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The Beauty of Knowing Your Mind

This is going to be a deeply personal post so, if you’d rather not know, now is your chance to click away.  Hi, I’m Alianne, and I’m neurodivergent. I’m what they like to call “high-functioning.” Which is another way to say, “We can get what we need out of you with minimal fuss.” It is what it is. As someone who’s only recently  gotten this confirmed (without an official diagnosis on the books – see reasons below), I’m not bitter about it. I’m just looking back at my life so far and connecting dots that, in hind sight, should have been really freaking obvious.  A lot of things about me and my life make a lot more sense now, and… Read More »The Beauty of Knowing Your Mind

On Dystopias And How To Survive One Without Losing Your Humanity

A few days ago, I wrote the post below on Facebook, talking about the importance of education in teaching people how to think, rather than what to think. I won’t repeat it all here, you can click below to read it. But I do want to build on the idea, following a different conversation I had with someone more recently. The Mind is a Dangerous Thing to Lose Picture this… Humanity has developed technologies that can do everything a human can do, and do it better. Unlimited storage space remembers every thought, idea, and concept we have ever come up with. Sophisticated computing machines can solve complex problems and equations in seconds. Artificial brains can answer existential questions simply, and illustrate… Read More »On Dystopias And How To Survive One Without Losing Your Humanity

It’s Not What You Think: My Epic Writer Fail

In preparation for my two book signings this year, I was forced to notify my day job that I would be gone for a few days and had to endure some obligatory small talk which quickly turned to a question I damn well should know how to answer by now but still don’t: How many books have you written? Intellectually, I know all they wanted to know was how many books I’d published. Because they don’t care about anything not published, and they shouldn’t. There’s a reason why I didn’t publish it, after all. But on an emotional level, I took that question literally and started a futile internal effort to quantify everything I’d ever written since the very first… Read More »It’s Not What You Think: My Epic Writer Fail

…as if no one will ever read it

I haven’t done a real blog post here in a long time. Forgive me. Life, work, and other concerns have distracted me from what I enjoy doing most. Truth be told, I haven’t been writing much lately, either, and that hurts me the most. But certain things have happened in recent weeks and months to put me in one of my philosophical moods again, and very much on the defensive. Not of myself (much) but of the creative writer in general. So let me tell you a story or four…

Read More »…as if no one will ever read it

Definitions: How Best To Defy Them

There isn’t a week goes by when I don’t see an articles shared on my Facebook news feed about what makes a writer. Must be because so many of my Facebook friends are themselves writers. The thing is, this isn’t just a writing phenomenon. It’s something ingrained in our everyday life. We label things and people so we can better put them into categories and respond to them in the manner appropriate to their pigeon hole.

What makes a writer?

What makes an artist?

So You Think You Can Dance…

Confused

“The Artist At Work” by Mary Ellen Best

Did you know there are people in the corporate world whose whole purpose in life is to come up with more imaginative and important sounding titles for workers? I kid you not. It makes sense when someone has “Editor” or “Graphic Artist” on their business card, but when another someone introduces themselves as the “Director of First Impressions” and it turns out they work as a receptionist, that’s going into the realm of the ridiculous. And before you ask, yes, this is a real thing. Makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Read More »Definitions: How Best To Defy Them

Some Things Can’t Be Duplicated

Late night conversations never go the way I expect them to. A couple nights ago, I had one that reminded me of someone I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I hope you’ll forgive me this little stroll down memory lane. 🙂 Years ago, almost a decade now, Serendipity veered me off my la-dee-da straight and narrow to cross paths with a singularly fascinating man. He wasn’t just smart, he was wise–a quality not easily borne by people so young. Brilliant man. Beautiful writer. He used to keep this blog where he would document his travels and experiences. Nothing special on the face of it, but his style was so unique, he could draw you into the scene, make… Read More »Some Things Can’t Be Duplicated