The New Leaf Journal
The New Leaf Journal
Nicholas A. Ferrell
The New Leaf Journal is a self-hosted WordPress-powered online writing magazine. I launched the site on April 27, 2020. I created the project to host my own writing and that of my friends, which (as of this date) includes Victor V. Gurbo.
Latest Posts
I recently had to switch author boxes on The New Leaf Journal because the one I had been using (a widget from the IndieWeb plugin) was causing me some concern behind the scenes.1 While I was in the area, I decided to re-write my short...
I previously reviewed a well-known freeware Japanese visual novel titled Narcissu as part of my al|together visual novel localization review project. Narcissu was written and published by Tomo Kataoka in 2005. Unlike many of the other...
Defining the Indie Web Positively I shared an excellent quote on defining the independent web from a February 1, 2026 article by Khürt Williams titled The Indie Web Is Not Defined by Its Enemies: The indie web is stronger when it is...
I subscribe to many sites in my feed reader. Some sites tend to use descriptive headlines, which help me decide whether to open the feed item, swipe it away, or adjust my feed filters. One example of a descriptive headline came in the...
The first month of 2026 is in the books. With January 2026 completed, it is time to review the month that was in a tradition which goes all the way back to August 2020. Below, I share links to our new articles, short posts, and...
On February 1, 2026, I set up second-factor authentication for the new Itch.io account that I created to publish my first original visual novel, Little White Lies (a collaboration between me and our own Victor V. Gurbo). Itch allows for...
This article is about the first New Leaf Journal original visual novel, Little White Lies. As I note below, I recommend reading the novel in your web browser (it is short, even with all six endings) before reading about how I worked with...
Back on October 30, 2020, I published an anecdotal article about my rescuing a fallen public trash can in Gowanus. In that article, I posited a profound question: “If you do something heroic but don’t tell every person you know, did you...
The Oklahoma City Thunder won the 2024-25 NBA Championship. This title, the franchise’s first since 1978-79 when it was the Seattle SuperSonics, prompted me to write an article on NBA franchise championship droughts. The Thunder’s...
While I was working on mailing the 262nd edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, I noticed for the first time that our newsletter host, Buttondown, provides a QR code for our newsletter. I decided to add that QR code to the new version...
DuckDuckGo, the privacy-focused alternative generalist search engine which relies on Bing for its traditional search results, offers an alternative “no AI” version of DuckDuckGo at https://noai.duckduckgo.com/. I turn to the About...
I have reviewed two original English-language visual novels by PixelFade Studio, a Canadian-based visual novel circle. The first of these was PixelFade’s first complete commercial visual novel, ACE Academy (see my ACE Academy review),...
I read a January 16, 2026 article in Sixth Tone titled Chilean Cherries: Why Prices in China Plunge Every Winter. I am admittedly not an expert on fruit prices in China, but I have observed similar phenomena in my home and native...
I previously published an article about seeing a working Christmas countdown clock in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, on September 29, 2025. That was not the only early sign of Christmas I saw in the early autumn. On October 10, 2025, I...
Back in August I visited Ten Ichi Mart on Smith Street on Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, with a friend. I had not gone in planning to purchase anything, but I ended up leaving with two Miya brand tea cups with snowmen on them, pictured below: In...