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Abby Alten Schwartz

@abbys480.bsky.social
1.1K followers 1.3K following 157 posts

Healthcare writer. Journalist. Essayist. Memoir in progress. Pushcart and BOTN nominee. Bylines WaPo, NYT, HuffPost, WIRED, AARP, HAD, Hippocampus, Citron Review, Brevity and others. linktr.ee/abbys480

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Reposted by Abby Alten Schwartz
Does It Have Pockets @doesithavepockets.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
"In a haughty voice, I inform my mom that I’m anti-fur." Warm and nuanced new #CreativeNonfiction from Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social | www.doesithavepockets.com/cnf/abby-alt...
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Brevity / Dinty W. Moore @dintywmoore.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Brevity Blog team, is pleased to be recognized once again, with thanks to @writersdigest.bsky.social
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Beautiful, from the title on, every word loaded with meaning.
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Nicole Pagowsky, Ph.D. @nope4evr.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
“…you make up those amazing stories…and we tell you that you have such a big imagination? Sometimes, grown-ups make up stories, too, and post them on LinkedIn. Except their ideas aren’t special at all. Everyone has heard them before, and instead of “imagination,” we call it “thought leadership.” 💯
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 25/12/2025
"Your parents have puritanical hangups about your body and insist that you cover the shameful parts."
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Rankin and Bass’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Stephen King’s Carrie?
1. Your magical powers can light up a room. 2. Everyone laughs at you and calls you names. 3. A red biological emission is the source of deep shame...
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Submitted two pitches to an editor I met with last week, turned in a first draft for a writing assignment from a corporate client, and feeling utter contentment with this writing life I chose. How's your day going?
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Cassie Premo Steele, Ph.D. @cassiepremosteele.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
I 💙 this essay in Brevity Blog by @abbys480.bsky.social about #writing #pitching #mothering and using the ladder of what is hard to #write higher. #WritingCommunity @dintywmoore.bsky.social brevity.wordpress.com/2025/07/02/s...
brevity.wordpress.com
Speak Calmly and Carry a Big Ladder: On Writing My Way Forward
By Abby Alten Schwartz When my daughter was 10, it occurred to me that she’d never been to Disney World, and if I wanted her to experience it while she was still young enough to find the kingdom ma…
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
Proud to share my latest for @dintywmoore.bsky.social
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Five Minutes @fiveminutelit.bsky.social · 31/05/2025
He adorably complains it’s a boring operation, my cyst will likely grow back, but says he’ll still do it if I want (I want).—"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social in case you missed it www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
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Jonathan Slater @jonathanslater.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
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Five Minutes @fiveminutelit.bsky.social · 21/04/2025
The hand surgeon, unexpectedly hot, reminds me of Nate from Six Feet Under, which I’ve been bingeing for weeks. —"McDreamy" by @abbys480.bsky.social www.fiveminutelit.com/mcdreamy
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
They are indeed hobbling social security. The wait in the phone queue today was 120 minutes.
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
This is How They Ban Birth Control "One of the reasons some people don’t believe that Republicans are banning birth control is that they’re imagining some sweeping bill that says contraception is now illegal. But that’s not how it works."
jessica.substack.com
This is How They Ban Birth Control
2.27.25
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
The best news today is that NYT is finally letting us pick the tile pattern in Games
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Another reason to love the Eagles. My family has known Ryan since he was a boy and we're so grateful he is alive and saddened by his tremendous loss. Go Birds! 🦅 www.espn.com/video/clip/_...
espn.com
Return Flight: Former Princeton punter fulfills promise to lost teammate - ESPN Video
Ryan Quigley returns to the Crescent City to fulfill a promise to his best friend and former Princeton football teammate, Tiger Bech, who was killed on New Year's Day in New Orleans.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
Grateful to my state legislators for this announcement of new laws to safeguard the protections of the ACA. Please share. pasenate.com/senate-democ...
pasenate.com
Senator Hughes, Senate Democrats Announce Legislation to Protect the Affordable Care Act in Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, PA − January 28, 2025 − Senator Vincent Hughes was joined by Democratic colleagues from the Senate and House to announce four bills that would protect the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from at...
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
This is the level of content I can stomach right now. More good boys making friends.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
“We stockpile memories, squirreling them away for later. But memories can turn. Exposed to time and air, they alchemize from joyful to bittersweet, a reminder of all that’s gone. Is nostalgia ever not tinged with melancholy?” substack.com/home/post/p-...
substack.com
Wormhole
Traveling 33 years in one night
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Powerful flash by @tcboudreau.bsky.social
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 01/01/2025
I couldn’t be more content spending today in my cozy living room reading, writing in my journal, crafting pitches on my laptop, and working on my newsletter and memoir. Hope everyone is enjoying a peaceful day.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 29/12/2024
Sunday gifts for my Monday self: the pot of homemade ham and split pea soup I cooked today and the basket of clothing I washed so my favorite leggings and tops and socks are ready to wear. The little things, y’know?
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
I just discovered a box of old greeting cards I saved from my 20s from family, friends, work pals. I realize now that before social media and cell phones we mailed each other cards and wrote inside them and I sadly rarely do this anymore.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Just finished the delightful audiobook of Lessons in Chemistry, including the interview at the end with author, Bonnie Garmus. She was a copywriter (like me) for more than 30 years before she published this book in her early 60s, and she’s inspired me to no end.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 16/12/2024
Great ideas here for gifts for writers. My own wish list would include ruled Moleskines (large hardback or x-large softback) and pens (rollerball refillable ink or .7 mm gel pens), subscriptions to great literary magazines, and, of course books.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 15/12/2024
Listening to the car radio and my husband points out that the spoken part of Emotional Rescue sounds just like Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords and now I can’t unhear it.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 14/12/2024
I’m reading this gorgeous memoir by Jessica Fein and so much resonates. Passages about being in the hospital with her daughter mirror passages from my own WIP and I’m reminded that the details of a story are what make it universal, even while the circumstances are unique.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
Finally watched the final episode of Somebody, Somewhere and I’m a puddle. Only one other TV show (Better Things) has ever hit me in the feels like this one. Anyone else a fan?
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 07/12/2024
One great thing about winter is I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by being indoors. I slept in today, then worked on my memoir for several blissful hours.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
At the DMV for my Real ID and this is some Soup Nazi level efficiency. I’m thoroughly impressed.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
A medical mystery that began on a pickleball court. I love healthcare journalism and feel honored to write stories about medicine and real human struggles and triumphs. This was one of my favorites to write and just went live. #journalism #healthcare www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-bl...
pennmedicine.org
Saved by pickleball and Penn Medicine
With teamwork and determination, specialists at Penn Medicine solved Ronnie Recchia’s life-threatening medical mystery and got him back in the game.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
Excited about this webinar tomorrow from @aileenweintraub.bsky.social and Megan Margulies, aka The Witches of Pitches. Learn how to levitate above the slush pile. www.eventbrite.com/e/learn-how-...
eventbrite.com
Learn How to Levitate Above the Slush Pile
Join us for a conversation with author-turned-literary agent Jen Nadol about how to make your book stand out
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Sunday night after a long holiday weekend still makes me melancholy no matter how old I get, despite the fact that I work for myself and can ease into the week at whatever pace I decide. Is it ingrained? Sunday Scaries? Is it saying goodbye to my daughter who visited for a long weekend? Oh. Bingo.
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 26/11/2024
Here are the 100 notable books from 2024 — including standout fiction, poetry and nonfiction, all chosen by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.
nytimes.com
100 Notable Books of 2024
Here are the year’s notable fiction, poetry and nonfiction, chosen by the staff of The New York Times Book Review.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
Thanks @kgitch.bsky.social
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
“I refuse to subject myself to another four years of being on high alert, engaged in a never-ending high-stakes game of emotional Whac-A-Mole.” My newest Substack issue is live and I'd love for you to read it and let me know how you're doing. Link in bio.
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Tia Levings, Writer @tialevingswriter.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
We are the checks and balances, the loudest one left. Our refusal to normalize and accept the unacceptable, our pressure on Congress, our speech and content…this is how Donald discovers how unpopular he is.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
Tacowisdom.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
I just solved today’s Strands and still have no clue what the theme was. Like it was 9 unrelated words with a hint “Start Small” and I think NYT is just making things up now
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Sari Botton @saribotton.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Update! I interviewed @calliefreitag.bsky.social about this for Oldster Magazine... oldster.substack.com/p/how-trumps...
oldster.substack.com
How Trump's Second-Term Policies Might Affect Elders and Others
And what we can do about it. An interview with policy expert Callie Freitag.
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Intuitive counsellor @intuitivelyme.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
“People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider's webs. It's not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go” Matthew - @CrowsFault
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Taco Bell Quarterly @tacobellquarterly.org · 18/11/2024
This is how you become a writer: just pick one of the things that is deeply wrong with you. Make it a character. Now send it on a self-help journey or try to kill it. Now call it a book.
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Jenna Jonaitis @jennajonaitis.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
"If you don't follow your dreams, they won't... explode into joy." - my four-year-old
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Noah Michelson @noahmichelson.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
Hold a door open Tip an extra dollar Send a note to someone in an envelope with an actual stamp Stop to say hello to every dog you see Follow through Forage through this mess we’re in for even one small thing worth saving Be generous with your blessings Be unwavering with your defiance
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Shannon Watts @shannonrwatts.bsky.social · 17/11/2024
The philosopher Viktor Frankl said, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Buddhists have a name for that space: the sacred pause.
shannonwatts.substack.com
The sacred pause between the election and what comes next
There are plenty of fires to fight right now in America, but there’s a fire inside you, too. Appreciate this sacred pause—this space between fires—and let your flame find its way.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Courageous @nytimes.com opinion piece by a 16 year old girl. Here’s a gift link. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/16/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I’m 16. On Nov. 5 the Girls Cried, and the Boys Played Minecraft.
On the day after the election, it seemed boys and girls woke to a new reality.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
I’m working on my memoir today and feel a renewed urgency to commit more time to it. I need to create space in my busy workweek to keep my momentum going so I don’t have to merge back into it each time with a long on-ramp.
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
My daughter turned 28 today. Before she turned 2 I was told she had cystic fibrosis and that the average lifespan was now 31. But everything changed, thanks to science. Here’s a piece I wrote about that. wapo.st/4esPrPe
wapo.st
Perspective | For years, I feared that I’d outlive my daughter. And then science did something amazing.
Cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that slowly destroys the lungs beginning in childhood, has no cure. After years of work, new treatments are changing the dire prognosis for many.
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Kaye Steinsapir @kayesteinsapir.bsky.social · 15/11/2024
Wise words from Robert Frost. The practice of surrender (non-resistance) makes it easier to move through, in my experience. I don’t always remember that but when I do, life flows easier. #TEAMMOLLY
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 16/11/2024
So we have a lot of impersonators here at @bsky.app - wondering if there’s gonna be a verification type thing? @safety.bsky.app ?
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Abby Alten Schwartz @abbys480.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
Here’s a link to one of my favorite pieces. www.havehashad.com/hadposts/we-...
havehashad.com
We Never Got to Watch Carol Brady Grow Older by Abby Alten Schwartz
We never got to watch Carol Brady grow older. Never felt her regret for the years she lost indulging her kids’ dreams of stardom (delusional, let’s face it) when all along, she was the one with talent...
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