Quiet Keystrokes and Midnight Ramblings

What a whirlwind adventure this year has brought to me in writing!  I had hoped that this year would propel me into the world of an writer, but could never have expected just how much progress I'd be able to make in becoming the authoress I've always dreamed of being.  As I sit and reflect on how much I have to be thankful for this year, the list is astoundingly long. I've been given the blessings of a career change, the opportunity to write both online and in print, the completion of one novel and the beginnings of a second, a position creating content for a wonderful company on the verge of exploding in a joyful mess of growth and progress, the support of friends and strangers, and even more that I can't think of right now. This year hasn't been all roses and double rainbows, and it certainly hasn't been the easiest year for our family; but it has been a year of personal and professional growth, a reminder that I have an incredible family to lean on when t

A lot of growth has been seen on the writing front these last few weeks.  As I mentioned last week, I have been accepted as a writer for Examiner.com  but I've also seen some great forward movement in my other writing.  As Associated Content has become merged into the Yahoo! Contributer Network , I decided to go out on a limb and apply for one of their featured writer positions.  I am happy to announce that I have been accepted as a Featured Travel Contributer!  What this means for me is more consistent writing assignments, more money (hopefully) and greater exposure on the web.  I'm very excited by this, even though it is taking me some getting used to the new content guidelines that Yahoo! has put together.  I'm sure that with practice I will catch on soon though. For a quick trip through the travel articles that won me my Featured Contributor title, please feel free to click the links below.  And the next time you're looking for a vacation, give one of them a try!

As is often the case on sleepless nights, one night last week I was pointing and clicking my way around the internet when I happened upon an advertisement for Examiner.com .  Interested to see how they match up with Associated Content , I started to do a little digging through online forums and several of the articles posted on AC about what is drawing other online writers to Examiner.  I was intrigued by what I found, and decided to apply for an open slot they had for an Action Sports writer for the Portland area. I am pleased to announce that after going through the application process, I have become the new Examiner.com Portland Paintball Examiner .  The first writing piece that was accepted on this site can be seen by clicking here .  And please do check it out since it is all about one of the newest paintball fields in the Portland area, Impact Action Sports. I'd like to send a big "Thank You" to Jason from Impact Action Sports for giving me the green light to wr

Well, we've already reached day two of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and my word count is still stuck at a big, fat 0.  I'm not disheartened about it yet though as I've blocked out two full days this week to dive into my novel-to-be. In the meantime, I'm working on some more great projects with Associated Content and have submitted an article to a magazine.  Hopefully I will have a lot of really great updates later on this month.  For those of you who are also in the NaNoWriMo challenge with me, feel free to contact me at d.kawaii@gearheadzpaintball to share your victories, troubles and day-to-day writing achievements!  We can do it!