Karen Palmer
@karenpalmer.bsky.social
Writer, editor, teacher, karenpalmer.com. Memoir coming in 2025 from Algonquin Books. NEA, Best American Essays, Pushcart Prize. If I had to choose between reading and eating, I'd be dead in a week. She/her
Pinned
Karen Palmer
@karenpalmer.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Reintroducing myself. I'm a diehard leftie, an editor & teacher @ Lighthouse Writers. I've published 2 novels. A memoir that took abso-effen-lutely forever to complete (SHE'S UNDER HERE) is coming next fall from Algonquin Books. Looking forward to meeting more lit community folks.
This is Thanksgiving dinner at our house.
Used the phrase “roiling boil” and someone corrected me and said “it’s rolling boil” and we went back and forth then looked it up and roiling boil is an older term for rolling boil and we both left the conversation dissatisfied and everything feels like that these days
November 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This is Thanksgiving dinner at our house.
Convincing you to read SHE'S UNDER HERE by *also* sharing (almost) two paragraphs instead of one sentence. Because I'm a giver.
Share yours.
Share yours.
November 11, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Convincing you to read SHE'S UNDER HERE by *also* sharing (almost) two paragraphs instead of one sentence. Because I'm a giver.
Share yours.
Share yours.
Oxymoronic headline on the NYT homepage.
November 10, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Oxymoronic headline on the NYT homepage.
Currently reading Laura van den Berg's STATE OF PARADISE, which for some reason I missed last year. Her voice is so distinct. Clean, affecting. Off-kilter in the best way. Highly recommended.
November 10, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Currently reading Laura van den Berg's STATE OF PARADISE, which for some reason I missed last year. Her voice is so distinct. Clean, affecting. Off-kilter in the best way. Highly recommended.
Wish I had something—maybe you do?
Hi writers! I’m looking to assign a couple of features for Slate before the end of the year. If you have anything in mind that you think would be a fit please send me a pitch! Jenée.Desmond- harris@slate.com or dm me.
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
RTs are appreciated so this can reach more people. Thanks!
November 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Wish I had something—maybe you do?
I've long been a fan of Brian Kiteley's THE 3 A.M. EPIPHANY. Picked it up today to look for some inspiration for a class I'm teaching, and it struck me that a fun project would be to write an entire novel based on all the prompts, using the same set of characters and adjusting things accordingly.
November 10, 2025 at 5:33 PM
I've long been a fan of Brian Kiteley's THE 3 A.M. EPIPHANY. Picked it up today to look for some inspiration for a class I'm teaching, and it struck me that a fun project would be to write an entire novel based on all the prompts, using the same set of characters and adjusting things accordingly.
She's Under Here will be available from Hachette Australia February 10, 2026. Preorders are up now.
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
She's Under Here: A Memoir - Books
"Heart-pounding, illuminating, and ominously timeless" (Gina Frangello), this honest and poignant memoir reflects on a woman's escape from a violent marriage and what it cost to protect her and her fa...
www.hachette.com.au
November 10, 2025 at 4:56 PM
She's Under Here will be available from Hachette Australia February 10, 2026. Preorders are up now.
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
www.hachette.com.au/book/shes-un...
Reposted by Karen Palmer
The centrists in the Senate Democratic caucus saw that the country was rallying to the party in the 2025 elections and resolved that they would do anything they could to kill that momentum.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
The centrists in the Senate Democratic caucus saw that the country was rallying to the party in the 2025 elections and resolved that they would do anything they could to kill that momentum.
It's not just snatching failure from victory, it's an utter betrayal of the one thing voters want most from Dems—to fight. The CR was the only leverage we had. What other opportunity will there be? Rs must be beside themselves with joy at escaping responsibility (via the Ds!) for America's pain.
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 AM
It's not just snatching failure from victory, it's an utter betrayal of the one thing voters want most from Dems—to fight. The CR was the only leverage we had. What other opportunity will there be? Rs must be beside themselves with joy at escaping responsibility (via the Ds!) for America's pain.
From NBC News, a sickening example of sane-washing.
November 9, 2025 at 2:10 PM
From NBC News, a sickening example of sane-washing.
What a week. Waiting for the husband to get home so we can have a cocktail and eat dinner and then spend hours looking for something decent to watch on TV.
November 8, 2025 at 12:42 AM
What a week. Waiting for the husband to get home so we can have a cocktail and eat dinner and then spend hours looking for something decent to watch on TV.
How do people in Alabama endure the rank stupidity of this mook?
Tuberville: “We just saw what happened in NY. We lost NY. It will be completely Muslim in 3-4 years. That’s what they want. And it’s going to spread throughout the country.”
November 7, 2025 at 10:58 PM
How do people in Alabama endure the rank stupidity of this mook?
I've always liked to look at haircut sites and every model is now AI. There's not even one really good-looking real person (hard enough to relate to), just perfectly perfect slop.
I hate all the AI models in the clothing advertisements now. They’re creepy. They don’t communicate any useful information like how does this ruffled waistband look on a human body (even a painfully thin and long one). And, they’re creepy.
November 7, 2025 at 6:23 PM
I've always liked to look at haircut sites and every model is now AI. There's not even one really good-looking real person (hard enough to relate to), just perfectly perfect slop.
hot pastrami on rye
what is your favorite sandwich that you would never throw at anyone?
November 7, 2025 at 12:57 AM
hot pastrami on rye
Reposted by Karen Palmer
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), peintre symboliste autrichien et l'un des membres les plus en vue du mouvement Art Nouveau et de la Sécession de Vienne.
#peinture
#peinturesymboliste
#Symbolisme
#ArtNouveau
#GustavKlimt
#peinture
#peinturesymboliste
#Symbolisme
#ArtNouveau
#GustavKlimt
September 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), peintre symboliste autrichien et l'un des membres les plus en vue du mouvement Art Nouveau et de la Sécession de Vienne.
#peinture
#peinturesymboliste
#Symbolisme
#ArtNouveau
#GustavKlimt
#peinture
#peinturesymboliste
#Symbolisme
#ArtNouveau
#GustavKlimt
Did an event in SF where the host's daughter (new college graduate) joined us. She knitted throughout, like a Gen Z Mme Lafarge. Asked great questions. Even better, she told me she and her friends are all analog. They read physical books, hate AI, and do things with their hands. Gave me hope.
November 5, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Did an event in SF where the host's daughter (new college graduate) joined us. She knitted throughout, like a Gen Z Mme Lafarge. Asked great questions. Even better, she told me she and her friends are all analog. They read physical books, hate AI, and do things with their hands. Gave me hope.
Double feature tonight: Night of the Hunter and Touch of Evil.
November 4, 2025 at 9:47 PM
Double feature tonight: Night of the Hunter and Touch of Evil.
The funniest thing about this is that a preferred place for wealthy New Yorkers to escape to is Tennessee (which is a great state! it's just hard to see die-hard millionaires and billionaires making a go of it there).
Nearly a million New Yorkers ready to flee NYC if Mamdani becomes mayor — possibly igniting mass exodus: poll
Nearly a million New Yorkers ready to flee NYC if Mamdani becomes mayor — possibly igniting mass exodus: poll
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are prepared to bolt from the Big Apple if socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani wins Tuesday's mayoral race — potentially setting the stage for the largest population flight in US history, a new poll warns.
nypost.com
November 3, 2025 at 3:49 PM
The funniest thing about this is that a preferred place for wealthy New Yorkers to escape to is Tennessee (which is a great state! it's just hard to see die-hard millionaires and billionaires making a go of it there).
Writing in my little notebook as if the fate of the world depended on it (which it assuredly does not!), watching the pen scratch out words as if the implement has a brain.
November 2, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Writing in my little notebook as if the fate of the world depended on it (which it assuredly does not!), watching the pen scratch out words as if the implement has a brain.
I have interviews w/3 excellent podcasts this week: every time I think attention for the memoir is running out, there's another bump. Whether this translates to sales is anyone's guess, but, ya know, it can't hurt. Meanwhile, I left biz cards in weird places all over SF during a quickie trip north.
November 1, 2025 at 6:55 PM
I have interviews w/3 excellent podcasts this week: every time I think attention for the memoir is running out, there's another bump. Whether this translates to sales is anyone's guess, but, ya know, it can't hurt. Meanwhile, I left biz cards in weird places all over SF during a quickie trip north.
Vinnie (aka the husband), c. 1990
November 1, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Vinnie (aka the husband), c. 1990
Saw an honest to God, not in a costume vampire. smoking outside a CVS in downtown Santa Cruz.
November 1, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Saw an honest to God, not in a costume vampire. smoking outside a CVS in downtown Santa Cruz.
The Lost Boys train trestle in Santa Cruz (which is not really the one they used in the movie, though for 30 years I thought it was). I lived here 1988-89 and used to cross it to get to the boardwalk with my young kids all the time.
October 30, 2025 at 11:56 PM
The Lost Boys train trestle in Santa Cruz (which is not really the one they used in the movie, though for 30 years I thought it was). I lived here 1988-89 and used to cross it to get to the boardwalk with my young kids all the time.
Road trip! San Francisco, here we come.
October 29, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Road trip! San Francisco, here we come.
Some good news.
This is SUCH great news!! Huzzah @jenbenka.bsky.social, Mellon, and all the other organizations involved in this venture! We appreciate you all so much.
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
New Fund to Grant $50 Million to Literary Arts Orgs
A coalition of seven charitable organizations led by the Mellon Foundation plans to award at least $50 million to nonprofit literary organizations over the next five years through the Literary Arts Fu...
www.publishersweekly.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Some good news.