All I want is a cool October night, a full moon, a vintage copy of Bram Stoker's Dracula, a mysterious Victorian mansion, a crackling fire, an emotional support owl, a basket of freshly-baked scones, and the heartwarming sound of wolves in the distance.

Our Fall 2026 reading period runs until October 10! We invite fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry from emerging and established writers. #litjounal #callforsubmissions #creativewriting #literary #booksky sites.msudenver.edu/roadrunnerre...

📚SAVE THE DATE FOR MURDER (Starlit Bookshop Mystery #3) is coming this spring from @crookedlanebooks! Through 9/11, @barnesandnoble members can use the code PREORDER25 for 25% off! #booksky #mystery www.barnesandnoble.com/w/save-the-d...

Lake Ontario 💛

PLEASE SHARE! Writers! Uncanny Magazine will be open for short story submissions from August 24 to September 7! WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR AMAZING, HUMAN-WRITTEN STORIES! www.uncannymagazine.com/submissions/

Please share! Poets! Uncanny Magazine will be open to poetry submissions from August 17 to August 31! Poetry Editor Betsy Aoki can't wait to see your submissions! www.uncannymagazine.com/submissions/

Is anyone else eagerly awaiting cooler temperatures, pumpkin patches, ominous mansions, fog-laden fields of corn, autumn festivals, pumpkin pastries, Halloween, resplendent trees, the full moon in October, spooky films, and the heartwarming sound of crows in the distance?

☀️Happy Summer! If you're looking for a bookstore mystery, the audio book of How to Book a Murder is on sale this month. #booksky #mystery @crookedlanebooks.bsky.social www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

60% OFF How to Book a Murder

To help save her family’s floundering Colorado bookstore, Starlit Bookshop, newly-minted Ph.D. Emma Starrs agrees to plan a mystery-themed dinner party for her wealthy, well-connected high schoo...

audiobooks.com

“You fail only if you stop writing.” ~ Ray Bradbury #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

📚In the mood for a bookstore mystery on audio? Sale ends tomorrow! @crookedlanebooks.bsky.social www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

50% OFF In the Event of Murder

It’s the star-studded event of the season in Silvercrest, Colorado—but some of the guests might not make it to the last dance alive in the second charming installment of the Starlit Booksh...

audiobooks.com

Your daily fortune: Don't fight the tides. Flow with them, become a barnacle encrusted sea witch, and rule the briny shores forevermore.

"Indulge your imagination in every possible flight." ~ Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice

💔“Darling, when things go wrong in life, this is what you do. You lift your chin, put on a ravishing smile, mix yourself a little cocktail...and out you go.”― Sophie Kinsella, Twenties Girl

Please don't ever give up on your dream that, one day, you will pull a book from a bookshelf and that secret door will finally open for you.

❛ If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold no fire can warm me, I know that is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry. These are the only ways I know it. Is there any other way? Emily Dickinson, born #OTD in 1830

We are thrilled about all the writers in our 8th issue--hope you will give them a read!—and excited to announce our Pushcart Prize nominees. Congratulations, everyone! 🎉 sites.msudenver.edu/roadrunnerre...

Asked the ghosts at this hotel for a few lines for the novel. They told me to take a drive and listen. #photography

Put out some snacks for my crows and now am reading with a cat on my lap, this is the energy I bring to the table

“Have Yourself A Merriam Little Christmas” Merriam, a career-oriented lexicographer from the city, returns to her small town for the holidays and meets Webster, a ruggedly handsome librarian, who shows her the true DEFINITION of Christmas.

Who among us hasn’t dreamt of slowly descending down a stone spiral staircase with a torch in hand and discovering a hidden candlelit library filled with thousands of centuries-old novels and being welcomed by a cantankerous yet endearing library ghost?

“I have never started a poem whose end I knew. Writing a poem is discovering.” ~ Robert Frost #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

🎉 August Anniversary Party: 75% OFF In the Event of Murder! @crookedlanebooks.bsky.social www.audiobooks.com/promotions/p...

75% OFF In the Event of Murder

It’s the star-studded event of the season in Silvercrest, Colorado—but some of the guests might not make it to the last dance alive in the second charming installment of the Starlit Booksh...

audiobooks.com

“I think the hardest thing about writing is writing.” ~ Nora Ephron #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

Author Jason Powell visits the blog today! #NoMan'sGhost @chicksonthecase.bsky.social @daturabooks.bsky.social chicksonthecase.com/2025/06/02/a...

A Visit with Jason Powell

Cynthia here–at Left Coast Crime, I had the great fortune to meet the wonderful Jason Powell, who kindly agreed to visit us and answer some questions about his book No Man’s Ghost, which is o…

chicksonthecase.com

“If I waited for perfection, I would never write a word.” ~ Margaret Atwood #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

I don't know who needs to hear this, but yes, you do deserve a bookshelf with a rolling ladder.

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ~ Stephen King #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

I love my echo chamber where everyone values the humanity of other people and enjoys the arts.

“You can’t save up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.” ~ Maya Angelou #booksky #authorsky #quotesky #amwriting

Things I wish for you: That you always feel safe and warm, and that someday you'll be gifted the deed to a crumbling seaside castle filled with chatty ghosts, indifferent cats, and secret libraries within libraries.