Had the best time chatting with @ahoffmanwriter and @jessicaknollauthor at @adelphiu Writers Conference Friday. Not only are these two bestselling authors brilliant, they are FUN and funny and I learned some really amazing details about how they started writing - and their paths to publishing their first books. It was an important reminder that every author has to fight through rejection and uncertainty at some point. The lucky ones find the right encouragement at the right time, and the strength to press on. I never want to forget that. Special thanks to the amazing @laurazigman for not only putting together an incredible run of show but wearing all the hats (author, organizer, handler!). 🩷🩷feeling very fortunate!
5 years.
We zoomed my brother Teddy’s funeral and thought we’d have a gathering to celebrate his life, later. But we never did.
Last week, my mom emailed me and my brothers Dave and Josh, and included stories from condolence notes she received. She’d retyped them into an email for us. And I was reminded of the solace we get from gathering to mourn someone - the opportunity to share memories and hear stories you never knew.
A favor. If you knew my brother Ted and have a story about him, please share it with me, and/or my family sometime.
With many thanks to those who already have.
Love you, Ted. ❤️ Miss you.
1) Actor headshot, Fordham University;
2) Celebrating post NYC marathon (he’d jumped in to run me the last mile), circa 2005;
3) With my daughter, circa 2012;
4) Telling him a story, circa 1985.
ICYMI….
Bursting with pride and hurrahs for @scribnerbooks and our two incredible honors in two weeks!
🏆Booker Prize: FLESH by David Szalay
🏆National Book Award for Poetry: INTENTIONS OF THUNDER by Patricia Smith
Hats off to these extraordinary artists and their well-earned honors and to my exceptional colleagues who shepherded these works to glorious results. Feeling so grateful and inspired. This is how - and why - we do it.
FLESH
Chair of the judges Roddy Doyle describes Flesh as “an extraordinary, singular novel…a dark book that is a joy to read.”
David Szalay, who was previously shortlisted in 2016, is the first Hungarian-British author to win the Booker Prize
Szalay said of writing Flesh: “I wanted to write about life as a physical experience, about what it’s like to be a living body in the world.”
THE INTENTIONS OF THUNDER
gathers, for the first time, the essential work from across Patricia Smith’s career. Here, Smith’s poems, affixed with her remarkable gift of insight, present a rapturous ode to life. With careful yet vaulting movement, these poems traverse the redeeming landscape of pain, confront the frightening revelations of history, and disclose the joyous possibilities of the future. The result is a profound testament to the necessity of poetry—all the careful witness, embodied experience, and bristling pleasure that it bestows—and of Smith’s necessary voice. Lyrical and sly, meditative and volcanic, The Intentions of Thunder stunningly explores the fullness of living.
After panel chair and 2010 National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes announced the honor, Smith devoted her speech to her mother, who died in 2024.
Recounting her painful experiences interacting with her mom during her illness, Smith said, “You’re probably wondering what this has to do with poetry—I’ll tell you.” As the audience listened closely, Smith offered that poetry helps one to “look at where you are”—her mother did not recognize her in her final years, she said, but poetry told her, “look how pretty she is anyway.”
Thrilled that we at @marysueruccibooks and @scribnerbooks have three titles on the 2026 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction: Tilt by Emma Pattee; Flesh by David Szalay, and The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica.
From the website: All honored titles are nominated by a seven-member selection committee of library professionals across the country who work closely with adult readers. Notably, these awards do not accept submissions(!).
The shortlist will be announced Nov 18, and the winner on Jan 27, 2026. But for now, we relish the recognition. Congratulations to Emma Pattee, David Szalay (also shortlisted for the Booker Prize!), and Agustina Bazterrica and to all the nominees!
In the blink of an eye, I have a teenager. She’s kind and bright and funny and smart and an utter wonder to me. Half stuffed animals, half skin care. And today, she was all cuddles and hugs. I’ll cherish it — and all the days.
“Each one is a gift, no doubt,
mysteriously placed in your waking hand
or set upon your forehead
moments before you open your eyes.”
—Billy Collins, “Days”
Happy Birthday to my best and favorite girl. 🩷🎉🥳
🩷🐰Oh Bunny, we did it! 🐰🩷
We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad is a New York Times, USA Today, and National Independent Bestseller!🐰🩷
No national book club. Just the rabid (ahem) readers across the country who love Bunny and this madcap fever dream utterly genius world created by the brilliant
🩷 💫 @misss_read . 💫🩷
It took a village and its mayor is one 🩷🐰@clegg77 🐰🩷and his team @thecleggagency and my incredible team at @marysueruccibooks — @claremaurer@eliz_bree@emmayaarah@richardrhorer . Special shout out to our indie bookstore love and the massive support at Barnes & Noble.
Dreams do come true, Bunny.🩷🐰⭐️💫
What a launch, Bunny! An incredible evening at @barnesandnoble Union Square featuring the ever dazzling @misss_read and the equally dazzling @miwamesser discussing WE LOVE YOU, Bunny (out today!). Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Shakespeare, gothic v horror and dark academia? Yes please!! Thank you B&N (@lexie_smyth !) and all the delightful fans and ofc the wonderful @clegg77 & and the team at @marysueruccibooks (@claremaurer@eliz_bree ) for creating a stunning event.
Here we go, Bunny! 🐇🐇🩷🩷
Here’s to 8th grade! She set four alarms, successfully woke herself up, made her own breakfast, allowed me to snap photos, and walked to school w a friend. 🤯Today’s scorecard = win win win x win. 🎉💪✏️📚
This one needed a pin. @lauradaveauthor is back with the extraordinary sequel to THE LAST THING HE TOLD ME and it has everything you loved about the original — and more. You will not be able to put this book down!! Shocking twists, unthinkable betrayals, and yet - so much love and forgiveness too. Want to know what happened to Owen and Hannah and Bailey — and why? This is your book. Out Jan 6! ❤️🔥🎉@wmebooks@scribnerbooks@suzannejgluck@theledecompany@hellosunshine
Ahhh!! Ecstatic to celebrate The instant @nytbooks bestseller YOU BELONG HERE by the amazing @meganlmiranda !!
#5!!!!
So grateful to Megan, her agent Jenn Joel at @creativeartistsagency and to our incredible team at @marysueruccibooks , including @claremaurer and @eliz_bree and @emmayaarah and so many others.
This chilling novel follows a mother, Beckett, reluctantly dropping her college-bound daughter to campus for her freshman year — at her own alma mater — a place Beckett fled years earlier, following a terrible tragedy. Can disaster strike twice? This circumscribed murder mystery will blow you sideways with its shocking twists and incredible writing. Bravo Megan!! Sooo happy and grateful for you. 🩷🎉🩷🎉
