Hi and welcome to Through Lines!
I’m Christie, and I’m a story person. I work as a children’s literary & illustration agent. I’m a writer, with published essays and a novel + short stories in the works. I’m a former elementary school teacher and current homeschooling mom. I also do data analysis (stories abound!). Some of my enthusiasms are baking, urban walks, forest hikes, gothic poetry, horror movies, Taylor Swift, Halloween, and cats. And books - books are my passion and stories are my mission.
Through Lines is here to examine the craft of storytelling, explore publishing industry insights, celebrate the joy of learning, and discover the magic hiding in ordinary moments—in both sunshine and shadows.
I’m excited to introduce some elements of this newsletter that I hope will resonate and perhaps even surprise with new insights and fresh perspectives:
Storybook Wonderland: kidlit recommendations
Craft: the craft of writing and illustrating children’s books
Story Seeds: writing prompts spanning genres
The Twilight Library: horror writing and reading, across ages
Parent's Toolkit: education meets creativity, curiosity, and critical thinking
Amongst other topics, I’ll be talking about book bans, literacy learning, independent bookstores, using social media as an author/illustrator, and how to support the storytellers you know.
I’ll share poetry and ghost stories, scifi novels and graphic novels, and I’ll examine the fact that books set in the 1990s technically qualify as “historical fiction.” I’ll explore how to construct stories, and how to dissect them.
I talk about Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Mary Shelley a lot. Also on my mind are modern authors, like some of my favorites: Stephen Graham Jones, Kate DiCamillo, Ann Patchett, Maggie Smith, Mike Curato, and Jacqueline Woodson.
Through lines and invisible strings
Across all interests, one common through line (or invisible string) prevails: living a creative life. Not only that, but the concept of living creatively.
Living creatively means seeing possibilities beyond every closed door, finding beauty in cobwebbed corners, and weaving meaning through our days.
As an agent, editor, writer, reader, data analyst, parent, and creative thinker, I’m constantly considering through lines in story—or as I’ve begun calling them, “invisible strings.”
In a book, a through line is the connecting thread that runs beneath surface events, plot points, and character arcs, giving a narrative its cohesive backbone. Think of it like a river running underground—you might not always see it, but it's constantly shaping the landscape above.
Just as stories have threads that weave meaning through seemingly disconnected scenes, our lives contain through lines that connect our varied experiences, interests, loves, and choices.
In books, through lines reveal the deeper truths beneath the surface action. In life, they're the invisible strings that tie together the pages of our own stories.
When we pause to trace these patterns, we often discover we've been telling a rich, intricate story, one that’s creative and messy and heartbreaking and beautiful, all along.
I live for book recommendations
What’s a book, comic, movie, t.v. show, or poem you encountered recently that has really stuck with you? Why? What is a through line from that story that clings to you?
And more broadly, what are some invisible threads that weave through your daily moments? Are there personal through lines you notice emerging?
Thank you!
Thanks for being here! I hope Through Lines is a worthwhile read for you and a welcome inbox delivery during your week.
Glimmers to share
✨Happy October Book Birthday to these two extraordinary picture books!
RORY THE REMARKABLE DRAGON written and illustrated by Kathryn Rammell, published by Scholastic
SOULFUL STRUTTIN’ written by Julia Pierre Hammond and illustrated by Ana Latese, published by Free Spirit Press
✨I finally watched The Substance—if you can call my experience “watching” it. I didn’t realize how much body horror and specifically, needle horror this horror movie included (though the first few seconds should have been a good indication). I covered my eyes for the more visceral scenes, but the rest of it was very fun!
✨Cookies! Even though my kitchen shelf is buckling under the weight of my cookie cookbook collection, there’s always room for one more, especially when they come from The Vanilla Bean Blog. I’m already diving into 100 COOKIES: THE BAKING BOOK FOR EVERY KITCHEN by Sarah Kieffer, gathering a few new favorites for the holiday baking rotation.
✨It’s a femininomenon! For the first time in the history of the Grammy awards, all artists nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album are women.