Want to plan, draft, and revise a novel in five days? That’s exactly what Scott King did. And, he outlined his journey in The Five Day Novel. Over the years, I’ve grown a small collection of writing books. Not many. Just enough to remind myself that I need to keep … Continue reading →

A couple of weeks ago, I sorted several hundred books following Marie Kondō’s system for tidying. It was my first big collection of material items that needed a serious KonMari makeover. While it was tough in some ways, it was a downright breeze in comparison to this weekend’s challenge: DVDs, … Continue reading →

“You thinking about home already, lad, and you just set out in the world? The world will put a hook in your mouth. You’ll set off chasing the sunset, you wait and see…and if you ever go back, your village’ll no be big enough to hold you.” This is one … Continue reading →

I had an entire tote of papers, notebooks, and folders from college filled to the brim. Not one of those tiny totes. It was the kind that’d break your back attempting to move it. For the life of me, I could not think of a single reason to hold onto … Continue reading →

Over the years, I’ve purchased an untold number of calendars, planners, and other things that are supposed to help me better organize my work, school, and life. I’d walk into a bookshop or office supply store, browse their offerings for an hour or so, maybe pick up a new pen, … Continue reading →

It’s been three months since I made the switch from WordPress to a custom system for my blog. This was one of the toughest and scariest changes I’ve made in the 15+ years I’ve been running this site. What if I break things? What if I’ve wasted all this time … Continue reading →

It’s hard to avoid the Bird Box craze these days. Ever since Netflix dropped its new movie based on the book by Josh Malerman, memes of a blindfolded Sandra Bullock have taken over my social networking feeds. People (in the real world) are even taking a challenge by getting into … Continue reading →

There’s been a lot of backlash against Marie Kondō and her KonMari method of tidying in the last week or so as the crowd of folks making their way through the program get to Lesson #2: Books. And, rightfully so. Many of us take our book collections seriously. I’m an … Continue reading →

I remember when Eragon by Christopher Paolini blew up. I was in college. I remember friends and family telling me I must read this book. They told me it was written by a teenager. They said it was better fantasy than even seasoned authors were writing. They were wrong. At … Continue reading →

After reading Marie Kondō’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I was a bit motivated to begin my journey into a tidier and more peaceful life. At first, I made a plan to simply throw out a bag of stuff each day to get myself started. However, I quickly realized … Continue reading →