Michelle Athy's Blog, page 14

IWSG: October

Welcome to October's Insecure Writer's Support Group. We post our writerly insecurities to the world every first Wednesday of the month. Check out the group here. This month's IWSG question: How do major life events affect your writing? Has writing ever helped you through something? To generalize--writing has helped me through some really dark times. I've written to pull myself back from

23andme results!

As a quick refresher, when I blogged about my Ancestry DNA results, they were originally: This week, Ancestry sent me an email and a refined result. Those were: I hadn't gotten my 23andme results on Saturday, when the Ancestry update came through, but they were ready on Sunday! Now, to be clear, I have been raised and identify as half Irish and half Japanese and all of these

Reading Challenge: 30 Books Read!

I have reached 30 out of 35 books read in this year's self-imposed reading challenge. As usual, here are the books and links to my reviews below! 21. An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof. Nonfiction/Travel/Memoir/Caribbean. 3 stars. 22. Once Upon a Marquess (Worth Saga #1) by Courtney Milan. Fiction/Romance/Historical Romance/Victorian England. 3

Ancestry updates

So, random Ancestry update here: I received an email that one of my uncles and my cousin, I think, took an Ancestry test. (Well, Ancestry actually said, "Hey, you have close relatives on this thing now!") At the same time, Ancestry DNA said it had an update for me based on their tests becoming more refined: Guys, they updated the Asian side! And I guess I'm not part Finnish or Iberian or

My Fave Broadway Moments

My friends and I went to see Pretty Woman: The Musical on Friday night, which isn't the point of this post because just twenty-four hours later, I've forgotten the vast majority of the music--still, the performances were amazing. Orfeh nearly sang the roof off. Andy Karl was charming, though my friends and I missed his cheekiness from Groundhog Day last year. And Samantha Barks, in her Broadway

Ancestry and WeGene

Several years ago, in a fit of insomnia, I bought an Ancestry.com DNA test. I appointed myself the family historian a decade ago and I've done a decent job for a hobbyist of tracing my Irish roots back to County Mayo (the Japanese side is a bit more elusive). But a couple of years ago, I'd hit a wall in my family research. DNA testing for ethnic origins was the new thing, so I decided to give it

IWSG: September + House Of Falling Embers Cover Reveal!

It is the first Wednesday of September--also the first day of school here in New York City--and it's time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group! We post our writerly insecurities out to the world every first Wednesday! Today's co-hosts are:  Toi Thomas, T. Powell Coltrin, M.J. Fifield, and Tara Tyler! And the IWSG question of the month is: What publishing path are you

The Tenement Museum New York City

97 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side is a tenement building. It's a five-floor walk up with two ground level commercial spaces. It was built in 1863 and before its apartments were shuttered and sealed in 1941, 97 Orchard Street was home to 15,000 people over the decades, immigrants coming from Eastern Europe, Italy, Ireland, and other countries, who settled on the Lower East Side. I'd been

Crazy Rich Asians: Representation Matters

I went to see Crazy Rich Asians on Sunday. No matter what, I was going to actually put the effort in to get off my butt, put on pants, leave my house, ride the stuffy subway on a humid August day, buy a damn movie ticket, and go see this movie, even if I was a bit "meh" on the novel on which it is based. I missed Allegiance when it was on Broadway and Miss Saigon (which, I mean, yay Asians on

The Mapparium and the Christian Science Center

I meant to write about my quick Boston trip, but I wasn't totally sure what to do write about--I'm hardly a stranger to Boston, so I felt weird doing travel posts for a city I've spent a lot of time in. But the Mapparium really stuck out, since I'd never even heard of it until this trip. Thanks to my friend Nali, who found out about it somewhere, because the Mapparium was really interesting.