Abby Alten Schwartz
@abbys480.bsky.social
Healthcare writer. Journalist. Essayist. Memoir in progress. Pushcart and BOTN nominee. Bylines WaPo, NYT, HuffPost, WIRED, AARP, HAD, Hippocampus, Citron Review, Brevity and others. linktr.ee/abbys480
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
"Your parents have puritanical hangups about your body and insist that you cover the shameful parts."
Rankin and Bass’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Stephen King’s Carrie?
1. Your magical powers can light up a room. 2. Everyone laughs at you and calls you names. 3. A red biological emission is the source of deep shame...
buff.ly
December 25, 2025 at 2:30 PM
"Your parents have puritanical hangups about your body and insist that you cover the shameful parts."
Submitted two pitches to an editor I met with last week, turned in a first draft for a writing assignment from a corporate client, and feeling utter contentment with this writing life I chose. How's your day going?
July 3, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Submitted two pitches to an editor I met with last week, turned in a first draft for a writing assignment from a corporate client, and feeling utter contentment with this writing life I chose. How's your day going?
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
I 💙 this essay in Brevity Blog by @abbys480.bsky.social about #writing #pitching #mothering and using the ladder of what is hard to #write higher. #WritingCommunity
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
Speak Calmly and Carry a Big Ladder: On Writing My Way Forward
By Abby Alten Schwartz When my daughter was 10, it occurred to me that she’d never been to Disney World, and if I wanted her to experience it while she was still young enough to find the kingdom ma…
brevity.wordpress.com
July 2, 2025 at 11:10 AM
I 💙 this essay in Brevity Blog by @abbys480.bsky.social about #writing #pitching #mothering and using the ladder of what is hard to #write higher. #WritingCommunity
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
@dintywmoore.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
Proud to share my latest for @dintywmoore.bsky.social
"Writing is my ladder. My all-access pass. Armed with a notepad and recorder, I can reach out to experts in any profession with the confidence of a dude on TikTok who found a way to subvert the system." ~ Abby Alten Schwartz /
@abbys480.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
@abbys480.bsky.social
brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
Speak Calmly and Carry a Big Ladder: On Writing My Way Forward
By Abby Alten Schwartz When my daughter was 10, it occurred to me that she’d never been to Disney World, and if I wanted her to experience it while she was still young enough to find the kingdom ma…
brevity.wordpress.com
July 3, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Proud to share my latest for @dintywmoore.bsky.social
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
He adorably complains it’s a boring operation, my cyst will likely grow back, but says he’ll still do it if I want (I want).—"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social in case you missed it
https://www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
https://www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
May 31, 2025 at 6:45 PM
He adorably complains it’s a boring operation, my cyst will likely grow back, but says he’ll still do it if I want (I want).—"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social in case you missed it
https://www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
https://www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
The hand surgeon, unexpectedly hot, reminds me of Nate from Six Feet Under, which I’ve been bingeing for weeks. —"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social
www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
April 21, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The hand surgeon, unexpectedly hot, reminds me of Nate from Six Feet Under, which I’ve been bingeing for weeks. —"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social
www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
They are indeed hobbling social security. The wait in the phone queue today was 120 minutes.
March 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM
They are indeed hobbling social security. The wait in the phone queue today was 120 minutes.
Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
This is How They Ban Birth Control
"One of the reasons some people don’t believe that Republicans are banning birth control is that they’re imagining some sweeping bill that says contraception is now illegal. But that’s not how it works."
"One of the reasons some people don’t believe that Republicans are banning birth control is that they’re imagining some sweeping bill that says contraception is now illegal. But that’s not how it works."
This is How They Ban Birth Control
2.27.25
jessica.substack.com
March 1, 2025 at 1:17 PM
This is How They Ban Birth Control
"One of the reasons some people don’t believe that Republicans are banning birth control is that they’re imagining some sweeping bill that says contraception is now illegal. But that’s not how it works."
"One of the reasons some people don’t believe that Republicans are banning birth control is that they’re imagining some sweeping bill that says contraception is now illegal. But that’s not how it works."
The best news today is that NYT is finally letting us pick the tile pattern in Games
February 12, 2025 at 5:07 AM
The best news today is that NYT is finally letting us pick the tile pattern in Games
Another reason to love the Eagles. My family has known Ryan since he was a boy and we're so grateful he is alive and saddened by his tremendous loss. Go Birds! 🦅
www.espn.com/video/clip/_...
www.espn.com/video/clip/_...
Return Flight: Former Princeton punter fulfills promise to lost teammate - ESPN Video
Ryan Quigley returns to the Crescent City to fulfill a promise to his best friend and former Princeton football teammate, Tiger Bech, who was killed on New Year's Day in New Orleans.
www.espn.com
February 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Another reason to love the Eagles. My family has known Ryan since he was a boy and we're so grateful he is alive and saddened by his tremendous loss. Go Birds! 🦅
www.espn.com/video/clip/_...
www.espn.com/video/clip/_...
Grateful to my state legislators for this announcement of new laws to safeguard the protections of the ACA. Please share.
pasenate.com/senate-democ...
pasenate.com/senate-democ...
Senator Hughes, Senate Democrats Announce Legislation to Protect the Affordable Care Act in Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA − January 28, 2025 − Senator Vincent Hughes was joined by Democratic colleagues from the Senate and House to announce four bills that would protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from at...
pasenate.com
January 28, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Grateful to my state legislators for this announcement of new laws to safeguard the protections of the ACA. Please share.
pasenate.com/senate-democ...
pasenate.com/senate-democ...
This is the level of content I can stomach right now. More good boys making friends.
January 28, 2025 at 1:47 AM
This is the level of content I can stomach right now. More good boys making friends.
“We stockpile memories, squirreling them away for later. But memories can turn. Exposed to time and air, they alchemize from joyful to bittersweet, a reminder of all that’s gone. Is nostalgia ever not tinged with melancholy?”
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Wormhole
Traveling 33 years in one night
substack.com
January 6, 2025 at 3:02 PM
“We stockpile memories, squirreling them away for later. But memories can turn. Exposed to time and air, they alchemize from joyful to bittersweet, a reminder of all that’s gone. Is nostalgia ever not tinged with melancholy?”
substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Powerful flash by @tcboudreau.bsky.social
Grateful to @bluestemmag.bsky.social for publishing this story, which was born in @smokelong.bsky.social Summer. I hope you'll give it (& the rest of this 🔥 issue) a read!
bluestemmagazine.com/w25/timothy-...
bluestemmagazine.com/w25/timothy-...
Successful Auditions — Bluestem Magazine
bluestemmagazine.com
January 6, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Powerful flash by @tcboudreau.bsky.social
I couldn’t be more content spending today in my cozy living room reading, writing in my journal, crafting pitches on my laptop, and working on my newsletter and memoir. Hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful day.
January 1, 2025 at 5:23 PM
I couldn’t be more content spending today in my cozy living room reading, writing in my journal, crafting pitches on my laptop, and working on my newsletter and memoir. Hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful day.
Sunday gifts for my Monday self: the pot of homemade ham and split pea soup I cooked today and the basket of clothing I washed so my favorite leggings and tops and socks are ready to wear. The little things, y’know?
December 29, 2024 at 8:23 PM
Sunday gifts for my Monday self: the pot of homemade ham and split pea soup I cooked today and the basket of clothing I washed so my favorite leggings and tops and socks are ready to wear. The little things, y’know?
I just discovered a box of old greeting cards I saved from my 20s from family, friends, work pals. I realize now that before social media and cell phones we mailed each other cards and wrote inside them and I sadly rarely do this anymore.
December 23, 2024 at 10:11 PM
I just discovered a box of old greeting cards I saved from my 20s from family, friends, work pals. I realize now that before social media and cell phones we mailed each other cards and wrote inside them and I sadly rarely do this anymore.
Just finished the delightful audiobook of Lessons in Chemistry, including the interview at the end with author, Bonnie Garmus. She was a copywriter (like me) for more than 30 years before she published this book in her early 60s, and she’s inspired me to no end.
December 23, 2024 at 11:33 AM
Just finished the delightful audiobook of Lessons in Chemistry, including the interview at the end with author, Bonnie Garmus. She was a copywriter (like me) for more than 30 years before she published this book in her early 60s, and she’s inspired me to no end.
Great ideas here for gifts for writers. My own wish list would include ruled Moleskines (large hardback or x-large softback) and pens (rollerball refillable ink or .7 mm gel pens), subscriptions to great literary magazines, and, of course books.
Brevity's @allisonkwilliams.bsky.social offers up a list of snazzy holiday gifts for the writer in your life, and for you as the writer in someone else’s life, no matter your style, taste or budget. brevity.wordpress.com/2024/12/16/g...
You Can’t Wrap a Five-Figure Deal: Best Gifts For Writers in 2025
By Allison K Williams The season’s closing in–even where I live, in Dubai, “Winter Shopping Festival” has decked the malls with candy canes, twinkly lights and plastic everg…
brevity.wordpress.com
December 16, 2024 at 12:37 PM
Great ideas here for gifts for writers. My own wish list would include ruled Moleskines (large hardback or x-large softback) and pens (rollerball refillable ink or .7 mm gel pens), subscriptions to great literary magazines, and, of course books.
Listening to the car radio and my husband points out that the spoken part of Emotional Rescue sounds just like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and now I can’t unhear it.
December 15, 2024 at 1:10 AM
Listening to the car radio and my husband points out that the spoken part of Emotional Rescue sounds just like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and now I can’t unhear it.
I’m reading this gorgeous memoir by Jessica Fein and so much resonates. Passages about being in the hospital with her daughter mirror passages from my own WIP and I’m reminded that the details of a story are what make it universal, even while the circumstances are unique.
December 14, 2024 at 3:08 PM
I’m reading this gorgeous memoir by Jessica Fein and so much resonates. Passages about being in the hospital with her daughter mirror passages from my own WIP and I’m reminded that the details of a story are what make it universal, even while the circumstances are unique.
Finally watched the final episode of Somebody, Somewhere and I’m a puddle. Only one other TV show (Better Things) has ever hit me in the feels like this one. Anyone else a fan?
December 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM
Finally watched the final episode of Somebody, Somewhere and I’m a puddle. Only one other TV show (Better Things) has ever hit me in the feels like this one. Anyone else a fan?
One great thing about winter is I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by being indoors. I slept in today, then worked on my memoir for several blissful hours.
December 7, 2024 at 7:25 PM
One great thing about winter is I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by being indoors. I slept in today, then worked on my memoir for several blissful hours.
At the DMV for my Real ID and this is some Soup Nazi level efficiency. I’m thoroughly impressed.
December 6, 2024 at 2:25 PM
At the DMV for my Real ID and this is some Soup Nazi level efficiency. I’m thoroughly impressed.