Veterinarians and vet techs are some of the best people in the world.

Aaaand I cried.

Maybe I’ve got too many pretty shiny bits of story that I keep trying to whittle into shapes that fit together. Maybe this is not the proper way to write a book. But I’m gonna keep whittling anyway!

shout out to all the girls who also sneeze like their dads, aka, like a bear roaring into the wind causing time to freeze, like a montage of all the slow motion explosions in every action film ever made, like a powerful beast that's stood on an upturned plug.

I kicked my TikTok/Insta habit once I was through the newborn trenches and desperately needed to stay awake & microdose on dopamine while nap-trapped/during 3am wake-ups. Here’s my BlueSky wishlist of TikTok creators who I hope join this platform at some point because their content brought me joy:

Hey there writers! If you're looking for some writing opportunities, last week's Five Things Friday post is now available to free subscribers. Some good ones this week! halekatie.substack.com/p/five-thing...

My child had a plethora of age-appropriate, semi-educational interactive Fisher Price & Baby Einstein accoutrements. Sometimes, after hours of hearing the same musical blurbs over and over, one of her toys will sling some extended version or all-new ditty at me and it always spooks me.

Fellow historical fiction writers - do any of you go so far down the research rabbit hole that it invades your dreams?

Have I had my mind changed on social media? Yes - NOT by arguing with randoms, but by following experts and first hand folks who share what they do, what they think and what's going on. The change isn't binary - I used to think one thing, and suddenly now another - it's slow and additive: Learning.

Ms. Rachel’s Christmas song video is legit, thank God. It’s not even Thanksgiving and I’m already getting pretty sick of the holiday musical Tonies.

What was your baby’s first favorite song? I’ll start - the theme song to The Office.