I'm a freelance writer living near
Rockford, Ill., which is 80 miles west of Chicago. Prior to starting my
freelance career in 1992, I worked as a daily newspaper reporter for
the Rockford Register Star, a medium-sized Gannett daily; as a magazine
editor and writer for the now-defunct Rockford Magazine, also owned by
Gannett; and as a television news producer for WTVO-TV, the NBC
affiliate in Rockford, Ill.
I hold a bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, from Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb, where I majored in English and minored in
journalism.
My freelance work in recent years has been for a mix of newspapers and
magazines. I've written education-related articles for the National
Council of Teachers of English's member magazine, The Council
Chronicles, and have written a variety of business stories for Crain's
Chicago Business magazine. I wrote a childhood obesity package for
Knight-Ridder Tribune, which was funded by the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and which was picked up by many
national newspapers and websites, ranging from the Miami Herald to the
Philadelphia Inquirer to the San Jose Mercury News. I've also written
extensively for the Chicago
Tribune, including numerous full-length cover features for the
now-defunct Health & Family section, and also have contributed
lengthy features to
the Womanews and Tempo sections. An article I wrote about adoption for
the Chicago Tribune was picked up for reprint in the Contemporary
Issues Companion series called Adoption, published by Thomson Gale in
2006.
Additionally, I've written many computer and technology articles for
Smart Computing magazine and its affiliated publications; for Sales
& Marketing Strategies and News magazine; and for
websites such as Newmedia.com and Infoapps.com.
Please see the
Articles section of this
website for samples of my writing.
My most recent project is
"Tilli's
Story: My Thoughts Are Free," a memoir I wrote for a woman who grew
up in a small East German farming village during World War II and the
subsequent Russian occupation. The book recently won an honorable
mention in the memoir category from the Independent Publishers
Association. The book was selected by iUniverse for its exclusive Star
imprint in 2005. In support of this book, I speak along with the book's
subject to many different kinds of groups throughout Illinois and
Wisconsin, ranging from teacher associations to schools to book clubs.
I am available to speak about the craft of memoir-writing and tips to
make self-publishing work for you.
I look forward to hearing from you!