Summer Catch Up
Dear Friends,
I've spent the month of June on a publicity hiatus and have been taking advantage of the time when the kids are still in school to write on my own preferred working schedule. This month I had a chance to get back to my roots and complete a poetry manuscript, a book chapter on pedagogy and children's literature for a forthcoming book about Angie Thomas' The Hate U Give, and begin a book proposal related to dermatology and technology for what might be my next book. It's been an exhilarating time.
The Book Tour continues in earnest later this summer, including some live in-person events in the Fall. Here's a glimpse of some of what's ahead. If you're in the NY Metro, would love to see you!
🚆Podcast
Joe Ferraro interviewed me for the One Percent Better Podcast. Joe's eclectic podcast attracts both literacy experts (Penny Kittle, Kelly Gallagher) and thought leaders (Daniel Pink, Mitch Albom). This should air sometime next month.
🚆 Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga Writing Retreat (Aug 7/ Oyster Bay)
Now this is not technically related to Just Here For the Comments, but I'm partnering with Salty Soul Yoga and Sobol to offer a one day writing retreat at the Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay. The retreat includes a Stand Up Paddle Board Yoga class (beginners welcome) courtesy of Salty Soul Yoga, catered lunch from Sobol, and a generative writing workshop to explore narrative, poetic, and epistolary writing. For more info, visit: https://forms.gle/2716ikPZUpVoCBmX9
🚆 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 (TBD / Nassau Community College)
I'm working out the details for a in-person event on the Nassau Community College campus to close out the tour and raise funds for The Children's Greenhouse https://www.ginasipley.com/greenhouse
Author Sara Hosey and I are hoping to co-host an event titled Only In Suburbia at a local bookstore. Her recent short story collection, Dirty Suburbia, shares some similar themes with Just Here for the Comments. And it your read it, the Gina character is definitely NOT based on me.
Publication Day!
My latest research on lurking is now available in New Media + Society, a top journal for Communication, Sociology, and Media: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/14614448221117994
If you're not in academia you might not know the timeline. Producing a journal article is a multiyear endeavor.
✅ 2019 - Designed research
✅ 2020 - Research begins
✅ 2021 - Research continues
✅ 2022- Write article, submit, three rounds of revise and resubmit peer review
✅ August 2022 - Preprint is Available Online
✅ June 2024 - Article Published
And in many ways, mine was a quick turnaround. Peer review is the cornerstone of academic research. Scholars are not directly compensated for writing articles or serving as peer reviewers, who read and write comments. The expectation is that this is an extension of their duties at their college. With fewer and fewer fulltime tenure track positions available, there is a global peer review crisis. Peer review is the cornerstone of ethical research design, data collection, and and results analysis. What will be the impact on medicine, psychology, education, social systems if this crisis continues?
Books in the Wild
My copy of Jason Hannan's Trolling Ourselves To Death (Oxford University Press, 2023) arrived this month. I have only had a chance to skim through, but I was excited to see what I think might be the first reference to Just Here for the Comments in an academic book (in his discussion of lurkers vs trolls). Eager to learn more about the historical context for mass trolling and how this intersects with our current media climate of disinformation, conspiracy theories, cancel culture, and digital violence. If this is your research area, check it out.
Thanks for walking beside me!
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