MV Donovan | The Civic Compass

Accept the lies their parents told to protect them or risk their lives in the shadowy worlds of diplomats and spies to get justice for the victims of war, including themselves? When MG's Spy School & City Spies grow up... #P2Ppit #YA #T #Q #agentguide

First time eating Indian food at a hawker stand in Singapore 🇸🇬 and last Asia trip before we head back to the US of A! 🇺🇸 #DiploBrats #travel

Definitely not in Bali anymore 🥴🤦🏻‍♀️😷

Lots of creativity flowing after hitting all of my high notes in Bali! Natural beauty, art, food, culture, #diplobrats playing, and, of course, excellent coffee!! #travel #writingcommunity

MV’s birthday meets lunar new year hits new heights with a Donovan family getaway in Bali! #diplobrats #travel #author #ya

China’s lunar new year spurs the world’s largest human migration. This year, we fled to Bali! #diplobrats #travel

I don’t think I could live this more…

@KTmBoyle After nearly two years here, we get treated like celebrities for having an elder son and a younger daughter—the culturally “ideal” family. It makes me sad how unattainable that feels for so many here.

7.92 million babies were born last year in China, down from 9.54 million in 2024, a 17 percent decline. The number of births for every 1,000 people fell to 5.63, the lowest level on record since the founding of the People’s Republic of China. You can attribute it to: cost of living, extended adolescence, a spiritual crisis, declining religiosity, the inevitable effect of one-child, industrial growth, women’s educational gains, global feminism, declining marriage rates, seven decades of the pill, widespread legal abortion, diet and rising obesity, political doomerism, smartphones, transhumanism or any other popular theory of why humanity is betting against itself. The family as an institution is losing globally. Important to start asking who’s winning.

Tokyo, Disney, Nagano skiing, Nara, Kyoto & Oooooosaka! Thank you for a fabulous final R&R and an inspired start to the New Year! US bound in t-minus 5 months and twenty-eight days! #DiploBrats

From the real-life Donovan’s- Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night! 💕 from Japan, and so very ready to be back in the US of A this summer!!

@KTmBoyle Just wait… watching the big brother/little sister dynamic is another delight of motherhood. I know you’ll cherish it!

It’s just now hitting me that my era of boy momming is coming to a close. Always something bittersweet about how they grow up just a little more once the next one arrives, and this time, a sister. The older one told me not to feel sad that he’s growing up. I told him one day he’ll leave the nest like the birds do and that’s when I’ll be a little sad. He didn’t realize he’d need to leave and assured me it won’t happen. Meanwhile, he’s also plotting his trip to Mars.

Checked another site off the China bucket list! We loved Xi’an for its historical significance, awesome food, and color! #DiploBrats

Happiest of Thanksgivings to you and yours!

@TheLtColUSMC Absolutely and always!

@TheCivicCompass Hope you enjoyed!

Final Marine Corps Ball overseas in the books! In the Donovan household, the event is sacred. With both a former Recon Marine and having served in the Embassy communities that the Marines guard, this celebration is an annual act of gratitude & admiration. Happy 250th birthday!

Buoyed to see that not even the shutdown can kill humor and spirit in an Embassy! Happy Halloween! 🎃 #DiploBrats

The next #PitDark, a pitch party for "darker" literature, is in five days (Oct. 30)! Ready? Rules: jasonhuebinger.com/pitdark/ #amwriting #WritingCommunity

If China and Thailand had a baby that went to school in Japan…we imagine it would look like T🇹🇼 We fled the crush of migrating humanity of China’s Golden Week and explored Taiwan 🇹🇼 . It wasn’t their National Day 🤣 #irony #WritingCommunity #DiploBrats

Say hello to my new Author newsletter! 1 - get access to a free writing tool I built that will give you your text’s grade level (reading difficulty) and most-used words 2 - be first to hear when my teaser prequel novella drops. Don’t miss out! mvdonovanbooks.substack.com/p/the-in-betwe…

I finished CS50 So what? At 41, starting to code isn’t nothing, but more to the point, I believe in continuous learning and growth. As I raise children, as I write novels, as I live in the 🌍, the science behind computers and AI undergirds our lives… … and my WIP ;)

Ever wondered what grade level of difficulty your writing is? Wonder whether you have words you use too often? I did and do so I coded a writing analyzer. Sign up for my newsletter, and you can use the tool for free! (Link in comments) #WritingCommunity #DiploBrats