Happy Fourth of July to my American friends! Hope everyone has a fantastic and safe holiday.

I just finished the first (crappy) draft of the fifth book in the Ghost Oracle series. I finished it early in the week but decided to take a break so when I do get back to it, it will be with fresh-ish eyes. Hopefully next week. Then, the laborious editing process will begin. Truth be told, I really don’t mind editing – I find it rather fun.

By the way, I also send out this weekly round-up list each week to my newsletter. So if you wish to receive my weekly roundup in your email inbox each week, you can subscribe HERE.

So on to the roundup.

Weekly Round-Up – 15 Things I Thought Were Worth Sharing

1. I love this author so I was excited to stumble across this article: Taylor Jenkins Reid shares the techniques that help her write.
2. Just for fun: People Are Sharing Priceless “Not My Job” Moments Caught In Pictures And Here Are 85 Of The Laziest Ones
3. So the moral here, is NEVER Google when you’re on the jury: Juror Hit With ‘Extreme’ Fine After Googling Suspected White Supremacist Badge on ICE Officer’s Uniform
4. Article: The pandemic has made small talk even more painful. The social amnesia of forgetting how to read people’s faces and gauge conversations is very, very real.
5. I tend to agree: Conspiracy theories are a mental health crisis
6. For the privacy conscious: The 5 most essential privacy tools of 2021 (so far, anyway)
7. The Robocall Nightmare May Soon Be Over: Major phone companies and other voice providers have only a matter of days to implement a new caller ID verification system designed to rid Americans of that dreaded auditory plague, the robocall.
8. If you’re a bird watcher, you’ll love this: New Shazam for Birds Will Identify That Chirping for You
9. Just for fun: 148 Times People Missed The Joke So Bad, They Embarrassed Themselves (New Pics)
10. Head of Instagram says Instagram is no longer a photo sharing app
11. Why ‘Openly Gay’ Is an Offensive Term – Richie Jackson
12. I’m a huge fan of her work: A look at why Frida Kahlo’s work has enduring and increasing popularity: Frida Gets Personal
13. Five stories on celebrating Pride Month through photography
14. If You Changed Your Whole Identity During the Pandemic, You’re Not Alone – From coming out as queer to shedding life-long beliefs, many young people found space to figure out their true selves.
15. For anime fans: Roundup of the Best Queer Anime (according to Den of Geek)

Oh, and in case you missed it: Watch a police officer admit to playing Taylor Swift to keep a video off YouTube