I began my writing career with the first issue of The Princeton Street News when I was ten-years-old. Handwritten in pencil on lined paper, the newspaper told tales of what happened on and around the suburban Long Island street where I grew up. They included such sagas as “Mrs. Wolf Burns Thanksgiving Dinner,” “Mrs. O’Connell Attends Mass Daily in 1967,” and “Mr. Leary Falls Down in Long Island Railroad Bar Car.” The paper, no doubt, contained numerous libelous stories. Because the audience was limited to my family and a handful of friends, I was spared charges of defamation of character. But I surely had a keen interest in just about everything and a nose for news. I still do.
When I attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, there was no question that my major would be Journalism. I wrote for the school paper, being assigned various beats, the least interesting of which was probably the cafeteria in McCormack Hall. Making stories about bi-weekly dinners of meatloaf, instant mashed potatoes and canned string beans interesting was truly a journalistic feat. Still, I never considered a career other than writing.
My career took me to a side of writing in which I had taken—and disliked—only one course—public relations. I worked for technology companies in the metro New York area. Technology, I quickly learned, was another nemesis. Still, I did this for over twenty years, maintaining my sanity by working on the side as a freelance writer. As a freelancer, I could write about anything that interested me, and I have—from politics to bridal lingerie. Today, I have the luxury of focusing on topics that intrigue me—architecture, interior design, fascinating people, and both traditional and holistic medicine.
More recently, I have published two books in the genre of women’s fiction. One or more of my dogs is always at my side while I work in my home office, surrounded by the things I love. This writer greatly prefers today’s lifestyle to years of shuffling from Long Island to Manhattan on the Long Island Railroad and the subway to jobs I disdained.
Life is short. Do what you love. Love what you do.