HALLIE EPHRON: I keep putting off, and putting off, and putting off starting a new book. It's not for lack of ideas. And it's not as if I'm not writing. I'm just not making it up.I'm working on my second feature article for a brand new lifestyle magazine, EXHALE Lifestyle. It's is a gorgeous, glossy magazine for our time.
True to its tag line --"Empowering busy women to achieve their best life" -- it features amazing women's success stories, along with what editor Leigh Harrington calls "lots of advice and life hacks for any busy women." All with the goal of helping you "Slow down, breathe and achieve success living your best life. Whatever that means for you."
For its fall issue, I wrote the cover article titled "Dancing on the Moon." It profiles Merritt Moore, a young woman who's living her dream of being both a professional ballerina and a quantum physicist. Fortunately my husband is a physicist so he could (sort of) explain particle-wave duality, which was part of the research Ms. Moore completed at University of Oxford to earn her doctorate.
It was a lot easier for me to describe "Duality," a dance she choreographed and performed for the Image Science film competition, bringing together her two passions, dance and physics. Instead of music, she dances to a recording of Richard Feynmann's famous lecture on particle-wave duality.
Another story in their fall issue of EXHALE is about a band of female brewers who are making their mark in New England's predominantly male craft beer industry. Another article highlights the myths of mammograms. Another is chockablock with tips for writing a business plan. Yes, there are recipes and an advice column, too.
All in all, the magazine is one big guilty pleasure that's probably good for you!
Right now I'm working on another profile for them and reveling in it. It's so different from writing crime fiction:
- It's 2,000 words (not 75,000) with a one-month, not a one-year deadline.
- I get to interview a super interesting person whom I'd never otherwise meet.
- I don't have to make anything up, just collect information and connect the dots.
- I get to be inspired to get back to work and write my next novel
I am hoping EXHALE is a huge success. It's a magazine for our times... and you can subscribe to it, or find it on sale at newsstands at your local Whole Foods and Barnes & Noble in most Massachusetts locations. https://www.exhalelifestyle.com/.
For myself, I hope to take a lesson from the magazine editor, Leigh Harrington, who wanted to spotlight Merritt Moore because she's a woman who is "successful because her life choices just flat out make her happy."
Now there's a worthy goal.
I'm quite sure that none of the Jungle Red Writers are quantum physicists or professional ballet dancers, and guessing none of our readers are as well. But that doesn't mean we don't have that second thing that we wish we were doing along with all the stuff we do... just because it would make us happy. Do you?
