Hi there. I’m Jo. Thanks for stopping by.

Is there anything more beautiful than a crisp sheet of paper and a well balanced pen on a desk cleared for the day’s work? Is there anything more terrifying?

…writing…thinking…reading…thinking…writing…

One way or another, I spend a lot of time thinking about writing; whether for my day job (not to be mentioned again), as a reader, a researcher, or just for the joy of seeing words and ideas come together.

I love the process of writing. Even when it leaves me frustrated and doesn’t seem to have worked in quite the way I imagined. The same goes for my experiences as a reader.

So, why am I here? This is a space where I plan to think aloud about various writing projects – and reading experiences – that come up in my life. Well, my life outside that day job I wasn’t going to mention again.

Project of the moment

The writing project that has been my main focus for the past few years is a doctoral thesis. It needs to be about 80 000 words and is currently sitting at about 95 000 or so. I’m at that point where I go to cut words and see that some more are needed. I’m hoping it’s just a phase.

I haven’t been doing much other writing in recent times. I have, however, been thinking about it and that thinking has brought me back here. Also, I was wanting a bit of a distraction and I’m not into baking and knitting didn’t work out for me.

Some housekeeping (there’s always some housekeeping)

While you’re here, you’re welcome to do some thinking aloud of your own. That said, please be aware that I aim for this to be a safe space – for myself and any readers who happen along. In short, I’ll be keeping the site clear of any comments that contain threatening, abusive or inappropriate language.

I’m also not up for advertising or spamming via comments.  I don’t want to be schoolmarmish about any of this, I just figure it is best to put it out there. Thanks for your understanding about that.

With all that out of the way, thanks again for stopping by. I hope you enjoy your time here.