I was born a nerd, I’ll die a nerd, and I’m here to nerd things up in between.

I’m here to chew bubblegum and have fun. And I’m all out of bubblegum. I’ll be your guide as we read Jane Austen’s six novels, discuss her juvenilia, poetry, and the events around her life.

We’ll take a deep dive into the novels of sensibility of the 1780s and Mrs. Anne Radcliffe “horrible novels.” Then there are the movies, the adaptations, the remixed novels and stories inspired by cultural differences,  science fiction and fantasy tropes. We’ll talk about why Fire Island may be the best Austen adaptation of the 2020s, and why 2022 Persuasion doesn’t get everything wrong. 

Who Am I?

I grew up pretending to ride The Black Stallion in famous horse races and I’ve moved on to dreaming of riding dragons and destroying cities. In between I enjoy Austen’s irony and acerbic wit and the handsome, sardonic men who sweep her heroines off their feet.

I’m a non-binary book nerd with a master’s in English who dreamed of being a professor until they realized that it wouldn’t pay the student loans. But I still got to go to Oxford university for a summer, galloped over downs carrying coconuts, drinking pints in the same pubs as the Inklings and wrote my thesis on modernism in The Lord of the Rings. I called it Elves in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction (told ya I was a nerd).

via GIPHY

I spent my 20s as a journalist writing elegies to rescue pigs and calling out dirty selectmen. It was a lot of fun until it wasn’t. I spend my 30s trying to figure out what I wanted to do while holding down a series of meaningless jobs in company after company. My life was both The Office and Office Space.

In the midst of the pandemic I started Ents and Sensibility the month before I turned 40. Now, as the World’s Oldest Millennial, I’m earn my living as an SEO and a writer, and I spend my nights reading, writing and podcasting–and going to very loud concerts. I also enjoy cats, pro wrestling and hockey. In that order.

Do I know what I’m doing? Not really. Am I here to have fun? I told you I’m all out of bubblegum!