"What an outsider sees is a vague space, but, inside the mind and wonder of the child, the building is substantial and organized and beautiful." Huge thanks to Patrick Reardon of the @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social for this dreamy review of LEAF TOWN FOREVER! thirdcoastreview.com/lit/2025/10/...

Do you like cities? Do you think they're miraculous instances of collective creativity, not despite but because of the fact that they always involve complex & improvisatory negotiations among dissimilar individuals? Would you like to explain that to kids? Allow me to recommend LEAF TOWN FOREVER:

It's publication day for LEAF TOWN FOREVER, the picture book I co-wrote with my sister @bethrooney.bsky.social, illustrated by Betsy Bowen & published by @uminnpress.bsky.social! See you at one of our upcoming events, & in the meantime, add to cart! www.leaftownforever.com/news-and-event

"The children Fiona, Rose, & Lucinda, are Leaf Town Forever’s main characters & Leaf Town’s architects. Paco, the cardinal, is there with them the whole way. Was he there when the real Leaf Town was built too?" Thanks to Christine Sneed for this interview! christinesneed.substack.com/p/inside-the...

I’ve followed @inauthenticity.bsky.social ‘s amazing, sharp rundown of horror oddities every October & it’s a revelation every year.

Plus, I have a four year old so this is really the only way I get to experience movies these days.

Thanks to @mrdankelly.bsky.social for inviting me to contribute to this @thirdcoastrvw.bsky.social feature for Banned Books Week where "Writers Recall the 'Forbidden' Books of Their Youth"--I recall the Anastasia series by Lois Lowry. Check them all out here! thirdcoastreview.com/lit/2025/10/...

"New Ghost Out on the Town"
a typewriter poem
by yours truly
from the American Writers Museum
poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/7963010...

Oh hey! The author copies of Leaf Town Forever, the picture book that I wrote with @bethrooney.bsky.social arrived in the mail this weekend from @uminnpress.bsky.social! @martinseay.bsky.social thinks it’s pretty good.

Baby flying squirrel alert

"Spider Season"
a typewriter poem
by yours truly
from the Chicago Botanic Garden!
poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/7954848...

Our night blooming flower is blooming!

Well it’s showtime at @kathleenmrooney.bsky.social’s & my place again for Phyl, our epiphyllum oxypetalum! Thanks as always to @chutson99.bsky.social for bringing him into our lives.

I agree that “video gambling” is clearer & preferable headline language, but in their limited defense, “video gaming” is straight from the state statute. 230 ILCS 40, baby!

If you are in Chicago, you should go see this hilarious musical that has nothing to do with Stephen King! The next two Fridays at the Facility Theater!

"Leaf Town's residents suggest that the aggressors join them, a gesture of kindness in an all-too-unkind world."

Thanks to Lisa Farver of Patch for this feature on @bethrooney.bsky.social's & my picture book from @uminnpress.bsky.social & 10/21 event at Anderson's in DG! patch.com/illinois/dow...

"It Turns Out that Shakespeare"
a typewriter poem
by yours truly
from Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest!
poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/7939454...

Thanks to Mary Ann Grossman of the Pioneer Press for including LEAF TOWN FOREVER--co-written with @bethrooney.bsky.social & illustrated by Betsy Bowen--from @uminnpress.bsky.social on her reading list for a thrilling Fall! www.twincities.com/2025/08/31/r...

nope

Tomorrow at the Chicago Botanic Garden from 10 am to 2 pm! Come get a hot, fresh Poem While You Wait! poemswhileyouwait.tumblr.com/post/7925845...

Sweet baby flying squirrels!

Big news for authors with out-of-print prose books looking for a new home:

We're opening up submissions to our Lost/Found imprint on 9/3! We were so happy to rehome Brooke Shaffner's COUNTRY OF UNDER last year + now we're ready to rehome more.

Full details forthcoming, but the pertinent ones are:

So fun to listen to the conversation between @martinseay.bsky.social & @amrangowani.com at the Book Cellar about Amran’s fantastic debut novel LEVERAGE!

Nice work, and big congrats!

sucks to your sleep apnear