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I’m feeling grumpy for a whole bunch of reasons, none of which I’m feeling particularly in the mood to write about, and many of which have to do with work and fiction writing, so instead I give you random Twitter levity (mostly levity, a bit of heavy-ty). More substantive posts soon. Some thoughts on careers
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I had a nice exchange with a writer friend on Twitter about choosing an idea to pursue for longer works, such as novels. When writing short stories, the time investment is low, so you don’t have to triage ideas. You can, in principle, pursue most of them because the investment is something like 1-3k words
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There is something that happened with a colleague and, as always, I fear I am overreacting or imaging things (welcome to being a woman), but my gut tells me I’m not and that I should stick to my guns. There is a colleague with whom I’ve collaborated on and off for years. He and another
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The spring semester is coming to an end, and it’s a cause for terror, not celebration, because I have to teach in the summer again. I didn’t want to, I said I wouldn’t, and then the person who was supposed to wasn’t able to, and now I’m on the hook again. I also have teaching
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Over the past couple of months, I met with two bloggy friends and the topic of the blog came up. I suppose it’s clear that xykademiqz wasn’t what it used to be, and here are some of the reasons. I am not what I used to be. I’ve been blogging since 2010, when I received
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The semester is in full swing, and oh boy, is it ever swinging! We’re interviewing six million candidates for two million searches. Where the $%^@#%$ we are supposed to put all these new faculty, their labs, and their students is anyone’s guess. We’re already filled to capacity, especially regarding student office space. I am not
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For those of you keeping track, my novel is done. It has gone through two rounds of edits, and is now with beta-readers while I focus on short-form writing and, you know, work and life. I suspect I will be ready to query in early March. Today I wanted to write about something not exactly
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Sorry I’ve been MIA; I’ve been trying to finish the edits on the novel. Yes. The draft is done. Edit round one is done. It’s still a trashfire, but it’s now a trashfire with a complete narrative arc and, if I do say so myself, nuggets of not-entirely-awful writing. The roller coaster of emotions spanning
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Happy 2023 to all blog readers! May 2023 bring you good health and contentment, and, if you’re in academia, also untold grant riches, high-profile publications, and a teaching schedule that makes you miss the most pointless meetings. This has been my 2022: Professional: Wrote 7,834 grants. Several were funded and lean times were avoided Taught
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Giving and receiving feedback can be tricky. Tact is paramount, and even the most salient point will fall on deaf ears if not delivered with respect and kindness. (See here and here.) However, the recipient must be genuinely open to feedback, otherwise the whole exercise is moot. I know a few short-fiction writers who ask
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