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Jo Conklin Author

@joconklin.com
7.5K followers 2.8K following 4.5K posts

I write kissing books! (And sometimes murder and magic books). Rep’d by Leah Pierre at Ladderbird Literary. JoConklin on most socials. Black Lives Matter 🏳️‍⚧ linktr.ee/joconklin

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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 21/09/2026
Joining in as I can to give feedback on practice pitches today, and encouraging mutuals to do the same! Posts with the #preDV tag are asking for your help polishing their pitches for the diverse voices pitch party. Let’s keep it encouraging and constructive 💜
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Mike Wiser @drmikewiser.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
When the Bird’s at the door And you’re missing Lenore Nevermoré
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Jay Garmon @jaygarmon.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Author/artist grievance against AI, summarized
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Ned Raggett @nedraggett.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Okay so @defector.com has had an odd glitch since the site redesign a couple of weeks back where the wrong photo and headline are often put together on the main page and I was going to ask them about fixing it but this just happened and as far as I'm concerned they have to leave it as is.
Screenshot for a Defector podcast episode with the headline "Consider the Emotional Lives of Scallops" only the accompanying photo is a white gormless stubbled red-headed UK singer of recent notoriety giving a flat smile to the camera while wearing a washed out peach top as beige as he is against a flat background. So, actually, probably a scallop anyway.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 17/09/2026
The Internet has ruined me, because I absolutely read this box wrong at first.
A box of Traditional Medicinals brand tea called “organic Throat Coat” that claims to support throat health and contains slippery elm. 

Not to be confused with “throat goat.” Although being a throat goat could certainly lead to needing some Throat Coat.
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lukelukeluke @lukelukeluke.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Me: I’d like a slice of pizza Server: that comes with three sides Me: I know what shape it is
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 16/09/2026
Absolutely ghoulish 🤢 And I get that it’s an industry term, but also, Andy Lewis, could we please not refer to a collection of human beings as being part of a venture capitalist’s “stable,” especially when the article focuses so heavily on Langston Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance? 😬
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 16/09/2026
I live in a studio with no balcony. Somebody tell me, “no!” 😭
A store display of a giant (9 foot by 5 foot) skeleton from the waist up, posed as if it’s crawling up out of a grave.
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👻madeline bOoOoOoOodent👻 @oldenoughtosay.com · 15/09/2026
okay while we’re all having a great time dunking on Ed Sheeran, and don’t let me stop you, but I just wanna pop in quickly and remind everyone that the “redheads don’t have souls” thing comes directly from medieval antisemitism, like directly, so let’s give that a miss. okay carry on
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 11/09/2026
I completely cleared my inbox down to zero, and found, unopened, misfiled by Gmail into a random folder, was an ARC approval from Netgalley from back in MARCH. So my special treat for clearing my inbox? I get to read Lethal Kiss by Taylor Grothe a month before I expected!! 🤩
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 04/09/2026
Still looking to hire a sensitivity reader/cultural consultant for Cuban-American secondary characters (2nd+ gen) in a diverse working-class Florida neighborhood for Murder Grannies! If you know someone with that background who might be interested (and does NOT work with AI), please connect.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 04/09/2026
I don’t know the latest recalls on meat, but I just got ten pounds of pork loin for just over $20 and it feels like I stepped through a time vortex back to 00s grocery pricing.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 02/09/2026
An extra scoop of appreciation for making the circle on the right yellow. 10/10, no notes 🫡
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 01/09/2026
Y’all are going to lose your minds for this one!! I got to beta read an early draft and it was already phenomenal, now I CANNOT WAIT to read the finished book! And that cover!!! 😭💜💜
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 29/08/2026
Downgrade a movie: Four situationships and a head cold.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 29/08/2026
Make a movie sound as boring as possible without giving away the title: Bartender helps friend with immigration paperwork.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 27/08/2026
I would love to see inside Barbara Walters’s head during this interview, because her expression is so much like Trent Crimm when he realizes how badly he underestimated Ted Lasso as a force of gentle power. I wonder if Dolly planted a seed here, the way she often did. youtu.be/If-oWqUYzlQ?...
youtu.be
Dolly Parton Shuts Down Patronising Interview In Style
YouTube video by Happy Mag
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 26/08/2026
Not Tim Curry too!! 💔😭😭 WHATEVER’S IN RETROGADE OR GATORADE OR WHATEVER NEEDS TO STOP IT RIGHT NOW.
Side by side photos of Tim Curry in a somber black turtleneck, with a gray beard and mustache, looking at us with one eyebrow raised sardonically. Next to him is an older black and white photo of Dolly Parton in a glorious curly blond wig, singing and smiling joyfully into a microphone.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 26/08/2026
This! It taps into a heuristic called the peak-end rule. We generally judge how to feel about any human experience based on the most intense part (peak) and the end. Applying this on a smaller scale to reading a sentence, its emotional strength starts with the verb (peak) and the last word (end).
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 25/08/2026
Ooof. This one hurts 😭😭
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 25/08/2026
Woke up to find folks have discovered my old AI Hater Brigade starter pack! It started as a joke response to a block list, but turned out pretty cool 😜 I’ve cleaned out a few long-inactive folks (along with a few posting slop memes ☹️) Catching up on add requests now! bsky.app/starter-pack...
bsky.app
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 20/08/2026
Please tell me Patton Oswalt is playing ART in Murderbot 2 Please tell me Patton Oswalt is playing ART in Murderbot season 2 Please tell me Patton Oswalt is playing ART in Murderbot 2 Please tell me Patton Oswalt is playing ART in Murderbot season 2…..
static.klipy.com
Invader Zim I Have A Mighty Need
Alt: Invader Zim, a small green alien pretending to be a human boy, rising dramatically from his classroom desk and shouting, “I Have A Mighty Need”
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 19/08/2026
It’s not remotely in the budget, but these ads for bed cooling systems keep taking me up a high mountain and whispering promises in my ear 😭
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 18/08/2026
Researching New Orleans for Murder Grannies 2 and came across a video about krewes that pronounced Mardi Gras as “Mar-dee Grass.” In case you were wondering about how much AI slop was still on YouTube after their supposed purge.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 14/08/2026
Attempt averted, as installing a new air filter (correctly this time) seems to have cured the rough idle problem 💪
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 14/08/2026
After watching many tutorial videos from proper experts, I, a not-car-guy, am about to attempt to clean the throttle body plate in our car, without giving my partner cause to remember that time 14 years ago I took the lawnmower engine apart and had to wait for him to put it back together for me.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 12/08/2026
My brain now, whenever I see the DC Water utility logo.
The door of a truck from the DC Water utility. The original logo on n the door says "Water is life" with a large water droplet. A large sticker is edited in next to the logo showing the head of Danny Rojas, the character from Ted Lasso who's known for joyously shouting "Fútbol is life!!" The word "Fútbol" is stenciled over the original word "water" and a soccer ball is over the water drop. It now reads "DC, Fútbol is Life"

Edited by me in GIMP, no generative Al used.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 10/08/2026
So I know dongles are little plug in network security key fobs. But there are two men here talking about dongles. One has 3D printed his own dongle holder. He loves that it’s not too tight. Their friend had a dongle holder so tight he broke his dongle trying to pull it out. I swear I’m a grownup 😭
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 09/08/2026
Turns out a lot of frustrations and steep learning curves using GIMP go away when you finally update the software from the version you downloaded back in 2018 😂
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 09/08/2026
Graphic designing friends, what’s a reasonably-priced stock image source that’s minimal AI or other stolen work? I’d be looking for a mix of clip art and photo. Obviously I’d hire a professional for the important stuff, but I’d like to get my skills up enough to do my silly Instagram posts myself!
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 08/08/2026
Twelve years ago today I married my best friend on a Lake Michigan Beach, with a handful of friends and family. It was a wedding on a grad student budget, with a homemade dress, farmer’s market flowers, my mom’s lemon cupcakes, and a ukulele jam to follow. It was perfect for us in every way. 💜
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 06/08/2026
I’m starting the process of looking for a (paid) sensitivity reader who is Cuban or a Spanish-speaking American with Cuban cultural roots and community, to check me on secondary characters in Murder Grannies! Set in Tampa Bay Area. I’m hoping for mutuals or personal rec I can trust to use ZERO AI.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 05/08/2026
Is it expertly done? Definitely not 😂. Did I make it myself with Gimp and YouTube tutorials and coffee and cussing and not a single AI prompt? YUP. And every time I do, I get a little better at it. That’s what happens when you make things yourself. Skillbuilding, not slop.
A spoof on an iconic ad poster for Charlie’s Angels. A circle of orange and yellow gradient with stylized stripes evokes looking down a gun scope at the silhouettes of four elderly women outlined against a sunset. The first peers down her glasses into the distance. The second is waving a greeting with a knife hidden behind her back and a small dog at her feet. The third carries a baseball bat. The fourth is using a walker and carries a laptop bag. The image title says Murder Grannies.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 04/08/2026
I emerged from my editing cave today, and what is this burning ball of light in the sky? And why is the ceiling blue?
A large bearded man in a pool deck lounger wearing a blue swim shirt and glasses, squints suspiciously up at the sky with his mouth quirked to one side.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 04/08/2026
Leonard Nimoy’s 1974 recording may be the best possible way to experience There Will Come Soft Rains! youtu.be/nmcURKn2sf8
youtu.be
August 4, 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains | Ray Bradbury & Leonard Nimoy | OEW Institute
YouTube video by OEW Institute
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Adam Rawnsley @arawnsley.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Today, August 4, 2026, is the setting of Ray Bradbury’s short story “There Will Come Soft Rains” about a fully automated house continuing on after the family who lived there and the world around it died in a nuclear blast.
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Noor Lovelace @noorlovelace.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Some days I wake up very grumpy (like today) and then I see a Chuck Tingle post and I have to be like FINE. I’ll appreciate the magic of human existence, OKAY.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 03/08/2026
After a frantic month of revisions and a final line editing pass, Murder Grannies is off to my agent!! And while I wait to see if it’s just too unhinged to sell, I’ll be over here breathing into a paper bag 😂
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 01/08/2026
So the weird relationship the British have with wicker furniture suddenly makes a lot more sense…🤔
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 01/08/2026
In the same week a Black debut author lost a $2.4 million dollar deal over (so far unsubstantiated) “vibes” accusations of AI usage, seeing influencers rally around and make calls for nuance around Hank Green openly using ChatGPT for his work is a perfect illustration of white privilege in action.
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D.N. Schmidt, SF author🪐📚 @dnschmidt.com · 31/07/2026
Low budget science fiction novel adaptations: * The Mall Is A Harsh Mistress * Project Hi Mary How's It Going * Does Andy Dream of Electric Sheep? * The Travel Montage Before We Cut to a Small, Angry Planet * Have Space Suit — Will Travel Next Season, If We Get Renewed * Slaughterhouse 2 ½
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 30/07/2026
Folks demanding that Carl be first and foremost cast to fit their personal preferences for hotness is supremely ironic given the themes of the whole DCC series 👀
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 29/07/2026
Norwegian brunost (“brown cheese”) (geitost/gjetost if it has goat milk). It’s essentially cheese fudge; milk and cream cooked for hours until the natural sugars caramelize and all the water evaporates. If you think that sounds weird and/or *absolutely delicious*, you’re right.
A block of ski queen gjetost (brunost made with a mix of cow and goat milk), a small fudgy textured cheese the color of caramel. A traditional Scandinavian cheese knife that resembles a spatula with a cutting blade in the center shows off a slice of the creamy sweet cheese.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 29/07/2026
My watch at 5:30am: Good Morning, Jo! Me: MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 28/07/2026
Ooooo… 🤩
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 28/07/2026
I’m right around 70k words on this revision pass through Murder Grannies but the edits giveth, and the edits taketh away.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 28/07/2026
It is MIND BOGGLING to me that when people ask for books like Dungeon Crawler Carl, someone always comes out of the woodwork to recommend Red Rising. In WHAT UNIVERSE is that a comp?! Other that extreme violence in space? 😱
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 27/07/2026
The stars aligned such that I finally had free time near Ballston when this food truck was open, and apparently you can still find amazing $4 tacos in this burning world. Quest complete: happy stomach. (local cilantro, no pasa nada on the RFK diarrhea)
Three takeaway tacos wrapped in foil, with doubled up soft corn tortillas bursting with toppings. One chorizo (sausage), one pollo (chicken), one Lengua (beef tongue). Topped with diced cucumber, radish, and cilantro. A bright orange food truck named Los Combinados, Tacos & Antojitos. Images of plates of food and a menu on the side of the truck. The service window is open and bottles of water, Gatorade, and multiple flavors of Jarritos soda are displayed on the counter to show drink options.
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 26/07/2026
Diving into my playlist for Murder Grannies a bit! While it’s a contemporary story, I’m keeping the playlist nostalgic for the formative years of my elderly MC’s youth. But it’s 2026, so that means AC/DC, Bowie, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, Marvin Gaye, Deep Purple, Nina Simone, Queen….🤘
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Jo Conklin Author @joconklin.com · 24/07/2026
Writer accountability post! Today’s revision goal: 3 chapters (dev and line edits) Today’s revision progress: 1 deep-cleaned bathroom 2 loads of laundry Updated website banner Updated website bio Rough draft of book pitch Got ready to go to gym (did not) Pasta Nap
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