Know that feeling when you want to read ALL THE BOOKS at the same time? Every time I need to choose which one is next, I agonize. Agonize, I tell you!

"I don’t even know that many people who have electricity, so it’s like, who’s going to get the message? Half the people who read this will just want the monster to wave his hands at fire or something." 😆 mcsweeneys.net/articles/i-wis…

Anyone who tells you writing fiction is easy is an alien.

Seems unreasonable to assume seasons don’t affect humans when they affect everything else. Rather than fight the season, as I have in the past, I'm taking comfort in this musing o' mine. observingleslie.com/magazine/when-…

🇫🇷 French word of the day: tatillon | tatillonne (adj) = nitpicking, persnickety person

At the arrival of autumn in Switzerland, you might be surprised by a procession of beflowered cows and traditionally dressed herders filing down the mountain. 🐮 observingleslie.com/magazine/the-h…

More kids playing in trees, please.

Really loving the novella lately, especially when read between some larger novels. Any recommendations? (Just in case: Novellas are those little fiction gems in the ~20-40k word count range.)

In this month's Letter, we're going to talk about the cowbells. 🔔🐮🔔 Yeah, you heard me. (Or did you hear the cowbells? 🤔) Here's how to sign up! observingleslie.com/subscribe

How often do all of you back up your files? I know they're in the cloud and yada yada, but other than that, I mean.

And THIS particularly a-ha moment happened for me at the holidays a few years back. Remembering it recalled this post, so I figured I'd share. 😆 observingleslie.com/magazine/the-m…

🇫🇷 French word of the day: rudoyer = to bully

For my Halloween contribution, how about this utterly frightening knobbly-to-skeletal permanent sculpture outside a hospital building here in town? Title: Transsubstantiation Sculptor: Maria Zsuzsa de Faykod

November 1 on the Catholic calendar is All Saint’s Day. The French have blended the term, making November 1 “la Toussaint” in French parlance. And it's the reason why, in France, you never give a person mums. Not a living person, anyway. observingleslie.com/magazine/how-t…

Every time I see a book review complaining about an “unlikeable protagonist” or “unlikeable characters,” I think, “Well hey now. Sounds like I just found me a new book to read.”

Went to write “go to grocery” on task list and it was autocorrected to “go to thievery” and clearly my phone’s got nefarious ends.

Character naming is far too fun. How do other people do it? I have some very ridiculous techniques, but I love 'em. There have to be additional methods to try, though!

What long-term psychological dangers exist for people who feel they cannot communicate and cannot manage to make others understand them? observingleslie.com/magazine/what-…

Can't believe I've been here almost 17 years. Not gone from here yet, but going forward I hope you'll find me on the butterfly place (where the skies are bluer) at lesliefarnsworth or stay in touch via my Letter: observingleslie.com/subscribe I don't want to miss you, you know.

I put together this list for a few friends and realized, hey, could be interesting to others? observingleslie.com/magazine/my-fa…