Beach Walking

For me, walking and writing always go together. Any idea I need to work through, is best explored while walking. For years I thought this was a form of procrastination and I was hard on myself for not being able to sit down and just write. I have learned though that composition takes time. It's not productive to just sit and stare at the screen. It's important to move around and that time walking is never wasted. I just finished my first draft of my next book proposal. There's still many more drafts to go, but I wouldn't have gotten this far if walking wasn't a part of my writing routine.

😢 I'm Sorry I Haven't Read Your Book, Yet 😢

I have had so many beautiful messages from people apologizing for not (yet) reading my book or only reading part of my book.

I want to let you in on a secret: I don't expect you to read the whole thing.

Academic books, and many nonfiction books, do not necessarily need to be read cover-to-cover. College instructors often assign a chapter or a section of a book; many of the readings you were assigned in college were probably excerpts of longer texts. Only when you have a deep research interest in a topic do you endeavor to read cover-to-cover.

This is not cheating. There is an unfortunate conflation between reading and morality. Too often we learn (from our teachers, from other cultural influences) that we must read the whole thing to be a morally good person. It's also ok to pick up a book and then put it down if it's not for you. Life's too short to read books we hate. Next month I will include a chapter by chapter guide (with memes!) to help guide you to the content most relevant to you.

Don't Hate The Lurkers

Much of the engagement I receive on LinkedIn is related to Lurker Insights, helping content creators, thought leaders, and businesses better understand and contextualize lurk views. As I write more on this topic, I'll share the details in the Words newsletter. Here's a quick overview of Lurks vs Likes:

Events Calendar

I taped a few more podcasts and they will air some time in the coming months. These are the last few events wrapping up the Book Launch for Just Here For the Comments. I'll still be doing events related to the book, but this is the official end of the launch period.

🚆 Cedarmere, Featured Poet (Sept 28/ Roslyn Harbor)

Cedarmere, the historic home of William Cullen Bryant, has invited me to be a featured poet and give a talk as part of their reading series. I'll read from my forthcoming manuscript, including my Facebook poem featured in the final chapter of Just Here for the Comments. Books will be available for sale through digital ordering. For more information: https://www.pw.org/literary_events/cedarmere_poetry_reading_with_gina_sipley

🚆 North Shore Library Consortium (Sept 30 / Zoom)

A collaborative effort of six libraries on the North Shore of Nassau County brings the work of local scholar and researchers to patrons on Long Island and beyond. More details on my talk coming soon!

🚆 Follett Bookstore Garden City (Oct 22 / Nassau Community College)

This is a Hybrid Event and will also be available via Zoom (link to follow). There's no better way to close out the book launch tour by raising funds for one of my favorite places on Earth, The Children's Greenhouse https://www.ginasipley.com/greenhouse

Thanks for walking beside me!

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