You Big Talker

27/11/2024

A timeless holiday classic! Laser Beam, the George Bailey of Thanksgiving?

Film date: Nov 2020

A young boy is confronted with incessant verbal gratitude from his grateful parents. A Thanksgiving story heavy on words and light on the gravy. Disclaimer: ...

13/09/2024

Unsure of the latest trends? Host fake interviews for your job! Try the Reverse informational interview technique and learn what you could be doing from people who probably should have your job.

04/09/2024

New skit!

17/04/2024

POV: Vegan diets are "hard" 😁

https://youtu.be/UiunTg6T-Bk?si=viV4i2w13gKvLQ-Z

27/03/2024

Hi fellow readers/writers -- my latest episode discusses the author Junot Diaz' The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao -- which took him 11 years to write. I love exploring the writing philosophy and practices of other authors, and in this episode share some of Diaz' struggles and suggestions. His quote about art is 💯. Hope you enjoy!
I'll be off next week for a break to focus on my novel, so no new skits/episodes. (Next up will be Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi!)

20/03/2024

tl/dr: A peek into the editing process for this week's upcoming show.

I've used the free version of Lightworks for years now, and though I use Capcut for finishing/effects, Lightworks my absolute favorite.

As you can see from the timeline, I make quite a few cuts in order to remove my "ums" and "so's" and other gaps while reading my notes. Some argue to keep these imperfect parts in, and sometimes I do. But largely, I prefer the video without them and also hope they will be reduced as my delivery/presentation improves.

19/03/2024

In my latest WriteReader I discuss Joyce Carol Oates and her novel (published at ~29 🤯) A Garden of Earthly Delights.

Thank you everyone who has watched! It means a lot to connect with fellow readers & writers.

16/03/2024

icymi - last week's WriteReader and kind of silly skit about a band working out their relationship issues through songs (not autobiographical I promise!)

13/03/2024

Approach a novel seeking the truth (not telling it). This week I explore the weight of memory & lightness of forgetting in Milan Kundera's classic The Unbearable Lightness of Being.

03/03/2024

Latest episode of WriteReader is up ICYMI! Thank you everyone for tuning in :) Let me know if you have any book suggestions. Mostly I cover literary fiction, but I also love magical realism and speculative fiction. And, as seen here, the occasional thriller.

Next week: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (re-read)

25/02/2024

My fellow bookworms - in case of interest I recently launched a new weekly series "writer-reader" exploring not only the book topics/themes but the authors' writing habits, because I'm a total nerd about this topic. I love finding out the *how* behind the book's creation. (Apologies for all my mug shots below -- that's wayyyy too much Eleni.)

So far, I've covered Remains of the Day, The Warmth of Other Suns, Beautiful World, Where Are You? and Shuggie Bain.

If you are so inclined, check it out/subscribe! They are all 10 minutes or less. (Any books I should review? Do tell.)

Thank you for taking a look!

13/02/2024

Trouble keeping New Year's Resolutions? Meet Faithful February!

13/02/2024

She interviewed 1,200 people from this book -- from the infamous to the unfamous. I discuss the great migration and Pulitzer-prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson's epic The Warmth of Other Suns in my latest episode of WriteReader:

03/02/2024

📚: Introducing ... writer-reader!📖(& snacks). The first episode⬇️