A funny thing happened at the Barnes and Noble last week. I had stopped in to browse a little before an afternoon class, and picked up an issue of Writer’s Digest. As I checked out, the clerk — an older woman — asked if I was a writer. “Yeah,” I responded, “I am.” “What do you write?” she asked. “Well, I’m a professor at the University, so a lot of my writing is academic stuff, but I also write quite a bit online, mostly how to-type articles.” At the mention of my teaching, she lit up. “What do you teach?” [Continue reading]