Los Angeles freelance science writer and editor
by Janice Nigro “Bird by Bird” if you’re ever to read any books by Anne Lamott, it should be this one. She wrote it as a memoir focused on her wisdom on writing, but I can’t get those words out of my head now when I think about any project I’m working on. Because when... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Did you know sea stars have eyes? I didn’t, not until I started writing my fictional romance novel. Yep, they have a visual organ called an eyespot. And get this, they have one at the end of each of their arms! These eyespots detect light and dark, and large structures like the reef,... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Lockdown has reached over four months in California. From the beginning, it was clear that life could be over for any one of us in a flash. One week you’re here and three weeks later you’re not. That edict somehow freed me from any guilt about pursuing projects of passion. So I’ve... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro I left San Francisco, California for Bergen, Norway. In late fall. As a single woman. A few weeks before Christmas one year. Norwegians in San Francisco. Do you need to know how to dress for winter? Thanks, but I grew up in Chicago. Light cycles of shadow and dark on a backdrop... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Being a nomad is great. Until you realize that your closest friends live nowhere close. So when the last minute opportunity came up a few weekends ago to travel to Seattle to see some friends from the USA who I met in Norway and now live in Tasmania, I took it (yes,... Continue Reading →
Janice Nigro I just got done discussing how much I dislike New Year's resolutions, and now here I am writing about them. Because if you're like me, New Year’s resolutions set up a certain dilemma. Panic sets in already on New Year’s Eve when the pact with the new year might fall apart at the... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro The idea of living overseas always captivated me. I imagined myself speaking a second language fluently and sharing my life with a man with an accent. I derived this cliché of a fantasy from some combination of movies, National Geographic, my Sicilian background, and Spanish class in 5th grade. I blew an... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro The history behind "predatory journals" The novel noun "predatory journal," created in German-like fashion in a blog that no longer exists, refers to a specialized internet scam phishing for scientists. Organizers masquerade as online journals, tempting scientists to submit articles for publication in an open access format by promising rigorous review and accelerated publication.... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro A plane is that modern vehicle of irony, speeding you through the air at times to areas of the Earth that might still be in the stone age. Or at least into another apparent universe where we don’t understand the language, we don’t look like anyone else, and we don't have the... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro What is the craziest excuse you have ever used for traveling somewhere? I am guessing it wasn’t to play in a rematch for eisstockschiessen. Yes, it was a rematch for eisstockschiessen (an ice game but not curling) that compelled me to travel to Germany in potentially the worst part of winter, for... Continue Reading →
