Refe Tuma
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Refe Tuma
@refe.blue
Writer, dinosaur photographer. Author of FRANCES AND THE WEREWOLVES OF THE BLACK FOREST, a Page Turner Award winner and Bram Stoker Award nominee, and the bestselling WHAT THE DINOSAURS DID pb series. Rep: Marie Lamba, Kristyn Benton.
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Refe Tuma @refe.blue · Nov 10
Hey new followers, I'm Refe (pronounced reef), author of the WHAT THE DINOSAURS DID picture books and middle grade books FRANCES AND THE MONSTER and the Bram Stoker and Page Turner Award nominated FRANCES AND THE WEREWOLVES OF THE BLACK FOREST. I mostly post about books I'm reading. Welcome!
It is WILD hearing Evanescence blasting from my 17-year-old's room
January 24, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Shipped a cool new feature on FlipCraft this week: authors can now share a draft of their story with trusted readers and view their comments.

Also made a bunch of smaller tweaks and enhancements. If you write picture books, check it out! flipcraft.app

#kidlit #picturebooks #amwriting
January 16, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Made some big updates to FlipCraft.app this week, including:

- Autosave w version history (don't lose your work)
- Scratch pad (jot down unstructured notes & ideas)
- Themes (Sage, Sepia, or Slate; light & dark modes)
- Better export (submission-ready formatting)

#picturebooks #kidlit
January 8, 2026 at 4:42 PM
Hey picture book authors of #kidlitchat, I built a tool for drafting PB manuscripts and would ❤️ to get some eyeballs on it. If you're interested in testing it out I'll set you up with a free trial. (It's already free for one story, but this way you can get the full experience).

flipcraft.app
FlipCraft
Create picture books that make every page turn matter.
flipcraft.app
January 7, 2026 at 3:29 PM
Hey #picturebook writers.

I got frustrated while writing WHAT THE DINOSAURS DID ON HALLOWEEN because I couldn't find a tool that let me draft in a way that focused on what's most important in PB—the page turns.

So...I built one. I call it FlipCraft, and you can check it out here: flipcraft.app
FlipCraft
Create picture books that make every page turn matter.
flipcraft.app
January 2, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Don't like promoting am*zon but if you're on a budget looking for a Christmas themed picture book to give this year, What The Dinosaurs Dis The Night Before Christmas is currently on sale for only $7 (!!!!)

a.co/d/6c7cG99
What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas: Tuma, Refe, Tuma, Susan: 9780316539654: Amazon.com: Books
What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas [Tuma, Refe, Tuma, Susan] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. What the Dinosaurs Did the Night Before Christmas
a.co
December 13, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Feeling more hope today than I have in months.
October 18, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Reposted by Refe Tuma
October 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by Refe Tuma
[Exit King.]
October 18, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Democracy is dying but don't worry we have
October 5, 2025 at 10:40 PM
My wife was complaining about our house not having any medicine cabinets so of course I had to show her the medicine cabinet tracking shot from the 1997 science fiction masterpiece Contact.
September 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM
It's time for yet another round of How Many Phone Calls Does it Take to Refill My Child's Prescription
August 21, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Been a while since a new album has made it into heavy rotation but 'Headlights' by Alex G has been playing on repeat since I stumbled onto it a few weeks ago. 'Afterlife' is the obvious standout, but there are a bunch of great tracks. music.apple.com/us/album/aft...
music.apple.com
August 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Final night at the lake.
August 6, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Boris the water dog*

*definitely NOT a water dog
August 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Lake, day three.
August 5, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Oh, hey, another lake photo.
August 4, 2025 at 3:47 PM
Endless gray.

Lake Michigan this morning.
August 3, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Reposted by Refe Tuma
An eloquent image:

Setting aside the content under the tarp for a moment, teens were asked to make art expressing what it is like to be a teen, and the end result was a mural wrapped in a tarp by adults.

I bet a lot of teens would find this expressive of their experience.
July 29, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Reposted by Refe Tuma
The "EXTREME HEAT" warning is just too perfect for this story
July 29, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Absurd 'About this Book' sections have become a staple of the WHAT THE DINOSAURS DID series, and the one for WHAT THE DINOSAURS DID ON HALLOWEEN will not disappoint...

...Assuming my editor doesn't make me cut it down—it features about as many words as the rest of the text combined 🤣
July 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Apple just recommended my own books to me, so I'd say they have my tastes down pretty well.
July 16, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Drove through a torrential downpour on the highway this morning and instinctively removed my sunglasses. I put them right back on again when I realized the polarized lenses enabled me to see *so* much better
June 24, 2025 at 10:09 PM
So one of my kids left a bottle of hair spray in the kitchen and my wife mistook it for cooking oil.

On an unrelated note, do you have any recommendations for good cast iron pans?
June 20, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Got a free trial of Apple Music and I can't believe how much better the curated recommendations are vs Spotify
June 19, 2025 at 7:21 PM