Hey, hi, hello! I hesitated to start a Substack for awhile — 1) Because the sheer amount of existing Substack pages is nearly overwhelming, and 2) as a freelance journalist, I am often reticent to post writing for free since half of my time is spent convincing editors that a story idea is worth merit and worth publishing. One of my first mentors, Eliane Sciolino, once told me that even as a grad student, I shouldn’t do any work for free. And she gives very good advice.
But I do have a lot of thoughts (and words) that I want to put somewhere — especially ideas and projects that don’t necessarily fit in my current reporting beat(s). For now, I’ll save the longform journalism and reporting for “traditional media,” and use Substack as a platform to write about what I am reading, writing, listening to, and thinking about. Some of it will probably be more opinionated than journalism allows, and if I’m brave, maybe I will share some of the fiction that I spend my free time writing. There will definitely be spicy takes on French and American politics. Whatever I post, I’ll definitely be incorporating the Oxford comma.
For anyone who has stumbled on this page and doesn’t know me, first, hello! Thanks for reading. For some background, I’m a French-American freelance journalist based between Paris and Chamonix, and I’ve lived in France for more than six years at this point. I don’t have one specific beat, but my reporting focuses on climate and the environment, French politics, workers’ rights, women’s health, and adventure sports. I am also a contributing editor and environment correspondent for the Telluride Daily Planet in Colorado, and believe that protecting the environment, open spaces, and wild land is vital.
When I’m not writing, I love reading novels, trail running, and cycling. I have a deep affinity for the mountains, aspen trees, snow, steep trails, and open space. I’m also deeply fascinated by exercise physiology, and probably would be a surgeon or a medical researcher in another life (female athlete health and performance studies, yes please). But I have loved to write for as long as I can remember, and I am pretty happy having words be my job. Giving people book recommendations is one of my favorite acts of friendship, just behind sending nine-minute voice notes with my takes, theories, and thoughts on said books.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading, and bienvenue. And I would really love if you would subscribe: