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Karen Myna Cantor

@karenmynacantor.bsky.social

Swamp enthusiast, writer of extremely chaotic YA fiction. She/her. Repped by Ismita Hussain at Great Dog Literary. ALEX, BY PROXY (Holiday House 7/21/2026); SNAKETOWN (HH 2027). https://karenmynacantor.com/links/

68 Posts482 Follower219 Folgt
Phil Gross@mistergross.bsky.social · 3w ago

Love YA books? My old critique partner’s debut novel comes out Tuesday! @karenmynacantor.bsky.social writes disability with peerless clarity and empathy AND her plots GRIP Check out Alex, By Proxy www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/814218...

Alex, by Proxy by Karen Myna Cantor: 9780823461165 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books

A Munchausen by proxy victim reveals his deepest secrets on a true-crime podcast—but will his audience believe him, let alone his loved ones? HARROWING NEW DETAILS IN 'MONSTER MOMMY' CASE. . . SHOCKI...

penguinrandomhouse.com

s. m. hallow@smhallow.bsky.social · 6mo ago

If you're voting for the Hugos, Nebulas, Locus, or other awards, please consider this novella about queer love, recovering from trauma, and rewriting your story that CONSISTENTLY resonates with readers. People love this book. More people should know it exists. www.smhallow.com/how-to-survi...

A trope map for the novella HOW TO SURVIVE THIS FAIRYTALE by S. M. Hallow. Going clockwise, tropes include: M/M love story, an evil narrator is in charge here, cozy horror video game vibes, disability & mental health rep, childhood friends to lovers, cottagecore, redemption through love, 2nd person POV romance, soulmates/true love, and found family. The tropes surround the book's cover -- a swan on a lake in a forest, with a castle in the background.
s. m. hallow@smhallow.bsky.social · 10mo ago

As we enter awards season, I ask you to consider for HOW TO SURVIVE THIS FAIRYTALE, a novella-length queer retelling that focuses on the fairytale characters whose stories aren’t about them. A huntsman who weaves through stories without an ending of his own, a cursed prince whose story ignores him.

Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · 10mo ago

So excited to reveal the cover of ALEX, BY PROXY, out 7/21/2026 from Holiday House! I love this cover and design—thank you to Chelsea Hunter (of Holiday House) for an incredible design and Beatriz (@/naranjalidad on IG) for a stunning cover. Preorder links are in the LinkTree in my bio!!!

Cover of ALEX, BY PROXY! It features a boy in profile view, the focus zoomed in on his head and shoulders as he falls against a teal background. The boy has his eyes closed, with pale skin and dark brown hair that seems to ripple as he falls. Other items fall around him: a microphone, newspapers (including one that reads, MOTHER POISONS HER SON), and a pillbox with pills falling out. The whole scene has a sort of glitched out quality to it, with portions of Alex and the falling items blurring into rainbow static.The blurb of ALEX, BY PROXY, overlaid on top of a version of the cover without Alex's face (so just the blue background and the falling items around the edges). Blurb reads: HARROWING NEW DETAILS IN ‘MONSTER MOMMY’ CASE… SHOCKING INFORMATION SURFACES AS ‘MONSTER MOMMY’ CASE HEADS TO TRIAL… HOW COULD A MOTHER POISON HER SON? Welcome to sixteen-year-old Alex’s life, ripped straight from the headlines. Alex is a victim of Munchausen by proxy, but he’s also a witty, sarcastic kid with unusually good crossword skills and a penchant for astronomy. At least he used to be. Now that he’s recovered from years of illness induced by his mother, he sort of has to figure out who he is all over again… And most importantly, he’ll have to decide if he can testify against the woman who gave birth to him. As Alex awaits the trial, his friends convince him to start a podcast as a way to tell his story. Lethal Lullaby brings Alex closer to his old life—hanging out with friends, cracking jokes, having fun—but at the same time, dark memories surface, forcing Alex to acknowledge that the podcast could be making things worse. It seems like he’s got deeper issues than he’d like to admit, and this time, he can’t blame them on his mom. Day by day, Alex’s mental health crumbles, until he can no longer distinguish between truth and fiction. Should he trust himself to testify? And if he gets up there, what version of the truth will he share?
Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · last yr.

⭐️ bookish checkpoint ⭐️ 📚 Last book read: HURRICANE HEROES IN TEXAS by Mary Pope Osborne 📚 Current read: ONE DAY, EVERYONE WILL HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AGAINST THIS by Omar El Akkad 📚 Last book added to tbr: AMERICA'S NOT-SO SWEETHEART by Blair Hanson 📚 Next read: THE RAVEN SCHOLAR by Antonia Hodgson

Elad Nehorai@eladn.bsky.social · 2y ago

This is also an example of the way people don’t immediately think of infrastructure and systems when they think of how to solve societal problems. When we talk about ending extremism, we discuss it as a fight. Well, what if it was more about building walkable cities and funding community spaces?

Elad Nehorai@eladn.bsky.social · 2y ago

Car culture is one of the things people don’t see as harmful because they’re so used to it. But when you live somewhere without it, it’s hard to forget how much healthier it is when cars don’t rule your life. Community was decimated by cars well before smart phones. Atomized lives are radicalizing.

Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · 2y ago

Since the UHC CEO killing, I've seen health insurers claim they are a safeguard against "unnecessary care". I wondered: what did they do during the opioid crisis, when restricting drug access may have saved peoples' lives? You will not be surprised to learn they caved to Purdue Pharma for $$$.

An important test came in 2003. At a meeting with Purdue, an executive for the insurer UnitedHealthcare raised concerns about abuse of OxyContin, noting that some patients were being prescribed as many as 1,000 pills a month. The insurance company planned to limit prescriptions to 60 pills; doctors would need to call to get authorization for higher amounts. For help, Purdue turned to Merck-Medco, the P.B.M. that UnitedHealthcare had hired to handle prescription drug benefits for its customers. The effort culminated in a meeting at UnitedHealth Group’s offices. A Merck-Medco official delivered a presentation on the “potential loss of rebates” to the insurer if it went forward with the limit, an executive for the P.B.M. reported to Purdue. “That information convinced the UHG team to change,” he wrote.
Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · 2y ago

So what we're not gonna do with this UnitedHealthcare CEO killing is immediately say the killer was mentally ill/psychotic/schizophrenic etc. Already seeing comments like this. Nope! Not today!! If your first instinct when you hear of a violent crime is to assume mental illness, maybe fix that

Katie Abdou@kaitlynabdou.com · 2y ago

GIVEAWAY TIME! I am hosting a GIVEAWAY on my newsletter! To enter, share this post, sign up for my mailing list, and fill out the form linked in my "welcome" e-mail! bit.ly/3Zbdw8Y Winner will be selected on December 15th!

A yuletide holiday photo of a candle in front of a pine tree with crystals around it. Text says "Much Abdou About Nothing Yuletide Giveaway" Recieve a specially curated “writers’ essentials” kit! To enter: Share this post! join my mailing list, fill out the google form inside the “welcome” e-mail Winner selected december 15th
Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · 2y ago

⭐️ bookish checkpoint ⭐️ 📚 Last book you read: LANGUAGE CITY by Ross Perlin 📚 Current read: THE MINISTRY OF TIME by Kaliane Bradley & THE TRUTH ACCORDING TO EMBER by Danica Nava 📚 Last book added to tbr: IMMORTAL DARK by Tigest Girma 📚 Next anticipated read: WE WILL BE JAGUARS by Nemonte Nenquimo

Noelle Monét | ADD BOUND BY FURY ON GOODREADS@noellemonet.bsky.social · 2y ago

⭐️ bookish checkpoint ⭐️ 📚 Last book you read: PEOPLE WE MEET IN VACATION by Emily Henry 📚 Current read: IMMORTAL DARK by Tigest Girma 📚 Last book added to tbr: GONE WOLF by Amber McBride 📚 Next anticipated read: BLOOD DEBTS & PARABLE OF THE SOWER

Elad Nehorai@eladn.bsky.social · 3y ago

Multiple things can be true at once: 1. Oct 7th was the worst collective trauma Jews have experienced in our lifetimes 2. The war on Gaza is a horror 3. Antisemitism is rising 4. Islamophobia is rising Those trying to use one of these to cancel others are making things worse

mr. cannoli@boner.ink · 3y ago

i feel like people get here from twitter with a bunch of latent aggression like soldiers coming back from the war to polite society, but they can't fit in because all they know how to do is kill

Karen Myna Cantor@karenmynacantor.bsky.social · 3y ago

Hi! My name is Karen Myna, and I mostly write YA contemporary that leans hard into shenanigans and chaos. My current MS is a Florida Man-inspired story where two teen girls try to put their South Florida town on the map in the worst way possible--by staging a (fake) disaster. Enjoy some turtles!

Photo of three turtles sitting next to a placid creek. The first turtle is climbing over the second while the third watches, bemused. Leaves and ferns frame the scene.