Laurie writes hard news, feature stories, columns and blog posts as part of her job as a newspaper reporter. As an online content writer, she writes general articles about home, family, relationships, food, health, technology, the Internet and video games, as well as blog posts (personal as well as ghost-written for others), product reviews/advice, video scripts and others.
Laurie is is an avid fan of live theater and has been involved in local arts and entertainment as a member of a theater awards committee and a local public access television network. She has also written about local and state arts and entertainment topics. One of her newspaper awards was for an arts and entertainment article about zombies in film and culture, sparked by a zombie film shoot and a zombie play trilogy by separate local producers. She is an avid photographer and enjoys walking/hiking, theater, reading, animals, kids, home and family, friends, computers, video games and organizing. She has been a members of a Relay for Life team and did PR for the Relay for Life itself. She loves writing, any kind of writing, whether straight articles, blog posts, or press releases, and enjoys writing fiction and poetry as well.
Laurie S. attended college for about two years but left for a job. She later became a proofreader at a daily newspaper and worked her way into a reporter position. She later became the sports editor.
Laurie has worked full time for two newspapers and contributed to several others, as a reporter, editor and page designer. She has also done photography, videography, website updates, social media interaction, proofreading and more. She has won several awards for writing, page design, typography and headline writing. She co-led the redesign of one newspaper and contributed to the redesign of another.
As a freelance writer, she wrote weekly blog posts for a publishing company about company topics, publishing information, workplace activities, business practices, and more. She also interviewed senior leadership of the company for several posts.
Laurie was the sports editor at a daily newspaper for a decade, covering NCAA Division II college sports as well as a busy high school athletic schedule. She has written both game stories and feature articles, including a number of feature articles that were picked up by the Associated Press. She has covered a national college hockey tournament and several state high school tournaments, as well as many regional tournaments.
Laurie has written numerous business articles, both as a newspaper reporter and as a freelance writer. She was the business editor at the newspaper where she worked. In that capacity, she wrote articles, edited press releases and designed pages, including selecting Associated Press content. As a freelance writer, she wrote weekly articles for a publishing company about company topics, publishing information, workplace activities, business practices, and more.
Laurie has written numerous newspaper articles focusing on women, including several articles on an annual women's expo and on women's induction into a regional Hall of Fame, along with various articles that focused on women's issues, women in business, etc.
Laurie has written many articles about health subjects as a journalist and as a freelance writer. As a reporter, she often covered hospital and clinic events/news and wrote news and features about health topics relevant to people in the community. In 2012 she wrote a major article on Lyme disease (with a sidebar article on state prevalence) after a support group immediately outgrew its space because of the number of participants. As a freelance writer, she has written articles for clinics and other health sites on living healthy and on the symptoms to watch out for regarding certain illnesses and conditions.
Laurie has written technology articles for multiple clients and in the 1990s and early 2000s was a system administrator for a small daily newspaper where she installed software and hardware, managed a small server, helped others with computer issues, maintained story and photo archives, managed the website and did troubleshooting. She also was the editor of a weekly page about computers, technology and the Internet in the mid- to late 1990s.
As a writer, she has covered such topics as cameras, e-book readers, tablets, computers, the Internet, email, browsers, cloud storage, and more. She would like to write some basic tech articles aimed at senior citizens (and others) who are technically impaired; a plethora of information doesn't help people who can't figure out how to push the Input button on a remote control to get their TV back to cable.
As a consumer, she is a fan of gadgets and wishes she could afford more of them. One of her favorites is the Amazon Fire TV, which gets more use than any other peripheral TV device ever has in her home. She finds it a brilliant combination of TV and game system.
Laurie has written many articles about outdoor/recreation topics, particularly in her work as a newspaper reporter/copy editor in a city that draws tourists for hunting, fishing, boating, swimming and other outdoor recreation. As a freelance writer, she has covered outdoor/recreation topics for clients wishing articles about activities available in their areas. Laurie has written many blog posts for car dealerships, some about vehicles but most about community offerings such as restaurants, shops, activities, trips, and other topics to keep potential car buyers engaged in the blogs.
Laurie has written many articles focusing on electronics, primarily computers, tablets, e-book readers and small gadgets. She designed a weekly newspaper page in this subject area, writing a column and selecting Associated Press articles and photos to round out the page. Personally, she has both old and new electronic devices, from Pong and Atari 2600 to Meta Quest, and carries her smartphone, tablet and camera everywhere she goes.
Laurie has written about many arts and entertainment topics. She has interviewed artists, authors, playwrights theater actors, producers and directors, and has written book and movie reviews.
Laurie enjoys writing about organizing, cleaning, cooking, entertaining and other topics related to home life. She will write straight articles and tip sheets on these topics but also likes to write blog posts and first-person articles giving personal experiences. She particularly enjoys writing articles on organizing the home and streamlining cleaning so people have more time to spend enjoying their homes. She writes about natural cleaning products, the use of which simplifies cleaning, takes up less storage, saves money and helps the environment.
Laurie S. has written frequently about topics relating to family and children, both as a newspaper reporter and as a freelance writer. She has focused on family activities, things to do when traveling, involving kids in the kitchen, and more. She has two children and a granddaughter and draws upon her experiences with children in her writing. She was a stay-at-home mom (her daughter called her a "Kool-Aid Mom") who had many neighborhood kids and cousins in her house, yard and car over the years. Her kids are now grown so she goes on adventures with her granddaughter and niece.
Laurie has written a number of travel articles, both as a newspaper reporter and as a freelance writer. Her newspaper articles have focused on her travels to places such as New York and Kansas City, while her freelance articles have outlined places of interest in and near clients' communities. She has written freelance articles on travel for restaurants, car dealerships, real-estate agencies and other businesses who wish to attract the attention of people who may wish to spend time in or relocate to their cities.
Laurie has written humorous blog posts, columns, photo captions and more, both as a newspaper reporter/columnist and as a freelance writer. Her comedic writing is usually done with a wry style, but she can adjust that style to fit a client's wishes. She also scouts comedy writing and performing opportunities for a comedian and edits his comedy writing.
Laurie has worked with multimedia in many ways in her career, both as a newspaper reporter as a freelance writer. In addition to writing, she has shot and edited photos and video (sometimes merging them with text), designed newspaper pages, written photo captions and more. She has also written several articles about using photography programs and other software and has trained co-workers to use multimedia software.
Laurie has written occasional articles about pets, both as a newspaper reporter and as a freelance writer. She has written numerous articles focusing on animal shelter issues, especially adoption, as a reporter, and has focused on pet care tips as a freelance writer. She has had cats for most of her life and currently has two cats. She has had several dogs as well.
Laurie has written articles, blog posts and press releases that marketed products and services. She has also written press kits, done social media marketing, developed contacts and run a marketing promotion.
Laurie is a longtime gamer who enjoys playing family/board/card games and computer/video games (her favorite board game is The Settlers of Catan and her favorite video game is The Legend of Zelda) and taking part in online groups and social media related to gaming. She has dona a bit of writing on family/board/card games (and would love to do more) but has done more on video games. She wrote video scripts, press releases and social media posts; put together a press kit; and ran a promotional campaign, all for a client's video game.
Laurie has written a number of articles reflecting green products, such as LED light bulbs, cleaning products, solar panels, ductless heat pumps, programmable thermostats, and more.
Laurie has written a number of articles reflecting green living, focusing on consumer products, consumer choices, and more, including making your own green cleaning products. She has focused on energy-efficient products such as ductless heat pumps to replace baseboard heaters that use three times the electricity, energy-efficient light bulbs, solar panels, etc., and practices such as duct sealing and insulating for improved energy efficiency.
Laurie has written about relationship elements as an freelance writer, covering enjoyable activities, romance, communication, gifts, special occasions, compromising and other topics. She draws upon research, experience and listening to others to write balanced articles that speak to the heart of the reader.
Laurie is an award-winning professional journalist who worked for three decades as a newspaper reporter/copy editor for a daily newspaper. A versatile writer, she covers a variety of topics, including health, home, family, arts and entertainment, business, crime and government. She is well-versed in Associated Press style and enjoys fine-tuning articles.
As a freelance writer, she has written hundreds of articles and blog posts for clients, covering topics as diverse as home organization, technology, children's crafts and heating and air conditioning. She does extensive research and writes concise, SEO-friendly articles written to engage the reader.
Laurie has written two blogs through her work as a newspaper reporter/copy editor, one on her own and the other with a co-worker on the walks and hikes they took together. She also writes blog posts on travel and home and family topics for clients.
Laurie writes robust content for web pages, including landing pages, product descriptions, "About Us" pages, company bios, and more. She has also provided feedback to clients on their existing web pages; for example, a common issue is an "About Us" entry that leads with the company's mission statement and does not explain what the company is or does (which should be the first step) in practical terms.
Laurie has written many press releases, both as a member of community organizations and for clients as a professional writer. As a newspaper reporter/copy editor, her experience with press releases has been as an editor. In addition to editing reporters' stories and correspondents' columns, she has edited thousands of press releases in her journalism career. She knows what catches a newspaper editor's eye and what makes her roll her eyes. A lot of press releases have made Laurie roll her eyes.
Laurie has written several video scripts for a backstory of a video game. The scripts were fictional stories, some with one person speaking and some with two or three. They were initially to be used as live-action videos but the client later chose to use live-action video morphing into a comic book theme.
Laurie has written Facebook posts for several clients, including one for whom she wrote a series of posts to be used over a six-week period. As a newspaper reporter, she also managed the Facebook account of her newspaper and posted top stories, questions for readers, and intriguing links to engage with readers.
Laurie has written a speech for a Kickstarter campaign for a video game, as well as a speech for a client addressing a group of boys graduating from a class.