Susan Tombrello
@suso903.bsky.social
Literary writer, Bennington MFA grad, SoCal native, mom, married, neurodivergent. Completing work on my debut novel Disassembled/Dissemblers. Three generations of an American family. They do their best while barely holding it together. No DMs please.
What fun! Karen E. Bender will be swinging by Southern California on her book signing tour: Diesel Books in Brentwood on June 4 at 6:30 PM. RSVP by purchasing her new story collection The Words of Dr. L on their site. dieselbookstore.com/event/karen-...
May 29, 2025 at 7:39 AM
What fun! Karen E. Bender will be swinging by Southern California on her book signing tour: Diesel Books in Brentwood on June 4 at 6:30 PM. RSVP by purchasing her new story collection The Words of Dr. L on their site. dieselbookstore.com/event/karen-...
Everyone else’s dogs are so clever. My Pom-Chi (one of my three riotous cuties) points at the TV with his nose. Looks at me, looks at TV, looks at me, looks at TV. I turn it on. He sits on my lap all perky and waggy and talks to the TV hilariously. Mostly to animals, but he also growls at villains.
This is Blue. He learned to point at his treats so he can let his family know when he wants one. May or may not be abusing his new power. 13/10
May 28, 2025 at 1:58 AM
Everyone else’s dogs are so clever. My Pom-Chi (one of my three riotous cuties) points at the TV with his nose. Looks at me, looks at TV, looks at me, looks at TV. I turn it on. He sits on my lap all perky and waggy and talks to the TV hilariously. Mostly to animals, but he also growls at villains.
Reposted by Susan Tombrello
‘From out there on the Moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scru of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”’
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
May 26, 2025 at 12:44 AM
‘From out there on the Moon, international politics look so petty. You want to grab a politician by the scru of the neck and drag him a quarter of a million miles out and say, “Look at that, you son of a bitch.”’
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 astronaut
Idiot in chief strikes again.
May 27, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Idiot in chief strikes again.
It’d add thin as gruel characterizations following character arcs that are situational cliches. Half the time I fail to believe the characters could exist in the world as we know it. And why are descriptions passé? Someone please explain that one to me.
I can love the short, spare sentences style - but it means so many modern novelists don't have a distinctive voice. You wouldn't be able to pick them out, individually, from a zeitgeist soup.
This is because every novel has short sentences now. This is how contemporary writers write. They don't care about "flow". Neither do they care about "rhythm". They write whole novels out of short sentences. Like this one. I hate it. It's unreadable. Just appalling.
May 27, 2025 at 3:15 AM
It’d add thin as gruel characterizations following character arcs that are situational cliches. Half the time I fail to believe the characters could exist in the world as we know it. And why are descriptions passé? Someone please explain that one to me.
At the launch of Janet Clare’s second novel True Home. Here she is in conversation with Samantha Dunn. Please purchase and read this wonderful novel, published by Vine Leaves Press.
May 26, 2025 at 12:20 AM
At the launch of Janet Clare’s second novel True Home. Here she is in conversation with Samantha Dunn. Please purchase and read this wonderful novel, published by Vine Leaves Press.
Come one, come all! If not, purchase and read this remarkable novel.
May 25, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Come one, come all! If not, purchase and read this remarkable novel.
How I loved this album when it came out. Played the heck out of it.
On this day in 1992, Los Lobos released Kiko—a richly textured, genre-blending masterpiece that became one of their most beloved albums. With tracks like “Kiko and the Lavender Moon,” it proved their storytelling magic reached everywhere—even Sesame Street.
May 25, 2025 at 12:26 AM
How I loved this album when it came out. Played the heck out of it.
I enjoyed binge-watching this limited series on Netflix. Yeah, it’s fluff; however, the characters have depth and irony, and the performances are strong. Plus it’s unflinchingly from women’s perspectives and hinges, at times disturbingly, on their own autonomy rather than on rescuing men.
The new Netflix miniseries “Sirens” is both a fun show and a thoughtful look at how women wield power, blurring lines between obligation and intimacy—knowing, always, that the terms of unspecified relationships can change without warning, @sophiegilbert.bsky.social writes.
'Sirens' Has Beachy Vibes but a Dark Heart
The new Netflix miniseries Sirens has beachy vibes but a dark heart.
bit.ly
May 25, 2025 at 12:25 AM
I enjoyed binge-watching this limited series on Netflix. Yeah, it’s fluff; however, the characters have depth and irony, and the performances are strong. Plus it’s unflinchingly from women’s perspectives and hinges, at times disturbingly, on their own autonomy rather than on rescuing men.
Great fun to catch up with my friend and mentor Richard Bausch at Arvida Book Co. in Tustin, California at his launch of his tenth story collection The Fate of Others. Here he is in conversation with his Chapman colleague Samantha Dunn.
May 23, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Great fun to catch up with my friend and mentor Richard Bausch at Arvida Book Co. in Tustin, California at his launch of his tenth story collection The Fate of Others. Here he is in conversation with his Chapman colleague Samantha Dunn.
Excited to read more from Yiyun Li, who I have long admired, and also to attend tomorrow the Orange County, CA, launch of Richard Bausch’s latest story collection The Fate of Others. I was honored to study with Richard this past Fall. He’s a fabulous storyteller, on the page and in person.
Books by Alison Bechdel, Yiyun Li, and Richard Bausch are among the 26 new titles out today!
New books from Alison Bechdel! Yiyun Li! Adam Roberts! 26 new books out today.
Another Tuesday is here, and, as always, that means that a bevy of new books will be hitting the shelves. The world is still chaotic and scary, as always, but having some constants to look forward …
buff.ly
May 21, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Excited to read more from Yiyun Li, who I have long admired, and also to attend tomorrow the Orange County, CA, launch of Richard Bausch’s latest story collection The Fate of Others. I was honored to study with Richard this past Fall. He’s a fabulous storyteller, on the page and in person.
I am so happy for Janet and had the pleasure of workshopping with her and witnessing the development of this brilliant novel. It’s a great read! Enjoy!
Publication day for True Home! Take time away from the world and read it, and thank you so much! Available at your local bookstore (and if they don't have it, ask and they will order it), bookshop.org
And that other place.
And that other place.
May 20, 2025 at 10:04 PM
I am so happy for Janet and had the pleasure of workshopping with her and witnessing the development of this brilliant novel. It’s a great read! Enjoy!
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/b...
I love her writing. To feel and live and write with this kind of pain seems unimaginable.
I love her writing. To feel and live and write with this kind of pain seems unimaginable.
‘I Don’t Ever Want to Be Free From the Pain of Missing My Children’
www.nytimes.com
May 16, 2025 at 8:37 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/16/b...
I love her writing. To feel and live and write with this kind of pain seems unimaginable.
I love her writing. To feel and live and write with this kind of pain seems unimaginable.
I’m a doodler with fountain pens. Here is one of my recent ones, done rather quickly while at AWP Los Angeles. I used a travel pen — a Pilot Custom 74 SF hacked to EEF by nibmeister Kirk Speer.
May 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
I’m a doodler with fountain pens. Here is one of my recent ones, done rather quickly while at AWP Los Angeles. I used a travel pen — a Pilot Custom 74 SF hacked to EEF by nibmeister Kirk Speer.
Reposted by Susan Tombrello
I painted this portrait of Hakim Tafari when the world of art & running were merging for me. So many things Hakim said resonated with me in that arc of art and athletics, including the idea that both allowed for liberation through focus 🖤
Acrylic on canvas board, 40x40cm
#art #running #inspiration
Acrylic on canvas board, 40x40cm
#art #running #inspiration
May 15, 2025 at 7:32 AM
I painted this portrait of Hakim Tafari when the world of art & running were merging for me. So many things Hakim said resonated with me in that arc of art and athletics, including the idea that both allowed for liberation through focus 🖤
Acrylic on canvas board, 40x40cm
#art #running #inspiration
Acrylic on canvas board, 40x40cm
#art #running #inspiration
Reposted by Susan Tombrello
These buttons are from my personal collection. When I began writing about Verna and her family, I bought a handful of antique and vintage buttons to examine them and thus understand her obsession with them. Hundreds of buttons later ….
May 14, 2025 at 2:19 AM
These buttons are from my personal collection. When I began writing about Verna and her family, I bought a handful of antique and vintage buttons to examine them and thus understand her obsession with them. Hundreds of buttons later ….
My beautiful children.
May 13, 2025 at 9:31 PM
My beautiful children.
Tickled by the middle-aged male parking lot attendant reading Fear of Flying in the opening scene of the first episode of Poker Face’s second season. Enjoying the show’s Columbo vibes, plus Cynthia Erivo’s Peter Sellers turn as quintuplets.
May 13, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Tickled by the middle-aged male parking lot attendant reading Fear of Flying in the opening scene of the first episode of Poker Face’s second season. Enjoying the show’s Columbo vibes, plus Cynthia Erivo’s Peter Sellers turn as quintuplets.
So I was hacked on FB, bummer, also tired of their BS. So here I am, a literary fiction writer, brand new to all this. Glad to be on board!
May 11, 2025 at 9:42 AM
So I was hacked on FB, bummer, also tired of their BS. So here I am, a literary fiction writer, brand new to all this. Glad to be on board!