WHEREABOUTS: Stepping Out of Place, An "Outside in Literary & Travel Magazine" Anthology, oh and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Grave of Washington Irving

This past weekend, my mother-in-law and I toured the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, 15 minutes from where my husband grew up and his parents still live. Our first stop was the grave of Washington Irving. It was a grey, misty morning, the perfect setting to learn about the writer of some of my favorite stories, including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I was very happy to hear he was one of the first writers to figure out one could make a living as a writer, and it didn’t need to be a side gig!

Our morning reminded me I hadn’t yet leaked the details of my latest publishing adventure. It’s one I’m thrilled to be sharing with my friend, Brandi Dawn Henderson, and a number of other “crazy talented” writers. Brandi is main brain behind Outside In Literary & Travel Magazine, and I mentioned in my last post that we're working together on a project.

The first anthology from Outside In, called WHEREABOUTS: Stepping Out of Place, An "Outside in Literary & Travel Magazine" Anthology, was published last week. It’s a compilation of the best nonfiction from the magazine, which Brandi started in 2011. She and her editors thought the piece I submitted, “Beauty,” was worthy of inclusion, and for that I’m very grateful.

The release is being celebrated with two events, one at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore on October 12th and one in DC on the 16th. I’ll be at both, especially since I'm reading my piece at the event in Baltimore. The Baltimore event (scroll down the page for details) is at JHU’s Homewood campus in the Levering Lounge and starts at 6 with a cocktail hour. Readings start at 7. Readers are all Johns Hopkins University alumni:   me, Michele Fizzano McFarland, Shenan Prestwich, Vicki Valosik and Dario DiBattista (reading from his recently released memoir). The DC event is the official launch. It’s at 6:30pm in room A-5 of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Readers are Paula Cruickshank, Adrian Mangiuca, Angela Magnan, Shenan Prestwich and Vicki Valosik.

Hope to see you at one or both. If you can’t make it, or even if you can, I’d highly recommend buying the book, available on Amazon. It’s a great gift for the traveler in your life.

BTW, there are some Rockefellers and Chryslers buried at Sleepy Hollow. And the infamous Leona Helmsley and her husband are there as well. We’re saving those for our next trip to the cemetery, now that Mama Vera wants to do the 2-hour tour.

Harvard Business Review’s Guide to Better Business Writing: When I’m not there to edit

“Do you freeze when you learn you have to write memos to senior executives”? Do your reports meander and raise more questions than they answer for stakeholders”? Those are the first two lines of HBR’s Guide to Better Business Writing, a book I think should be in every business person’s library. And one they should use, not just let collect dust.

In just over 200 pages, it summarizes the key tips, tools & tricks individuals need to write pieces that are clear and meet their intended goals, and I think it can ultimately make writing easier and less painful. Subjects range from understanding readers to the dos and don’ts of business writing etiquette and how not to “anesthetize” readers. Only a tiny fraction of the book is about grammar, which does my heart good. I’m not dissing grammar; I think it should be high on the writing checklist, just not at the top. Oh and there’s a really complete writing checklist in the book, starting on page 139.

I stumbled on this practical, informative guide, which BTW, I get nothing for talking about, while gathering research for a new project I'm working on with Brandi Dawn Henderson, a fantastic writer, editor and teacher (Check out Outside In Literary &Travel Magazine, the quarterly journal she edits. The next issue is due out October 5th.). We are developing a training program to give employees of small and medium sized businesses faith in their ability to write and help them deliver pieces that are clear and accurate as well as message and audience appropriate. Stay tuned for details on “Conscious Writing for Business."

For some, even me at times, writing can be a terrifying, solitary, boring sport. There are days where those first words just won’t come and when they do, they’re just awful. Earnest Hemingway once said that “the first draft of everything is shit,” and I think this book (coupled with our training of course!) is a great tool for moving that final version of a memo, a report or even a simple email, far from shit and towards greatness.

I’ve had the book for a week and I find myself flipping through it daily, along with my ancient copy of the AP Stylebook. What’s your secret to ensuring your writing doesn’t put your readers to sleep and delivers as intended? Leave your comment below.

8 months to figure out I had cataracts? There’s a story there!

I’m always looking for things to write about. Sometimes my random thoughts sit in a journal for weeks or years before I do anything with them. Some don’t ever see print. But occasionally I'm driven to get these musings to the public, if for nothing more than to make me feel better.

This piece, published in the most recent issue of the Wharton Healthcare Management Alumni Association Newsletter, tells my lessons learned from uncomfortable dealings with the medical establishment in 2012 and early 2013.

In late 2012, I was diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes; two months later, I had very simple surgery to remove them. The diagnosis came about eight months, three different types of contacts, four doctors, and approximately seven consultations after I first told my eye doctor the glasses with progressive lenses I’d been trying to wear for the past several months weren’t working.

Neither doctor(s) nor patient (I didn’t get off easy!) took the extra time to ask the right questions; Plus, the doctors continued to think of cataracts as a purely age-related disease. Now that I’ve had the surgery, I can look back on the event clearly (no pun intended) and unemotionally. My hope is that after reading this, you’ll see your next visit to a doctor a bit differently. Perhaps you’ll do your research before your first visit. Or if you’re a doctor, maybe you’ll take an extra minute or two with your next patient to think outside the box.

BTW, the doctor (and friend) I quoted in this piece, Dr. Sanjay “Sonny” Goel, Executive Medical Director for LasikPlus Laser Vision Centers and Visium Eye Institute also had an article published in this issue of Wharton. It’s about the rising costs of healthcare as they relate to cataract surgery. Be sure to check it out.

Have you ever felt like you just HAD to share an experience to anyone who would listen? How did you tell your story? Share in the comments below.

Without My Girls, Where Would I be Today?

Circa 1978

More than two million girls are Girl Scouts, and more than 59 million American women were Girl Scouts as kids. Plus:

• 10 of 17 women (59%) in the US Senate are former Girl Scouts.
• 45 of 75 women (60%) in the House of Representatives are former Girl Scouts.
• 54% of all women business owners are former Girl Scouts.
• 76% of Girl Scout alumnae say Girl Scouts had a positive impact on their lives.

I found my Brownie pin last week, and the timing was perfect, as I’m now one of the co-troop leaders of Brownie Troop #10281 in Reservoir Hill, a neighborhood in Baltimore City.

If I did the math right, I received my pin in 1978, during meetings in the lunchroom at Church Lane Elementary in Randallstown, Maryland. I doubt I thought much about its significance then; I was just happy to be with my friends and do fun things to earn badges, oh and to sell cookies.

Today, my eight new best friends, precocious 7- and 8-year olds, come together from a wide range of experiences and socioeconomic backgrounds, to have fun and develop the skills they need to contribute to their schools, their neighborhood and the larger community, now and well into the future.

I’m excited (and a tiny bit scared) to be doing for them what my troop leaders did for me. Girl Scouting taught me to speak up for myself, developing my courage, confidence and character, i.e. the skills all girls need to be leaders. Without my years in Girl Scouts, I’m not sure I would have taken the path I did, getting a degree in chemistry and having the courage to change careers several times till I found the one I loved, one that focuses on the sciences and technology.

Statistics show reduced numbers of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering & math) fields. But my lovely ladies have ignored that statistic, and have chosen to start their Girl Scout year off on a scientific journey that will teach them to be responsible stewards for the earth. We, the leaders of Troop #10281, are going to do our part to get them interested and keep them there.

Were you part of something that helped form the adult you are today? Were you a Girl Scout, Boy Scout or member of another organization, and if so, are your kids involved today? Feel free to share your experiences below.

My first post. I feel like a baby taking its first steps.

And I'm off! Thanks for coming along for the journey.

Writing has to inspire, whether it’s a technical sales brochure about the latest piece of software or a “have your boobs” checked article about breast cancer. If a piece doesn’t make you want to do “something,” it hasn’t done its job; it’s just a page of words.

Let's kick this off with two very different pieces. One, published earlier this year in the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly, is about living with male breast cancer. The second, out this week in ThomasNet News’ Industry Market Trends, is an overview of Master Data Management, and details how implementing MDM can help manufacturers make better use of their data.

For those who don’t know me, not everything I write is highly technical or science-driven. One day soon I’ll post some pieces to make you giggle. Maybe you’d like the one about picking up a dead rat from my backyard or the one about sunbathing nude in Croatia?

Here's my question for you: what will make you come back and bring your colleagues and friends? Do the writers want writing prompts & contests? Do current & future clients want more examples of my work? How about some examples of really bad grammar? Or, do you want pictures of my office mate, my dog George? A list of my favorite books? Ask and you shall receive.

Whatever the future brings for this page, I hope you'll find it a fun, informative and interesting place to spend a few minutes. Leave a comment below, so I know you've been here!