Good writing is my passion! My entire career has been devoted to it, whether as a newspaper journalist, internal communications writer, marketing communications expert or author.
These samples are only some of the thousands of articles and millions of words I have written throughout my career. Feel free to scroll down to the actual articles if you're in a hurry!
The first is my very first published book!
Keeping our members and clients informed was my most important task as content manager for a healthcare-adjacent company. See snippets of the member and client monthly e-newsletters I wrote and distributed, and also see some of a one-pager we sent to all new members.
"Tech Tuesday" was a product of my time with HSBC's technology division comms team. Each week we distributed news and information to colleagues around the world.
Next is a handy and fun guide I created to help colleagues proofread materials.
While working in HR communications, I was often asked to create fliers and posters to educate employees about health plans, benefits, etc. These fliers ("Getting the message to employees") focused on that month's theme of "being seen" while enjoying summertime activities, and promoted the company's wellness program.
Next you'll see ("I 'can' write good instructions!") a file of writing assignments I completed for coursework with the Society for Technical Communication. I have never worked as a technical writer, per se, but I have written how-to and informational articles for a healthcare-adjacent company and the technology division of an international bank. The skills and practices I learned from STC are invaluable in helping me write clearly and concisely, no matter what the subject.
The next three samples ("Writing for someone else," "PR 101" and "Save your place") I created on behalf of the Western New York Writing Project to earn my master's degree. I was one of the few non-teachers WNYWP ever had in the program, and I was extremely proud to receive the "Tough Act to Follow" award that year for one of the best writing lessons presented. I attend several National Writing Project conferences and even lobbied our Congressional representatives in Washington, D.C
Grantwriting has always been of interest to me, and so a few years ago I earned the Certified Grant Writer designation from the American Grant Writers' Association. I've never worked as a grant writer professionally, but I have helped with a few grant proposals. "Buffalo Book Buddies" was the imaginary program I designed to complete my AGWA coursework; maybe someday it will come to life!
Starting with "A rose is a rose," the next few articles are all about gardening - including an extensive "ebooklet" I researched and wrote with tips about pollinator gardening in this area. I am a member of GardenComm (Garden Communicators International) and a Master Gardener in Erie County, NY.
Because all the work I had to do for my master's degree wasn't enough (ha ha), I decided to simultaneously research famous authors with Buffalo connections. I placed these pages (Mark Twain, Taylor Caldwell and Herman Melville are here on my portfolio) throughout my published thesis. I'm very proud that I received the Deborah A. Henretta Award for the top Integrated Marketing Communications project that year.
"Bookstore Breakdown" and "Welcome to the (Royal) Family" were two master's degree assignments, and they turned out so well I decided to make them part of my portfolio!
The next several entries are a sampling of the hundreds of articles I wrote as a newspaper reporter. I enjoyed school news the most! ("Three cheers for their favorite principal," "The play's the thing for middle school pupils," "On occasion, I even covered sports news" and "School news on the business page.")
Being city editor of a local daily newspaper afforded me the opportunity to write guest columns. "Historic things have value" is of my favorites.
Writing about banned books week really captured my interest, and shared an important message with readers.
Last but not least are some examples from the work I did in school district public relations, including press releases and the quarterly district newsletter. Securing media coverage was a big part of my job; here's one of the press releases I wrote.
