To be on the safe side and protect my work, I will post my samples here. Once I know FOR SURE that the publishing company will hire me or will use my stories, then I will remove the samples from this blog.

Fiction: Backpacker

I can hardly sit still during the six-hour flight across the Atlantic. Images of gothic architecture and cobblestone streets dance around my mind. With my last semester of high school behind me, a new adventure begins: two whole months of backpacking through Europe. Who will I meet? What will I see?

Upon arrival in London, my plan is to take in as many sights as possible in one day and board a train to Paris the next. After picking up my oversized backpack from the baggage claim, I board the Tube and head toward my hostel in the city center. Money belt safely tucked inside my jeans, I emerge from the Underground and study the map I printed from the Internet.

The confused look on my face attracts a friendly Londoner who offers to help. She points me in the right direction, and off I go. Helpful staff at the hostel’s reception desk let me know where to leave my things. I lock up my backpack and set out. Following a proper meal of “fish and chips,” I spend the afternoon photographing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus.

Early the next morning, I head to the train station to book my seat for Paris. There is only one problem: all seats are sold out! I book a seat for tomorrow, but what am I going to do now? Another night in pricey London is not in my travel budget. After wandering around the city some more, I resolve to spend the night on a bench at the train station to save money. Isn’t this what backpacking is all about?

Non-fiction: Starting an online business

With more consumers going online, small businesses are finding it more cost-effective to set up shop on the Internet rather than renting a storefront.

Here’s a look at one online business that’s taking the Internet and craft world by storm.

Know your market and have a plan
Robert Kalin, co-founder of Etsy, noted a problem in the field of handmade goods and then set about solving it.

Artists were unhappy with the existing options for selling their creations online. Starting their own website was too daunting and selling on eBay was too impersonal, so Kalin envisioned an online community in which people could buy and sell handmade goods.

Similar to eBay’s structure, Etsy features PayPal, a listings fee, and commission on products sold. Plus, the company’s philosophy inherently attracts the right kind of customer: people who appreciate handiwork.

Hone your skills and delegate everything else
A web designer, Kalin had the web know-how to design his site but knew he couldn’t launch the company on his own, so he brought on colleagues with computer programming and graphics skills.

Moreover, he consulted with business professionals to make sure he was on the right track. (Other important professionals to consult include those familiar with Internet, patent, and copyright laws.)

As for an Internet domain, new businesses should seek a name that is unique and available for purchase. Rumor has it that Kalin’s colleagues generated the name and URL “Etsy” from a computer program they wrote.

Make it happen with marketing
To advertise the Etsy website, Kalin began by handing out leaflets at craft fairs, but now he relies on word-of-mouth. It’s also possible to rent advertising space on other websites, or you can start your online business with Etsy, and let the company’s reputation do all the work for you!

König was certainly a privileged cat,
As evinced by his layers of fat.
Whilst living in the lap of luxury,
Never once did he go hungry.

He took his naps in a lovely Swiss lakeside home
On a cozy woolen blanket placed where the sun shone.
Because he wasn’t of pure breed, one wondered indeed
Whether or not König was a much more modest seed.

His colors revealed, perhaps, a calico mother.
But, truth be told, he never knew his father.
You see his life began on the wrong side of the tracks.
For hunting mice and insects he had a knack.

In fact, König wasn’t always his moniker.
With Christian names his mother didn’t bother,
So at birth she called him Cat Number Two.
Then, sadly, after a few months she bid him adieu.

In other news, I am going to submit a short children’s skit for a website’s consideration. I am only 25% afraid they will use it without my permission, so I am going to include a little invoice-type note in case they decide they want to use the skit, but don’t want to hire me to write more. To protect myself, I am going to publish the skit here.

TEACHERS: Please feel free to use this skit in your classroom. I created it with my 5th graders in mind to align with California English Language Arts Standard “Written and Oral English Language Conventions” 1.1

PUBLISHERS: If you wish to include this skit in a work you will soon publish, please first contact me for permission and to negotiate a rate. Do so by leaving a comment with this post – be sure to include the best time and way to reach you.

Two Clauses Are Better Than One

Characters:

*Narrator
*Dependent Clause (w/ sign hanging from neck with the phrase “Because we all completed the homework assignment”)
*Subject (w/ sign hanging from neck with the noun phrase “our teacher”)
*Predicate (w/ sign hanging from neck with the verb phrase “dismissed us for recess earlier than usual.”)
*Comma

Narrator: “Dependent Clause” is a lonely fellow, though he does have a lot going for him. Not only does he express ideas with a noun and a verb, he also features a subordinating conjunction word. (Points to each element while naming it.)

Dependent Clause: (Sitting on a bench, lost in thought) I have everything a clause could want, but I still feel like something is missing. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to express a complete thought, unless I find myself some friends.

Narrator: Meanwhile, “Subject” and “Predicate” are having similar thoughts.

Predicate: Hey, Subject, I’ve been thinking: We certainly have a lot of fun together, but I find that it can be a bit dull and boring just the two of us. No offense.

Subject: I know what you mean. Although we form a complete thought, I would rather not be just a simple sentence. If we seek out some new friends, we can form a more complex sentence.

Predicate: Look! There’s “Dependent Clause” – perhaps he can help us!

Subject: (Walking toward the bench.) Hi there, “Dependent Clause.” How are you doing?

Dependent Clause: I’m fine, thank you, though I am facing a bit of a dilemma. I need some help forming a complete thought – I just can’t stand on my own. I’m not a sentence.

Predicate: I think we can help each other out. Let me explain. Because “Subject” and I form a complete thought, we are an independent clause, which means we can stand on our own. Although we don’t necessarily need to make any more friends, we think we’d become a much more interesting sentence if we do.

Subject: … Yeah! If we join forces, together we can form a more complex sentence!

Narrator: The three friends nod in agreement and get to work figuring out the order in which they should go.

(After a couple of different attempts and combinations, the three of them stand in this order: “Because we all completed the homework assignment our teacher dismissed us for recess earlier than usual.”)

Comma: (Clearing her throat.) Ehem. Excuse me – may I suggest something?

Dependent Clause: Certainly.

Comma: Currently, the three of you form a run-on sentence. You are missing a very important punctuation mark. Do you mind if I join you? (Comma places herself between “Dependent Clause” and “Subject.” They all welcome Comma, and everyone is pleased with what they have formed.)

I don’t want to get a day job. It doesn’t bother me that I don’t have a day job. I love being home. I love that I get to read, be inspired, relax, and write when I want to.

It would also be nice to go on more trips and buy luxuries here and there, but we can’t because I don’t have a day job.

It’s not that I haven’t tried to get a day job – it’s that I can’t legally get one so easily here. The Swiss are a lot less reluctant to pay for work under the table. Being American makes it especially difficult to get a legitimate day job. It’s not impossible, but nearly so. Every time I try, apply, or interview I feel like giving up because I always hit that brick wall known as my work permit status. I am highly qualified, but too American.

So, if someone did miraculously hire me to teach English, I’d be thrilled! But I am perfectly happy staying at home. I am not discouraged at all about not being able to have a day job and make extra money (stuff is just stuff – one salary pays for the important things we need: a roof over our heads, health insurance, good food to eat), but I am discouraged by the process of trying to get a day job. Does that make sense?

The flag of FL

So, I stopped worrying about the identity theft article because it turned out to be pretty legitimate. Once I finally saw my article and others published, I felt a lot better. Unfortunately, it’s not one I’m going to link to, advertise, or use as a clip because I noticed a grammar error and I am too proud to contact the editor to see if he can change it. I misused the word “who” when I should have used “whom.” I hate stuff like that and am embarrassed that I didn’t catch it sooner.

On a positive note, I got an offer to write 2-4 blog posts per month related to travel. The pay isn’t much, but it is pay and exposure. Unfortunately, I think I waited to long to respond to one of the editor’s e-mails and now she doesn’t want me! I can’t be sure. I will wait a couple of weeks and if I still don’t hear from her, I am going to take my story ideas elsewhere.

Totally off topic, I finally got out of the car and visited Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Before, we had only done a lot of driving through Liechtenstein’s capital on our way to someplace else, but one rainy Sunday, I suggested we make a genuine visit. We even visited the Landesmuseum while in town. The husband and I like to jokingly refer to the Liechtensteiners as “Floridians” because their abbreviation is FL, like Florida.

I should be rejoicing about GETTING PAID to write something but, instead, I am pacing the room…

I was a bit discouraged today when I first started reading this great blog I found through a friend’s blog. The author has traveled A LOT and to some amazing places. She is a wonderful writer with a beautiful command of the English language, but confused it’s and its once in a post and I really hate that. Also, I notice that Travel Girl and other successful travel writers write really long (sometimes boring posts that I just skim), whereas my pieces are more concise (though could use more pith). Can’t decide what’s better since I read somewhere else that blogs are more appealing when the posts are short (don’t worry – not trying to make this blog a success). So now I have to figure out what’s more important: keep posts short so my blog will be more appealing to people on the go or write longer posts and hope that the right people will see something they like and hire me (i.e. use blog as tool to get writing jobs)?  All this got me to thinking that maybe I am not cut out to be a travel writer because a) there are lots of people already doing that, so I probably wouldn’t stand out from the crowd, b) I think that girl writes better than I do and she certainly uses bigger words, c) I haven’t been doing too much traveling lately and won’t be for a while (no job = no money), and d) I would probably make a better editor. I mean, really, I don’t think I have very much talent in the area of creative writing. I just don’t have very unique ideas, but I like to put words together in a coherent manner (this post is an exception as I am allowing it be a stream of consciousness piece) and move them around to my final liking. Writers like Travel Girl can get away with confusing it’s and its because once they go really professional they have editors to help them with stuff like that.

Continued reading the archives of Travel Girl’s blog and actually started to feel a glimmer of hope. I decided not to scrap idea of being travel writer for the following reasons:

1. I realized that Travel Girl is successful at being a travel writer because her blog gets a lot of exposure = marketing people pay her to write posts on her blog about hotels and suffering tourist destinations like ***** because they know she gets a good amount of traffic. If I can pump up my exposure, then maybe people will discover they like my style and will want to sponsor my trip to someplace not so desirable but probably really cool.

2. Travel Girl occasionally writes about trips she’s taken in the past (even like over ten years ago). I can do that too! I’ve taken some cool trips to places that people like to Google. Maybe that will increase traffic to my blog (not this one, the one on which I write about Switzerland, etc.) Have already changed subtitle of my blog to sound more generic than just reflections on living in Switzerland (it’s such a tiny country anyway that I am sure I’d run out of things to write about by the end of the year). Goal is to spend the month of July writing about past travels.

3. I read a quote by Josh Billings that says, “Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there.” I have it in my mind to write about traveling, so I will stick to it. I will know I have gotten there when I have received some sort of monetary compensation for a piece that I have written about traveling somewhere. Shan’t give up until that happens, even if it takes all year. Really, I have nothing to lose. Lucky enough to have a husband who makes a decent enough amount of money that we can survive with just his salary (though won’t be eating out for a while and will have to continue making minimum payments on all our debts). Unfortunately, that means no exotic vacations for a while, so won’t be reviewing 5 star hotels any time soon.

Plan of Action:

• Find a niche, to start out with, and I think I already have an idea.
• Change the template for my e-mail query letters because it sucks (which probably explains why I haven’t heard anything from the 4 or 5 companies I sent letters to). I won’t embarrass myself by copying and pasting the letter here, but let’s just say  it included the phrase “my moleskine notebook isn’t a talisman…” What was I thinking? Travel Girl briefly mentioned writing about ***** in her moleskine notebook and it made me want to gag. Plus, that line is a total lie because the only reason I bought the notebook was because it says that Picasso and Hemingway used to use these notebooks and I thought that they would bring me good fortune, somehow.
• Continue to figure out ways to increase traffic to my blog AND join Twitter (after I finish nanny job otherwise all tweets would sound like, “Wiped poopy butt without puking.”)
• Read all instructions for submitting materials to editors. Made terrible error of submitting query for travel vignette when should have sent finished piece – I hope they haven’t blacklisted me (CSM – will send one finished piece this month, wait a month and if no word, try one last time with a kick ass piece and then move on. No sense in having them pass on my info to be included in others’ blacklists.)
• Be true to my personal writing style, but for travel pieces must write less of a summary or list of highlights and more anecdotes.
• Dissect on-line travel pieces written by authors who get some sort of compensation for what they do. If successful, may actually make money off my blog and should stick to that. Later, should dissect pieces written for magazines and newspapers  and try to emulate (lofty goal, but worth a try).

Ultimately, I would like to publish children’s literature or a memoir. I am not sure, however, that kids will even like my story ideas nor if my life is particularly interesting enough to read about. So, for now I am pursuing a career in freelance writing to test the waters and find out if other people think I am good at writing – well, at least good enough to pay me for it.

Someday, I even hope to save up enough money to buy myself a pair of Jimmy Choo high heels with my hard earned freelancing money, though I imagine a will be saving for a long time!