Recently, I put myself out on a limb professionally to help someone else. I’m in a good position to be able to do it, and if it works out, we’ll both benefit. But if it doesn’t work out — and there’s a chance that it won’t — I might lose […]
I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t write a draft of a book until after college. Until then, it was melodramatic short stories, a lot of embarrassing poetry and a decent chunk of features stories published in city papers. I didn’t […]
If all you want to do is dream of being a writer, there are enough books about writing available to keep you pretty busy dreaming. Big bookstores and libraries have entire sections on the stuff. But honestly, the best books on writing generally boil down to this: Read a lot. […]
In my experience, there are two kinds of writer’s block: There’s existential writer’s block, where you question everything — “Who am I to ever think I could write?” “What’s the point in trying to write because discourse is dead?” “What’s the point of existence at all?” — that kind of […]
Today’s the last day to register to vote in Alabama in order to make it in time to vote in the 2016 Presidential race. All morning, I’ve been trying to write a heartfelt plea about why I think it’s important to vote, but it turns out heartfelt pleas can come […]
Any dedicated Gilmore Girls fan already knows that Netflix is set to release brand-new episodes of the series on November 25. But in case you haven’t already heard, they’re promoting them in a decidedly local way — by turning small local coffee shops around the country into de facto Luke’s […]
I went on a bit of a J.K. Rowling binge this past weekend (surprise, surprise), blowing through the three ebooks that she released through Pottermore last week. Since I’ve sort of established that I’m going to inhale pretty much any book J.K. Rowling puts out, I thought I’d write about […]
I’m a person who enjoys personal challenges. That means I might decide only to buy from locally owned stores for a year, or I might have a contest with a friend to see who can spend the least money in three months, or I might decide to organize my home […]
I’m not a minimalist. I like stuff. I like shopping (well, I like shopping for office supplies and books; I don’t like shopping for clothes). But lately I’ve been trying to get rid of a lot of my stuff through this crazy little book, The Life Changing Magic of Tidying […]
When I first started writing Shop Small, I discovered new local products and new independent stores all the time. Fast forward a few years to now, and I mostly visit the same few local stores and restaurants in my everyday footprint. This was true before I left on The Localist […]
Ever since I read Moneyball and found myself in the grip of my first of many genius drama-meets-business Michael Lewis stories, I’ve been a bit obsessed with business books. And articles about business. And podcasts about business. Sure, now I own a business. But before I wrote a business […]