The Write Word Freelance Samples


	I've published a number of freelance pieces in newspapers, magazines, and online and I've included some of them here (and I'm touting my book as well). They range from first-person essays to travel pieces to more journalistic subjects. Print samples of these and many other published pieces are available. (And I own all the reprint rights, should you publishers be hunting for piquant content.)
	Tribes Casebook and Q&A I'm a member of Seth Godin's Tribes, a (to this point) closed social network centered around his concepts of tribes, as detailed in his new book, which examines associated notions of leadership and viral ideas in tribe-building. Four of my "case studies" were accepted for Godin's Tribes Casebook. The casebook is a compilation of various Tribes members' explorations of what tribes are all about, how they begin, work, and don't work. My pieces can be found on page 15, 58, 60 and 61. The Q&A explores, though a series of related and evolving questions and answers, concrete examples of tribal origins, communications, challenges, business applications and future-focused discussions on changing the nature of business through tribal principles. I contributed several questions, answers, and was an editor for the entire book. Marshal South and Wally Byam: Parallel Roads, Different Destinations Profiles the convergence and divergence in the pursuit, achievement and defeat of dreams in the lives of Marshal South, an artist, writer and self-styled desert hermit, and Wally Byam, the inventor of the Airstream. Published in Airstream Life, Fall 2008. Volunteers, the Soul of the Monterey Bay Aquarium A tribute to the depth and dedication of the vast volunteer force at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Published in ExpressLane, the in-flight magazine of Express Jet, June 2008. Going to (and Away From) the Dogs Silver (2nd Place) winner of the 2008 Solas Award Best Travel Writing in the "Travel and Sports" category, sponsored by Traveler's Tales. A cautionary tale of avoiding becoming canine lunch while bicycling on a Micronesian island. Published March, 2008. Adventures in Man Land A puzzled piece on the "Man Land" phenomenon. Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, August, 2007. Honey, Saddle Up the Spider A light look the small cracks in travel's wide road. Published as one of the "Thanksgiving Turkeys" in the Los Angeles Times, November 2006. The Sony Reader Is a Work in Progress A look at Sony's new ebook reader, with enthusisasm and skepticism vying for attention. Published in Wired, September, 2006. From Crags to Coast Looking for a couple of days of classic California? Take some hints from my article on the dizzying array of delights found on a weekend trip from craggy heights to the coolest of coasts. Published in the San Diego Union-Tribune, May 2006. For Sale: English, Cheap My struggled—and strangled—attempts to teach English on a tiny island in Micronesia, published in the May/June 2006 issue of Adjunct Advocate. (To all my students: would it have been better if I'd worn the clown shoes?) Fading Father, Falling Son An effort to peer into the gaps, distances and bridges of understanding and emotion between my father and me, filtered though the prism of his Alzheimer's disease. Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, April, 2006. Fourth-place winner in Writer's Digest 74th annual writing competition, in the Inspirational category. The Beat Goes On (The Road) A look at the Beatmobile, Jerry Cimino's Beat Generation rolling museum and its travels across the U.S. Published in Airstream Life, Winter 2006 issue. The Bully and his Booty An account of the infamous pirate Bully Hayes and the potential of his stolen riches having been buried for over a century on the Micronesian island of Kosrae. Published in Treasure Cache, the 2006 annual digest of Lost Treasure magazine. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Is Big All Over A piece detailing the boggling oddity of viewing local S.F. Bay Area broadcasts on our "local," regular channels--on a Micronesian island 5,000 miles away. Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, May, 2005. It's All About the "I" A first-person essay about writing first-person essays, published in Personal Writing, a special edition of Writer's Digest magazine, April 2005. Reprinted in the newsstand Writer's Digest, August 2005. Trailer Park Transformation A succint piece on using a vintage Airstream as the aluminum flagstone (besides bathroom and kitchen) for the expansion of a home on and around the trailer. Published in Airstream Life, Winter 2005. The River Never Ends First-place winner of the LP WordSolutions First Reader essay contest, December, 2004. A short piece on why The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a treasure. Another eBay Treasure The perils of eBay shopping, where with a click you can buy an Airstream trailer--sight unseen--and have its antique aluminum amazements delivered to your driveway from hundreds of miles away. Published in the Summer 2004 issue of Airstream Life magazine. Airstream Restorers A condensed version of this profile of three Airstream restorers--whose work sometimes results in exotic trailer reworkings upwards of $100,000--was published in Airstream Life's Summer issue, 2004. Man vs. Rat A grisly account of a pitched battle between a flustered homeowner and a crafty rat (and nobody wins). Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, June, 2004. A Juarez Holiday Stick an 18-year-old in a Greyhound for three days and then let him loose in Juarez. Oh dear. Published as an Editor's Choice in Traveler's Tales, June, 2004. Pinnacles Provides Glimpses at Condors, History A wide-eyed look at the marvels in and around the Pinnacles National Monument, published in the San Jose Mercury News, May, 2004. If You Are What You Eat, Then I'm a Cheeseburger in Paradise The perils and pleasures (?) of gobbling a 1,200 calorie fast-food burger after 20 years of abstinence. Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, March, 2004. Micronesia, Macro Fun The startling (and sweaty) travel experiences on the tiny Micronesian island of Kosrae, published in the San Jose Mercury News, March, 2004. Fragrant mangrove swamp teems with bats, exotic fruit, island lore A sidebar to the Micronesia piece above, published in the same S.J. Mercury issue. To Catch a Thief: Nocturnal Observations on Raccoons A screed both admiring and antagonistic about the wily raccoons who preyed on my outdoor fish tanks and my Rube Goldberg attempts to thwart them. Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel in November, 2003. Barking Dogs and Me, A Loud Story A piece about the pestilential persecution of my ears by neighborhood dogs, published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel in October, 2003. A Period Piece with Fresh Panache An affectionate look at the Airstream trailer, published online at things magazine; print publication in Fall 2003. Letter Perfect A light look at the source of article ideas, published online at AbsoluteWrite, 2003. Breathing Exercises for Writers My own methods for extracting words from brain to page. Published online at WriteThinking, 2002. Safe Computing: How to Protect Your Computer, Your Body, Your Data, Your Money and Your Privacy in the Information Age An informative (try and overlook my self-congratulation) how-to book on dealing with viruses, hackers, Internet fraud, ergonomic issues, data loss and many other computing concerns. 200 pages with shareware CD for Mac and Windows. Checking Your References A paean to the dictionary, published in the Summer 2002 issue of Verbatim, The Language Quarterly. Tomorrow A light piece on writer's procrastination, published online at AbsoluteWrite, June 2002. The Einsteins Meet the Boxing Nun Thrilling video documentary on harrowing encounter for the Einsteins. Excuse the video fidelity—I did it with a digital camera. Might load slowly on a dial-up. Requiem for Buddha Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, February 2001. Passages Published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel, July 2001; Honorable Mention, Writer's Digest 2001 Personal Essay Contest. Labor Day Published in SV, the magazine of the San Jose Mercury News, September, 2000. All Things Bright and Shiny Published in SV; June 2000. Desert Planet Published in SV; January 2000. Transcendental Trash Published in SV; August 1999. The Spirit of Jack Daniel's Published in the San Francisco Chronicle; reprinted in the Brown Forum. My Cup Runneth Dreary Published in Motorland; reprinted in The Adventure of Food, a Traveler's Tales publication, in November of 1999 and as a StoryHouse coffee label in 2001. A Bird on the Brain Published in West, a former magazine of the San Jose Mercury News, February 1998. Last Glove Published in the Santa Cruz Good Times. Embarrassment of Riches Published in SV, November, 1999 Tattle Telecommutant Published in the Santa Cruz Metro. Obsessions, Compulsions, and Other Pastimes Published in the Santa Cruz Good Times. A Vintage Whine Published in the online magazine, Zinos. Josepha An .mp3 file of fair Alice reading a little piece of mine on a local Santa Cruz radio station. (Depending on bandwidth and how your browser is configured, it should stream, so that playback is immediate.) Evil Oils Alice once again mouthing off on the radio, reciting a story I wrote about our recent Christmas debacle. A mouthful, but still less than 3MB.