Writer living in the Rose City! My life is books: @powells @bookshop_org and my own store @grandgesturebks BF is E and my cat is Ramona. Welcome ❤️
Portland, OR
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Hi everyone! I’m…wrapping it up here. This breaks my heart because I loved Twitter so much and have been here for over a decade but it’s just not worth it anymore. You can find me on Threads (grandgesturebooks) or in Portland at Grand Gesture Books. I love you all ♥️
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I’m 28, so I’m almost there, but can people in their 30s and older please (gently) tell me that it’s going to get better and I don’t need to have figured out my entire life in two years? 🥺
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When my ex-bf and I were breaking up, she immediately started disliking him and it made me so happy. She’s a girl’s girl
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When I was younger, I wanted an American Girl doll SO badly. I wanted Samantha or Molly, but we couldn’t afford one. For my anniversary, I hinted at wanting Claudie, a new doll being released. When I opened that box and saw that doll, I became a kid again and openly sobbed 🥹
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BIG NEWS: I’m opening a romance bookstore here in Portland, Oregon! It’s called Grand Gesture Books and it’ll be the second Black owned bookstore in the Rose City. While it’ll be online for the next couple of months, a brick and mortar is coming 💘 1/2
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This is the face of a woman who just signed the lease for her romance bookstore in Portland. SW, I’m coming for you 🥹 I won’t be publicly sharing where it is until those keys are in my hand, but this felt too important to not document 🙌🏾
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Hi hello excuse me but I just found a dress that made me feel very beautiful so now I have to show all of you (video of me twirling in the comments)
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And if you’re wanting me to block his name, then I’m going to go ahead and promptly say this:
No❤️
I don’t owe him (a stranger) anything. I don’t owe you anything.
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Listen, I looked absolutely beautiful yesterday and my man looked very handsome and I have to post these on the feed because I deserve to be seen 🧡
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I haven’t talked about it much here, but the employees at Powell’s Books (yes, where I work) are fighting for a living wage and better healthcare. Powell’s isn’t keen on giving us either. We’re asking folks to read, sign, and share this petition 💖 bit.ly/tell-powells
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EDITORS: if you’re somehow interested in an op-Ed about how I spent my summer processing orders and sometimes cancelling orders for a lot of performative white women only for them to still vote for Donald Trump, let me know because my hands are ready and I am petty
I did NOT spend my summer processing orders of anti-racism books for white women for 55% of them to STILL vote for this piece of shit man. This performative act means NOTHING to me.
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Oh hey, I told my boyfriend that I loved him today, and he grabbed my hand, smiled, and said “I love you too,” so this has been a really beautiful Sunday ♥️🥺
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This is getting a lot of responses! I’m going to mute the thread, but I’ll be reading responses 🥺 thank y’all for your kindness!
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I’d leave a note saying all of this and letting them know that you will escalate it if they don’t return it to you by EOD
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Hi, as someone who works with books and has worked with books for the last three years, I BEG of you: please start Christmas shopping now. Popular titles will run out. There are printing shortages. Please be prepared, and please be kind. I’m not hiding Obama’s book, I promise!
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This might be the one of the shittiest take in the history of fucking disgusting, racist shittiest takes. I hope that you never have children, especially if those children have a problem with their weight, because this viewpoint is so harmful and cruel. Comedian my ass.
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Grand Gesture Books, a new Black owned romance bookstore, is coming to Portland, Oregon! 📍814 SW 10th Ave
Spread the news, far and wide! I don’t have an opening date yet but I’m hoping for late fall!
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I will say this though: what he did was annoying and laughable, but hey, if you buy a book, let me know how it is.
But don’t send him hate mail or anything. It isn’t that serious. It’s more eye opening than anything else.
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I did NOT spend my summer processing orders of anti-racism books for white women for 55% of them to STILL vote for this piece of shit man. This performative act means NOTHING to me.
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CW: weight loss
Ever since my doctor put me on Ozempic to manage my diabetes and I’ve lost weight, people that I haven’t seen in a while keep coming up to me and telling me how good I look and how drastically different I look. It’s getting…weird. And a little depressing.
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Honestly, props to her for having such a grownup response. I love seeing parents love their kids
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Y’all are the same kind of people who complain when a man isn’t emotionally available with you. You teach your sons to not show any emotion and then get mad at men for not showing emotions. You can’t have it both ways.
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Resharing this post on Juneteenth because well, I’m a Black woman who is trying to open a romance bookstore here in Portland, Oregon. We’ve been opened for seven months and it has brought me a whole lot of joy. I hope that you’ll consider sharing and/or donating ✨
I’m so excited (and very nervous 🫣) to announce that the “Bring a Grand Gesture Books storefront to Portland, Oregon” GoFundMe is live! Please share, donate, and politely harass your friends about it. I want this so bad 💕 gofundme.com/f/bring-grand-g…
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I’m curious about this: if you’re invited to someone’s home for the first time (for a party or whatever), do you bring a gift? Like a bottle of wine or a dish or flowers or something? I always try to but I feel like it’s not as common as it used to be
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I was bullied in middle school for my teeth and that shit affected me so much. It crushed me. I confronted my bully this past year and sobbed while doing it. It hurt. So this shit still matters.
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This shit is delicious and white people have a culture now (putting meat, fruit, and cheese on a sandwich). Let’s be respectful.
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This Barbie’s job is…books. She’s a Powell’s bookseller and a proud member of her @ILWULocal5 union. She’s union strong! She’s fucking good at her job! She’s hot and smart! She’s not going anywhere! Never mess with a petty Capricorn 💕
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Direct deposit: $1400
Me to @penguinrandom: Bring me the penguin
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I find myself apologizing often because I keep bringing up my boyfriend, but honestly, I’m happy and he’s very cute and he makes me go 🥰, so I’m going to continue to bring him up. Like, look at this face 😍
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Hi, it’s #IndieBookstoreDay, which means that if you walk into a bookstore and mention how “Amazon has it for much cheaper” OR email bookstores to say “Amazon will get it to me much faster”, then I’ll personally stop what I’m doing and find you and fight you myself💜🥺👸🏾🤷🏾♀️
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I just really love their friendship. Like you could tell that they were destined to be friends
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Over the weekend, I told my bf that I think that I’m queer (I’m figuring some stuff out) and he said, while eating a BBQ rib, “That’s cool. You can be anything you want as long as we’re together” 🥹
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As someone who actually runs the romance section at a very large indie bookstore, let me tell you this: if you’re a bookstore and you’re not stocking romance, then you don’t understand the current culture of the bookstore industry. I can’t keep that section stocked!
Was in a bookstore yesterday in SF and asked the staff where romance would be. "We don't have a romance section." So I clarified, where would I find them, then? In fiction? "We don't stock romance novels." 🥲🥲🥲
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🚨ATTENTION🚨 If you released a book during the pandemic and you know that it should be in bookstores, but you haven’t seen it yet for whatever reason, let me know and I can take a photo of it if it’s on the Powell’s shelves or not so you can experience that!
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A really big ask: So I run the African-American section at Powell’s and I’m dying to bring in some new titles. It’s all nonfiction, with some memoirs here and there, but mostly factual. What should I add to the collection of titles? Promote your own too!
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Personally I always thought that I just couldn’t orgasm and then I realized that that was a lie
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This is such a white woman problem and I HATE IT. He joined a hate group. Like, you were basically okay with everything before hand before he joined a hate group. Come on, ma’am.
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HERE IT IS 🥰: What started as an angry tweet became something more. In my first ever piece for @BitchMedia, I write about how anti-racism books, the white women that bought them (and maybe read them?), and finding out that white women still loved Trump: bitchmedia.org/article/anti-…
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Every day, I sell at least three of these books to a white man. For the love of God, read something by a woman or a person of color or literally ANY ONE ELSE. Stay out of business section.
I asked, “What book do you re-read the most?”
I received 441 replies
Here are 20 books that should be read again and again:
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Please look at how pretty I am on this first day of 27 🎂❤️✨
It’s my birthday and I’m just really blessed and grateful that I stuck around this long.
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I gotta speak my truth: Carrie Bradshaw isn’t the biggest tv villain. She’s messy, insecure, bad with money, and a little selfish, but y’all act like she skinned kittens and made them into a pair of high heels or something. She’s a very realistic character. 1/2
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I know that I showcased the logo for my new romance store, Grand Gesture Books, yesterday, but I wanted to give it its own moment. My friend Kelsey designed it, and if you don’t know, the book is opened to about the 2/3s mark because that’s when the gesture starts to get planned.
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A man on Bumble isn’t asking me any questions back, and instead of taking it like I usually do, I said “I don’t feel Iike you’re asking me any questions back to get to know me, so I’m having a hard time determining if you would like to continue this conversation.” Go me 💐
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Oh this times 1000%, which i do wonder if this is one of the reasons why I am reading less? Because I don’t need to escape to another world as much
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Literally. A friend and I (both Black women) walked into a Chinese restaurant where literally EVERY (employees and customers) were Chinese. Best food of my life
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I’m really proud of this display because I didn’t want to put the same titles on there. I wanted fresh faces and names. So here they are. Shop the display and find a new favorite author today! ♥️
"There are Black authors out there today who are writing beautiful romance novels, gorgeous poems, and heartbreaking prose....They are Black history and most important, they are the present." – Bookseller Katherine M. on her "It's Black Lit" display.
📚: bit.ly/3BaMxfU
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This is why I’m leaning towards “no” about having kids. Who is going to protect these children? Who is going to give a damn?
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I waited 2 hours to get my book signed by David Sedaris, and it’s always worth it because he treats every reader like they’re the only reader that matters for 5 minutes. And that’s the kind of author that I want to be.
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Oh god. This is…awful. Do you have the link for this post? I hope that people are in the comments calling her out
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I reached out to one of mine (he was such a piece of shit to me) and told him off and he offered me a really nice apology and although I wish that it came from him first, I’m glad that I got it off my chest
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Queer people in the PNW (and beyond!): If your family won’t support you, and you want a place to throw a small and intimate wedding, you should email me. I’ll let you use my romance bookstore. I love love in all forms and you deserve a sweet place to start that journey ♥️
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I’m curious about this: do you think that you’re a good writer?
And when I say “good”, that’s good to you and whatever way you think of being a good writer as.
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I have lived almost 28 years on this Earth, and I can honestly say that I have never felt like more of a bigger failure than I have right now. I’m so embarrassed, I just want to cry. This week has been rough and I’m having a really hard time.
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I just opened my email and I got the best acceptance of all time:
“You have been selected to schedule a vaccination appointment.”
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I’ll say that on one hand, I am glad that her books did get people back into reading! On the other hand, I wish that those people would give other books a chance too.
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I emailed Real Simple a few months ago after my last piece with them published because I wanted them to keep my name in their mind if they needed more lists related to books. They reached out to me this morning and your girl is going to curate a reading list for anti-racism ✨
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lol loving seeing my white friends posting those “we will still be a community no matter who we all vote for.” Like...no, we won’t. I don’t want to be a part of a community full of people who vote for Trump.
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Yesterday, I met Henry Winkler and it was the highlight of my year (yes, even opening a bookstore was less exciting than this moment). He was so nice and so kind and people were ecstatic to meet him. What a perfect night. 13 year old Katherine would be THRILLED 👍🏾
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Hi, it’s me ❤️
ICYMI: Portland gets its first-ever romance bookstore 💕
hubs.li/Q02ftR5t0
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For my first ever @lithub piece, I talked to independent bookstore owners and booksellers about anti-racism books, white “allies”, crying white women who just want “to work on themselves”. To say that I learned a lot would be an understatement 🐸☕️
“During the summer of 2020, I spent countless hours helping irate customers cancel their orders of popular anti-racism books.”
Katherine Morgan (@blktinabelcher) on selling books to white “allies.” lithub.com/about-that-wave-o…
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I’ve sold four books so far and I am so happy that I could cry. I just wanted to sell at least one book this week and now, I’ve sold four times as many 😍
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Today has been such a lovely press day! Publishers Weekly (@PublishersWkly) did a profile on me and then @rgay featured my store in her newsletter and says that she “cannot wait to visit.” 😍😍😍 I put the link to PW in the following tweet if you want to read about GGB!
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I’ve been working really hard on this project and I’d love for you to check out my page @Bookshop_Org: bookshop.org/shop/grandgestu… If you’d like a personal recommendation, let me know! Don’t see your favorite? You can still search for it, purchase it, and I’ll get 10% of the proceeds
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I finally got the chance to get some new headshots today! This is the outfit that I selected 🥰 The actual photos were taken on film, so it’ll be a minute before I get those images back, but this is enough to hold me over
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I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s okay to ask for an extension. Everyone is stressed out. We are all tired. Ask for more time.
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YESSSS! Although you can’t both be big time employees in a big city so you gotta open a small town pie shop or something
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More information coming next week, but as of today, your girl is officially a small business owner in the state of Oregon! I’m usually so damn hard of myself, but instead, today, I feel immensely proud instead 💖💖💖
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I don’t think that you know what incels are. She’s not blaming men for not finding her attractive or demanding that they pay attention to her. A lot of Black women have felt this way, especially in schools where they were the minority. Instead of invalidating, listen to us.
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✨Whew, your girl just received a contract for her first ever upcoming PRINT article. PRINT. Like, something that she can go out, buy, and FLIP THROUGH while standing in line 🥰
2021, you’re already off to a very good start.
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Hi, this might be one of the best photos of me ever taken, and it was a simple test photo to see if the Powell’s publicity phone was working 😅
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Coming back to say that I, uh, didn’t expect that tweet to go viral. I don’t have anything to promote at this time, but have a good day!
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THREAD: Oh, hey! I wrote a lot in 2020 (probably the most that I’ve ever written in a whole year), so here is a thread to celebrate. For transparency, I will also include the rates that I was paid ✨ Here we go!
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The fact that I met multiple dudes who found me intimidating once they realized that I get paid for my writing and have been published and now I’m with a dude that tells his friends that I’m Twitter famous and that I know David Sedaris and he’s proud of me is insane and cool.
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Your girl is trying something new to spice up the dating column that she has to write, so help me find a date? So here’s the basics: I’m 26. I live in Portland. I love reading, writing, drinking beer, Frasier, my cat Ramona, and bad reality television. Read more in the comments💕
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