DoubleBlind
Experts answer questions about the functional mushroom and coffee alternative Lion’s Mane.
6 Lessons Learned From Freelance Translator Scams
Ripped off and pissed off, that’s how freelance translators feel when they get scammed. It happened to me and the six lessons I learned can help you from falling into the same trap.
Your Next Hobby Should Be DIY Journals & Book Covers
DIY hobbies are keeping me in check as quarantine rolls by and another mind-numbing Netflix binge leaves me wondering what day it is.
I Promise Freelance Writing Isn't Hopeless During Coronavirus
Writers are experiencing their own dose of pandemic worry: pitch rejection, contract suspension and the realization that the media can’t pay writers anymore since they rely on advertisers. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty and talk about the impact of coronavirus on freelance writers. As the writing community brainstorms solutions, we need to remember how…
Fluent in 3 Months
Guest blogger for a widely recognized tool for language learners called Fluent at 3 Months.
This 26-Year-Old French Writer Slammed Multiple Presidents With Class Ignorance
I joined forces with another book blogger for a discussion about Who Killed My Father in the style of a written podcast.
7 Real Questions Editors Ask During Freelance Writer Interviews
Editors hiring long-term writers for digital publications will probably request an interview. They want to know that you know your stuff and aren’t some voiceless poser.
How to Overcome Silly Failures While Rerooting Golden Pothos
Propagate houseplants with care and love by Olivia Walters I’m not Shrek or Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. My thumb isn’t electric green, but I’m getting there. Maybe being a green fictional movie character would have helped my houseplants, but it’s also just a fact of gardening life— we kill plants before we learn how to…
Imagine the Toll Grief Takes on Writing Motivation
Waking up without an outline of where the day is headed is a freelance writer’s worst enemy.
Book Review: La vie secrète des écrivains
Critique littéraire du livre de Guillaume Musso Salut mes ami.e.s ! Je reviens sur la chronique de fiction aujourd’hui à l’occasion d’une nouvelle collaboration qui sera dévoilée dans les semaines à venir ! Vous allez jouir d’un échange entre moi et un autre blogueur suisse. Tous nos deux, certes, qui ont un goût exceptionnel pour…
Stop Wasting Time and Underselling Your Talents
If you find naysayers, hecklers, or agitators lobbying against you, cut the cord. This is no time for setbacks. By Olivia Walters Time management is a distressful obstacle for both the birdbrained and overachiever types. Scale back on social media, mark out time in a bullet journal, or hit the pillow at the same time…
Stand Up and Punch Negative Tendencies Out of Your Life
Making headway against self-doubt Olivia Walters When I slide back into old habits I have to recenter my focus by viewing my personal growth on a timeline. If you write a journal as I do, then you understand the importance of reviewing entries written months or years ago. That way, you keep yourself in check…
Demystifying Loan Default for College Grads
What those Department of Education bills are really saying by Olivia Walters I felt compelled to write about this topic since many of my followers are graduated college students or soon-to-be grads. This is a short piece to discuss terms the U.S. Department of Education expects borrowers to understand, plus how easy it is to…
Souffrance ou on s’en fou-ance
Se dire je vais bien Olivia Walters Me voilà au clavier. Cela fait combien de temps, un peu plus d’un mois. Je reconnais que j’ai du mal à m’exprimer. Les phrases ne déroulent pas comme d’habitude. Alors en arrivant à un tel moment, on cherche la raison pour laquelle on se trouvait incertain, désespéré, voire…
How to Steal from French Magazines for Writing Inspiration
Writing poetry in the style of a ransom note Olivia Walters This week I wrote French poetry by snipping words from travel magazines I stole at the Charles de Gaulle airport. The exercise got me thinking about fresh ideas for my creative work, but as I began stringing words together, making word associations, and elaborating…
Thoughts on Ending Books, Leaving Fiction World
Olivia Walters Yesterday evening I powered through the last 50 pages of Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises. It’s been some time since completing a book, start to finish. I felt accomplished, well-read, and introspective as I entered the post-operative reading phase in which readers bemoan the return to reality. Reaching the last page, we…
Book Review: Hemingway, Frustrating Heroines
Critique littéraire / Book review Olivia Walters La saison des cafards est arrivée. J’étais en train de ranger ma chambre et oups, j’en vois un au tapis, à peine en vie mais suffisamment d’énergie pour courir frénétiquement dès que j’essaie de l’écraser. La chair de poule traverse mon corps. Cockroach season is in full effect.…
Summer Obsessions: Notes on Mabanckou et Rilke
Olivia Walters Je m’arrêterai jamais quand il s’agit de Mabanckou. Il m’obsède. « S’il y a un secret que je pourrais livrer ici c’est que, pour faire parler les gens, il faut jouer la distance, l’indifférence, en un mot le désintérêt, y a pas mieux que ce stratagème vieux comme le monde pour déclencher les…
Yeats, Love Letter to Mine
To my partner Olivia Walters I’m peering at my library, skimming the titles of authors who speak to me. Yeats, the poem The Fish Je regarde ma bibliothèque, je lis entre les grandes lignes les titres des auteurs/autrices qui me parlent. Chez Yeats, la poème Le poisson { Although you hide in the ebb…
Spooky Danish Sculptor’s Slice of Life
Olivia Walters Olafur Eliasson, the contemporary Danish-Icelandic artist invited to expose in 2016 at the Château de Versailles, renovated Louis XIV’s former stomping ground by hanging a giant, pre-Christmas ornament from the ceiling. Or so the eye believed. Entering the Salle des Gardes du Roi, the room is stripped of furniture, save for two convex…
French Siboy Artistically Rebrands Hardcore Rap, He Hopes
Olivia Walters The first distinguishing traits about Siboy are his ski mask and shiny grill flashing between two fingers doing the cunnilingus sign. If there was a puzzle called “Match the Accessory to the Rapper,” Biggie’s lopsided crown and Kanye’s runway ready parachute pants would make up the most iconic pieces. But Siboy is Siboy…
The Widow on the Train
Olivia Walters I was traveling on the famous SNCF train in a compartment for four, but on that day, it was occupied by two. Lucille gave me her address and made me promise I would come visit her in Paris for tea. In a matter of an hour, a widow opened up to me, told…
After School Special: Bus #10
Olivia Walters Look at me, impatiently waiting at the bus stop, one hand over my eyes, the other waving for the driver’s attention to take me home. Look at me, mounting the bus, scanning my pass, then doing the once-around to decide where I’ll sit. What an absolute joy it is to finally be out…
Dysfunctional Spaces: Parisian Art Without Grace
by Olivia Walters In December 2016, Lab 14 showcased a dystopian maze of graffiti, movable installations, and sculptures in the Montpartnasse district of Paris. Formerly a post office, close to fifty artists participated in a project well aware of its three month expiration date. To some, an ephemeral concept that sought to push urban art…
Winter Sea Towns in Brittany, France
Olivia Walters After the fall months pass, the wind sloshes the harbor water near Pordic, France with an eerie silence. A quiet reserve takes over what seems to be a bustling area for visitors during the warmer part of the year. But now summer vacation is on pause, returning many communes in the northwestern region of Brittany to the…
Sighting: Food Truck Takeover
Olivia Walters We always hear that French people have an unfavorable impression about American cuisine. It’s greasy, it’s quick, and it’s too salty. However, in the past four years France has witnessed an American culinary invasion with the arrival of food trucks in Paris. Opinions about American dishes are changing as the trend explodes all over the city.…
Lyon on Wheels
Olivia Walters Public transportation is something that French citizens are accustomed to. As an American, it was difficult to transition from having a car to suddenly relying on the métro, buses, and trains. Lyon is situated southeast to Paris, a gem notoriously known for its gastronomy and walls adorned with Italian-inspired fresques [murals]. Although skateboard…
New Impressionism: Spray Paint
Olivia Walters The City of Light is divided into 20 arrondissements and dotted with expensive boutiques, while the left and right bank are separated by the Seine river. Looming over it all, the Eiffel Tower twinkles at night and makes for a classic selfie during the day. This is the image of Paris that never fails to touch…
Olivia Walters 