Julie Artz - Author, Editor, Book Coach, Dragon

Post a picture of when your pet was little.

My book-shaped thing is…more book shaped than before. Four thousand new words, one POV deepened, a solid, much-revised plan for the second half. My goal for tomorrow (for accountability): finish up the midpoint and begin connecting what I’ve already written in the second half.

In just a few hours, I’m picking up my writerly pals at the airport for a DIY writing retreat at my house. I can’t wait! I try to do something like this once a quarter to really carve out time for my personal writing. Day job calendar blocked, food prep done, now bring on the words!

Most banned books feature people of color and LGBTQ+ people, report finds Study counteracts claims by conservative lawmakers that books being removed from classrooms are sexually explicit The majority of banned books in US public schools last year dealt with people of color, LGBTQ+ people and other demographics, according to a…

Most banned books feature people of color and LGBTQ+ people, report finds

You know where to go if you need help getting started 😉

It’s a revision retreat for novelists (& memoirists). I’m so thrilled!

Cis allies! Please support transgender people and comment today. The reddit below contains links to the official comment pages for the new passport rules that we need to fight against.

bsky.app/profile/erin...

I don't enjoy banging this drum about the need for adding alt-text to images, but it's one of those cultural things I think it is really important to emphasize to all Bluesky users to distinguish it from other social media platforms; just like how quote-dunking and rage-baiting isn't tolerated.

So fun! Hope it’s a great weekend!

post a gif from the last show you watched ✨

It feels weird to talk about happy things given everything that’s going on. But…I’m hosting a retreat at Highlights in June with my pal @emilycolinbooks.bsky.social and it’s a major bucket list item for me. Talking revision. With my pal. At Highlights!

There’s something I miss from the PNW—flowers in February. Currently 10 degrees here in northern Colorado 🥶

I hit the point in the mushy middle on this novel where I didn’t know what came next. How it ends, sure. But I needed a plan to get the characters there with everything that changed as I wrote the first half. Spent the week on my synopsis and now I have a plan! It’s such a great tool for plantsters.

One of the first activist letters I wrote in college was about freeing him. A bright spot in dark times for sure.

It’s extra important for your GOP senator to hear from you right now if you’re in one of these states.

Call your senators and tell them to vote NO on Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director: indivisible.org/resource/cal...

Or send an email to your senators: act.indivisible.org/sign/demand-...

This is all a good reminder that, “no help, no votes until the criminal conduct stops” is neither a big ask nor a politically perilous one.

Hey, friends. Just checking back in. The weight of wickedness heaped upon our country and world feels almost too great to bear. I hope you're holding onto your own beauty. Breathe in and kindle your light. Breathe out and share your light. I love you so much. There is so much good in the world.

What Tortellini Soup Taught Me About Writing When to follow the rules and when to break them, in the kitchen and in writing

Hope you're staying warm out there. Today seemed like a good (chilly) day to share what tortellini soup taught me about writing... julieartz.substack.com/p/what-torte...

#MSWL Day 2025: Search Tips & Features This is "#MSWL Day 2025: Search Tips & Features" by The Manuscript Academy on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.

Hello Friends! Welcome to #MSWL Day 2025! 🎉

This is our first #MSWL Day on Bluesky, and we have new features to share!

Rather listen than read? Here’s a how-to! vimeo.com/1055984106

Here’s our Bluesky search guide: youtu.be/LnZt1MCjKZE?...

So glad you enjoyed it!

I’ve found it to be mostly like Threads and/or the evil bird thing in user interface, but without the trolls. Not that there are none, but more like the bird circa 2012. And I love the writing community circa 2012, so I’m a happy, if infrequent, visitor.

Am I in Whamageddon purgatory if I heard “Last Christmas,” but it was a cover?

The Pro-Censorship and Anti-Library & Bills Already Filed for 2025 Killing the Department of Education is one we already saw coming.

Here are the anti-library & pro-censorship bills already prefiled for the 2025 legislative session across the US. It's your job to keep tabs on these, write your representatives, & speak up about the dismantling of public institutions of access + democracy.

wellsourced.substack.com/p/the-pro-ce...

Efforts to block gender affirming care will harm our most vulnerable children.

It’s fun how they start out as seemingly random blocks, then your brain clicks in and you see exactly who they are!

a group of people are jumping in the air with the words yippee in the corner . Alt: a group of people are jumping in the air with the words yippee in the corner .

My youngest kiddo is on the ground safe and sound in Denver! Home for five weeks. SQUEE!!!

a woman with pink and blue hair is reading a book and drinking from a cup Alt: a woman with pink and blue hair is reading a book and drinking from a cup

Loading a client book I’m particularly excited about onto the ereader. Who needs sleep?

Oh, I do this every year! I get gifts from Santa, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, Benedict Cumberbatch—it’s a true Christmas miracle!

Mine too. I tried to get to Narnia so many times as a kid. I really believed.