What to expect from Reading, Writing, and Randomness

Welcome to Reading, Writing, and Randomness from me (Crystal Leigh). You might be wondering who the hell I am and why you might want to subscribe. Read on for some context and (hopefully) compelling content.

I used to write a lot back in the good old OpenDiary/Blurty/LiveJournal days. Some way too personal, way too angsty stuff. I’ve had blogs on and off over the years and the last one was primarily just a showcase portfolio for the writing I was doing in various places about the industry I was in at the time. As I’ve been writing more in the fiction space again, ideas for non-fiction writing have been buzzing through my head. I’ve also been flexing my more editorial writing muscles again by getting back into writing book reviews. Yeah, they go up on my Storygraph and Goodreads, but it would be nice to have a place to collect them that I have a little more ownership of. So here, I am… claiming a little corner until I’m ready to get a full website of my own going again.

I’m giving myself a (hopefully) attainable goal for this space. A monthly newsletter, probably the first or second week of each month, with three main sections: Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmatic Randomness. Here’s a taste of what each other those might include.

Reading

A monthly round up of what I’ve been reading and highlights of recent reviews. Books (of all formats), maybe some articles or other substacks, and anything else in that genre.

Writing

Something written by me. Fresh each month, unless I decide to dig something out of the archives of my internet writing past (probably with some fresh commentary). It might be a personal essay, a tirade on a pop culture topic (my sweet spot), or a bit of fiction… a random short piece or a snippet from a work in progress.

… and Randomness

Know what? Even I don’t know what this is going to be yet. A picture of my dog? Recommendations of what to watch on Netflix? Rankings of songs on Cowboy Carter based on how many times I’ve listened to them in a row*? Your guess is as good as mine.

So that’s where there is to look forward to! Thank you for subscribing and you’ll hear from me again next month!

*The top two are “YA YA” and “II Most Wanted” running toe to toe.