Category: Non-Fiction

Scaling back the media buffet

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This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013:

Click.

This week, we turned off most of our cable service. We’ve pared back to the basic broadcast network package and internet.

Part of it is simply a family cost-cutting measure – it should save our household about $1,000 during the next year to go without the full-fledged package that included the digital DVR and a few premium channels like HBO and Showtime.

But mostly it’s the result of recognizing that we simply don’t need hundreds of channels that we rarely watch.

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Journalism, Non-Fiction, Sample Columns

Durham author gets worldwide recognition

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This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013:

Mur Lafferty is a mom, a UNC grad, podcaster and inventor of “Sansaball.”

Last month, the Durham denizen also earned recognition at Worldcon, a major speculative fiction convention, where she received the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.

“The Campbell Award is a bit odd, since it doesn’t award any one particular story or novel, but it recognizes new writers (meaning within two years of your first professional publication) with potential,” Lafferty said. “It was a huge thrill to be nominated for an award that many of my idols have been nominated for. And an even bigger thrill to win!”

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Journalism, Non-Fiction, Sample Columns

Mom gets last laugh this time

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This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013:

The day after Mom became a cyborg, she apparently gained an obscure superpower.

“I smell heat,” she said groggily as she reclined on her bed. Doctor’s orders: a full week of bed rest following surgery to install a defibrillator in her chest. “Is something burning?”

I eyed the white-capped orange bottle of Percocet on the bedside shelf and immediately assumed it was the drugs talking. So I laughed, shook my head and proceeded to joke about it in a Facebook status update.

It felt good to have something to joke about.

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Journalism, Non-Fiction, Sample Columns

Chasing the destination, missing the journey

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This column appeared in The Herald-Sun in 2013: The economy really must be improving, because my weekend walks at The Streets at Southpoint mall have lost their intensity. I can’t speed along at a decent pace, what with having to slow down or stop for other people or, when possible, to swerve around them. Don’t…

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