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Cheryl Reif

Cheryl lives and writes with her inspirational family, two energetic dogs, and a small mammal menagerie, all of which are fairly tame. She writes about cool science stuff for children and adults, daydreams about stories and characters 87% of the time, and tries not to plot novels while driving.

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Games, Anyone?

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Although I’ve been quiet online, I’ve been extremely busy in the real world. (Real world? Weird, right?)

And some of what I’ve been busy doing has been SO COOL! Most recently, I’ve embarked on a free online course (a MOOC, or massive online open course) through Coursera all about Gamification. It’s a topic that’s …

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Work Stress and Its Effects

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Earlier this year, I blogged about the link between increased stress and decreased work performance. If you haven’t read the post, do—it will make you think about how stress might be cutting into your creativity, happiness, and productivity.

After that post had been around for a bit, one of the creators of this amazing infographic …

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The Myth of Simple

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I read recently that the brain tends to see everything as far more simple than it actually is.* It was remarkably refreshing to read that this is a problem common to humanity, since it’s one I struggle with all the time.

Take writing, for instance. I get an idea for a new book project, and …

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Care and Feeding of the Discouraged Writer

This post was originally published in April, 2011, but it seems to be particularly relevant during the craziness of the holidays. Hope this encourages you as we hurtle toward the end of the year!

Jami Gold’s recent post Have You Ever Been Tempted to Give Up? is thought-provoking and true. In a weird way, it’s encouraging to …

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Writing as an Act of Faith: A Case Study

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I have to admit, over the past year writing fiction has been much more difficult that previously. Months ago, I thought I was days away from finishing my novel—only I couldn’t quite seem to get those last few scenes written. I wasn’t sure exactly how they would play out, which made it extremely difficult to …

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