With N being a lawyer I’ve picked up a small measure of legal knowledge by sheer osmosis. When the Supreme Court is in session I like to read Dahlia Lithwick’s columns on Slate.com to follow the decisions. Lithwick writes so clearly and in such a personable way that I find her columns fun to read.
During the court break Lithwick was told to work on some sort of ambitious long-form type of journalism. And so she decided to attempt to write a chick-lit novel in about a month, posting each chapter as she finished it. She talks about her goal here, and you can read the chapters so far here.
Like a lot of people I know, I have some secret writing ambitions which is one of reasons I’m enjoying following Lithwick’s project. She solicits and receives quite a bit of reader feedback on Facebook. She’ll post questions about legal matters or ask for divorce horror stories or solicit names for characters and within minutes people will post their input.
I chimed in on one thread about possible names for a stepmother. My picks sadly didn’t make the cut but it’s interesting and fun to feel like you’re contributing (albeit in a very small way) to a fast-moving project like this. If you’re interested you can follow the project on Facebook here.