Today I finished the first course in the Good with Words: Writing and Editing specialization on Coursera and now my brain has been presented with a conundrum: move on immediately to the next course in the specialization (more of the same) or start Introduction to Archaeology: Knowing The Past, a course that I’m dying to dig into. (Pun intended because I’ve been reading too much Rebecca Thorne who loves puns or at least has created a great character in her Tomes & Tea series who loves puns. More about the author and her books in a post coming later.)

Back to the conundrum. If you know me at all, my dilemma has made you sigh and grumble, What else is new? Hey, I am a Gemini after all, a nice excuse to fall back on when I switch gears abruptly as I’m wont to do.

Now that I’ve earned a certificate for the first course in U of M’s Good with Words: Writing and Editing specialization taught by the awesome Professor Patrick Barry (see shiny new certificate to the right), the logical decision would be to go ahead to the next course in the series. Considering that I’m trying to make a career switch to freelance editing and writing, adding to my expertise is a priority. I do plan to complete all four courses in the series. But…

Archaeology calls. It’s an area of study that’s always sparked my interest and recently that spark flashed up again. In a flurry of activities to get a handle on writing, social media, and rebuild my online presence I’ve started to review my paranormal romance novellas with the intent to self-publish them. Since they were published way back in the early 2000s, I thought they might need some revising, and it never hurts to do another pass to check for typos and consistency.

I’ve started with Goldie and the Three Bares in which the main character is an archaeologist named Goldie Locke. On Midsummers Eve in the Scottish Highlands, when Goldie unearths a stone fragment that may help to solve the mysteries of the Pictish language she’s sent jumping through time by an archfey who’s determined to show her that life is more than solving linguist puzzles. I had to fact check and research Pictish to see if there have been any new discoveries, didn’t I? Sooner than later my curiosity to hold and led me to another series of courses on Coursera: a four-course specialization in archaeology. Is that something I need? Not really. But after all my hard work in the writing and editing course am I not allowed a small indulgence? A no-calorie reward almost better than unlimited Harry & David dark chocolate truffles? A short break?

So…which way to go?

There’s really no choice for me but to take both courses at the same time. Why not? I’m always reading two to three books at a time, not to mention (okay, I will) working on two or more manuscripts at a time. And that’s perfectly okay as I learned in that course I just finished. It’s called interleaving, a study method that encourages us to switch between different tasks or projects or areas of study to boost learning. Conundrum solved.