best Song.

I have done this so many times! One suggestion is try a voice recording. Not necessarily going to make the dream make more sense but at least you’ll know what you mean to say! 😅

Love this so much!

Hi Kody -- It's (REDACTED)--AT sent your note to me. As long as you credit me (us) for the song (which it sounds like you are), you're free to use the lyrics and reference and anything else. No need to pay me, just so long as: A. You send me a link to the comic when it's done and B. You come to one of my shows in Seattle this year and introduce yourself (since I live in Seattle and play pretty regularly around).

I've reached out to two 80's hardcore punk bands for lyrics licensing requests through their labels, telling them about #KeepingTime and my budget. Both times, the guys came back with, "nah go ahead, use it for free."

Punk's not dead. In fact, they're still out there, being radically kind.

Kennedy Weakens U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Is there a single day—1 single day—when RFK Jr does NOT do something to dismantle public health?

This one is exceptionally grim—IMHO, the USPSTF is world-leading

As Dr Caroll says, if you ever got a free mammogram, colonoscopy, or HIV test, you can thank the USPSTF

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/09/w...

Post by @literaticat · 1 image 💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · How long do most picture books stay in print for? I would guess that they go out of print relatively quickly unless they become a classic or super popular in order to make room for…

Ask the Agent Question of the Day: How fast do picture books go out of print?

My experience, with graph! :D

Also I explain potentially one of the most important maxims I can tell you about publishing: A STRONG BACKLIST IS WHAT KEEPS THE LIGHTS ON.

www.tumblr.com/literaticat/...

A "Meet the Artist" drawing of a short Japanese dude with a punch-able face. He's wearing a "What's more punk than the public library" shirt. Meet the Artist: Kody is Over (he/they). Ace flag, trans flag. Perennial younger brother energy (unfortunate). Favorite ninja turtle: c'mon, it's Michelangelo, did you really need to ask. Accidental sports goth. "I'm still punk!!" he says as he hangs out exactly 4 rows behind the pit (someone has to hold his partner's glasses, ok!!"). Tattoos paid for by the Japanese government. This is a true story. Wanna-be gym rat. Do not ask him to do a reverse fly, he WILL cry. Teacher's pet masquerading as a rebel. Is now wondering why he's reading himself for filth like this. Likes: Japanese men's volleyball, Ai Yazawa, punk/indie/ska. Barf: hustle culture, art as "content," entitled tourists in Hawaii.

haha I've never done one of these but this was fun!!

Portfolio Tips for Illustrators by Nala J. Wu Portfolio tips for Illustrators Written by Nala J. Wu (@naladraws) | they/them As an art director (AD) and longtime professional illustrator— I’ve probably looked at nearly a thousand art portfolios. ...

PORTFOLIO TIPS FOR ILLUSTRATORS

I am an art director who has probably seen close to 1000 portfolios, many great, but many...not 😔

This is a doc I wrote featuring tips and tricks for how to make a better art portfolio site. Feel free to share with anyone who may find this useful <3 #art

I know im putting too much effort into these pages BUT LOOK AT EM

😍❤️