The first version of this post ran on January 26, 2012. Since then, we’ve continued to set records for the hottest year on record. My question began with a social media status update by my friend Paolo Bacigalupi. Paolo wrote: At what point does a “drought” become an “arid climate?” Paolo posed his question months […]
Christie
I’d just filled a wine bottle with Malbec and was handing it to a neighbor who was operating the manual corking machine when it occurred to me that wine making is a lot like book writing. I was at the tail end of a whirlwind tour to promote my new book, and I was home […]
It’s October, which means that my local hardware store is offering a discount to shoppers who wear pink, Allegiant Airlines is selling pink drinks and police officers across the country are donning pink badges, all the name of “breast cancer awareness.” Also known as “pinkwashing,” these pink ribbon awareness campaigns allow people to feel like […]
A version of this post first ran in 2013. In 2006, a puppy came to live on a small farm in Colorado. His name was Oskar, and he was the runt of the litter. Oskar was a playful little guy, but on one fateful autumn day, he would learn that he was living in the […]
One of the finest editors I’ve ever known has died, and I’m heartbroken. David Corcoran was my first editor at the New York Times, but over the 12 years that I knew him he also became an advocate and a friend. David was kind and supportive like a good dad. His tenor let me know […]
It started with a voice mail. I figured it was a wrong number, and didn’t think anything more of it, until I got another call from a guy asking me if this was Orkin Pest Control. I told him it wasn’t and by the way, how did you get this number? “It was the second […]
Oh spring — a time for renewal. I’m finally (mostly) home from book tour, and I’ve been taking a little break from the grind to breathe in and focus my attention on things that replenish my creative energy and make me feel connected and fully present in my place. Perhaps the most soul-nourishing thing I’ve […]
It just happened again. My Twitter mentions blew up, because someone posted a tweet soliciting names of favorite female science writers after most of the students in a science communication class couldn’t come up with a single one. I have no doubt that the tweet was well-intentioned, but all I could think is, oh no, […]