Books, words and writing...
have been a constant throughout my life. I was a bookworm at an early age, won an award for a poetry anthology in high school and even owned a bookstore. But, it was the words themselves that became a magnet drawing me to freelance writing. It just took me a while to realize this is what I was meant to do.
I started my working career in a variety of office settings taking on fairly mundane admin jobs, but each one included a writing or editing component. In many cases, the person who was hiring wanted to offload a writing piece from their workload, and I fit the bill perfectly.
It was only a matter of time before I had to face reality, those jobs just weren’t cutting it. So I took a leap of faith, volunteering to work as a staff writer for a small weekly newspaper for no pay, just experience. I realized I was meant to write.
I was quickly offered a job as editor for a fledgling, small-town weekly newspaper. A few years later I landed a contract job as assistant editor of a lifestyle magazine. When the contract ended, editors for several publications asked me if I’d freelance for them, saying what I heard over and over again after that “We love your writing style.”
IN Print:
I am a contributing author for The Fur-Bearing Trout...and Other True Tales of Canadian Life. My articles have appeared on Headspace, conveniencecentral.ca, profitguide, and in Chef Connexion, Costco Connection, Reader’s Digest, Maclean’s, Profit Magazine, Today’s Parent, Western Alumni Magazine, Your Convenience Manager, Franchise Canada, Foodservice Manager, Foodbiz.ca, London City Life, Canadian Retailer, London Business Magazine, The London Free Press, Canadian Grocer and more.
IN Business:
I’ve written hundreds of articles for a wide range of business and non-profit clients including Ivey School of Business, 3M Canada, Investor's Group, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry (Western University) TechAlliance (over 100 ghostwritten newspaper columns on tech sector news), Pillar Nonprofit Network, Special Olympics (Canada), Mike & Mike's Organics, Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada, Faculty of Law at Western University, Thames Valley Children's Centre, Shared Hierarchical Academic Research Computing Network (SHARCNET) and many more. I also coach writers on enhancing their writing, how to become freelancers and have helped established freelance writers expand their businesses.
INvolved:
I have been a member The Professional Writers Association of Canada (PWAC) since 1995 and sat on the organization’s national Board of Directors for six years, and the local Executive for 15 years, and held the position of President on both.I am a member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) and the American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE). I am represented by the Canadian Writers Group (CWG). I'm a former member of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) (past local board member and was co-editor of the chapter’s newsletter) and a former member of Toastmasters where I achieved my Competent Communicator (CC) and Competent Leadership (CL) designations.
IN Recognition:
PWAC Lawrence Jackson Outstanding Achievement Award – an annual award given to a member who has shown outstanding volunteer commitment to the association at the national level.IABC Virtuoso Award of Excellence for features and editorialIABC Virtuoso Award of Merit for newsletter entry.
IN Addition:
Instructor for Western’s Continuing Studies Program since 2006. Currently teach : Writing for Publication and Copywriting.
Professional Certificate in Adult Education in 2014.
B.A., English and Honors, Special Studies.
Dual Canadian/US citizen.
