“Justice is better than chivalry if we cannot have both.†-Alice Stone Blackwell The Internet is a tricky beast. Sitting alone, cozy in ragged sweatpants, writing while curled on the couch, it’s easy to believe that you’re cloaked in isolation, even as you spill on that most public of forums. Thus, I hesitate before … Read more
When I was a reader, I spoke as a reader, I understood as a reader. When I became a writer, I read as a writer, I understood as a writer. I just finished “Readers Don’t Owe Authors S**t†on the online site Book Riot. The credo of the post is basically this: writers and independent … Read more
The first time I looked for a job, Help Wanted was divided into three sections: Men, Women, and General. If memory serves me (I doubt it) men’s jobs were the professional ones, women’s were the handmaiden ones, and general included dishwashers and drivers. Trust me, the career paths were separate and not equal. I remembered … Read more
I had a visit from the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future this year—but unlike Scrooge’s rattling guys, my spirits crept in on the first night of Hanukkah. They told me I’d been whining about my unrequited crush on Santa for too many years. They told me it wasn’t him, but me. Yes, he’d … Read more
Recently I listened to Joe Queenan—author of a book about his love of books and reading—on NPR (the soundtrack of my life) eager for the pleasure of hearing someone who reads as voraciously (okay, more) as I do, and loves books as intensely (not possible that it could be more) and who, like me, is obsessed … Read more