The words AI and selling out are bouncing all over the Internet right now. Writers (and artists) are freaking out. Should they be? As I do when I find a book that really resonates with me, I am re-reading Oliver Burkeman’s 4000 Weeks: Time Management for Mortals, this time with highlighters in hand and sticky…
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Moving is a major life transition and one that makes the top ten list of anxiety triggers. Now imagine that instead of moving to a new town or new state, you’re leaving your home country. Feel a slight uptick in blood pressure? Welcome to the expat life. It’s downright scary moving to a new country…
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You may not have piles of file folders taking up space in your office any more (or, like me, you may!), but organizing your files, electronic or paper, takes just a little bit of effort that can pay off immediately. Organizing your book files is an essential aspect of self-publishing. I don’t know about you,…
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Would you like to play a game? So, yes, the sky is falling according to authors and artists. AI chat and art apps are changing the playing field and many people are freaked out. What do you mean a computer is going to replace me? Let’s not think about how wonderful life would be if…
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A NIF (Numero de Identificacao Fiscal) is a personal tax ID number. It is sometimes also called a Contribution number. It is NOT a Portuguese social security number. However, it is a unique identifier that is used to open a bank account, buy property (really, buy anything), open accounts with utilities, pay your Portuguese taxes,…
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I was reading a “shit happens post” or as I call them, “post of woe” in one of the expat Facebook groups. This time it was a man complaining about a three-month wait to receive debit cards for a new account, due to the cards being mailed first to the wrong address and then… who…
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I am not a morning person. My day starts ever-so-slowly with coffee, a croissant from the bakery below, and more coffee. I pretend to write, usually doing little more than making a to-do list that I won’t get done. The list is always overly ambitious. I am not. Mostly I spend my first hour or…
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I just love stating the obvious. So, why not sell 10? Or 100? If you’re going to put in the effort to sell one, ask yourself if you can find opportunities to sell in bulk. There are groups and associations for just about everything. They are easier to find than ever before. And there are…
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Early on, when I first moved to Portugal, I wrote a blog post titled, “It’s All Uphill.” Two years in, there are still uphill days and weeks. One of my “uphills” is transportation. I had been getting around fairly well using Ubers and, when Ubers got scarce, the local buses. In the summer, when there…
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I’m Acclimating! Tuesday marked my second anniversary in Portugal. It has been two years of learning and getting accustomed to not knowing things and being okay with that. Moving to a new country—especially when you don’t speak the language—is humbling to say the least. But it’s also stimulating, fun, surprising, and without a doubt, the…
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