About

I’m a magazine editor living in Santa Barbara, CA. I am a professional writer/editor with over 15 years experience in technical writing, marketing and promotional content. I’m also the head of SeaWrite Media (www.seawritemedia.com) a web content provider. I consider myself well versed in new media trends, and am an ace at empowering small businesses, freelancers and artists to use the web to promote their work and their passions. I’m also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and during Hurricane Katrina, I participated in (and received certification for) the Red Cross’s Disaster Preparedness training, including Shelter Operations and Logistics.

I’ve spent the last several years working as an Editor for two national trade magazines. During my 6-year tenure as Editor, I’ve conceptualized and coordinated all editorial content for two environmentally-based publications. Not only do I create regular editorials and blog entries for both titles, but I also manage a healthy stable of freelance writers, guide the efforts of the design department, and work closely with our sales team and online education department to insure that our message and focus is effectively dispersed to our national audience.

I’ve also played a central role in expanding the social media outreach of all of our products. I’ve been active in leading the rest of our staff towards a better understanding of the strengths and opportunities presented by Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other online social media outlets— all the while making sure that the magazines I work for continue to have a vibrant online presence. I also conceptualized and guided the development of the Waterprint iPhone app. www.waterprint.net

In my spare time, I feed my need for knowledge and creativity by writing freelance articles and learning all I can about the vagaries and opportunities provided by this new media landscape. I’ve participated in a number of educational seminars about social media marketing, and am currently learning all I can about Social Media Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Drupal Commerce and Wordpress.

As I’ve explored and expanded my career path, I’ve picked up some valuable tools and smart strategies that I’d like to share. I’ve been able to craft a creative career as a writing professional, and you can too!

Missing Persons and Voluntary Hermitage

Though many of us who self-identify as writers and creatives do what we do because we must, sometimes real life is a worthy (if not insurmountable) opponent.

“When It’s Time to Change, It’s Time to Rearrange…”

Sometimes you need to recalibrate your settings and realize that all those cliché’s about serving too many masters and burning candles at both ends have a point – we can only accomplish so much at any given time.

A Pocketful of Crackers

Sometimes you find yourself creatively incapacitated, painfully aware you only have yourself to blame.

Mad-Hatted Mischief

Online, your audience is only limited by your bandwidth

But sometimes, just when you’re prepared to take down a trolling commentator or other various troglodytes, the comments streams overwhelms you. Could all these people really believe the idiotic things they’re writing? Could there really be this many racist, homophobe misogynist ass-wipes in the world?

Speak Up Already!

As I get older, I realize more and more that the ability to speak your mind is at the heart of living authentically. We must, in the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, “do the thing that must be done.” We must tell the truth even if it hurts. We must speak our minds, even when it’s uncomfortable.

Musings on the Golden Hour

I’ve talked before about taking time-outs to fill up the creative well, and federally recognized holidays are always a great time to cash in some vacation days and take much needed time off.

Deserts of Self-Delusion

For those of us plagued with an overactive imagination, life is full of sidetracks and embellishments.

A Fool, A Fiend And A History

Life is long, I always tell my friends, and you never know where you’re going to end up. Sometimes things that seem ever-fixed and unchangeable can transform overnight. Maybe that thing you thought would always haunt you one day just throws up its hands and descends quietly into its grave. They say nothing lasts forever, and maybe we come to terms with just about everything when the time is right.

Waiting for the Plot Twist

When it comes to real life, what do you do when the infantry doesn’t materialize, and no-one’s around to save the day?

An Empty Stadium Under The Stars

Sometimes a flooded field and a cancelled game are better than a victory. Sometimes the events that seem inevitable can be displaced and dispatched with just a little innovative thinking.

And sometimes…sometimes…we just need to play a wet and sloppy game of baseball in an empty stadium under the stars.

the daily creative writer

“There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed…”