Recent Posts
We Let Strangers Into Our Lives
For the last few years, I’ve been writing crime thrillers. Thinking in the head of a bad guy can be liberating. Not sure when these stories of mine will be published (the publishing industry really is a hurry-up-and-wait industry), but I keep pressing forward, and continue to write stories where the bad guys come after us in ways that we are all subject to.
I always wanted the novel to be a cautionary tale about oversharing on social media and the internet. The more I delve into various aspects of internet security, the more I get excited—and scared.
I’m excited, because I know exactly how my serial killer is finding his victims—how he’s stalking them. And I also know how he has managed to elude capture for over twenty years. As the writer of this creepy tale, this is fantastic. However, it also scares me, because I’m consciously aware that there will be some sicko out there doing exactly what the bad guy in my story is doing.
I’ve decided to start this blog series on social media and internet security on my personal blog in the hopes that at least one person out there will take notice and start to examine their own practices. If my ramblings can save just one person from becoming the victim, then I’ll be over the moon.
A Month Into the Device-Free Experiment
It’s been just over a month since my family started this device-free experiment. Each week seems to have presented a different set of challenges, along with some further insights into how the internet and technology has changed our lives. Things have been said that make me cringe, but when I take a step back and really look at what we’re doing, those comments really are a slap in society’s face.
Let me just further build this picture for you.
I started this little device-free experiment, turning off the internet and the devices for one day a week, because my children seemed to be sinking themselves into computer games and Netflix, and I didn’t like it. That first week was incredibly difficult for them. (It was difficult on my husband too.) But I pushed through…
The weeks that have followed have tales of their own.
End of an Era. Goodbye to ConvoScience.
It was an incredibly hard decision to make, but I’ve decided to bring the radio podcast ConvoScience (or Conversations in Science, as some know it) to an end. There were many different reasons behind this decision, the biggest of which is a refocus on priorities.
I’m a writer. I’m an editor. I do have knowledge that I like to share, but I should be writing!
Saying that, this is NOT the end of the science from me. Science is in my blood. It’s a part of who I am and my family. I have always had a way of explaining science in a way that others can understand, so that is NEVER going away. Instead of talking it out, I’ll just write it.
Device-Free Days: It’s an Experiment
I’ve noticed that both of my children seem to have an aversion to reading. This is not something that I like to see, especially considering I’m a writer and editor, but I do understand it.
My 17-year-old son spends almost all of his free time playing computer games, either on his computer or 3DS. My 13-year-old daughter seems to be obsessed with Netflix and YouTube (and the movies on the hard drives or discs). Whenever I suggest to either one of them that they read a book, they just roll their eyes at me and chill out in their own fashion.
My husband and I aren’t much better. Every morning, my hubby is on his phone, surfing the internet and watching C-SPAN… or playing a game… or watching anime. And I spend a significant amount of time either on the computer or the tablet, writing or editing (and talking to my writing partner in the US via video chat).
So, I had the idea of going device free for one day a week: no smart phones, no tablets, no computers and no TV — and certainly NO INTERNET. The only exception to this device-free rule is Kindles — simply because not all books are in paper formats. Besides, have you ever tried to surf the internet on a Kindle? (I’m not talking about the Kindle Fire. I’m talking about the traditional Kindle that is an eBook reader only. They have an internet browser, but talk about frustrating in the extreme.)
To start encouraging the good reading and other non-technology-based habits, my husband and I decided to do this once a week, every week. We’re only one week down, and have encountered some interesting results.
My Wish List for 2019
The other day, my daughter and I were having a conversation about what it was she would like to do for the coming year. She’s a dancer, and wants to see if she can make a career of her dancing. She is only 13, with the rest of high school to finish first, but she is well aware that if she wants to go professional, she is going to have to work her ass off to be the best out there — and some. The performing arts are just as competitive as the publishing industry, if not more so.
Anyway, I had received an email from her dance school stating that they were holding auditions for the 2019 lyrical competition dance team next week. She’s never been part of a competition team before, because she never seems to have the time. However, when I asked her if she wanted to audition, she said something that hit a little closer to home than she realized.
“I’m never going to make it if I don’t take a risk and put myself out there.”
BAM! The fist hit me in the gut, and she never lifted a finger. She was talking about her own dreams and her own aspirations, yet her words carried a message that was powerful.
Nursing is a Science TOO!
As part of the release of Putting the Science in Fiction, Jessie and I have had so much fun talking to different scientists about their various fields.
On our latest episode of Conversations in Science, we spoke with Stephanie Sauvinet about being a nurse. Between the new technologies being used and the various skills that nurses can specialize in, there is so much to being a nurse that most people completely overlook.