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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

@bookbent.bsky.social

1K followers 480 following 650 posts

THE BELLES (Simon & Schuster / Atria, Sept. 2025), a dark academia novel with a Southern gothic twist, is available for preorder: https://linktr.ee/laceyndunham

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · Aug 5

My novel is comped to Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, and Donna Tartt in this ⭐ STARRED REVIEW ⭐ at Library Journal!!! 🤩

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 1d

She looks so good in the woods though! 💀

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Chloe Yelena Miller @chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social · 1d

Excited that @brownbaglit.bsky.social will be hosting @bookbent.bsky.social
tomorrow at noon EST to discuss her debut novel, The Belles
(Simon & Schuster).

The novel - dark academia - is hauntingly creepy. Don't take it on your walk in the woods. Better yet, don't go into the woods.

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 1d

Dang this is a GREAT haul! 😍

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Kristina Ten @kristinaten.bsky.social · 1d

Unreal DC book haul ft. @timstafford78.bsky.social, @bookbent.bsky.social, @writesloud.bsky.social, @darbyprice.bsky.social, and Kristen Zory King!

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

"After the warning, neighbors showed up and formed a human chain outside the church to guide parishioners home. NBC Chicago found more organizers doing the same for the beginning of the 6 p.m. mass..."

www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/c...

Chicago priest urges parishioners to leave mass with caution after ICE agents reported nearby

Chicago's Rogers Park community remained vigilant after reports of federal agents near a Catholic church during Sunday mass.

www.nbcchicago.com

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Brown Bag Lit @brownbaglit.bsky.social · 2d

*Tomorrow* at Brown Bag Lit: @bookbent.bsky.social
will read from The Belles and answer your ?s about writing dark academia, finding the right agent, and surviving the emotional ups and downs of being a first-time author.

Get in the mood with this playlist: blog.freshfiction.com/playlist-the...

Playlist | THE BELLES by Lacey N. Dunham – Fresh Fiction

blog.freshfiction.com

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Victor LaValle @victorlavalle.bsky.social · 2d

A 13-year old child stolen from his parents by the police without a word.

A mother finds out her son is gone, handed over to ICE, taken to a facility 500 miles away.

So many people on the wrong side of history.

Caitlin G. DeAngelis @caitlindeangelis.bsky.social · 2d

ICE kidnapped a 7th-grader with a pending asylum claim and spirited him out of state without notifying his parents, seemingly with the cooperation of the local police in Everett, MA.

www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility
By Marcela Rodrigues Globe Staff,Updated October 12, 2025, 44 minutes ago

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A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by ICE in Everett and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia.
A 13-year-old boy was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Everett after an interaction with members of the Everett Police Department and sent to a juvenile detention facility in Virginia, according to his mother and immigration lawyer Andrew Lattarulo.

The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested. After waiting for about an hour and a half, she was told her son was taken by ICE, Berto told the Globe in a phone interview.

“My world collapsed,” Berto said in Portuguese.

From the police department, the boy was taken to ICE’s holding facility in Burlington on Thursday evening, where he spent a night before being transferred by car to the Northwestern Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Winchester, Va., on Friday morning, his mother said. The juvenile facility is more than 500 miles away from Everett.

The boy is a 7th-grader at Albert N. Parlin School in Everett, his mother said. The teen and his family, who are Brazilian nationals, have a pending asylum case and are authorized to work legally in the United States, Lattarulo said.

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Necessary Fiction @necessaryfiction.com · 8d

We're pleased to accounce that submissions are now open to be read by guest editor @demisty.bsky.social until November 3.

Necessary Fiction Submission Manager

necessaryfiction.submittable.com

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 4d

I’m working on my new novel today, so of course my kitchen is incredibly clean.

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 5d

I’M PUBLISHING A SECOND BOOK
🥳🥳🥳

Publishers Marketplace
Deal Report
FALL OF THE HOUSE OF GRAYSTONE
By Lacey N. Dunham
Imprint: Atria
Author of THE BELLES Lacey N. Dunham's FALL OF THE HOUSE OF GRAYSTONE, pitched as a twisty Tim Burton meets Grey Gardens, following a practiced medium determined to call upon the spirits to solve the brutal mass murder that happened in her family's mansion ten years prior, her sister who is desperate to suppress the truth, and the stranger whose arrival upends their sisterly bond; a story of sapphic first love, betrayals, family secrets, and 90s nostalgia, to Laura Brown at Atria, in an exclusive submission, by Jamie Carr at The Book Group (NA).
Foreign: Jenny Meyer at Jenny Meyer Literary

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 5d

It really feels like they’re trolling our autocrat.

Reuters @reuters.com · 5d

'When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognize courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist,' the Norwegian Nobel Committee said as it announced Maria Corina Machado as the winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 5d

I’M PUBLISHING A SECOND BOOK
🥳🥳🥳

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 5d

AWP selecting John Waters as the keynote is the best decision they’ve ever made and I’d like to take credit for manifesting it.

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Kristina Ten @kristinaten.bsky.social · 5d

DC/DMV! Tomorrow (Friday), I’ll be at Kramers with the brilliant @bookbent.bsky.social and Kristen Zory King, talking publishing journeys and dangerous girlhoods. Come on by! There will be game(s)!

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 6d

The only time I'll ever be in the 3%

Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 7d

Want to ask me your pressing questions about writing, finding the right agent, and how to survive the emotional ups and downs of being a first-time author? Join me next Tuesday for a free lunchtime chat! buymeacoffee.com/brownbaglit/... @brownbaglit.bsky.social

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Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 7d

doomscroll break

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 7d

I’m just a girl having a minor breakout about book distribution consolidating to *checks notes* basically one major distributor.

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Sarah Weinman @sarahweinman.com · 7d

Distribution is THE under-reported story in book publishing (outside of the trade publications) and losing B&T is going to have untold ripple effects on the industry, small presses, and authors.

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 7d

seems very bad www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

Baker & Taylor Prepares Plan to Shut Down

At a town hall yesterday, B&T owner and CEO Aman Kochar announced that following the termination of the ReaderLink acquisition deal, he does not see a path to keep the library wholesaler in business.

www.publishersweekly.com

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 8d

Can’t wait to join you all for this!

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Chloe Yelena Miller @chloeyelenamiller.bsky.social · 8d

@shastagrant.bsky.social and I cannot wait for this event! Thanks for joining us, @bookbent.bsky.social!

Brown Bag Lit @brownbaglit.bsky.social · 8d

Join Brown Bag Lit next week for our Oct. event!

@bookbent.bsky.social visits to read from The Belles
(@simonandschuster.bsky.social) and answer your questions about writing dark academia, finding the right agent, and surviving the emotional ups and downs of being a first-time author.

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Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 8d

Four weeks out from publishing my debut novel and my biggest question is: Am I launching my book correctly? Because there’s no cheat sheet or checklist and really, who knows?

open.substack.com/pub/laceyndu...

Publishing a Book is EXHAUSTING

And what if that book fails?

open.substack.com

Lacey N. Dunham (she/her) @bookbent.bsky.social · 8d

Doing that thing where I have big news to share but can’t tell you until Wednesday….

Reposted by Lacey N. Dunham (she/her)

Brown Bag Lit @brownbaglit.bsky.social · 11d

Brown Bag Lit just sent out our Oct. newsletter in which we share member news and announce our next event with @bookbent.bsky.social!
email:
mailchi.mp/ba9132731d36...
register here: www.brownbaglit.com/events
DM us if you aren't on our mailing list and would like to be.

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