Technical
In renewable energy development, I took highly technical information about energy production, engineering, site planning and impact studies and wrote about it about in technical and legally-sensitive terms for the state energy permitting agency, business terms for our company, and layman’s terms for public relations. The most complex document was a permit application over 2,000 pages long, with 30 appendices and technical reports from meteorologists, biologists, engineers, botanists, archaeologists, and much more. Professional training at the Project Management Institute (PMI) helps me keep my t’s crossed and the trains running on time.
Examples:
Antelope Ridge Wind Farm, Oregon Energy Facility Siting Commission
Elkhorn Valley Wind Farm, Union County, Oregon
Conditional Use Permit Application, Tillamook County, Oregon
Solar Access Exception, City of Boulder, Colorado
Marketing
Everything I write has at least a little sheen of marketing. The highest example of marketing content I have written is for our family business, Walnut Studiolo. My husband Geoff is a leathercrafter and I designed and wrote the entire website, including the product descriptions, and most of our blog posts. As shown in the examples I am competent at basic graphic design, but for more complex work I recommend working with my brother, Why Hello There Graphic Design.
Examples:
Walnut Studiolo Website
Walnut Studiolo Drawer Pulls Catalog
Missoula Downtown Association Travel Guide
Garnet Ghost Town Interpretive Brochure
Articles & Essays
Whether for fun or profit, I enjoy writing and editing articles, essays, and blog posts. My first published writing was a personal essay for Adventure Cycling Magazine, and I have supplemented my income with occasional magazine articles.
Examples:
“The Great Five Borough Bike Tour” - Adventure Cycling Magazine
“Windfall or Windbag?” - 1859 Magazine
”On the Rocks: The Beer Cultures of Vietnam” - TAPS Magazine
Books & Reports
I relish the organization involved in longer-form writing and ghostwriting. Walnut Studiolo was thrilled beyond measure when DK Publishing approached us (me and my husband) to write The Idiot’s Guide to Leather Crafts, a 192-page book. Writing a how-to book is not for idiots! Remarkably, we wrote it on time under a tight 3-month deadline: Geoff created 18 leather craft projects and I carefully worded each project so readers could teach themself a new skill, and wrote all the associated book content. DK Publishing’s editing was minimal, keeping us all on track for a hard publishing deadline. Find it in your local bookshop or the Library of Congress!
Examples:
”IG: Leather Crafts” - Walnut Studiolo
”IG: Leather Crafts” - Amazon
DK Publishing Website, Leather Crafts
Public Relations
I have managed to write a press release for just about every job I’ve held since college, many of which have been successfully published in the media: event announcements, company news, new product launches. Newsworthiness and organizational awareness is a key consideration in a successful press release.
Examples:
Horizon Wind Energy and Union County Announce SIP
Resulting article:
”Revised SIP Could Net City of Union $2 Million” - La Grande Observer
Walnut Studiolo Announces Move to the Nehalem Valley
Resulting article:
”Leathercraft Company Relocates to Nehalem” - The Daily Astorian
Grants
I have researched and written successfully-funded grant applications for nonprofit organizations and taken professional training in Grant Writing at the University of Montana. In grant writing, excellent writing is a must, but it is also important that the project or organization is a good match for the grant funder.
Examples:
Garnet Ghost Town Grant Application to the NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities)
Resulting article:
”Garnet Garners Big Grant” - The Missoulian