As I always do every month, below is where I’ve been published with a short summary of each article. When relevant, I’ll share some behind-the-scenes insight into crafting the article and my experiences with the publisher/editor.
Toronto Star – At Bakka-Phoenix, the beloved sci-fi and fantasy bookstore, you can let your geek flag fly
I had a lot of fun writing about this legendary bookstore in Toronto that specializes in science fiction and spec fiction. I’ve been a fan for a long time so when the Star assigned me the piece, I held in my child-like whoop of joy and got working to research everything and anything about Bakka-Phoenix Books. A nice bonus was having the opportunity to interview a few sci-fi Canadian icons: authors Cory Doctorow and Robert J. Sawyer.
Fodor’s – Just How Flexible Are U.S. Companies Being With PTO Right Now?
What I really appreciate about my Fodor’s editor is how she quick she gets back to me after I send a pitch. Such speediness isn’t the norm in journalism. This article came to me when I saw a tiny blurb in the Sunday New York Times about companies such as Citigroup allowing their staff to roll over their vacation days from 2020 to 2021. That got me thinking what other businesses were doing with PTO days, since so many folks didn’t take any vacation during the pandemic. I also developed a new relationship with an interview subject I met for the first time, Rob O’Toole, a consultant for all things HR. He was fantastic, and I’m gladly adding him to my digital Rolodex.
Minnesota Alumni – Expanding Our Minds
My first project for the alumni magazine repping the University of Minnesota, this article profiles Roland Griffiths, the director of the new Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore. Ever since I wrote for High Times in 2009, I’ve been fascinated by the people behind cannabis and psychedelics research, and Griffiths is the one of the most respects brains behind the science of “magic mushrooms.” Did you know dosing on shrooms can help people quit smoking?! I learned that and a lot more from Griffiths in an article I hope others can learn from.
BBC News – How Covid turbocharged the QR revolution
When I spotted a QR code on the front of a cannabis store in Toronto, a pitch began to formulate: Have QR codes made a comeback during the pandemic, in light of the rise of touchless payments? They never really died, especially in Asia, but they weren’t always on pub tables or signage, until the pandemic forced the hand of business owners to consider the efficacy of working with those next-gen barcodes. I pitched my editor at BBC Business and he immediately signed on, and I was able to compile a pretty thorough overview of how QR codes have made their way into retail spaces, grocery stores, pubs and public-health agencies.
BBC News – Home working increases cyber-security fears
The original Beebs had me working hard in January! I wrote another timely tech feature for them on the thread of cybersecurity breaches due to the popularity of remote work. That kind of teleworking doesn’t offer the same kind of safeguard an employee would have in an office with a robust network and an IT team nearby. I had some really illuminating interviews with security analysts Ted Harrington and Sam Grubb, both of whom will be excellent sources for any upcoming articles I tackle on the subject down the road. Up next for me at BBC are two other articles that will be published in February.
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