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Simone Pertuiset


In the footsteps of the artists: Paris nightlife of La Belle Époque
Step back in time to La Belle Époque, the era when Paris truly became the 'City of Light' and a hotbed of cultural activity. The late...
Simone Skopek
Nov 7, 20231 min read
26 views
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Trailblazing inventions fueled by necessity, driven by innovation
The 19th-century spirit of the Industrial Revolution was contagious In our family tree resides an eccentric ancestor, Eugene Pertuiset,...
Simone Skopek
Oct 10, 20233 min read
14 views
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19th-century Beards - Emblem of Heroes
Beards have held a significant cultural and religious significance throughout history. They often embody notions of masculinity, wisdom,...
Simone Skopek
Oct 5, 20232 min read
11 views
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The Moth - Celebrating true stories well told
A storyteller steps up to the microphone, the audience leans in, and a collective hush descends before the first words break the silence....
Simone Skopek
Oct 3, 20232 min read
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Wrestling with my squeamish side - What is the appeal of combat sports?
Even though I'm not a fan of combat sports, I'm curious about the fascination others have with it. When I stumbled upon the fact that...
Simone Skopek
Sep 26, 20233 min read
20 views
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The Downfall of Plastic Shopping Bags: A Tale of Good Intentions Gone Awry
Inventions initially aimed at improving our lives can also bring about unforeseen and adverse societal consequences. In my novels, I...
Simone Skopek
Sep 5, 20233 min read
26 views
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Amusing Ourselves to Death - the spell-binding allure of news entertainment
Orwell and Huxley's crystal balls: Dystopia defined Consider the contrasting visions of two science fiction titans, George Orwell and...
Simone Skopek
Aug 10, 20232 min read
26 views
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Rediscovering Intrigues of the Manhattan Project in "Oppenheimer"
Have you ever watched a historical movie and sensed there are bits of history you've forgotten lurking beneath the surface? That was our...
Simone Skopek
Aug 5, 20234 min read
19 views
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The Princess and the Puma - narrated by Simone Pertuiset
The Princess and the Puma by O Henry (1903) is a cornball vaudeville comedy with a surprising ending. It takes place in Texas, the land...
Simone Skopek
Jul 24, 20231 min read
13 views
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Shaping a Nation Through Education: How Literacy Fueled the Industrial Revolution
One of the themes of the novel THREE TALES FROM THE TIP OF AN ERA is a portrayal of how education played a pivotal role in transforming...
Simone Skopek
Jul 23, 20237 min read
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Beyond the Stars: A Dinner Discussion on the Elusive Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
As a writer of 19th and 20th-century social history, I am captivated by the intersection of concepts such as social Darwinism and the...
Simone Skopek
Jul 14, 20234 min read
23 views
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Politics and Cancel Culture's Impact on Literature
Cancel culture's impact on literature is timeless Classic literature and art defy time, which is why they remain relevant across decades...
Simone Skopek
Jul 5, 20233 min read
16 views
1 comment


The Genie is out of the bottle. Will AI replace Novelists?
The uncanny flawlessness and soullessness of AI-generated text As a novelist, I find myself increasingly apprehensive about the impact of...
Simone Skopek
Jun 28, 20234 min read
43 views
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A review of Three Tales from the Tip of an Era
As an author, I must admit that few moments compare to the exhilaration of receiving a remarkable review that validates the heart and...
Simone Skopek
Jun 17, 20233 min read
30 views
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From Technical Writer to Novelist: Unveiling the Storyteller Within
Discovering the similarities between technical writing and fiction As a former science teacher and later a technical writer, I never...
Simone Skopek
Jun 6, 20234 min read
47 views
0 comments


Media Literacy Training in the Age of Social Media
Long ago, when I was a child back in the 1960s, on Friday mornings we used to do a subject at my school called "Current Events," which...
Simone Skopek
May 30, 20235 min read
10 views
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Manet's friend the lion hunter, and their strange relationship
I have done extensive research on Eugene Pertuiset based on his two memoirs, Les aventures d’un chasseur de lions (1873) that describe...
Simone Skopek
May 14, 20234 min read
54 views
0 comments


"The Drover's Wife" by Henry Lawson, audio by Simone Pertuiset
One of my all-time favorite short stories is Henry Lawson's classic tale, "The Drover's Wife", written in 1895 about a mother of four...
Simone Skopek
May 10, 20231 min read
25 views
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“If history were taught as a story, it would never be forgotten.” ~ Rudyard Kipling
For millennia, humans have gathered around the fire to pass down the stories of their ancestors. These tales, which were both educational...
Simone Skopek
Apr 30, 20232 min read
34 views
0 comments


Audio-recording my own novels - challenging but achievable
In praise of professional voice actors: audio-recording my own novels, it turns out, is easier said than done. What author wouldn't...
Simone Skopek
Apr 18, 20232 min read
25 views
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