Lily King always knocks my socks off. She tackles huge subjects (love, grief) in such an intense and immediate manner. Her stories are simultaneously sweeping and specific. HEART THE LOVER, the story of a writer and her early romantic and intellectual life, left me feeling bereft and full of hope.
Me, an elementary educator out in the wild: "Right is polite! Right is polite!"
On Nov. 16, a mental health counselor recorded in Kamilla’s medical records that her mother reported the girl had lost her appetite after being “served food that contained worms.” A week later, the couple said, children were told to gather in the gym for what they believed would be a Thanksgiving celebration. Excitement spread as families saw tables set with turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, they said. The children waited expectantly. But when a parent asked when the celebration would begin, Oksana said, staff told them the holiday meal was for employees, not detainees. The children, she said, watched despondently as the feast was packed away.
On Thanksgiving, the immigrant children held at the Dilley detention center gathered in the gym for what they thought was a holiday feast.
The kids salivated over a spread of turkey, sandwiches, pastries and pies, a family told me.
But the food wasn’t for detainees — it was for the staff.
Today in writing: I wrote more words than I deleted, updated my website to include information about my adult cozy mysteries, and filled out the dreaded questionnaire for my publisher (it wasn’t so bad).
Congratulations Renée Watson on her Newbery Medal!
The Office of the Maine Attorney General is creating a dedicated tip line for reports of federal agents violating Constitutional and civil rights, the state announced Monday morning. Attorney General Aaron Frey, a Democrat, is urging residents to send information about “intimidating or excessive behavior used by federal agents” to CitizenReporting.OAG@maine.gov. Frey’s office made the announcement after the second fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal agent amid an enforcement surge in Minnesota. “With the federal government now surging federal agents into Maine under the banner of immigration enforcement, evidence of constitutionally-deficient, excessive, and intimidating enforcement tactics is quickly emerging in our own state,” Frey’s office wrote in a statement. Tips should include dates, times, locations and contact information for those involved, the attorney general’s office wrote. The tip line is not accepting photos and videos, though Frey asked tipsters to note if the incident was documented. Emails to the tip line are not necessarily private, Frey noted, and may be subject to public records laws.
#MEpolitics
Big tip o'the hat to @cuuixsilver.bsky.social for the heads up on the new Maine Tip Line for reporting intimidating or excessive behavior used by federal agents: CitizenReporting.OAG@maine.gov
Here's what they need, and what they can't accept:
I love Candace Fleming's books. So exciting to see her recognized with the Margaret A. Edwards award!
Hooray, Laurel!
Statement from the chaplain of the Minnesota Timberwolves
Take this seriously
Screenshot of Google search for "anagram" with Google suggestion of, "Did you mean: nag a ram"
Well played, Google.
It’s so great! It plays with expectations and conventions in a really smart way.
Thank you to @authorsguild.org for a really informative webinar on the Anthropic settlement. And shout out to all the agents who are handling emails from clients who are learning their publishers never registered books with the copyright office.
Momix, my favorite dance company, is performing in the next town over on my birthday!
The Scarlett press logo showing the seal of a “S” within a circle
S&S has launched a romance-forward New Adult imprint, and I am one of the many editors across the S&S Children’s division who is now also acquiring for Scarlett Press! In addition to my kids/teen list, I’m seeking high stakes NA romantasy & thrillers with plenty of spice, yearning, and tension.
Psst! I am opening up to unagented children's book submissions *just for the month of October*! This is an exciting experiment. The email to send submissions to is OpenOctober@Sourcebooks.com. You can find out about what I'm looking for at www.manuscriptwishlist.com/mswl-post/me...
I tell people that the problem is not coming up with ideas, I think of a couple dozen of them a day. The real problem is knowing which of the damn things is any good for writing up. Most of them are junk. I have to let them roll around in my brain a while to find out which is which.
I love this idea!
94% of teachers have had to dip into their own pockets to buy school supplies. An estimated 1 in 6 have second jobs during the school year to make ends meet.
The average Wall Street employee got a record $244,700 bonus last year.
Something has gone terribly wrong.
I'm so excited to share that I am jumping into the world of mysteries for grown-ups with my adult debut: When Harriet Met Homicide. It's a cozy mystery mixed with a rom com about a team of booksellers who try to solve the murder of a reclusive author.
Writers are told to write the story that only they can tell, but what does that mean? I get into it in my latest newsletter. megbmore.substack.com/p/craft-note...
Interesting…
The trickle down of the DOE closing is going to make this worse. Many districts are going to need to make up for funds and will replace certified librarians with paraprofessionals who have no protections in their contracts and often no training in intellectual freedom.
Okay, fellow picture book writers, how are we handling this? Arm wrestling? Rock, paper, scissors? www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/u...
Just did a search for New Hampshire wedding venues for a book I’m working on. RIP my targeted ads.
Any “savings” at the federal level are not being passed on to the average voter, so it will be a hard sell to raise budgets at the state and local level. There will need to be cuts and, for some reason, school libraries and librarians are always targets.
In addition to the direct impact on viulnerable students, the dismantling of the DOE is likely to decimate school libraries.
Once, at my annual physical, the doctor complimented the neat way I folded and stacked my clothes and I have been chasing that high ever since.
After college, I bought myself a guitar. I soon realized that I wanted to be someone who could play the guitar more than I wanted to put in the time to learn.
If you aren’t excited to put in the work of writing, and instead want to use GenAI, maybe writing just isn’t your thing?
It has been the rainiest spring in the history of rainy springs here in Maine. On the plus side, I've done a lot of reading. If you're looking for some fun, twisty mysteries, try Every Time I go on Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack and the Finlay Donovan series by Elle Cosimano.
It also made me wonder if there are more plays that feature teen characters. Because just like I think teens deserve their own books, I think they deserve theater that represents them.
