Freelancing is a hard hike in a tough terrain of competition. This is by way of saying don’t expect a lot here. One advantage of freelancing is following your passion – writing about what moves you, not just what’s assigned by an editor (the disadvantage is lack of a steady paycheck). It’s said a good writer writes about what s/he knows, but I’ve always written about what I want to know. Like, life, the universe, and everything -- but especially forests, because forests should rule the world if the world was sane.
The Emergency Response Station under construction in my rural community will be equipped with both ambulances and fire trucks. This is a huge benefit to our very rural community in the western mountains of Virginia. It will cut the time for help to reach someone sick or injured by hours, at a time when every minute can count. The Chimney Rock Chronicle is our local monthly newspaper, and I’m happy to be an occasional writer for it.
To […]
I gave a PowerPoint presentation for Rocktown History’s Coffee Mill Talks, (Harrisonburg-Rockingham Historical Society, Dayton, VA), which used photos I’ve taken over decades of observations to show how the forest remembers its past.
What better place to talk about forest history than a Historical Society?
Below is a small selection of photos from my PowerPoint presentation, “Forest Forensics: Clues to the Past in our Woods Today.” Most photos are from my own 112 acres. My presentation, […]
I was thrilled to be invited to the first Queen City Word Fest, a large gathering of writers in Staunton, Virginia, from the Shenandoah Valley and beyond, with their books on display and for sale. Staunton is the Queen City of the Valley, and she graciously made this event free to the authors and the public. It took place in a large old warehouse on West Beverley Street next door to The Book Dragon Shop, which was a […]
I was one of 5 local authors invited to discuss how I became a published writer, at Plains District Memorial Museum, Timberville VA. Preparing for it made me realize all the things I had done wrong. If I had taken creative writing classes, done workshops and internships, met people, made contacts, surely I’d be a rich and famous author by now. The other writers were Jean Cash, Ann Heap, Retta Lilliendahl, and Tammy Cullers. It […]
Oasis Gallery of Fine Art and Craft, at 103 S. Main Street, is the heart of art in Harrisonburg, VA, the closest city to my very rural home. The administrators of Oasis consider literature also to be an art, with shelves of books by local authors. On Friday, June 28, 2024, Oasis held a reception, free and open to the public, of short readings by several local writers. I was delighted to be one of them. […]
I was invited to speak at the weekly luncheon of the Harrisonburg Rotary Club, one of more than 46,000 Rotary clubs around the world. Their mission is to form a fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders to help address community problems through public service, economic growth, and promotion of education, environmental protection, and goodwill toward all. I wasn’t very familiar with Rotary, and was impressed by the commitment I saw and heard. Meeting weekly for lunch and a […]