Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Ah! Plause! Productions
The writer’s life is as challenging, creative, glamorous, rewarding and meaningful as you make it. It is intense. It is fun. And it doesn’t come easily.
I’m the lead writer and founder of Ah! Plause! Productions. I opened the business in 1994 and collaborate with a team of copywriters, bloggers, designers and bright idea people who have a lifetime of experience and endless innovation. We are ego-free and deadline-driven. We bring ideas to life (and get paid for it).
As a freelancer, it’s unusual to work with someone who has been in the trenches and can provide you with invaluable insights and guidance. I’m eager to help you explore and recognize your individual writing talents and create a plan to utilize those talents.
My journalism career launched when a kindly editor gave me a chance to write obituaries. As I wrote about the dearly departed, I breathed life into my own career. I branched out as a reporter and wrote for newspapers for a decade or two. I’ve written everything from plays, PR, magazine features, columns and books.
The National Endowment for the Arts funded my career as a touring artist in a one-woman play for eight years. The acclaim was wonderful, but the applause was not the true thrill. It was the language, the story, the words that dazzled me. So, I left the stage to write.
At Ah! Plause! Productions we specialize in book, magazine, print and online content for non-profits, small and large businesses in the U.S. and abroad. I've authored 5 books and an award-winning memoir. My columns and feature stories have appeared in more than 40 major publications worldwide.
I work from my home office, my little chamber of words, with a panoramic view.
The best part about being a freelance writer is you script your own future--packed with romance (!) and drama (!) and wit (!). When you do it well, you see your work in print and your name on the paychecks. Then you schedule a little time out because--you're the boss.
A freelance writer is also a businessperson. In the beginning, commercial or corporate work pays the rent, keeps the lights on and beefs up your portfolio. It buys groceries and erases the balance on your Visa or Mastercard.
By being a writer, I've earned self-respect, learned discipline and tenacity, sharpened my skill and created a terrific (even enviable) lifestyle. Who wouldn't want to do that?
Happily, I’ve been recognized for my efforts. Some awards I’ve won include The Thorpe Menn Award for Literary Excellence, live interviews on NPR, guest panelist for New York’s International Women's Writing Conference, SRO book signings, Kansas City Literary Festival’s Author Recruitment Chair, and a Best Actress award.
Artists need challenges. Perfecting your craft and polishing written work every day is a process I compare to the game of golf. It’s an amazing challenge that draws you back, determined to perfect it. It's a huge hurrah when fans are exuberant in their praise and sincere in their appreciation. And I confess that seeing my name on the checks I earn feels like winning a trophy.
Through PivotPlanet, you will learn the ins and outs of managing the freelance writer's life. It’s not a writing workshop. It’s a How-to-Freelance-Your-Way-Into-The-Future individual seminar.
You decide what you need to earn and how and when to make it happen. That's why you need PivotPlanet--to learn to generate a product that has market value and makes you feel great. Truly great.