On the experience of shopping a book proposal
Following my piece on agents and why you want one, a brief note on shopping a proposal. Rejection is inevitable. You know those stories about how Catcher in
Why you, first-time author, need a literary agent
I had a long call today with a friend who’s just finished a book and wanted some advice about literary agents. I’ve gotten this question a couple times,
Cyberloafing, work, and recovery
This study came out a couple months ago, when I working on the revisions to Rest, so I didn't write about it then, but it's still quite timely: it's
“What you do in the gym… makes you a better, higher-performing person outside of it”
For a long time, I didn't appreciate the relationship between physical stamina and cognitive performance, nor did I realize jus how much learning to take on physical challenges
Boris Johnson and the dangers of overwork
I confess that this is not a quote that made it into REST (there's already lots of Churchill, anyway): He boasted to me in the humble-brag way peculiar
“let yourself be ‘lazy’ enough to only focus on what’s critical”
Good advice from Bill Gates (whose "think week" tradition earns him a place in REST): “Bill Gates once said he liked hiring smart, lazy people because they know
“The moment my brain got a moment’s rest, ‘Hamilton’ walked into it”
“It’s no accident that the best idea I’ve ever had in my life — perhaps maybe the best one I’ll ever have in my life — came to
“nobody knows what is going to happen but everyone can explain it afterwards”
Britain cannot leave Europe any more than Piccadilly Circus can leave London. Europe is where we are, and where we will remain. Britain has always been a European
Waiting for the Weekend – The Atlantic
[G. K.] Chesterton argued that a man compelled by lack of choice or by social pressure to play golf when he would rather be attending to some solitary
“The police, army and refugees could agree” that they “all dreaded a day without internet”
This is a heck of a story: Kevin MacRitchie surveyed the inferno spreading across Diavata refugee camp. From his vantage point on the roof, where he had been