Member of the Month - October

Professionally, 5 years. But I've been writing kind of seriously since the sixth grade.

When I was 10, my local Waldenbooks was having an essay contest for Fathers Day. The topic was "Why is your father the best?" or something like that, and the prize was a set of 1987 Topps Baseball Cards for the kid and a gift certificate for his/her dad. I wrote an essay on how my dad always played board games with me and how he would always drop everything just to play whatever I wanted. First piece of fiction I ever wrote!

Anyway, the essay actually won and I got the baseball cards. I thought it was so cool that maybe I should keep doing it. 11 years later, I'm still at it. Haven't won any more baseball cards, though.

Tough question. While I was in sixth grade, I did a story on Snoopy of all things. My teacher loved it, and she was the first person to ever tell me I should pursue a career in writing. I always loved Jack London when I was a kid, so I imagine that influenced me. But I can't actually look back and point at one individual that compelled me to start writing.
The man who drives me the most right now is...well, I don't know his name. He wrote the last column in the 1997 Writers Yearbook magazine, and his bio said he was the author of 4000 articles and 32 books. I looked at that and said, "I want to have that kind of success."

Well, like I said, London. When I was growing up I must have read "Call of the Wild" close to 50 or 60 times. Douglas Adams' "Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy" series is my favorite as a reader. I love his stories. They are so wonderfully creative. As a writer I have tried to emulate his style but it just can't be done. There's some quality to Adams that makes him just SO good. Same can be said of Dave Barry. John Feinstein is the sportswriter I respect most. He's one of the few who digs into the issues surrounding athletics and presents them fair and unbiased. Its a lost art and its something I want to be the foundation of my own career.

There's a great book out there called "Everyday Creative Writing: Panning for Gold in the Kitchen Sink". Its one of the few Creative Writing texts that doesn't limit to either poetry or fiction. The exercises really make you think and are great if you need inspiration. I haven't learned a lot from books, though -- most of what I know about good writing I learned in the newsroom.

Well, I took a creative writing class and a journalism class en route to my AA. I've also had several lit courses and other classes that required a lot of writing, and those were good because it taught me to write of different topics. In 1995 I went to a collegiate journalism seminar at Cleveland State University which helped me specifically with headline writing and interview techniques. That knowledge has been invaluable.

Nonfiction and, specifically, sportwriting and video game reviews. I consider myself damn lucky to be writing about two of the things I enjoy most. My favorite articles are the ones where I can take a sports issue and discuss it, present both sides of the argument, and perhaps show the reader a different way at looking at something.

I think I'm good at writing tight, and writing on deadline has become one of my strong suits. Sometimes I wish my word choice was a little better, but by far I am worst at writing fiction, which is depressing because I love to do it.

Ouch! Thats a tough one! There are several I'm proud of for different reasons. In college, I did a story on the Cleveland Browns move to Baltimore. It was the first time I'd ever won an award for my writing. The first column I did for the Canada Post is special because it was the first time I'd been published internationally (in Europe). The first assignment I did for InQuest is special because it was the first time I cracked a "major market". I'm sure there are others I will be proud of in the days and weeks to come. I guess its because I'm really just starting out.

Me...write something bad?

Seriously, though, there was a novel I tried years ago based on a Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game adventure. The story of the game was epic, if I say so myself. The players loved it and it was so detailed and had so many plot twists...

But when I sat down and tried to novelize it, it just didn't work. I mean, I couldn't do it as a D&D story because of the copyright issue with some of the characters and creatures involved. Plus too much of the storyline needed adjusting, explaining, etc. I just gave up on it. It was so bad it was depressing. I would still like to do it someday, but I doubt I'll really ever get back to it.

I used to, but you'd be surprised how quickly college classes and raising your nephew will break you of those habits. I write wherever and whenever I can.

I started as the Sports Editor for my college magazine before moving on to a staff jobs at daily papers in Ohio and West Virginia -- even before I had my college degree. I'm very proud to say that by the age of 21, I have over 350 articles published in a 15-20 different publications.