Freelance Writer and Social Worker

My Favorite Freelance Writing Posts

Isn't it a shame that when you write a blog some of your best posts slip away into obscurity. (Then, of course, there are the posts that truly should slip away into obscurity, but that's a different story.)

Anyway, this week I was feeling a little nostalgic, and maybe a little lazy as well, and decided to rerun some of my favorite posts from the last year or so. If you missed the originals, I hope you'll find something amusing or something informative in these selections.

1. 25 Strategies for Smashing Through Writer's Block. No, I'm not going to take the time to argue about whether there is any such thing as writer's block. Whatever we want to call it, most of us have had times when we're simply stuck, and these tips can help.

2. Freelance Writers: 7 Tips for Caring for Your Hands, Wrists, and Arms. We may not be professional athletes, but we still rely on our bodies to make a living. If you aren't already, start treating those hands with kid gloves.

3. Dear Debra - A Letter to My Sixteen Year Old Self. My personal favorite blog posts. I just wish someone really had been around when I was 16 to give me that advice!

What Being an ER Social Worker Taught Me about Writing

In 1997, I got my first job as a master's level social worker providing crisis services and bereavement support in an inner city emergency room popularly known as "The Knife and Gun Club."

Oddly enough, I loved the work, and many of the lessons I learned in the ER turned out to be great preparation for my career as a freelance writer.

1. What an emergency is...and what it isn't.

In the emergency room where I worked, the staff got pretty excited when someone's heart stopped beating or when a patient came in spurting gouts of blood from a wound or an orifice. Other than that, we were a laid-back crew.

Similarly, I don't get terribly worked up when a client calls me with an "emergency." I respond in a prompt and professional manner, but I figure if the client still has a heartbeat and is capable of speech, we have time to work things out.

It was also working in the emergency room that taught me one of my all-time favorite quotes: "Lack of prior planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

Hospice Tails Is Going on a Blog Tour

Over the next four weeks, my newest book, Hospice Tails, which describes my experiences as a hospice social worker with clients and their pets, will be featured on a dozen popular blogs.

If you have a moment, stop by to visit the blogs hosting Hospice Tails. You can read reviews, interviews with me, and guest posts that I have written. I will also be responding to readers' questions and comments. Better yet, many of the blogs are giving away free copies of Hospice Tails to a few lucky winners.

So, be sure to follow along as Hospice Tails tours the Internet.

Hospice Tails Blog Tour Schedule:

November 21 - WOW! Women on Writing Blog, The Muffin 

November 22 - Writers Inspired

November 23 - Sugar Peach

November 28 - My Reading Room

November 29 - Lisa Is a Bookworm

November 30 - Kritter's Ramblings

December 6 - Mom-E-Centric (listen to my very first podcast)

December 7 & 8 - Crazy for Books

December 13 - Selling Books

December 14 - Me and Reading

December 15 - The Caregiver's Voice

December 23 - Reviews by Molly

"Hospice Tails" Wins Praise From Hospice Pioneer

This week when I checked my email, I found a message I will always treasure. The writer of those words was Barbara Karnes, RN, hospice expert and author of Gone From My Sight, A Time to Live, and My Friend I Care. In fact, hearing her speak was part of what sparked my interest in becoming a hospice social worker.

When my book, Hospice Tails, about hospice patients and their pets, came on the market, I was thrilled when Barbara agreed to take a look at it.

Her response, which she has given me permission to print, follows:

"I loved it! I smiled, I cried, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. One of the things I liked most was that it wasn't just a good read. It was also an educational read. Intermixed in the stories is another story, the role of hospice. Debra told of hospice's relationship in people's lives without the reader knowing they were being educated. How great a gift of writing is that? Very great!"

My First Week of Self-Employment

I woke up Monday morning at just after 3:00 AM, looked at the clock, and thought, "Oh, wow, I'm self-employed!" I couldn't go back to sleep, so I finally got up, went to my computer, and pounded out two articles.

Then exhaustion began to set in--and with it, self doubt. I must be crazy. Whatever made me think I could do this? Help!

I waited until a decent hour and called a friend, who gently reminded me, "If you've been up since 3:00, you're probably tired. And I bet you haven't eaten any protein today, either."

Bullseye. I was tired and I hadn't eaten. I chugged a Glucerna nutritional shake and crept back to bed, reminding myself that I am one of my fledgling business's most powerful assets and that I need to take care of myself at least as well as I take care of my computer and printer.

When I woke up a few hours later, I felt relaxed and calm. My panic-stricken thoughts had vanished, and my self-assurance had returned: Maybe this won't be easy, but it's something I've dreamed of all my life, and I can do it.

I'd Write if I Had the Time

The woman behind the counter smiled at me as I handed over a copy of Hospice Tails for donation to the library. Then, something in her look changed as if she were thinking about a dreamy, magical place far away.

I could sense what was coming next. Don't go there, I begged her telepathically, but "there" is exactly where she went.

"I'm so envious of people who have the time to write," she said with a sigh. "I'd love to be a writer."

I offered her a nod and a slightly pained smile and made my escape. But ever since that encounter, I've thought about the response I would have liked to have given.