Ha! I was in a check out line next to him and his spouse last month- I can attest to this (for both!) having gawked awkwardly at them in person. (Ah, L.A. life 😂.)

These words are centered on a goldenrod background in black and red text. Below is the golden head of a tiger. The left and right sides are bordered with tight curly lines that intersect in little hearts.

“Storytelling can be more than a blog post, essay, or book. It can be an emoji, a meme, a selfie, or a tweet. It can become a movement for social change.”

—Alice Wong (1974–2025)

Small actions snowball and eventually become avalanches. And, above all, please support the voices you want to be heard. Big names aren't necessarily facing financial ruin when they are targeted, but smaller ones are.

LIVE: Alex Padilla speaks after being removed from Kristi Noem’s press conference YouTube video by Associated Press

Padilla is speaking now:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKS...

Senator Brian Schatz (@schatz.bsky.social) is calling out what happened to Padilla right now on the Senate floor:

"This is the stuff of dictatorships. It is actually happening."

www.senate.gov/legislative/...

Beyond Seven Forests Discover and share books you love on Goodreads.

BEYOND SEVEN FORESTS is now on #Goodreads! Would love it if you added it to your TBR!

www.goodreads.com/book/show/23...

If Charles Bukowski Wrote a Children’s Book About Emotional Regulation Sometimes you feel like a fist. Other times, you feel like the ashtray after a party no one invited you to. Both are fine. Just don’t throw the fis...

You can cry.
It doesn’t make you weak.
It just means you are hydrated.

Fellow Californians:

I'm going to draft some scripts and will be back shortly.

If you don't live in California?

Please call your electeds. Don't stop. You don't want this happening in your state either.

There are over 10,000+ banned books in the US, nearly half of them are banned for LGBTQ content. Share and help spread awareness. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay updated.

authorsguild.org/newsletter-s...

Sharing again. Pretty sure I shared it before somewhere around 2017.

Do not be distracted. What's happening in LA and in other parts of our country, yes, not good, not good at all. And as bad and in many ways much worse is this ugly bill being pushed through congress. Stay steady, determined, strong. Urge your Senators of every stripe to vote no.

Just tuning into the news.Not good. I am going to be out of commission for a while, but, friends, humbly I ask you to keep your practice steady, truly be of benefit to others, stand in your values of care, + do whatever you can to end the violence in our country and in our world.

LA Clashes Escalate; Trump Considers Deploying Marines Demonstrations over U.S. immigration raids intensified for a third consecutive day in the Los Angeles area, with thousands of protesters clashing with security forces outside a downtown federal detent...

Also, ICYMI: Trump and Hegseth have both threatened to deploy the Marines.

Everyone, if you're not in CA and looking for a way to help? Demand your electeds call this out. Call them. Do it now.

I'll defer to the lawyers, but deploying Marines => using the Insurrection Act.

Kudos to the ABC7 anchor for calling the administration's tactics as being "war-like tactics" + stressing people are upset that members of their community are being taken away.

My dad, who has lived under a dictatorship, knows one when he sees one. His first text this morning is that we are now officially in a dictatorship. It is all pretty grim.

They keep saying they’re implementing martial law because of violence by protesters provoking them — “insurrection.”

It’s a lie. They’re doing this to create terror, like they’re doing now by coming to Pasadena & hijacking a hotel. There’s no violence happening in Pasadena.

Here's the official release from the White House, and apparently, we're in a state "of rebellion". 😒

Fellow Californians, you know the drill. Every one of us should be speed dialing:

- Our federal electeds
- Our state electeds
- Newsom
- And Bonta right now.

(PEPPER'S RULES FOR SECRET SLEUTHING, also by Briana McDonald, includes a very sensitively-written trans character, too. I'm just out of agent copies on that one. But put it on your list if you know a kid who needs to see themselves in media. Or if you love Nancy Drew.)

For those of you in SF (especially teachers and school librarians, but also parents and allies!), if you would like copies of MG books with queer joy, I have lots of copies of Briana McDonald's GALAXY JONES AND THE SPACE PIRATES/SECRETS OF STONE CREEK. I'd be thrilled to see them go to good homes!

Several microphones are positioned near a speaker, accompanied by a message urging Congress to oppose cuts to public broadcasting, with the Authors Guild logo displayed.

Along 20+ organizations, The Authors Guild urges Congress to reject proposed cuts to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

As news deserts expand—206 counties have NO local news source!—we can't afford to lose these vital community voices.

rsf.org/en/usa-rsf-a...

First, a baseline step: Know that autocratic leaders can be successfully challenged. @chenoweth.bsky.social has found that when at least 3.5 per cent of the population participated in nonviolent opposition, movements were largely successful.

“Let people thank you for your art, when they say thank you they want to dance with you, that connection means something
Say, “You’re welcome.” @rykaaoki @pcclancer

CORY HAS PASSED THE STROM THURMAN MARK! History has been made.

I can’t believe this is real! It’s like the worst caricature of how the right says Soros does politics.

DOGE Furloughs the Entire Staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences For 90 Days
lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2025/03/doge...

NASA pulls graphic novels about female astronauts from website NASA deletes graphic novel series about a female astronaut exploring the moon from its website.

Hey, fellow kidlit authors?

We should be paying close attention to this + calling our reps.

NASA's pulled graphic novels about female astronauts from their website.

How to Come Out to the Jasmine First: On Writing and Loving in the Natural World | E Katherine Kottaras In this exploration of creativity, identity, and healing, E. Katherine Kottaras invites readers to discover how writing and connection to nature can transform our relationship with ourselves and the w...

Pre-orders opened last week for my forthcoming book! How to Come Out to the Jasmine First 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️💚🌿

🌿queer mom memoir
🌿meditations on navigating chronic illness
🌿invitations to ground, write, reflect, and heal
#transdayofvisibility

www.katherinekottaras.com/product-page...

Adding a journalist to a top secret government group chat about dropping bombs *IS* the kind of thing people who aren’t super politically literate can understand and find shocking/notable/disqualifying. Dems should seize on this and never ever let it go. I hope to hear about it in a decade