about
Nail, Meet Head
It never fails. Anytime I meet someone new, be it at a restaurant or a friend’s home, the question always comes up:
“So, what do you do for a living?”
“I’m a writer.”
“Wow, a writer! What do you write?”
“Words,” I say simply with a knowing smile.
That is precisely what I do. I use words to influence and highlight, to express concern and forge solutions. I write because I am a writer - it’s what I’ve always loved, it’s what I’ve always done best.
The Beginning
I was that kid who was writing poetry at 8 and working on my first novel at 11. I remember sitting in my parent’s house, the back bedroom which they had converted to an office. It was the early 1990s and computers were still pretty uncommon in the average American home, but thanks to my binary-inclined grandmother, we had one. I would sit for hours in that back bedroom, typing away in that poke-poke method I had begun to master. It was a story about a young woman meeting a young man in another dimension, all thanks to a mysterious black pearl ring she inherited from her grandmother. My parents were shocked at my precociousness when they read the first few chapters and my stepmom even took it to her sister to read.
“She’s going to be a writer!” my aunt announced after she first read it, slamming down the copy on her tiled counter. After that, my father forced me to take typing lessons so I could “stop poking and start typing”.
Apparently, they knew it was only the beginning.
As time went on, I learned to share my writing in school. I earned first prize for a handful of speeches and several different awards for creative compositions. I even participated in the Academic Decathlon and taught my teammates on grammar and the anatomy of English poetry. My term paper skills led me to graduate with Honors and earn to a full-ride at California State University, Fullerton with their prestigious President’s Scholarship.
Continuity
I’ve done it in every job I’ve ever had; I used words to entice, inspire, impress and sell. I did it when I was a tour guide at California State University, Fullerton - I ended up on both the project to create the brochure guide for the self-tour and the project committee that was rewriting the student-led tours for new and prospective students. The same thing happened later on, when I was only the receptionist at a $40 million chair manufacturing company… somehow I managed to end up on the committee that was fostering the ever-growing business with a new Customer Service department training manual. I became active in conversations with our manufacturer in China - composing product reports on customer service efficiency and buyer’s returns analyses.
Ultimately, wherever I’ve worked, whatever my actual job description, I always end up in the position of a writer - using my words to communicate effectively. So now I do it for individuals, for businesses, for posterity. I do it for anyone who finds a flashing cursor on a blank word document intimidating. I can clearly express what you’re trying to say. It’s what I do: I am a writer, after all.
