I'm a writing coach, teaching artist, and author of 12 books including: MIGHTIER THAN THE SWORD (Beaming Books). (She/Her) (#SCBWI; #12x12PB; #ASJA; PCC ICF)
Mean Girls meets Plus One by John Hare in When FairiesComes to Tea. Rosie invites the delicate flying fairies to tea, but when the class dragon gets there first, Rosie fears Duke’s fire breathing will wreck everything. #PB#JoyPit
Congratulations, Virginia! Republicans are trying to tilt the midterm elections in their favor, but they haven’t done it yet. Thanks for showing us what it looks like to stand up for our democracy and fight back.
Editors I respect are leaving. Books sections are closing. I'm watching this industry shrink in real time, and I don't have a neat answer for what comes next—but I think pretending everything is fine is worse than talking about it.
There’s this never-ending debate about whether em dashes, semicolons, and colons have become signs of AI writing. As a result, many of us writers have stopped using them—swapping them for commas or reshaping sharp, effective sentences into something blander—to avoid suspicion.
But AI was trained on the best of us. On millions of published works by real authors. It learned from our voices, our rhythms, our punctuation. And now we’re acting as if those marks somehow belong to machines.
They don’t.
Those tools were ours long before AI existed. Our teachers taught us how and when to use them, years before anyone imagined generative AI. So let’s take them back. Let’s use the full range of language with confidence. The em dash, the semicolon, the colon—they’re not signals of artificiality. They’re signs of craft.
#WritingCommunity #writerslife
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As 2025 comes to a close, I'm continuing a tradition that I started during my time in the White House: sharing my annual lists of favorite books, movies, and music. I hope you find something new to enjoy—and please send any recommendations for me to check out!
If you're looking for gifts to support yourself or others during this chaotic time, I have ideas! Check out: Gifts to Cope with Challenging Times https://t.co/BMH0rxVYHE #writingcommunity
@BreeSolstad It reminds me of something Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath." (Mark 2) Same could be said of kneeling.
Attenborough's Life of Birds meets Jennifer Killick's Flock Horror in the NF PB, THE BATTLE OF THE BIRDS: SEVEN TRUE TALES OF MURDER AND MAYHEM. In cases plucked from the nest, readers encounter spine-tingling accounts of birds who stalk and kill other birds. #QuestPit#STEM
Dancing with the Stars meets Our Planet in the picture book Dancing with the Animals. Presented like a television show, host Zelda introduces readers to the moves of 14 dancing creatures, including waggling bees, swirling sea dragons, and promenading flamingoes. #QuestPit#STEM
Got a story that almost works?
Chances are the missing piece isn’t your creativity, but your story’s structure.
Learn how to connect every beat from start to finish with the Structuring Your Novel Workbook.
https://t.co/xTkgwuS4U7
#AmWriting#WritingTips#StoryStructure
When two animals meet, which ones cooperate? Will the Colombian lesserblack tarantula gobble up the tiny frog? In the picture book Predator or Partner, readers meet 10 unlikely animal pairs and guess who plays predator and who plays partner. #QuestPit#NF
Our children are struggling. SEL helps. The Book of Me: Write Your Story, Draw Your World features profiles of writing mentors and interactive writing exercises that invite children to identify their strengths, values, and beliefs and dream up new adventures. #QuestPit#MG