Writer Tip

As a writer I am constantly researching. If you looked through my Google history you would be appalled. And sometimes the subject matters writers research raise red flags. I’ve known peers and colleagues who have gotten a knock on their door from the FBI.

The great thing about Google is it has a whole bunch of hidden features. These features help maximize your search results. The first time I learned about them was in college, when I worked on a few investigative pieces.

I came across a handy little guide that I wanted to share so you too can find all your search engine needs.

Check out this page and have fun with the newfound tricks! You don’t have to be a writer to enjoy them! There are plenty more tricks you can learn beyond that, but we’ll start you on the basics.

Italy and the World Cup.

I’ve been quiet the past few days because there’s not much to say when you are living a home-life. It’s just been wake-up, breakfast, study my Italian, eat lunch, aid with chores, eat dinner, shower and sleep. It’s much like it is at home for me.

The interesting part of this experience is I’ve learned how Italians lead their lives everyday. The mail here is delivered by vespa. They have several different types of trash to separate to and they bring it to a community dumpster. To use the shopping cart at the supermarket they have to get a key from the information desk to unlock it from the rack. They don’t eat sandwiches but rather wrap cheese around a piece of fresh bread.

I could continue as there are plenty of little tidbits about everyday life. It’s really a gift being here, to learn and to live.

It’s also exciting to be in a country that is so invested in the World Cup. Tonight is the first match for Italy against England. It airs here at midnight. We’ve been watching the matches at the house which has been fun. I enjoy the sport even if I can’t determine all the plays at hand and when exactly something is a foul and such, but it is a beautiful game to watch.

I hope Italy does well tonight, I’ve already got my Italia jersey on!

#ForzaAzzurri!

World Cup team!

So far, so good!

Well it looks like my first NaNoWriMo is going swimmingly. I just reached 35k. Remember the goal to reach by November 30th is 50k.

I charged through today writing six thousand words. Tomorrow (technically today but it is only a little after midnight) is a busy day for me. So I won’t have much time to write.

Sunday I might actually be leaving for Arizona to visit my brother, his gf, and their pets! I hope my travel plans work out! My brother moved out of there about six years ago for college and he’s anchored down there. I’ve never been there.

That’s why I blitzed out 6k today! I need to be ahead of writing. I may print out the last few pages of my story and bring a notebook to add on a bit, but I don’t know if I can fit it in my carry-on.

Perhaps I’ll get a little more down tomorrow night before I leave on Sunday morning. If you do not hear from me all week it is because I am enjoying the beautiful 80 degree Phoenix weather. Oh yeah, be jealous! It will be nice to revel in the warmth while in New York we are teetering on 40/50 degree days, and very chilly nights!

 

The Journalism Toolbox

A funny yet cynical journalist page I follow on Facebook posted this highly useful resource list. I know about a bunch of the ones on the list but would like to share with you the completed list of media resources. I think tomorrow I will spend most of the gleaning all the good I can from these pages. This will inevitably turn into a multi-day thing, so I will be updating constantly with my new finds and my thoughts.

 

Here’s the page and if you have any others that are not listed there, please comment below!

http://journalismdegree.org/new-media/

 

P.S: I am also participating in NaNoWriMo this year! If you’d like to be friends there, contact me!

End of Summer Stretch

Hello all,

A brief reminder that my writing samples (I hate the term ‘samples’, they’re full published works!) are under the Featured Publications page. Pretty soon I’ll have a page up for self-published work.

So we find ourselves at the end of another summer. It’s a humid day here in New York, but rather than the balminess that usually accompanies this awful form of heat it’s complemented by a nice breeze. I enjoy these moments, sitting at my computer, listening to the ticking of the ceiling fan, the speeding cars on the main street I live on, and the occasional visit from my cat. Summer rolls, from heatwaves to thunderstorms, it’s a time of easy living. It reminds me of the two weeks I spent in Europe my senior year of high school. I learned more about the pleasure of a simplistic life than I have in my entire life. Summer is coming to a close, but just because we sip on pumpkin spice lattes and snuggle into wooly sweaters doesn’t mean we don’t have to stop our enjoyment and zest for life.

 

Hope you all enjoy the last few days of summer, autumn will be here soon. And life goes on…

It interests me

Every so often I come across a project that moves me. Yesterday I stumbled on a blog post about The Everyday Sexism Project.  It was started by Laura Bates to bring together everyday experiences from women all over the world.

Check out the mini documentary that got me interested:

The Everyday Sexism Project

 

I’ve also just begun working on a big story. I won’t delve into details, but I’ll leave you with a picture to pique your interest.

 

The Honey Bee!

I linked the picture to the original source. It’s a great shot!

Talk to you very soon!

What I’ve been up too.

I’ve been busy, and then not-so-busy. I’ve been playing catch-up with personal business but am finally seeing the light of it and I’m able to balance my private and public matters better.

 

As of late I have been freelancing for a chain of local papers. It’s been great learning town codes and the ways towns work.

To see some of my work visit here.

On top of that I’ve just started writing for a digital music zine called Deep in the Music Media. My first album review was just posted and you can check it on on their Tumblr. This is the website and this is a direct link to my album. Be sure to follow them on Twitter and Instagram too! I haven’t written an album review in a very long time so it was nice to stretch those muscles out!

I’ve also been scribbling some non-fiction and fiction pieces, nothing is cohesive enough to post yet but I may crack one out in a few days. This warm weather is inspiring me to write, just got to remember to write it down and not store it in my head.

Hope you are all doing well and healthy!

 

Paper comes out tomorrow!

I’ll have another article in the printed edition of the Long Island Press, but here’s one that I covered today.

The new Barclays Center in Brooklyn is sure to attract a lot of Long Islanders to its concerts and events. The Long Island Railroad is adding more trains to the Atlantic Avenue terminal.

 

Check out my coverage here!