mental health journalist
When I talk about my high school experience, I usually start by saying, “I was the homecoming queen.” But those who know me now don’t get the inside joke – that I was the anti-queen at the dance, dressed in a black gown with a beaded Cleopatra style silver wig on top of my…
When I was in sixth grade, my attempts at making friends involved sitting next to strangers at long brown lunch tables and asking for people’s phone numbers. Don’t be surprised to learn that by the time I was in eighth grade I had changed schools and hung my head under dyed-black hair and long black…
Originally published December 9, 2014, in Quill Freelance Toolbox By Ellen Eldridge One of the hardest lessons to learn when freelancers start out is how to charge for services. Those coming out of professional careers may have a different perspective, but I’ve seen personally and among my artist friends that asking for money for a…
If proper nouns were allowed in Scrabble, Koretzky would be a high-value name. But we’re not playing Scrabble. We’re writers, and without Michael Koretzky, region 3 director for Society of Professional Journalists, we wouldn’t have programs like Will Write For Food. Also, I wouldn’t have made it home on Labor Day. A whirlwind…
This is day 30 of my 30-day blog challenge! Read day 29: “Staying creative as a maker” The baseline of a 30-day blog challenge I started this 30-day spurt as a self-challenge, inspired by my friend Sara Crawford. I wanted to further experiment with how often a brand, business or individual should post for…
This is day 29 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 28: “This is the day I fail” Bob weir is best known for playing guitar in The Grateful Dead (and Ratdog as I mentioned in my blog about proposing), but he also makes hot sauce. Maynard James Keenan may be best known as the…
This is day 28 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 27: “3 songs to propose to this year” I hate to admit that I’m not perfect, and I’ve written about the problem of perfectionism previously. If I know anything, finishing what you start is crucial. But, artists and writers shouldn’t strive for complete perfectionism….
This is day 27 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 26: “I used to rant like fruit gone rotten” I live north of Atlanta, but a few artists I love are touring. I saw something on Facebook where a fan proposed to his girlfriend at a concert, and, as my own five-year anniversary…
This is day 26 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 26: “Where does creativity come from” Many people don’t know I published a book of poetry. Fewer care, I’m sure. But, because I have way too much to do to write a blog tonight, I’ll share. The best reason to consider buying a copy…
This is day 25 of 30-day blog challenge. Read day 24: “Parenting through the smell of dead sewage” Most of us have heard about people being “left-brained” or “right-brained,” but I don’t think there’s much to that. I know the right side of the body is controlled by the left brain hemisphere, but that…