The Other Stuff I Write

Although I rise at midnight and pen amusing vampire stories, I actually spend very little time writing fiction, compared to the rest of my work.

In addition to delivering newspapers at night, homeschooling two children, hosting a small mission church in my home, and overseeing an "in theory" daily family Bible study with three of my children, I fill my days with a bevy of writing assignments.

Most of my work is for the Herald News (http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/) where I have written on just about every topic imaginable, except for hard news and sports. For many years, I had three "regular features" I filled every week, two of which are still going strong.

One of them, long since phased out for space, was Local Flavor, a spotlight on what area people liked to cook, along with a couple of their recipes. Artworks, which I have been writing since 1998, profiles local artists and their work. An Extraordinary Life spotlights recently deceased individuals who have led unusually interesting and inspirational lives. I've been writing this column for almost ten years.

For the last two years, I have also written press releases and web content for Adventist Midwest Health (http://www.keepingyouwell.com/). The work has no byline, but the topics are versatile and very interesting. That, to me, is more important than a byline.

In addition, I have had two stories published in Chicago Parent (http://www.chicagoparent.com/), one in Frankfort Patch (http://frankfort.patch.com/), and one in The Handmaiden (http://www.conciliarpress.com/.

My other "funsie" writing was several years ago when I wrote three feature stories and one Local Flavor spoof for The Clarion & Globe, the newsletter of the Goodies Rule-OK! fan club (http://www.goodiesruleok.com/).

Come to think of it, I haven't wandered over to the GROK website in a while. I think I'll do that now.