Millington is an author, artist, and entrepreneur. She’s worked with children in many different capacities — from classrooms in England, to soccer fields in Brazil, to becoming a houseparent for young adults in foster care. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband and a collection of clacking machines. You can find her on Instagram @allieinink or possibly in her pillow fort.

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Molly Olivo of Child’s Play in Washington, DC, served on the panel that selected Olivetti for Indies Introduce.

Typewriters — the manually powered writing machines once made by Remington, Underwood and Royal — are wondrous things.

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To see their magic in action, try this trick: Set a typewriter out on a table with a sheet of paper pre-rolled into its carriage, and wait. Nearly every child, and many adults, will be drawn to the beauty and specificity of the machine. They will just have to type something. A thought. A complaint. A poem. A wish.

The tipster was startled. While scrolling through photos on Zillow of a luxury home for sale in Atlanta, there it was, hanging on the wall: what appeared to be one of the great masterpieces of the art world, worth more than $100 million.

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It sure looked like “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee,” the only seascape painted by Rembrandt and one of the 13 artworks stolen 34 years ago from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

Every year, I keep my eye out for two things in the middle grade book world: Delightful surprises and debut authors! Allie Millington’s Olivetti checks those two boxes for me this year. I typically like humans to star in the stories I love, so when I fall in love with a story starring a typewriter of all things, I know there’s something good there.

I really hope kids connect with Allie’s debut as much I did. In this interview, we talk about the inspiration for this book, the possibility of a sequel, and the third grade event that convinced Allie she was born to write.

This month’s Author Spotlight highlights Allie Millington, the author of Olivetti, a heartfelt debut middle-grade novel told from the unique vantage points of an introverted boy and his missing mother’s cherished typewriter. It’s also already received two starred reviews this year!

Demystifying the Cookbook Proposal from an Agent's Perspective. Learn how to create a cookbook proposal that gets attention — and even a book deal — from an experienced agent and former book editor. 

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One-hour Zoom presentation by Jen Newens, followed by about 30 minutes of Q&A with the audience. (Zoom link will be live shortly before the event begins on 11/14.)

Nearly 21 years after her 11-year-old son Jacob was abducted at gunpoint in 1989 while riding his bike home from a video rental store, Patty Wetterling had begun to fear that police might never solve the case—then part-time blogger Joy Baker got involved

Nearly 34 years ago, the abduction of an 11-year-old boy from a dark road in rural Minnesota terrified the community and went on to become one of the biggest mysteries in the state's history.

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Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped at gunpoint a half-mile from his St. Joseph home just after 9 p.m. on Oct. 22, 1989. He was never seen alive again.

Saturday morning started off slow for Kathy Kleiner Rubin.

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The 20-year-old Florida State University student was nursing a hangover after partying with a friend the night before.

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However, by the afternoon, she was attending a wedding followed by a potluck dinner at a friend’s home. She decided to make it a relatively early night and returned to the Chi Omega sorority house in Tallahassee to study for a calculus test she had on Monday.

Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy murdered at least 30 women between 1974 and 1978, and Kathy Kleiner Rubin was just seconds from becoming another victim.

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Kleiner Rubin, now 65, narrowly escaped Bundy when he broke into Florida State University's Chi Omega house and killed sorority sisters Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman in their beds during the early morning hours of Jan. 15, 1978.

Second acts signify a major shift in the story of our lives—personal, professional, or both. I used to be this and now I am going to be that. But second acts don’t just happen to us—we can script, stage, and direct them. This is reinvention, empowered by intention. 

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​I’ve navigated at least two second acts throughout my writing career: from journalist to communications consultant, nonfiction author to novelist—not to mention some personal upheavals along the way. In my latest second act, I found my voice and stretched myself in a new direction as a mystery writer—at the age of 63. 

In Geri Spieler's compelling narrative, "Housewife Assassin," we are taken on a journey that transcends time and geography. This story is a nuanced exploration of the intricate network of the U.S. government's security apparatus, exposing hidden flaws that threaten the very heart of our national security.