Gwen E. Kirby

fun fact: writing is the most effective way to end up having written an entire book someday. unfortunately not many people know this

Ridiculously adorable puffball of a bird with black cap and white cheeks is perched on the tip of a bare twig. It’s real name is Black-capped Chickadee.

Chickasquee
#birds 🌿

i fucking love my country of MPLS

Millennials pulling out their laptop when they need to make a big purchase

This is so accurate

The most interesting part of this story isn’t that the pipe bomber is MAGA. That was blatantly obvious. What should interest folks is that the FBI and DoJ hid that fact from you, and still haven’t made a statement. This info is coming from sources on the condition of anonymity.

Yay! Check out this amazing issue of @storymag.bsky.social!!!

FDA official proposes ‘impossible’ standards for vaccine testing that could curtail access to immunizations

If new proposals detailed in an FDA memo are put into place, experts told me it would mean the end of annual flu shots. And end of most vaccines for pregnant people. And maybe the end of updates to pneumonia vaccines. And more.

www.cidrap.umn.edu/childhood-va...

Finding the Heart of Your Story, a masterclass with N.K. Jemisin — Blue Stoop Building a character is building a world of one; defining them, shaping them, and changing them is what a story is for. In this craft-first virtual masterclass, award winning author N. K. Jemisin will...

I'll be doing an online workshop on character creation and development for Blue Stoop on December 7th! Interested? Register and pay here: www.bluestoop.org/classes/p/nk...

'F*** Off And Let People Be': David Tennant Doubles Down On Support For Trans People "People are trying to create division... and it's so f***ing unnecessary."

Always love to see great talent using their platform for unabashed good.

U.S. Reviews Biden Asylum Cases After Shooting A Homeland Security Department spokeswoman accused the previous administration of failing to vet asylum applicants "on a massive scale."

The man identified as the suspect was said to have worked with the C.I.A. and fled Afghanistan in 2021 under Operation Allies Welcome, a program born after the sudden fall of the Afghan government in 2021, when the United States withdrew its forces and the o Taliban took control of the country. The suspect received asylum from the U.S. government in April, according to three people with knowledge of the case who were not authorized to speak publicly.

“Biden Asylum Cases” is NYT’s framing for a story pegged to a man who got asylum 3 months into the Trump administration

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/27/u...

Thank you so much for including CASSANDRA in this cool list! 💜💜💜

Cassandra’s story is a great example of “connection without contact”-it’s an intimate thing knowing someone’s fate while they remain in the dark. @willwriteforchai.bsky.social’s #ExpoRecommends @gwenekirby.bsky.social’s SHIT CASSANDRA SAW (@penguinbooksusa.bsky.social): tinyurl.com/ParaSocialReco

guys, stealing is only punk if you steal from the wealthy & the big corporations -- stealing books is worse than absurd. go to a library ffs

nice tenth revision you got there. would be a shame if the whole thing was better about four drafts ago

DOGE only failed if you believe its purpose was to save money.

It wasn't. DOGE was an effort to destroy American soft power, scientific leadership, protect Elon Musk and companies from regulation and oversight, and steal Americans' data for later abuse.

It did it all in a month.

Most of us have no idea how bad it is inside ICE detention centers because they have kept it hidden. Then a truth teller shows up and says it plain.

The conditions are filthy. The treatment is inhumane. The abuse is Systematic and routine.

I really cannot emphasize enough that if you like dark, horny, angry, extremely lefty big-ideas literature, you will ADORE this book

It has always been so obvious that the backlash to MeToo isn’t about whether the abuse is happening but whether people are allowed to want it to stop

BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG BONG

Don't Buy Starbucks! At any location, today and beyond, while workers are on ULP strike!

As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.

Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX

Alas zero but I am writing away! I hope to have another collection done soon! Thanks for the kind words

So excited to have a piece in the new issue of STORY!!!! Also I'm obsessed with this cover. She lit that ship on fire and then passed through the picture frame with her stolen fish feast. Run free, fish thief!

The blazing cowardice of the centre-right:

“Men go through life telling themselves a moment must come when they will show what they're made of. And the moment comes, and they do show. And they spend the rest of their days explaining that was neither the moment nor the true self.”

Shirley Hazzard

This is a good time to join the WFP @workingfamilies.org I'm a broken record and if they ain't going to learn they need to learn by us not cooperating with their party anymore and building a political force that is so big that can hold different tenants but still have values.

1. @schumer.senate.gov needs to step down for failing to keep his party members in line.
2. A new @democrats.senate.gov
minority leader needs to punish the eight. Strip them of every position and perk.
3. @dscc.bsky.social needs to identify people to primary every one of them.

Happy Claude Rains's birthday!

There are only a few days left until An Academic Affair comes out in Canada and the US! It's about two rival academics who get married to take advantage of a partner hire clause in the broken jobs market. If you like books, wine and/or unions, this is for you. bookshop.org/p/books/an-a...

Excellent books for $1!

THE MARQUESS MAKES HIS MOVE and DUKE MOST WICKED are previous best-of picks. THE PROPOSITION and WHAT I DID FOR A DUKE are both deep dive selections.

Snatch 'em up!

Women should have jobs, but Ross Douthat shouldn’t.