Take a seat, hold your ground and don’t back down — You’re at your favorite coffee shop. You want to get a latte and a croissant and then sit for a while and enjoy your snack while reading a book or just people watching. But every table is occupied. There are couples at two-tops and groups of friends crowding around larger…

Well, at least it isn’t a frog — Life holds plenty of surprises, especially when you work at a public library. Last week, for instance, we found a banana in the book drop. Naturally, I logged onto my favorite librarian Facebook group to share the news. The first response? Curious George strikes again! Then: We once found a…

We don’t need your useless crap any more than you do — So you’re de-cluttering or Swedish Death Cleaning or Marie-Kondo-ing, which is to say that you’re finally getting rid of all the unwanted crap that’s been piling up in your home for years. Hurrah! That’s great! Well done, you! As a librarian, I’ve got just one small request. Please — whatever…

On Medium We’re All Speed Readers — I recently published a story that Medium said would take readers five minutes to read: Writers! Should You Change People’s Names When You Write About Them? A Pro Spells Out the Rulesmedium.com Because we writers are paid solely on the basis of how much time paying Medium members spend reading our stuff, a five-minute read time is good. …

A Pro Spells Out the Rules — I’m a writing coach and editor-for-hire. One question my clients often ask is whether they should change the names of the people they’re writing about. Obviously, if you’re writing a reported piece about a real person, you should name them. (And for God’s sake double check to make sure you’ve…

I Shouldn’t have to tell you this. But apparently I do — I’m a writer, but I’m also a writing coach and editor-for-hire. I work with beginning writers and accomplished writers, and every kind of writer in between, on projects ranging from 500-word humor pieces to 500 page novels. One of my favorite clients just finished a novel and needed to draft…

And you can’t make me — I log onto Medium every day — many times — and whenever I do Medium presents me with a little group of posts the Algorithm has selected for me to read. This feature is called More from Medium. Occasionally there’s a story there I actually want to read and might…

Thirty-Four — Every writer on Medium knows that to be happy here, you can’t just write. You also have to read and respond to the work of other Medium writers. Because Medium isn’t just a platform where you can post your own spectacular stories. It’s a writing community where we can all…

You think I’m bluffing? — Instead of paying writers more money, Medium recently provided us with a little feature we could add to our stories that asked readers to give us a tip if they liked our work. Suddenly, we weren’t writers. We were baristas! If you enjoy the way I made this latte —…