Look at @ellemarr 's beautiful cover in the background! So amazing to hear her read from Lies We Bury. It's about news photographer Marissa, who, 2 decades after she escapes from the basement prison she was kept in, is beginning her career when a serial killer starts leaving clues and souvenirs from her childhood captivity around his underground Portland, Oregon crime scenes.

I had so much fun doing the #BlitsyHistoryMonth swap last year. Signups close Dec 19 so go check it out on @Chelleo 's page soon. If your swap partner loves romance, a reminder that the great Stacey Abrams writes romance under the pen name Selena Montgomery. #BHMS #BlitsySwap #LitsySwaps

Look what the crime genre did for democracy! Thank you, everyone! Also, if you hadn't already heard, the romance genre raised $570,000, and no, that is not one too many zeroes. #FlipTheDamnSenate 👏👏👏

Paging author hopefuls: Associate Publisher Juliet Grames of Soho Press, which publishes all of these books, is trying to get the #MysteryLovesGeorgia auction over the $50K finish line by closing tomorrow at 8pm CT. She's added a buy-now option: $30 for a ticket to her Zoom on Dec 21, and we get to ask her WHATEVER WE WANT. Seats are limited https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/76843/auctions/94567/auction_items/2713... #FlipTheSenate

I'm not salivating. YOU'RE SALIVATING! And these are just some of the 72 artsy/crafty pickings in the #MysteryLovesGeorgia auction to help Fair Fight Action #FlipTheSenate.
-necklace of a classic Nancy Drew silhouette
-Sherlock tote (you should see all the quilts she donated too)
-Ellen Byron tree decorations and books
-handmade book coasters
Browse here: https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/76843/auctions/94567?t=category&v=Arts+...

When I tell you the actual authors donated SIGNED COPIES to the #MysteryLovesGeorgia auction in support of voters' rights in the January runoff, try not to die from the thought of actually receiving book mail from one of them, k? Browse all the autographed books at the link. Some of them come with Zooms with the author or other fun goodies. https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/76843/auctions/94567?t=category&v=Autog... #FlipTheSenate

Bookish masks, my friends. Bid on these beauties to support Fair Fight Action leading up to the Georgia runoff. https://www.32auctions.com/organizations/76843/auctions/94567?t=all
#MysteryLovesGeorgia #Warnock #Ossoff
@ MysteryLovesGA on Twitter

Here to talk about 2 mysteries 🎉
1 Where have I been? Sick. Don't know definitively with what yet. My disabilities make it hard to read.
2 The #MysteryLovesGeorgia auction to support voters' rights in the Georgia runoff has raised $38K since Monday and the goal is to hit $50K by closing 9pm ET tomorrow. 384 items to browse. Follow @ MysteryLovesGA on Twitter and bid at https://www.32auctions.com/MysteryLovesGeorgia

I accidentally won a copy of The Missing Sister by @ellemarr . Thing is, I already own it, so I asked if we could give it away on here. @elissadickey accepted! Follow her to enter (international) & she'll give away an ebook of The Missing Sister Tues Apr 14 after 5pm CST. P.S. Elissa's own debut, The Speed of Light, about a woman grappling with an MS diagnosis, a new love, & a terrifying workplace incident drops in 2021 from Lake Union Publishing.

Happy release day, @ellemarr ! Elle's in-store launch was canceled due to COVID, so she's doing an Instagram Live 6pm PST tonight/Apr 1 & giving away a signed copy of the tagged thriller.

P.S. The audiobook is out now too.
P.P.S. This book was the most read book in the Amazon First Reads program for the month of March, & it's got almost 3K ratings on Goodreads so far.

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ellemarr1
Buy links: https://ellemarr.com

Look what's an Amazon First Reads pick—why it's our very own @ellemarr 's The Missing Sister, an #OwnVoices debut. Actual release date is April 1, but it's $1.99 USD/free on Amazon First Reads in March. I remember when Elle was winning writing competitions with this book, and I'm lucky she said yes to being my critique partner. It's a gritty, timely thriller with a voicy protagonist who ends up in Paris piecing together what happened to her twin.

It's #BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap day! I had so much fun opening my goodies, and I'm pumped to dig into these anthologies. @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego you're the best. I loooove everything. This is my first ever book sleeve, and I don't know how I've existed without one. Big hugs also to @Chelleo for making this year's swap international. #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistoryMonthSwap #BHMS #BHMSwap

Look at the beautiful card and bookmark I got from @Chelleo for #BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap! Featured alongside is my signed copy of Frying Plantain by Zalika Reid-Benta, set in Little Jamaica in Toronto and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. I'm one chapter in and loving it. #BlackHistoryMonthSwap

#FirstLineFridays "On my first visit to Jamaica, I saw a pig's severed head."

I'm so lucky to be swapping with @StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego again! She sent mine early and I definitely am not going to open it before February 29.
P.S. Anyone know of any @LitsySwaps loopholes that will make it okay for me to open this before February 29? jkjkjk :)
#BlitsyHistoryMonthSwap #BHMSwap #BlitsySwap

This quote reminded me of how American Dirt gained its initial buzz: "Publishing is a business based on fiction—and not only the fiction that is packaged between covers...In order to convince harried distracted people to set aside hours or even days to read hundreds of pages of non-animated words, we in the publishing business must manufacture an aura of success around a book, a glowing sheen that purrs *I am worth your time.*"

Since Dec 23, Jennifer Prokop (JenReadsRomance on Twitter) has been helping get the word out about the Romance Writers of America's wrongful censure of author Courtney Milan and the ensuing #RWAShitShow. This is Jen's Romancelandia set of five 3" stickers, $10/set, free US shipping. I'm not getting anything for this; I just think Jen and her stickers are kinda great.

https://www.jenreadsromance.com/product-page/stickers

#IStandWithCourtney

Last day to sign up for @Chelleo 's #BlackHistoryMonthSwap, #BHMSwap for short! I'm pumped to get shopping! #ThisIsNotADrill

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccbKxvs1nXN9af9V8jaSsu1oc1wjPwt0ig7hU6...

@MrBook is running #ReadWithMrBook in 2020, and we need your help making a list of #AuthorsOfLitsy for the March challenge!

If you know Litsy authors, please tag them, and if you're an author, tell us a bit about a book of yours you think we should read in March!

Get this: each mystery in this Newfoundland collection features an illustration by a student artist from Canterbury High School in Ottawa, and, wow, they're beautiful. I got a copy last night when the author Mike Martin was in town.

Fabulous author panel at WhoDunIt? Bookstore for the Thin Air Winnipeg writers' festival today. Sherwin Tija (white shirt) has this great #graphicnovel about a woman who is forever falling, no ground in sight, and so she has to relearn how to eat, pee, etc. Find it as Plummet in the Litsy database.

Now for a little bragging: my #OwnVoices critique partner @ellemarr landed a 2-book deal with Thomas & Mercer, and her debut just hit NetGalley. GET IT WHILE YOU CAN! Her cover and synopsis are en route to Litsy. :)

In Paris, Shayna's twin sister has vanished, leaving behind three chilling words: Trust no one. As she gets closer to the truth—and to the killer—Shayna‘s own life may now be in the balance…

Holy wow did this take a lot of concentration to get through. It's basically criticism about historical anti-woman literary criticism and literature. It didn't touch on intersectionality enough for my liking, but I'm not docking it points, because it did touch on it, and wherever not referenced, I could assume the intersectional repercussions. The copyright is 1983.

A story about how loss (in this case, the death of a loved one) can lead to the seeking out of community (in this case, a cult), which in turn can lead to radicalization. I wouldn't say this the paciest story I've read this year, but I would say it's some of the best prose, and I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Aren't these earrings gorgeous? But did I buy them? No. Do I regret it? Yes. I did get a gorgeous bookish pin, though. :) You can grab your own pair of these earrings for $15 (New York Public Library gift shop shop.nypl.org) but if you do, please share a pic so I can live vicariously through you...

I came across this cool Little Free Library in Winnipeg's Exchange District a few days ago!

Look at all the romances I brought home from the Romance Writers of America 2019 conference!

All the books that I brought home from New York, including the tagged book, which I picked up in the Romance Writers of America conference goody room! "Maggie Ramsay has never forgotten Randall Baines, the English lord who tormented her beloved sister...Will MacLerie is a notorious outlaw known as the Wild Falconer, hunted for a past he cannot acknowledge for fear of death...they unite forces to stop [Baines], come what may."

Digging into a plate of nachos and Writing the Other at The Playwright Restaurant in NYC. Picked up this used copy at Book Off about 30 minutes ago!

Hanging out with JB Schroeder at the Daphne du Maurier awards event last night! She was a published finalist for the tagged book. I placed third in my category, and I couldn't be happier. Thanks to everyone for cheering me on!

At the #2030SomethingBookClub with @MrBook !

Visiting with Vodka & Milk publisher Marvis Johnson at the Harlem Book Fair. Commissary Kitchen is a prison cookbook currently banned in the California prison system. Trap Kitchen is a collaboration between a Cryp and a Blood.

A pleasure chatting with author J. A. Faulkerson today at the Harlem Book Fair. Check out his two inspirational titles. Available for purchase on Amazon or at jafaulkerson.wordpress.com/store

Checking out the Harlem Book Fair, and I happened on this really smart reader. Great artwork, writing, and back-of-book activities. Buy on Amazon or B&N, or from Julieann's website: www.findingthejems.com

Hanging out at Revolution Books in Harlem, NYC!

In this erotic romance, a successful woman with autism hires an escort to teach her how to be in a relationship. Hoang created the kind of story dream that's more decadent fairy tale than realistic, and I was addicted from chapter 2. If, like me, you find the first chapter a little shaky, push past it, and, like me, you'll be happy you did.

Guess who's a finalist for a Daphne du Maurier Award for Excellence in Mystery/Suspense? This girl! Guess who's going to the awards event in New York in July? This girl! I'm one of six finalists in the unpublished, mainstream mystery/suspense category for my mystery THE BIAS OF RAIN.

Exceptional writing advice aside, this is just a really good read. Whether you write memoirs or fiction, this is an essential read, the chapters discussing voice and sensory description some of the best I've come across on the subjects.

I scooped this off of the Man Booker 2016 longlist. A psychological mystery that perhaps, seeing as it's more intriguing than suspenseful, fits better on a historical fiction shelf, if I had to find a shelf for it. Each epistolary element has a unique, engaging voice that feels authentic for the period. The account of the trial was my favorite part, both for the care taken to portray criminal psychology in its infancy and for its subtle wit.

Based on when 492 Sri Lankan refugees arrived in Vancouver in 2010, at a time when Canada's right-wing party was in power. From the perspectives of a Tamil refugee, his lawyer, and the adjudicator tasked with approving or rejecting his refugee status, this story made me think hard about how bendable my morality could become if I needed to protect my family during wartime. P.S. This was a Canada Reads 2018 contender, so it's kind of a big deal.

It's official: not only does Michelle Obama win at being First Lady, but she also wins at writing memoirs and narrating audiobooks. And if you haven't seen her Carpool Karaoke yet, go treat yourself.

I can't stop crying! I remember being disgusted about these detentions, but I also remember feeling helpless to do anything about it. I should have at least tried...

"Becoming is never giving up on the idea that there's more growing to be done."

Michael Connelly's essay about Bosch was an eye-opener and so were the rest. The contributors, for the most part, have either (A) turned their back on Hollywood, (B) after much anguish, developed a take-it-or-leave-it attitude, or (C) achieved enough power over their projects or financial security so as to be comfortable telling the truth without fear of repercussions, legal, professional, or otherwise. Continued in comments...

"When voters got to see me as a person, they understood that the caricatures were untrue. I've learned that it's harder to hate up close."

A prologue that makes you sit up and pay attention, and then what seem like unconnected POV characters, each with their own truths about life as an urban Native American this many generations into colonization, gradually start to overlap, and then all intersect at a powwow in Oakland for an ending that is beautiful in that shattering, I'm-still-crying-as-I-write-this kind of way.

To all the new Littens out there, Litsy created 2 new accounts to help you find accounts to follow. Click on @TheBestofLitsy and @BestOfLitsy to get to them. To stay up to date, I also recommend following @LitsyHappenings @LitsyPenPals @LitsyWelcomeWagon @Litsy @LitsyGetsGraphic @LitsyBuddyRead @LitsyGoesPostal

I'm struggling to write a one-size-fits-all review. I think many will benefit from reading this, because it shows a character arc from denial of their own biases and privilege to acknowledgment. This said, the Turk POV chapters (based on interviews with former white supremacists), while enlightening, are a trigger minefield. Overall, a moving and well-realized story with minor logic issues.

Fave read of the year so far. Just when you think no one could ever find a new way to tell a story, a story like this comes along, and you get addicted to the rhythm of it, and then it's over, and you wish it had twice the number of pages it did. About a young woman being preyed upon by a "renouncer" during the Irish Troubles, and holy cow is it enlightening.

Valuable for writers who want to write more descriptively & worth reading for the examples alone. Def new takeaways for me. My complaints: 1) the author, at times, forced quotes about writing into arguments they weren't well suited to 2) I accidentally read an older edition & can't speak to whether the non-woke passages were revamped in the latest.

Since I forgot to take a pic of the book, a little free library I came across this past winter. :)

ALL THE STARS. I wholeheartedly add my name to the list of people who have recommended this memoir, which, by the way, happens to include both Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, and Ellen DeGenerous.