Author: harmamae
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What’s the Point of Blogging? (in 2024)
I experienced the height of the blog, back when everyone had their own personal blog and some people were making a six-figure income from it. If someone went on a trip, they might create a blog to share pictures. People created blogs to document their baby growing up, or their home renovation progress, or whatever.…
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Why Writers Should Exercise: Cycling in Order to Write
I just got back from cycling to an appointment. The strangest thing is how good it can feel to rush through the cool air while exerting to get some place… for some reason, exertion to get anywhere doesn’t sound like fun. If I just sit back and think about it, I’d rather drive and let…
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Why “Just Do It” is Terrible Advice AND the Best Advice You Can Give
There’s a self-help book called Girl, Wash Your Face, that I haven’t read. But the title says it all, doesn’t it—just take that step. Get to work! Do something! When I say it to myself (even thought I haven’t read the book), I’m telling myself to get on with my day, to get moving. Or…
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Why Aren’t There More Novels Set in Montreal?
I’ve never read a book set in Montreal. There’s many books set in Montreal. There’s movies set in Montreal. I just can’t think of any. I haven’t heard anyone recommend any, or read any myself. This is in contrast to that other famous French city, Paris. Sometimes I just go to the library and search…
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Freedom to Fail
It’s been a long time since I shared a “Quotables” post. But I came across a quote this week that reminded me of another quotable I wrote on years ago, about failure. That old post was about the incisive power of “what would you do if you knew you could not fail?” to clarify what…
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On Doing Things that Scare You
“Just because something scares me, doesn’t mean I won’t do it,” I told a friend of mine the other day, as a way of explaining myself—explaining why I might push back against an idea and make it look objectively from an outside perspective like I don’t want to do it—and yet I do it anyway.…
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My Frustrations Upon Rereading Sense and Sensibility
I was rereading Sense and Sensibility the other day, and suddenly realized it’s not my favourite Jane Austen novel. Any Jane Austen novel is a novel of the highest quality, so to say “not my favourite Austen novel” still means I love this book. But in the past I’ve found I keep forgetting to mention…
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Looking Back on 2021: Author Update from Harma-Mae Smit
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, it’s not exactly true, but if there’s something you’re passionate about and you can channel your creativity towards that, then you are really making the most of your time. It’s work, yes, but you also get to explore what you love.…
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Why Tour Paris? Reason No. 7: Take in the View from the Sacré-Cœur
Where can you get a lovely view of Paris? From the Eiffel Tower, is one obvious answer (another landmark you can climb is the Arc de Triomphe). But there is another viewpoint that you do not have to pay to go up, where you can sit and enjoy for as long as you wish (perhaps…
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Why Tour Paris? Reason No. 6: Get Lost in the Louvre
In my novella, Paris in Clichés, the characters “race from the Winged Victory to Venus de Milo to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, with barely half a glance at everything in between.” This is the only glimpse they have of the famous Louvre Museum, and it’s very similar to what many tourists see when…
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