I wouldn’t exactly call these resolutions, per se, but these are the goals I’ve set for my daily routine for this year. Read at least 1 chapter of something. Do 2 lessons in Chinese or Spanish on Duolingo. Eat 3 servings of vegetables. Wash at least 4 dishes. (Historically, I’ve …
I’m a graphic designer & writer, and—by necessity—I recently switched from my Macbook Pro to a Windows 10 PC at work. While it’s been a mostly smooth transition, I am having to relearn all the keyboard shortcuts that I use on a regular basis. Imagine my surprise, when I couldn’t …
A book aesthetic is a group of pictures (and sometimes words) that visually depicts the mood, tone, and themes of the story. Sometimes the images are literal representations of characters, settings, and events in the book, and other times, the imagery is more abstract. When I decided to begin querying …
Last year, I did something truly awkward in order to do something awesome. It started when I spotted a photo of an astronaut on the cover of our local township’s newspaper. It was Charles Duke, who walked on the moon as a member of the Apollo 16 mission in 1972. …
one I’ve been involved in many peaceful protests, and the opposition always uses the same basic rhetoric — stop bothering us. Outside of the organization I was protesting, a 20-something man rolled his eyes at my sign and told me to $%&# off and stop harassing people. Others just told …
A few people have asked about what being a beta reader is like… So, here’s the scoop. First of all, what’s a beta reader? A beta reader is a non-professional reader who evaluates a manuscript to help a writer improve its story, characters, setting, pacing, and general readability. Beta β means …
I lost my Grandma Jayne two years ago today. We never had much of a relationship because she lived in upstate New York, a seven-hour drive from my hometown, but what we did have got more and more interesting as we both got older. She didn’t “do computers,” so I …
Call it a tribe, squad, community, troop, or some other word for assemblage, finding a group where you fit can be a powerful thing. Facebook Groups make it easier than ever to find and join a group of people from all over the world who have a specific shared interest… and …
When I was in 6th grade, my mom borrowed from the library a worn VHS tape of the 1967 version of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (among many others). I watched only about five minutes before I was a bit completely lost, but my mom helpfully explained …
In 1992, my family moved to a different part of town, and my sisters and I had to switch schools in the middle of the year. I was in fourth grade, and this change was highly traumatic on several levels. First, I lost my two best friends (Katie O and …
