Posts by Kimberly Sullivan
I met my 2018 Goodreads Reading Challenge
A public pat on the back. I finally met a deadline over a month in advance of the due date. Of course, it helps that the deadline was self-imposed, and entirely pleasurable. If only they were all like that … Each year I do the Goodreads Reading Challenge, and 2018 was no exception. I set…
Read MoreZipping around the aqueducts at Rome’s Parco degli Acquedotti
If it’s an early Sunday morning in the fall, there’s a good chance I’m out shivering in some Godforsaken park around Rome for one of my son’s cross-country races. Luckily, however, I do live in Rome, and some of those parks I discover on those early morning jaunts are truly spectacular. This season’s races opened…
Read MoreProhibition-era beer in Utica, New York
On a trip out to western New York last summer, we were staying near then small city of Utica, New York. I’d never been to Utica before, but I knew its Saranac beer (and soft drinks). We saw there was a tour of the Matt Beer Brewery Company and decided to join in on the…
Read MoreA new award for African literary voices
Exciting news that the French literary award, the Prix Orange du Livre, will be celebrating its tenth year by launching a new award aimed at African authors. You can see more in this article (in French). For this first year of the award, editors must submit works that were published between 1 January 2017 and…
Read MoreMy (kinda, sorta) Rocky moment … in Guayaquil
Well, this Rocky moment certainly didn’t occur in a bout of heavyweight boxing. But I did feel like a (rather distant) cousin of Rocky Balboa each morning in Guayaquil when I went jogging up the steps to the lighthouse to enjoy the views over Ecuador’s largest city. Do you remember the original movie’s opening scene…
Read MoreSecond week of the NaNo writing marathon underway
I wouldn’t usually label myself as a Couch Potato, but when it comes to assessing my level of writing commitment during the crazed marathon month of November, I suppose it would be pretty apt. As NaNoers diligently tear through 50,000 words of their first draft of their novels, I’m enthusiastically waving them on. Tucked under…
Read MoreA mini “Bilbao Guggenheim” in New York’s Hudson Valley
This past summer, while I was in New York City with my family, my older son and I took a driving trip up to the beautiful Hudson Valley to look at colleges and enjoy the beauty of this upstate New York region. While there, we were impressed to see The Fisher Center for the Performing…
Read MoreAre you NaNoing?
It’s that time of year again – when all you crazy writing marathoners take up the challenge to write a fifty-thousand word novel in just 30 days as part of the National Novel Writing Month challenge. Then there are the people like me, who stand on the side lines and cheer you on as you…
Read MoreHangin’ out with the iguanas … in Guayaquil, Ecuador
Last week, I was in the coastal city of Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was my first time there, and though work didn’t allow me as much time as I would have liked to explore, I did get a nice introduction to Ecuador’s largest city. I also had the chance to make “friends” with some of the…
Read MoreSheep, cows and horses, oh my! The perils of mountain biking in Abruzzo
My older son plays Varsity tennis each fall and is often traveling around Italy for matches on weekends. My younger son and I often use this as an excuse for a solo escape to the little town in the mountains of Abruzzo for some fall foliage and mountain biking. This year was no exception. Earlier…
Read More