Cheryl Pappas

Back to novel revision! 7 pages done today.

From the Bookshelf November 2025

This month's From the Bookshelf writing prompt features an entry in the 1,149+-page New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary. Enjoy!

cherylpappas.substack.com/p/from-the-b...

Yes!!! Thank you!

I am interested in starting to hear from care workers on SNAP about your concerns. I'm @motherjones.com's disability reporter. Please be in touch. My email is jmetraux@motherjones.com and my Signal is juliametraux.49. Reposts are appreciated.

I look forward to reading this, Kristina—thank you!

No apologies necessary at all! I appreciate it so much. I hope all is well with you.

One thing I love about asking writers these types of questions is how many stories get boosted and shared! Thanks again to everyone who responded.

Matt!!! You are a gem. Thank you so much for all these stories! I owe you one!

Yes, this is it! Thank you!

OMG that is IT!! Thank you so much. I already have Ingrid’s “Shadow Broth,” but this one has to go in. Thank you!!!

Oh please let me know. I have a feeling that’s the one I’ve been looking for. Maybe in HAD?

I think I've read this before, Anna, but it has been so long that it came at me fresh and had me feeling so much at the end. There's so much wonderful sorrow in this, and the Cheetos--oof! I will be adding this to my syllabus. Thanks for sharing it.

Love this one. Thanks!

Yes! Thank you.

😭

I knew you’d come through—thank you, Aaron!

Calling @aaronburch.bsky.social for stories with wonderfully long titles.

Yes to the Shit Cassandra Saw story and thank you for Jo’s and L’s stories!

Raima, this is great—thank you! I’m looking for two types: those with long titles and those using poetic techniques. So this is perfect.

I will look this up—thank you!

Writers: what are your favorite flash stories with long titles? What about flash that borrows techniques from poetry (such as anaphora)?

How does Patricia Smith approach writing poetry?

Finalist for The 2025 National Book Award in poetry THE INTENTIONS OF THUNDER is available now!

“Patricia Smith is the greatest living poet. Every book is better than the last.” —Danez Smith, The Guardian https://bit.ly/4nUi6m2

Absolute bananas.

This is a really important read this week (and every week).

Modern art? Is he getting ready for a Degenerate Art exhibition? He is a boy in a play.

Fabulous! Congratulations, Eileen!

All the blue is gone, and the rainbow was incredibly vibrant. But thank you, all the same!

Thank you, Sudha!

A photograph of a rainbow over a residential street.

It’s so hard to capture this beauty.

The New Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary 12th Ed.

Technically, this is a book of spells.