April 2022 Leisure Learning Spring greetings, leisure learners, and word nerds! I hope this April has found you immersed in the power of individual words, a la National Poetry Month. Now, what happens when you put a whole bunch of words together, complete with punctuation? Hopefully, a short story. Pair it with the month we… Read more »
My first experience with astrology was probably like many of yours: reading a horoscope for my sun sign in a magazine. As a Virgo, my horoscopes were generally about being tidy and organized and not being so critical. Which, sure. I could 100% use that advice. But I’m more than a pathological organizer with a… Read more »
For the first time ever, an editor had accepted one of my pitches. And he just so happened to work at a lit mag of my dreams. I dashed off my reply, mentally adding this triumph to my author bio, then looked at my calendar. I’d agreed to send him a 2,000-word personal essay on… Read more »
Much has been said about the importance—or rather, the need—for a writer to have a room of her own. All the better (at least, in the 21st century), if the said room comes with a door that locks from the inside and with zero Internet connection. But what if you don’t have a spare bedroom… Read more »
How many times have you attempted to shoehorn a new habit into your life? Did you start a diet that ignores the camaraderie of pizza night, begin a yoga class that meets at an inconvenient time, and set up a cleaning schedule that includes dusting the baseboards? Many new habits fail because we try to… Read more »
I didn’t come to appreciate the Great Detective (AKA Sherlock Holmes) until I reached my 30s and saw the BBC series Sherlock. I then read some exceptional YA pastiche and became hooked. Those books led me back to the original series. I’m nowhere near having read them all, but I read some of the more… Read more »
A well-written story is a well-paced story. It is in the rhythm and flow of events that readers find themselves on a heart-thumping adventure with the characters. And there are only a few stories that occur during an uninterrupted, brief period. Most, however, are spaced out in a span of days, weeks, months, or years…. Read more »
No stone should remain unturned when it comes to finding ways to stand out in your industry. The digital world presents ample opportunity to claim your business’s rightful place in the professional world, especially on social media. Establishing your presence on social media can take many forms, but livestreaming is increasing in popularity. It is… Read more »
Not long ago, I worked on a copyediting project in which the story included time travel, a narrative element straight out of science fiction. As I worked my way through the manuscript, in which the characters were searching for a way to survive a dystopian future and decided their best option was to live in… Read more »
What have you done recently to nourish your mental health? In fall, trees slow down in preparation for taking time for rest. They stop producing chlorophyll and drop their leaves, knowing there will not be enough sunlight to create the chemical reactions for the sugars they need. Trees are smarter than we are as humans…. Read more »
