Tag: Freelance Writing

Writing – My Gateway to Lifelong Learning

For the past year-and-a-half, I’ve been freelance writing for a couple of clients and have found, once again, that I love to work. The opportunity to learn about accomplished, involved and interesting people, or events, organization and topics, and then write about them, continues to expand my lifelong learning curve.

Recently, I’ve mostly written profiles and feature articles for  Naples Illustrated magazine. This has included interviews with civic, philanthropic and business leaders throughout Collier County, FL, as well as more in-depth pieces about birds and turtles.

Naples Illustrated July-August 2021 issue. Cover photo features Adrienne Gilhart, who is the subject of an in-depth profile I had fun writing.

While I can’t interview the animals, I do get the chance to speak to experts about our feathered and ninja friends. Research, including interviews, is like eating candy for me – delightful in every way. While my BA in Journalism has proved to be the perfect degree, I think my true calling is to while away my days conducting interviews and pouring over archived material in drafty and voluminous libraries. It’s in those moments that I’ll figure out some minor detail, giving me an insight that turns the piece into compelling reading.

I’m also writing for the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation. The young golfers inspire me as well. They’re trying to craft a future that might involve playing competitive golf, or perhaps it’s just to be a better player and enjoy a walk in the park. Either way, they’re working hard, improving their skills, learning to work with others, sticking to the rules and most importantly, having fun along the way. The PGA and LPGA professionals, accomplished amateurs, men and women volunteers who support these junior golfers, also are incredibly dedicated and praise-worthy, not that they’re looking for all that. They just want the kids to enjoy playing golf. There’s nothing like touching the future, which they’re doing every day.

It all ties back into the concept of lifelong learning, one of the well-known secrets to living a long and fulfilling life. Researching and writing magazine copy, newspaper articles, books, blog posts, you name it, by default, provides a reason to peer through that broader world lens. The view is spectacular.

Lead photo from “Felines of the Floridian Forest,” a feature article in the September issue of Naples Illustrated. Photography by Jay Staton.

But enough about inspiration. Today, I’m excited to share my most recent article appearing in the September, 2021, issue of Naples Illustrated about Florida panthers, the official state animal. Many thanks to Panther Cams photographer Jay Staton who graciously shared his amazing images with the magazine, captured with his custom DSLR camera traps in the Collier County area. The copy and pictures in “Felines of the Floridian Forest” shine a bright light on the multi-layered challenges facing this important yet endangered animal.

I was also recently informed that my birding article won a Silver Award in the Florida Magazine Association’s 2021 Charlie awards – for Best Writing: Service Feature in the Consumer: Circulation over 20K category. As it turns out, this was my very first piece published in Naples Illustrated, entitled Take Flight – Birding in Naples. Former Editor-in-Chief, Christina Boyle Cush, helped edit the piece and likewise was recognized.

If you’d like to check out some of the other pieces I have had published for Naples Illustrated, or for the North Florida Junior Golf Foundation, go to the Recent-Articles page here on my website.

#naplesillustratedmagazine #jaystatonphotgraphy #panthercams #northfloridajuniorgolffoundation #floridamagazineassociation

Early Fall Musings

My book, The French Desk: A Brooklyn Gal’s Journey Through Wartime Propaganda, was submitted to two agents in the late spring. The good news is that both provided positive feedback saying they liked the story, and the writing, but it just wasn’t a fit for what they were focusing on at the time. I took solace in the overall positive reception but found myself analyzing just what I could do to push the book over the finish line.

Some beta-readers have suggested a lack of plot might be the culprit. My take was that the story has a lot of plot already, what with the backdrop of WWII, the use of propaganda, the status of my future uncle’s health once he’s severely wounded in battle and the heroine’s overall search for that elusive love match that could last a lifetime. Many beta readers have loved the book, but that could be because they know me, knew my mother and just generally liked reading the narrative.

The story, as it stands now, is fairly close to the truth so to juice up a plot, I might have to change the trajectory of the story to help drive more drama and suspense. I’ve been discussing plot enhancing story lines with Bill, and a few friends, but I haven’t settled on anything yet. Just how I move forward has not been resolved. A major rewrite is not a likely scenario, but it may be the only way to make it commercially viable.

As we close out September, we’re moving houses in Florida, so I’m busy with that. Very excited about our move to a new neighborhood not far from where we are currently living.

I’ve also ginned up my freelance writing business, MJM Communications, and have taken on two clients, a lifestyle magazine in southwestern Florida and a non-profit junior golf foundation. Over the years, I’ve done quite a bit of freelance writing for both paid and volunteer-driven unpaid entities.

I’ve always loved writing feature articles, starting in high school, continuing in college and through all the years that followed. Most recently, I’ve written an article on birding and profiled a best-selling author for my lifestyle magazine client, both of which will be published this fall. They were very fun to write. I now have a few more assignments and am working on those right now.

The junior golf foundation work is exciting because I’m not only writing articles but helping to figure out how best to gain broader visibility for this well run non-profit. Our plan is to initiate a social media marketing campaign, as well create some alternative content that can be pushed through a variety of channels. It is fun to rekindle thought processes from my marketing and advertising career some thirty years ago, now in the age of internet-driven social media. To say things have changed is the understatement of the new century. This is going to be fun!

The book awaits further attention. I’ll keep you posted.