Read this on galpod.com. Before I start, let me just say how incredibly lucky I am. My kids (8.5 and 10) are old enough to be independent, and not yet old enough to be annoying teenagers. They are generally well-behaved kids (as per their teachers), and they are both strong academically. We are also lucky to have a big house for a London residence, with four bedrooms, which means that we can each work/hang out in a different room without getting on each other's nerves. We are

Read this on galpod.com. April certainly has been a long month. The days blend like a long dream, and you can't tell what day it is or how long it's been since anything of note happened. Not having goals this month didn't help this sense of meandering. I did manage to establish a routine of writing for two hours every weekday morning. It doesn't sound like a lot but to be honest if I'm sitting down and writing for those two hours I miraculously get more done than I was before

Read this on galpod.com. One of my first memories is noodles. Not like the Chinese-take-out ones, more like pasta, but we used to put them in the soup. When I was in preschool, we lived in a city not far from my Dad's parents. My grandfather would pick me up from kindergarten, and I'd stay with them for the afternoon, while my parents were at work or university. My grandmother used to make noodles for Friday's chicken soup. She would make the dough, and then roll it out and c

Read this on galpod.com. Lately, I've been thinking a lot about a book I read in the summer, called Wanderers by Chuck Wendig. In that book, some sort of fungus jumps from bats to humans. It has a long period in which the host (i.e., the person) is asymptomatic, it is highly contagious, and extremely unpleasant (the fungus basically eats the person's brain). Sounds familiar? Ralph Ellison wrote that "literary truth amounts to prophesy," and there is more than one way in which

Read this on galpod.com. I'm an introvert. I have a strong dislike of having to talk to people I don't know. I hate parties with gusto. I detest even talking to people on the phone for any reason, and much prefer texting or writing. I have a strong aversion to going to new places, especially on my own. Over the last couple of years, I've been working hard on those qualities. I tried leaving my comfort zone, going to classes or exhibits and even exploring London. And I enjoyed

Read this on galpod.com. When the world around us changes overnight, what do we do? I've been observing people online. Writers, this a perfect time now to do your research online because everyone is now online. Just saying. There are several strategies we can use to deal with a sudden change. We can "just keep swimming". It works for some people, but I'm a firm believer in dealing with stuff, even the difficult ones. We can "find the silver lining", which is, for me, a variat

Read this on galpod.com. March was an interesting decade. I mean, month. In terms of excuses, I have plenty. There's a pandemic, and the kids are home, and the world had gone completely bananas. I've been trying to find ways to write despite the excuses. I still haven't written the King Lear equivalent, but I made sure to write every day as much as I can. With all due respect, I'm pretty sure Shakespeare wasn't homeschooling his children while he was on quarantine. One thing

Read this on galpod.com. This week, the kids have been home from school. As this was anticipated, the school sent them home last Friday with a full curriculum for this week, including activities in maths, English, and "curriculum". "Curriculum" is apparently a code word for "all other academic stuff that are not maths or English". I will rant on education systems in the Western world if you buy me a virtual coffee. I took a peek at these activities and estimated my kids would

Read this on galpod.com. Schools are closing afternoon on Friday, which means we're homeschooling from next week. It feels like the end of the world out there, but I'm bored talking about panic buying and how anxious I am. And besides, Chuck Wendig, as always, had written it so much better than I ever could. Here's what I plan to do starting Monday. Homeschool I've actually always wanted to try out homeschooling but didn't want to be the weirdo mom who takes the kids out of s

Read this on galpod.com. The coronavirus has taken hold of the world. It's what everyone talks about. Stock markets are falling. People are stocking up on toilet roll and cash. It feels in some ways like the end of the world. In many other ways, nothing changed. The kids are going to school (so far), stores and restaurants are open, and people are trying to live their lives. It feels oddly surreal, not just because it is, but mainly because I'm not in a bunker hyperventilatin