About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
Category Archives: Nostalgia
In which my mother stands behind me, and I mother in turn
The winter always belonged to my mother and me. We both loved the late autumn, when the last of the leaves plastered the pavements in a smear of color, and our breath fogged the morning air. November also usually brought … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Joshua, Nostalgia, The ageing process, Work/life balance
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In which I realize I am part of a select sci/art group
I haven’t written here for a gazillion years – life is just too full-on. But I found out an amusing fact that I wanted to share. I’m not sure how it came up, but my Fiction Lab contact at the … Continue reading
In which I evolve (or possibly, devolve) as a scientist
Last Thursday was a normal day. After a few hours at my desk working on a grant application and a paper revision, I ran to the tube station, threw myself into a train down to the main campus, trudged a … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Careers, Nostalgia, The ageing process, The profession of science
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In which we wind down
I’ve been off work for a few days, but the incompatible clash of exhaustion and adrenalin which characterizes my life in academia has yet to ebb. These days it takes a full week to come down from the jaw-clenched crush … Continue reading
Posted in Academia, Domestic bliss, Nostalgia
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In which I present my third lab lit novel, Cat Zero – out soon!
I’m pleased to announce the imminent publication of my third lab lit novel, Cat Zero, with Bitingduck Press, a science-friendly indie imprint out of Altadena, California. I have always wanted to write a story starring feline leukemia virus (FeLV), the … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, Work/life balance, Writing
11 Comments
In which an era ends
She was decent and hard-working. She seldom complained, even when she got herself into a jam. She witnessed my awakening as a writer, from tentative, cliché-prone beginner to confident, stripped-down wordsmith capable of earning money and book deals. She saw … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Nostalgia, Work/life balance, Writing
4 Comments
In which I feel a bit too old for this game sometimes
Age is a slippery thing. Most days I still feel like that tentative new PhD student, pulling 80-hour weeks at the University of Washington Health Sciences Center in Seattle. By the red glow of the safelight, I’d feed dusky rectangles … Continue reading
In which I yearn for retro lab chic
They don’t make ’em like they used to. Or at least, they don’t name ’em. Harry and I recently stumbled across this beauty when we were clearing out some of the side rooms in our new lab space. Allow me … Continue reading
Posted in Nostalgia, Silliness
13 Comments
In which we make a move
There’s a lot of change going on in my life right now, all at once. In addition to giving birth sometime in the next fortnight and needing to finish up a major piece of work-related writing before that, my lab … Continue reading
Posted in Nostalgia, The profession of science
8 Comments
In which things flow naturally forward
I’ve been pondering the impermanence of things lately. Maybe it all started with the departure of a well-liked clinical researcher from our lab, an OB/GYN with a sense of the absurd who never failed to make us laugh. Now when … Continue reading
