I'm not good at self-promotion at all. I get uncomfortable even telling people about Girl Gone Smart, so instead I talk about the amazing people who offer their thoughts, perspectives, expertise, and experiences within this web site. But I kind of have to learn now. Last week on Monday August 17, 2020 I published my first short story. It's titled "Iron Man" and it's the first release from "The Court Jester and Other True Tales" series. Every story is true and based on my life

Are you tired of politics yet? Or perhaps you’re tired of the multitude of social media posts by friends who just learned the word ‘socialist’ and still can’t use it in a sentence properly. I know I am, but I’m always in the mood for intelligent politics – and murder. So while my blog is going back to the first time I wrote about local author Nick Pignatelli in the Albany Times Union, it's time to revisit his work. In light of recent national politics, I started thinking abou

I want to tell you about a book series I really enjoyed, set at Harvard University. The book series I’m recommending this week is by authors Lauren Kunze and Rina Onur, and the first book (and the series as a whole) is titled The Ivy. Having been accepted to Harvard’s summer Philosophy program many years ago, I was immediately intrigued as to how the school would be portrayed from a new student’s point of view. I couldn’t attend because of financial reasons, but all the same,

I won't spend a lot of money on myself for "stuff." My collections are comprised of Converse, books, candles, and tea sets. That's pretty much it. But about two years ago a subscription ad kept popping up that grabbed my attention. It was an ad for The Book(ish) Box by Appraising Pages. I decided to give it a shot at $30 a month, and if I didn't like the contents of my first Bookish Box I could cancel immediately instead of receiving and paying for the next two months. (I cho