Services

Good communication is key if you want to get your message out there and have it heard (and read). I offer a range of services that can help you get your message across to your present and future customers, partners and employees. My services include:

• Writing newspaper/magazine copy
  
• Advertorial writing
  
• Media/press release writing
  
• Newsletter writing
  
• Web content writing
  
• Marketing writing
  
• Ghost writing
  
• Editing
  
• Book editing
  
• Proofreading
  

Do you need a writer to get your message across? Do you need an editor to polish your manuscript? Then don't hesitate to email me for a quote.

The Road of Life is Full of Shades of Grey

I'd like to announce the release of the ebook The Road of Life is Full of Shades of Grey: Every Day is a Winding Road, created, edited and compiled by Michelle Warren.

Many people contributed to the ebook, each providing one page of content. I number among them.

You can download the entire ebook here.

Social networking: The importance to business

Social networking isn't restricted to personal use. Instead, it is also a valuable business tool, and it's becoming increasingly important for entrepreneurs and businesses of all sizes to make use of the social networking tools at their disposal.

The problem is the benefits from engaging in social networking are often intangible. While I've spoken to a handful of people that have found net new business through LinkedIn and one person who got job interviews as a result of Twitter posts, it seems that for the most part, social networking is a place for business to sink time and money.

However, the benefits of social networking come from the exposure you can get from simply being there and being active. LinkedIn was developed to be an online business networking tool. Facebook has groups and fan pages that you can use to market your business. And Twitter offers interested people a way to get your news and views in a timely fashion.

There are two dangers I want to focus on related to social networking, though.

The dead zone
A tool that isn't being used isn't really much of a tool. While it's okay for your hammer or screwdriver to sit around until they're needed, it's not okay to ignore your social networking initiatives. A stagnant Twitter feed is a dead Twitter feed, and a Facebook page that hasn't been updated in several months might as well not even exist.

Businesses that jump into the social networking world need to make sure they have someone who is managing it effectively.

Spewing garbage into the ether
There's the difference between a personal touch and too much information. The former is good, and the latter will create a social networking disaster. Understand there's a fine line between being personable and telling others too much about your personal life in a public forum.

Stay professional. Now, that may mean different things to different people, but if you find yourself tweeting from the urinal in your local bar, you're probably going way too far.

The end result
While I use LinkedIn for keeping track of my network of professional contacts, I have not yet found its true value in generating new business (but others will surely tell you it's there). I've had suggestions for developing new business, but my LinkedIn efforts have not yet generated new business.

Twitter, on the other hand, I see as a valuable marketing tool. While I can't prove that it's driving traffic or potential clients to me, my suspicion is that it will eventually yield results. Time will tell if it really happens.

Writing Samples

Here you'll find a selection of writing samples on external sites. This is only a selection of the thousands of articles my byline has been attached to.

Business

Partners have to change the way they deal with customers at eChannelLine (Aug. 26, 2009)

Technology

Data centres increasingly seen as critical business priority at eChannelLine (Aug. 14, 2009)
Friday File: Game on, students at eChannelLine (April 21, 2005)
Friday File: The proof is in the petition on eChannelLine (Jan. 27, 2005)
Friday File: The HP inkjet cartridge conspiracy at eChannelLine (Feb. 24, 2005)
Data leakage as much a physical and behavioral problem as network issue at eChannelLine (Sept. 30, 2008)
HP ProCurve CTO gazes beyond the cloud at Channel Insider (March 11, 2010)
McAfee forms cloud security program at Channel Insider (March 16, 2010)
Cisco builds on Borderless Network vision with new Catalyst switches at Channel Insider (March 17, 2010)

Music

Slipknot interview at Extreme Online

Video Games

Punch-Out!! for Wii (review) at Game-Over.net (July 7, 2009)
Halo: Combat Evolved for PC (preview) at Game-Over.net (Sept. 10, 2003)

Cabin fever sets in

It's the middle of winter, and enjoying the Canadian outdoors means cold temperatures, gloomy weather and a lack of active wildlife. The splendour of freshly fallen snow -- followed by the aching muscles of clearing the driveway -- is missing in action. Instead, we're stuck with the cold, the wind and even rain. There's an element of regret that I didn't take better advantage of the outdoors during the summer months of 2009, but already I'm making plans to explore the out of doors much more this year.

It's almost cliché to say that the Canadian outdoors offers a lot -- particularly here in Ontario where we have those "Ontario, Yours To Discover" advertisements that have been trying for years to convince Ontarians to get out and experience all the province has to offer.

Like many others, I grew up outside. That doesn't mean I was outdoors every hour of every day, but it does mean I was camping almost from the time I was born and fishing from the time I could barely hold a rod. I built snowmen, had snowball fights, soaked the neighbourhood with water guns and stopped to watch squirrels playing or raccoons duck for cover in the early morning. As a budding amateur photographer, some of my favourite subjects were wild animals (one of my favourite photos my parents took of me is a very young me feeding a chipmunk peanuts from my outstretched hand).

Many factors have led to this cabin fever I'm now experiencing, including a successful September camping trip in the Parry Sound area, a continually-growing friendship with a fellow gamer and outdoorsman, learning about foraging, becoming more familiar with modern (lightweight) camping gear, and some creative non-fiction for a potential job.

And now here I am, stuck indoors without proper winter outdoors attire wishing the spring would hurry up and get here so I can go face the mosquitoes and blackflies.

Credits & Clients

My byline has appeared in several different publications, as well as on various websites. Here's a selection of where my byline has been spotted:

Technology

Channel Insider
eChannelLine
Communications & Networking
Computing Canada
Network World Canada
Silicon Valley NORTH
Toronto Computes!
Visual Convergence

Business

ConnectIT
Purchasing B2B

Video Games

CanadianGamer.ca
Game-Over.net
Total Gamer

Music

Extreme

General News

The East York Observer
The Original Bay News

Beer & Mead

The CABA Times (newsletter of the Canadian Association of Amateur Brewers)

Clients

In addition to work I've done for newspapers, magazines and newsletters, I also do content generation, press release writing and ghost-writing for businesses. A partial list of clients is below:

Ontario Power Generation
Treefrog Interactive Inc.

About Me

I've wanted to be a writer since I was about ten years old. Of course, back then I also wanted to be an actor, a private investigator and Superman. I dabbled in acting in school. I still think I could do the PI job. And since I have no superpowers and that Clark Kent guy has the Superman job (man, what job security!), I focused on the writing thing.

I wrote almost every day through high school, coming up with wild fictions about anything you can imagine. However, knowing I'd probably have to take some crappy job to support a "career" as a novelist and short fiction writer, I focused on something that would pay better and be as rewarding -- journalism. I went to college, overcame a serious shyness streak and learned all about the top-down news writing approach.

College ended and I've been writing professionally ever since. I've written about technology, video games, music, business, science, biotechnology, homebrewing and other topics. I can write serious or add a healthy dose of humour and creativity.

I take an active interest in a lot of things. I love beer, mead, wine, whisky and the process in which they are made. I brew my own beer and mead at home. If it wasn't illegal, I'd likely experiment with distilling. I love board and war games -- and have a sizable collection. I'm a movie buff. My music collection is so large that it no longer fits on my iPod. Although I took some years away from it, I absolutely love the outdoors, particularly hiking, camping and fishing (even though I'm a lousy angler). I'm a gadget geek. I read comic books and graphic novels. When the mood strikes me, I paint 28mm scale miniatures.

I simply have far too many hobbies. Life really is that interesting.