Melissa Manlove

Psst! Looking for a dreamy retreat to work on your writing? www.lolaschaefer.com/workshops

Come retreat with me,writers!
Ink and Agave Picture Book Writing Retreat
Retreat DATES: 4/10/26 - 4/12/26
VENUE: Franciscan Renewal Center, Scottsdale, AZ
This intimate weekend retreat is designed exclusively for picture book writers who are ready to grow, polish, and connect.

This retreat isn’t just about writing. It’s about reigniting your purpose, nurturing your craft, and walking away with clarity and confidence.
Where to Register: KimTomsic.com

Over three soul-nourishing days, you’ll participate in four small-group workshops, each led by a seasoned editor, agent, or author. You’ll receive focused, personalized feedback on your manuscript(s) and have dedicated time to revise, reflect, and elevate your work in a truly creative setting.

Come retreat with me,writers!
Ink and Agave Picture Book Writing Retreat
Retreat DATES: 4/10/26 - 4/12/26
VENUE: Franciscan Renewal Center, Scottsdale, AZ
This intimate weekend retreat is designed exclusively for picture book writers who are ready to grow, polish, and connect.

Extremist murders by ideology, 2013 to 2022. www.pbump.net/o/reassessin...

The Resistance Rangers Want Your Help in Protecting National Parks A movement of off-duty and former officials has mobilized to save embattled parks

The Resistance Rangers Want Your Help in Protecting National Parks www.sierraclub.org/sierra/2025-...

#FreeDC Mass march hitting the streets of DC now.

“average person has 3 friends" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person has many friends. Mark Zuckerberg who lives in cave & has negative 100000 friends is an outlier adn should not have been counted

What happened when Brazil passed right-to-work legislation in 2017--banning mandatory union dues?

Workers' wages fell notably as a direct result.

"None Of These Books Are Obscene": Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida's Book Ban Bill In a major win for intellectual freedom, a judge rules against Florida law that led to removing hundreds of books from school libraries.

“None Of These Books Are Obscene”: Judge Strikes Down Much of Florida’s Book Ban Bill

This is a big win for intellectual freedom and will have big implications in other ongoing lawsuits and future laws aiming to ban books.

bookriot.com/penguin-rand...

Photo of Mr. Rogers captioned "I keep thinking that evil would like nothing better"

Photo of Mr. Rogers captioned "than to have us feel awful about who we are."

Raskin: "What we have is the Trump Justice Department organizing itself not around the interests of the survivors -- the people who were victimized by Maxwell and Epstein -- but rather organizing itself around protecting the perpetrators."

Elon Musk’s Latest AI Frontier: “Spicy” Deepfakes Of Stars Like Scarlett Johansson & Taylor Swift The "Spicy" mode on Elon Musk's Grok Imagine AI allows users to create lurid deepfake videos of Scarlett Johansson and Taylor Swift in seconds.

Would be great if this were reported like the gross violation it is rather than as a playful endeavor by a mercurial billionaire.

Publishing is for sure tough, and for sure sometimes biased. I hope you keep trying, though!

Let me introduce you to Ursula Vernon, aka T Kingfisher

The Sneaky Gender Bias in Picture Books: Animal Characters Melanie Walsh, an assistant professor in the Information School and an adjunct assistant professor in the English department at the University of Washington, shares her investigations into the subtle ...

Some #kidlit picture book folks think making characters animals solves a lot of gender issues... turns out that's wrong. Thanks to @mellymeldubs.bsky.social (curious about representation of genders outside the binary, if any...) www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...

It has taken medical science 200 years to advance humans to the point where people are so healthy and living so long that they can deny that science and medicine is what got us here.

😬😬😬 big yikes

American adults have such a pervasive culture of demanding obedience from children, and that will always be antithetical to art.

Summer Reading Adventure Join the National Book Foundation on a Summer Reading Adventure! Whether you loved summer reading challenges as a kid or want to try one out for the first time, we hope that adults everywhere can join...

Grownups, if you are envious of kids Summer Reading contests and are motivated by PRIZES, join me on the @nationalbook.bsky.social ‘s Summer Reading Adventure!

www.nationalbook.org/adventure/

And don't forget to sign them up for the Imagination Library, which is Dolly Parton's free book delivery service.
They send 1 book per month until the child turns 5. 😊

Congratulations on learning absolutely nothing about making deals with him, Senator.

If people want to stop being compared to Nazis they should stop acting like Nazi collaborators.

Another Texas Gerrymander: Send Us Your Questions - Bolts Ask a redistricting expert about new GOP efforts to redraw Texas' maps, and the potential impact on Congress and communities of color.

We want to hear from you!

Texas Republicans are about to convene to pass a new congressional map at Trump's urging to gain seats. Huge implications for politics, racial justice, the VRA...

We've invited a redistricting expert to answer questions from our readers.

So... send us your questions. ⤵️

California bill against law enforcement masking advances A California bill aimed at barring law enforcement agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities took a step closer to becoming law Tuesday.

A California bill to bar law enforcement agents from wearing masks to conceal their identities was passed by a key legislative committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 627 prohibits law enforcement at all levels from engaging in extreme masking to conceal their identity.

www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/b...

Elon Musk’s 130 Days in the Trump Administration: A One-Sheet Zine Musk’s actions continue to endanger everyday people, dismantle key services, and undermine the safety net for ordinary Americans.

New mini Zine based on Elizabeth Warren's report about what Elon did in his 130 days in the government is available: convergencemag.com/articles/elo... - print and share far and wide!

Elon Musk's Grok Chatbot Goes Full Nazi, Calls Itself 'MechaHitler' Elon Musk's Grok chatbot unleashed a slew of antisemitic commentary and praised Hitler after apparent change allowed it to be 'politically incorrect'

I called my US senators and rep to ask them to publicly call for investigations of Twitter's Nazi posts, to call for a boycott of Twitter, and to delete their own Twitter accounts. If you agree, feel free to call your own reps.

You can find them here: reps.fyi

www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...