WRITING

In November of 2013 I was hired as an independent contractor by vocational school Minnesota Life College. I create content for the website's blog, interview people of interest, cover special events and research topics relevant to parents of young adults with learning differences. In the switch to a new website name and host the 50+ blog posts I wrote for them are sadly lost to the cyberspace ether.

Samples (links now broken)

• ASD Superpowers: Profiles of five individuals with autism who accomplished extraordinary feats
• Anxiety Disorders and LD: A look at clinical anxiety and how it affects people with learning differences
• ASD & Technology: Coverage of the "Apps for Independence" event held at St. Thomas University
• Student Spotlight - Elissa Beard: A piece highlighting one of MLC's extraordinary students with learning differences

I'm a staff writer for entertainment news site The Comics Beat, previously named one of TIME Magzine's "Best Blogs". I initially worked as a freelancer, covering entertainment expos in Chicago and New York City. By seeking out additional opportunities I've become a regular contributor, regularly interviewing industry professionals and writing research-heavy articles. 

Samples

• Making Comics - Script Format: Article about the software and templates writers use to script their comics
• Why Comic Anthologies Find So Much Success on Kickstarter: An analysis of the benefit of crowdfunding comic book anthologies 
• Greg Rucka Interview: Conversation with the best-selling novelist, screenwriter, and comic book author
• Steve Wacker Interview: Discussion with the supervising editor at Marvel Comics

I wrote weekly articles for popular self-improvement site Lifehack.org about topics ranging from productivity to work to  technology to lifestyle.

Samples

• 15 Things You Should Definitely Avoid When Social Media Marketing: A popular article I wrote about mistakes people and businesses make with social media
• 5 Mental Health Hacks: A list of tips for how to avoid the symptoms of depression and anxiety, among other mental health issues​
• How To Save All That Useful Online Content: An article about how to save web pages to read later or archive into a digital notebook

I served as a blog writer for lead generation company BuzzBuilder, writing posts about social media strategy to drive viewers to its website.

Sample

• The Likability Factor: Blog post about how to acquire more likes and shares on social media

In one of my strangest (yet favorite) writing gigs, I wrote regular articles for Theme Park Tourist despite the fact that I haven't been to a theme park in over a decade! For that reason my work for the site generally focuses on theme park history and how theme parks connect to the entertainment history as a whole.

Samples

• 5 Steps That Will Lead to Disney's Animal Kingdom Finally Fulfilling its Promise: An analysis of a dedication for a theme park that promised something that still hasn't happened 15 years later
• 3 Unexpected Historical Events That Happened At Disney Theme Parks: A write-up about the Beatles breaking up, Nixon giving an infamous speech and the birth of Doritos
• 7 Things That Went Wrong On Disney's Darkest Day: A look at everything that went wrong on the disastrous opening day of Disneyland

I wrote pieces about the intricacies of social media and web marketing for The Blog Herald.

Samples​

• 6 Quick Ways to Choose a Keyword: Insight into how to choose the most important 1-4 words of a blog post
• Figure out the Best Hashtags to Use: Hashtags are the future of web content, so I explain how to best use them.

I have written a number of book reviews for Publisher's Weekly. I'm not allowed to share examples because the magazine wants its reviews to appear uniform among its multiple writers. That sows my ability to write towards a house style.