Eric Bell
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ericbellwriter.bsky.social
Eric Bell
@ericbellwriter.bsky.social
340 followers 230 following 76 posts
Middle grade writer of ALAN COLE IS NOT A COWARD and ALAN COLE DOESN'T DANCE. Kidlit teacher, workshop facilitator, freelance editor. Queer, neurodivergent. He/him. Rep: Christa Cifelli, Daniele Hunter. https://iamericbell.com/
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ericbellwriter.bsky.social
Favorite picture book in recent memory is CABOOSE by @100scopenotes.bsky.social and @ohtruth.bsky.social. This hippo child chooses chaos by messing with the front of the school lineup. Then he gets sent to the back, and does the same exact thing. Truly an agent of anarchy.
October 30, 2025 at 11:49 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
Hey all! I'm running a free virtual event through Blue Stoop on Thursday, 3/27 from 4-5pm ET. It's going to be generative writing structured around the idea of writing a young person's book. All kidlit folks are welcome! To preregister: www.bluestoop.org/events/
Eric Bell (me!) is running an event for Blue Stoop on Thursday, 3/27 from 4-5pm ET, called Writing for Young Readers: See the World From a Younger POV! It's free on Zoom.
March 20, 2025 at 9:22 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
Hey middle grade/young adult writers! I'm doing a thing with the Highlights Foundation called the Whole Novel Workshop, where you can get your whole draft critiqued. Pretty exciting!

Check it out here:

www.highlightsfoundation.org/workshop/who...
Promotional flier for the Highlights Foundation's Whole Novel Workshop: A Virtual Course for Middle Grade and Young Adult Writers Apply on or before March 24 Workshop starts May 7 Whole submission due between May 28-June 5
January 10, 2025 at 8:38 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
I just put up a "leaving Instagram post" due to Meta's new homophobic/transphobic guidelines on "hateful conduct." Since I don't want to give Zuckerberg the clicks, here's a screenshot of it.
Left: screenshot of Meta's new Hateful Conduct policy, with the following text highlighted: "We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like “weird.”" Right: a goodbye post to Instagram, which reads: "I will no longer be using Instagram due to Meta's new official policy (as pictured) of permitting hate speech against queer people on all its platforms, including Instagram. I do not want to belong to a social media platform that fosters an environment where I feel unheard, unsafe, and unwelcome. Mark Zuckerberg and his company of greedy, nihilistic, billionaire-class, Trump-frothing sycophants only care about profit above all else. Well, they won't be profiting from my clicks anymore. If you're interested in hearing more from me (either in general or about this), I'm on Bluesky, which - so far, at least - doesn't seem to have an explicit clause in their terms of use allowing homophobia and transphobia: https://bsky.app/profile/ericbellwriter.bsky.social I hope to see you all around brighter pastures, in a world where my very existence isn't seen as mentally deficient. If you're reading this, Zuck: I hope Trump's shoe polish tastes nice."
January 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
Wise words from Amelia Bedelia.
A page of the early reader AMELIA BEDELIA 4 MAYOR by Herman Parish, with a picture of Amelia Bedelia being comforted by Mr. and Mrs. Rogers. The text reads: "Now, let's welcome the mayor and Amelia Bedelia!" said the announcer. Everyone clapped and cheered. "I am nervous," said Amelia Bedelia. "Just be yourself," said Mrs. Rogers. "I always am," said Amelia Bedelia. "Who else would I be?" Mr. and Mrs. each gave her a big hug.
November 18, 2024 at 3:31 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
I've seen a few posts about The StoryGraph, an independently owned alternative to Goodreads that, among many other sterling qualities, is not owned by Amazon. The data nerd in me especially loves this aspect of StoryGraph: you get nifty stats about the books you read. Here are my 2024 reads by mood:
A pie chart of various moods ascribed to my 2024 book reads from The StoryGraph. Lighthearted has the largest slice, then in descending order: adventurous, emotional, reflective, funny, hopeful, mysterious, informative, dark, inspiring, sad, tense, relaxing, and challenging as the smallest slice.
November 13, 2024 at 10:22 PM
ericbellwriter.bsky.social
I don't normally read a lot of nonfiction, but I'm really enjoying ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! by Christopher Lloyd. Fun and breezy trip from the Big Bang through modern times. (I just got to the emergence of mammals.)
Cover of ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, a juvenile nonfiction book by Christopher Lloyd.
November 13, 2024 at 6:05 PM