Katharine's Writer's Block

Most new years usher in a blank slate for the cultural touchstones that will define it. Some definition comes into focus as the months progress but parts of the world are getting a head start by naming 2026 a National Year of Reading as of January 13th, 2026.  This endeavor is based in the United Kingdom but could be something worthwhile to embrace across the pond, if not around the world. As per The Guardian , the UK-government endeavor has been launched to address a “worryi

Many of us may have grown up with doses of edutainment, or media that blends amusement and learning. It has adopted various formats that have overlapped throughout the years, but for the most part, current generations find it through social media, digital media, and apps while millennials got a lot of it through video games and computer games. Yet, it was the Gen Xers’ television programming that gave the trend most of its initial steam. They had some cool shows! In fact, sev

This post is publishing on the cusp of back-to-school season in the U.S.! If furthering your education or developing your skills in the...

Most know that the United States celebrates a day of national pride on July fourth. Something that most may not know is that thirteen of the fifty states (as of this writing) express their regional pride by celebrating the days they were admitted to the union. For those curious, those states are West Virginia, Kentucky, Alaska, Hawaii, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Utah, Alabama, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Ohio. Much like school pride or social pride, statehood days celebrat

In the United States, late May through August is embraced as the prime time for leisure tourism, or summer vacation in simpler terms. Throughout this timeframe, most schools complete regular instruction, summer officially starts, and many worthwhile holidays take place. So families often undertake some kind of getaway from their daily grind for a little bit of fun, celebration, and refreshment.  Depending on plans and preferences, summer vacation also takes and blends a handf

It seems like every day can be a holiday and every month is one for some kind of recognition, remembrance, or awareness. Many are established by various organizations or special interests, so keeping up can be hard if you’re not affiliated or in-the-know in some way.  Similar organizations and interests of literary culture have managed to get their values recognized with their own various holidays and months. This Lessons & Advice post gives a rundown on several special times

I got some wonderful kitchen gifts for my bridal shower! Among them were a fully-stocked, sixteen-jar spice rack and a Ninja Foodi grill....

A previous lesson touched on the controversies of banned and challenged books. These measures aim to limit, if not remove, material from...

Story Star Life Simulator icon I’m a fan of simulation games. The sandbox, open-world, world-building, customizable, role-playing, and/or choice-driven elements this genre can offer make them a wonderland to writers or creatives. We’re lovers of a blank slate, expressing ourselves, exploring, living our own lives, a dream life, or one of a particular character’s. So you can imagine my excitement to stumble upon Story Star Life Simulator: a game in which the player leads life

Millennials, like me, grew up with some unique cultural experiences. While we indulged in the earliest, if not the best, years of cartoons, video games, internet, and music, we also read books to earn our own pizzas. Millennials, like me, remember this as the Pizza Hut Book It Program (or just the Book It Program). The premise of the Book It Program was simple (and free): reading goals are set between October and March for students between preschool and sixth grade. Goals can