I’ve gotten into the terrible habit of reading the reviews my books get. This is an awful idea for many reasons. First of all, while reviews on my books tend to be positive, they aren’t all. This means that if I read a bad one, my day is sent into a spiral of ever more… Continue reading Reading My Own Reviews Is Basically the Worst Idea Ever
What does it take to make you put down a book and walk away, never to resume reading again? A couple weeks ago, I was reading a book that was less than steller. The first chapter had seemed exceptionally funny and well-written, but within a few pages of where the Amazon preview had ended (and I had… Continue reading When Do Books Cross the Line from Outdated to Unacceptable?
An article from NPR on the phenomenon of people liking certain foods and not others came across my newsfeed. They managed to draw out a thousand words on people have preferences (imagine!) before the comments started, and like a numpty, I read them. There is no one more sanctimonious than the people whose kids happily… Continue reading Don’t Call Me A Picky Eater
There’s a perversion of the English language that goes around, and it sounds like this: “Don’t let yourself be bullied!” Let. As if you’re totally just allowing it. “Don’t let him hit you! Don’t let her run you down with a truck!” Oh, okay, I’ll get right on that. Oh, wait. Bullying is one of… Continue reading Nobody “Lets” Themselves Be Bullied
Dear People I Submit My Work To; You don’t know me, but you’ve read my handiwork, or at least the part where I make an honest attempt to spell your name correctly. That’s a lot of your job: to read my writing, judge it, and finally click a button that either sends my dreams… Continue reading Dear People I Submit My Work To: A Love Letter From the Discard Pile
Five years ago, I woke to a text from my sister that there had been an earthquake in Japan. I thought little of it, lying in my bed in Ohio. Only a few weeks beforehand, an earthquake there had appeared on the evening news. In America, where a 4.0 can destroy houses, it’s difficult for… Continue reading Swallowed By the Waves: Remembering Tohoku 2011
My Facebook news feed has recently been all a-buzz with the latest news: Millennials aren’t eating cereal. Doesn’t take much to make the news these days, does it? Heavens to Betsy, we’re not eating cereal, and the reason the news people are up in arms is because the most common reason cited is that it’s… Continue reading It’s Not About Cereal, It’s About Entitlement
Under-Paid, Over-Enthused 