I am pleased to announce the publication of a document I worked on for the U.S. Department of Education called Forum Guide to Exit Codes. I worked on it seemingly forever. Months and months. Much of the document was edited by yours truly; but I was only a bit player in the process of creating this document. It was a...
It wasn’t until 7 p.m. last Friday that I remembered it was the one-year anniversary of my concussion. This is creepy, because my concussion occurred at 7 p.m. I was very much aware, all last Friday, that it was the anniversary of the infamous terrorist attack on the U.S. By now, 19 years later, we are all used to seeing...
I don’t know what to say, . . . other than that didn’t go well. It’s been over two months since I last posted on this blog. Since then, I have been caught up in my by-now too-familiar anti-trifecta of concussion symptoms, arm issues, and mental health crises. I don’t want this blog to be primarily about my health woes....
I promised you big news today, and so here it is!! I have made a career change. I’m now a freelance writer, editor, and blogger!!!! Now, some might say that the middle of a global pandemic and economic downturn, not to mention a major concussion setback, might not be the best time to quit your job. But it was the...
Ach! If you are a newsletter subscriber, you just now received the email that should have gone out yesterday. (If you are not a newsletter subscriber, you can rectify that grievous problem here!) I was able to use the computer for only 20 minutes yesterday, due to my most recent concussion setback. At the end of those 20 minutes, I...
I’m thrilled to announce that you can now read two sonnets from my (unpublished) poetry collection, Two Novembers: A Memoir of Love ’n’ Sex in Sonnets! What I’m trying to say is, I’m officially a published poet!!!! A big THANK YOU to Beltway Poetry Quarterly for accepting my poems for publication. I am deeply honored and very excited. I hope...
Good morning, friends! Here’s a little true story about me. (This tale happened to me: little ol’ me, Liza Achilles, not to be confused with the inquisitive one, who is an entirely different person!) Yesterday, I started to sink into a depression. It’s hard staying at home in self-isolation. It’s also hard working to recover from my arm and brain...
Are any of you book lovers struggling, as I am, to read the books on your bedside table right now? I’m drawn to the news, to the big topics of the day. I was commiserating with a friend about this, and she spontaneously thought up a list of readings, ranging from centuries ago to the present day, having to do...
For various and sundry reasons, this is all the blog post I’m able to get you today. Happy Wednesday! Stay safe, and talk to you on Friday!
Poetry Night Recap Here’s a photo from my poetry performance two evenings ago. My sister-in-law Anne Tartaglia did an amazing job of capturing some of the most dramatic moments. Check out all the photos on my new Events page! And if you missed this week’s performance, no worries—I’ll be performing again soon. Check the Events page for future updates. FAQ...
Tonight’s the Night!!!! This evening, I’ll be performing poetry from my collection of love sonnets. Come out and see my live performance! Bring your own poems or songs or jokes to share at the open mic! Who Me. You. All our friends. Plus cool people we haven’t met . . . yet. What Poetry at the Port! Poetry, music, and...
Poetry of Love, Performed Live Curious about my love poetry? Since my book of sonnets is unpublished, the only way you have access to it is at my live performances! I’m excited to share that I’ve been invited to be a featured poet at an event one week from today. Come out and watch me perform poems from my sonnet...
Hi friends, For those of you who are writers or have an interest in writing, I have exciting news. My 31-page e-resource for writers is now available! It’s called 10 Steps for How to Stop Procrastinating and Write That Book! (or Article, Story, Essay, Blog, Poem . . .). How to Access the E-resource The e-resource is only available to...
Happy New Year! Let’s hear it for 2020! This is our year, . . . the only one we’ve got right now. Let’s make things happen! I’m excited about so many things I’m planning for this year. Here are just a few of the many upcoming events and activities in the works around here in LizaAchilles-land. What’s on the horizon...
Hello, friends! Well, well, well. . . . This is like Hello, World! all over again. It’s been a while since I’ve written to you. But, no, this isn’t my first blog post. However, . . . this lapse in posting is not mea culpa! Exactly three months ago—on September 11th, believe it or not—something fell and hit me on...
Oh my gosh, you guys and gals. I was sitting in a restaurant, and a wall hanging came loose from the wall, fell, and hit me on the head! I was stunned, but felt okay. However, the next day, my head started hurting badly, and I went to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with a mild concussion and have...
Hi, all! This week I’m experiencing a flare-up of an old health issue. So I’ll keep this post short. Send flowers and love. Digital flowers and love work perfectly fine. They are perfectly beautiful. And tell me: what setbacks are you coping with this month? We all experience them. It’s not a matter of being weak. It’s a matter of...
A new article, written by yours truly, is live on the Silent Book Club blog. It’s called How to Organize and Host a Book Club. If you’ve ever considered starting a local chapter, this article is for you. Silent Book Club is an international organization with dozens of chapters around the U.S. and world. At a Silent Book Club event,...
I’m excited to share that an article I wrote was today published in the Washington Independent Review of Books. Read the article here!
Check out my new article on the Silent Book Club blog. It’s called Where Have You Been All My Life? Have you ever experienced a stunning moment when you felt struck by the simplicity of an idea, and instantly sure of your next move? I did, two years ago. Read all about it here! In the meantime, as you’re reading...
Books are timelessly trendy . . . though it doesn’t always feel that way. Read more about this topic in my new post on the Silent Book Club blog. It’s called “The Timelessness of Books.” Check it out here. Let me know your thoughts on this topic after you read the article!
Hello, book lovers! Today I’d like to share with you a hodgepodge of tips and reminders. TIPS: Articles for Lifelong Learners I am excited to announce that I have added a new page to my website called Tips. It’s in the navigation bar at the top of every page. Here I will offer various articles for lifelong learners. Because these...
I’m excited to announce the second contest of this blog! Enter by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15 to win exciting prizes! As many of you know, I have spent the past 15 years writing, editing, and polishing two books, and I’d love to get them published. But I need your help. One of the best ways you can help...
I know, I know—we were in the middle of a series of posts about Émile Zola’s The Ladies’ Paradise, but I’d like to hit pause on that to share some exciting news with you all: I have acquired my first byline! So, apologies, but you will have to live in suspense as regards the nineteenth-century novel I was previewing—it’s a...
Hi, all! Today I’d like to provide a few updates, some pertaining to this website and others pertaining to topics of previous blog posts. Security This website runs over https. The “s” means that communications to and from the website are secure and encrypted. The site gets an A+ rating by the SSL Server Test (woo-hoo!). The security of this...
The results are in! I put all the contest entries into a hat . . . and pulled out . . . a rabbit! Just kidding—I pulled out the name of one lucky winner. A hearty congratulations to Rachel Delaney, who is now—that is, who will shortly be, as soon as the package arrives through the mail—the proud owner of...
Welcome to the first contest of my blog! Win a free book! The contest ends Wednesday, August 29, so act soon! One of the best books I’ve read this year is The Days of Abandonment by Elena Ferrante. To enter a drawing to win a copy of it, do any of the following things. If you do more than one,...
As they say, “Hello, World!” I read somewhere that your first blog post is bound to be flawed, so you might as well get it over with so you can get on to subsequent posts, which will be much stronger and more interesting. But this blog post isn’t so bad, is it? I mean, really, World, this post isn’t making...
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Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
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F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
A Journal of the Plague Year Daniel Defoe
Creatures Crissy Van Meter
Indelicacy Amina Cain
Say What You Mean Oren Jay Sofer
Habits of a Happy Brain Loretta Graziano Breuning
Bad Behavior, This Is Pleasure Mary Gaitskill
The Brother Gardeners Andrea Wulf
Severance Ling Ma
How to Be an Antiracist Ibram X. Kendi
The Museum of Modern Love Heather Rose
Why I Write George Orwell
The Woman Destroyed Simone de Beauvoir
Educated Tara Westover
The Gift Hafiz
The Collected Schizophrenias Esmé Weijun Wang
Your Duck Is My Duck Deborah Eisenberg
Sapiens Yuval Noah Harari
Milkman Anna Burns
Under the Banner of Heaven Jon Krakauer
Waiting for Bojangles Olivier Bourdeaut
A Mind Unraveled Kurt Eichenwald
Eugénie Grandet Honoré de Balzac
The Body Keeps the Score Bessel van der Kolk, M.D.
The Bookshop Penelope Fitzgerald
Digital Minimalism Cal Newport
The Sisters Brothers Patrick deWitt
Dare to Lead Brené Brown
My Year of Rest and Relaxation Ottessa Moshfegh
Almost Everything Anne Lamott
Born to Run Christopher McDougall, Bruce Springsteen
The Ladies’ Paradise Émile Zola
The World Beyond Your Head Matthew B. Crawford
All the Birds, Singing Evie Wyld
Barracoon Zora Neale Hurston
Dandelion Wine Ray Bradbury
JavaScript & jQuery Jon Duckett
Home Fire Kamila Shamsie
The Weather Detective Peter Wohlleben
Play It As It Lays Joan Didion
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Mark Manson
Convenience Store Woman Sayaka Murata
Perfect Me Heather Widdows
Sorry to Disrupt the Peace Patty Yumi Cottrell
Why Buddhism Is True Robert Wright
What Is Real? Adam Becker
Kudos Rachel Cusk
The Days of Abandonment Elena Ferrante
F*cked Corinne Fisher & Krystyna Hutchinson
Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine Alan Lightman
Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys
Infinite Jest David Foster Wallace
A Room of One’s Own Virginia Woolf
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