Category Archives: Freelancing

Reno/Tahoe Brings Home Gold!

Posted on February 27, 2014 | Leave a comment

David Wise, photo courtesy Northstar California

The Olympics are over and I am very happy to report that the athletes for the Tahoe/Reno region did incredible! Maddie Bowman picked up a gold medal in the ski halfpipe, Julia Mancuso scooped up a bronze (to add to her collection of silver and gold) and David Wise won the gold in the freeski halfpipe. I was lucky enough to interview many of the Tahoe hopefuls in the TQ Winter feature, and profiled David in the 2013 TQ Ski & Ride issue. Here’s my interview with David, pre-gold medal:

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Posted in Freelancing, Published Work, Writing

Whew!

Posted on February 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Well, I think I’m finally caught up! My convalescence in January totally threw me off, and I’ve been playing catch up for the past month. I wrote three Home Awards pieces for TQ, one artist profile, I got through all the editing in my inbox, sent out the Star Resort newsletter and just inserted the additional revisions to the erotic novel I’ve been editing. But the surest sign that I’ve finally gotten through my work is that I’ve FINALLY gotten around to doing my invoicing! I love the writing side, not so much the financials… Anyway, on Friday I go into the TQ offices to proof the Mountain Home issue (SO excited to see it laid out!), then one more proof on Wednesday, and then I think I have a break. After the flurry of the past few weeks, it feels well deserved. I have a spa gift certificate I’ve been meaning to use for the past year, so I think I know how I’m going to spend my free time…

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Posted in Freelancing, Writing

Back at it!

Posted on January 11, 2014 | Leave a comment

Back to Tahoe! Traveling solo with children is rough. Doing it with a broken toe is even worse. My one-year-old fell asleep for the first two hours of our five-hour flight, which was great except that it meant that I couldn’t move my foot for all that time, and it definitely did not like being immobilized. My three-year-old dropped the one-year-old on her nose in the airport, and it was a bloodbath. The three-year-old had an “accident” on the second flight, then spilled my wine on herself when she stuck a straw in it thinking it was apple juice. So basically, between the three of us, we landed in Reno covered in a mixture of tears, blood, urine and wine (which is more often how people leave Reno).

Anyway, despite the fact that I barely left the couch during my convalescence, I managed to complete almost no work. So on Monday, the kids go to daycare and I get to put up my bad foot and spend the day writing about art and architecture. Welcome to my happy place!

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Posted in Freelancing, Life

Jingle Jangle

Posted on December 10, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’m happily in the midst of holiday chaos! I just finished proofing the Tahoe Forest Hospital System’s Winter issue of its magazine and got out the December newsletter for Star Resort Group. This Friday, I’ll head out on a couple of home tours for houses that I’ll be writing up for the TQ Mountain Home issue. Then, after the holidays, I’ll get to jump back into TQ editing and most likely do another edit of the revised manuscript that I’ve been working on for a client so that she can start to query agents.

Last week, I had a pitch party at TQ with the other writers. So great to be able to put faces to bylines! Anyway, all is good here. Got some invoicing taken care of this morning, I’ll hopefully do some writing this afternoon, then big date with my girls at the mall to meet Santa. I love the holidays!

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Posted in Freelancing

Home Tours!

Posted on November 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

Faulkner-designed fireplace.

I’m belated (imagine that!) but I’m very excited because I just got assignments for the Mountain Home issue. The TQ panel toured the finalist homes back in October, though due to a poorly timed trip, I was only able to attend one of the four or five tours. Still, such a wonderful experience! It’s such a privilege to get private tours of these residences by the incredibly talented architects and designers who worked on them. It’s hard to play favorites: I loved the home by interior designer Diana Vincent, the environmentally friendly home for a full-time family in Gray’s Crossing and an amazing, incredibly designed home in Tahoe Donner. Still, I’m partial to a 10,000 square foot residence atop a ridge in Truckee that overlooks Donner Lake. Yes, it sounds monstrously huge, but there is such an amazing story to the home that I won’t give away before the February magazine comes out!

On another note, the 10,000 square foot home is where I took the top photo. I’m pretty sure that I’ve wanted a bookshelf with a ladder ever since 1991, when I first saw the library in Beauty and the Beast. So only 22 years. Maybe someday!

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Posted in Architecture & Design, Freelancing, Journalism Perks

Work Day

Posted on October 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Coffee and M&Ms to get into edit mode. Let the chaos begin!

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Posted in Freelancing, Writing

Winding Down

Posted on September 19, 2013 | Leave a comment

It was busy, busy here to round out the summer! Last week, I turned in my edits on the novel I’ve been proofreading for a client. It’s pretty exciting—she has just a few minor details to address, then she’s ready to look for an agent. I’m happily assisting with the process—I would love to see a book that I edited get published, plus I feel like it’s good practice for whenever I complete my novel and am ready to start the publication process. In other news, last week, I also finished up two proofing days at TQ on the Ski & Ride issue. It’s a fun magazine with lots of great articles and photos to get you geared up for ski season in the Sierra. I also just got out my monthly newsletter for the timeshare company that I do work for, and have been helping the owner with his website postings.

I’ve got a little bit of downtime before I need to start focusing on my articles for the Winter issue of TQ, which is good timing because the weather is getting cool and all I want to do is hike in the mountains, drink pumpkin lattes and watch the aspens change colors. And on that note, off to the coffee shop!

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Posted in Freelancing

Current Projects

Posted on August 1, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’m so excited about my current projects! For TQ, I’ve got a couple of stories lined up, one of which involves talking with local Winter Olympic hopefuls, the other interviewing a South Shore artist who rediscovered painting after a growth was removed from the right side of his brain. I’m researching the functions of right brain versus the left brain, and it’s really fascinating to see how he changed when his right brain was freed from this growth.

My other project is really fun: I’d been back and forth with a client about editing her novel and recently completed Chapter 1 as a sample to ensure that she liked my work. I’m having a blast editing it (not only is it the first novel I’ve undertaken to edit, but it’s an erotic novel!), so I was pretty happy that she likes my editing. I just got the green light to move forward with the rest of the book, so for the next few weeks, it looks like I’ll be splitting my time between arts, athletes and erotica. Quite the combination!

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Posted in Freelancing, Writing

PA & Projects

Posted on July 7, 2013 | Leave a comment

Just back from a two-week hiatus in central PA ❤

I’ve been bad about updating again, but got back on Tuesday from a wonderful, two-week-long trip to Pennsylvania. Was great spending time with family and passing child-care duties off to more-than-willing grandparents.

Anyway, excited to be back! Lots of projects have been popping up lately, which is always fun. I recently proofed a magazine for the local hospital system, and received a very nice thank-you note, which, I think, reinforces how important it is to get a fresh set of eyes on anything before it goes to print. I’m also meeting a client soon to discuss editing her manuscript, which sounds like it will be a very entertaining read. And I’m staying busy with newsletters and work for upcoming issues of TQ. It’s a nice amount of busy for summertime in Tahoe!

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Posted in Freelancing, Life

Wild about Wildflowers

Posted on June 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

In the Summer issue of Tahoe Quarterly, I have a story about the wildflowers of the Tahoe Basin. The area includes some 700 different types, so it was hard to narrow the article down to a sort of “top ten” list, but it was very interesting to write! (Side note: Did you know there’s a rare, local flower called a phantom orchid that is non-photosynthetic? It gets nutrients via fungi versus chlorophyll.) I took out a couple of local wildflower expert Laird Blackwell’s books on the topic from the library, and I’m wishing I still had them because I saw some white flowers on a run though the trails recently and couldn’t identify the little beauties. Off to buy my own copy, I suppose! On another note, just received my copy of TQ Summer and it looks great!