Dedicated Writer - ProfilesArchive

About Me

Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor - Image Hosting

My name is Tammy and I am a freelance writer, editor and public relations consultant. I have a BA degree in journalism, with a specialization in public relations for churches and ministries, from Baylor University, 1980, magna cum laude. I am happily married and the mother of two grown sons.
The name "Dedicated Publications Services" for my new in-home desk-top publishing business, came out of my profile name for my other myspace page "Dedicated To Christ," which is about my faith. I have become known to so many friends here as "Dedicated" that I thought I would just carry that over to this site and use it for my business.
I am not a book publisher and did not realize there would be some confusion on that point when I chose my business name. I am mostly looking for a few light projects that I can do out of my home, because I have several health problems that require me to pace myself. I would most like to find a magazine for which I can write articles on a regular basis. And like every writer, I would like to write books someday. But right now I just want to earn a little extra money to help pay bills.
I have done desk-top publishing off and on over the past 20+ years so that I could work out of my home while raising my kids. My projects have included brochures, pamphlets, website copy, press releases, and manuscript editing and preparation. I have worked for small community newspapers, political candidates, small businesses, and churches and ministries.
Myspace Countdown Clocks at WishAFriend.com
Your Personality Profile
You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.
You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming! The World's Shortest Personality Test
DEDICATED PUBLICATIONS SERVICES
My resume,references and portfolio are available upon request. ***Articles/columns for newspapers and magazines***
Most of my experience is with newspaper features, but I really want to do more magazine writing. I have a few pieces pending with some webzines right now. I have strong interviewing skills and believe everyone has a story. It is up to the interviewer to FIND that story. I am posting several of my favorite newspaper pieces on my blog. I also have some personal experience and devotional blogs on my faith page that reflect my writing style for those type articles.
***Newsletters***
I have produced several print newsletters in my home for organizations, churches, political candidates, etc. I have never done a web newsletter, but I am researching how to do that and would love to have an opportunity to try one. So I will give a good rate to make up for my lack of experience. I am currently doing a quarterly print newsletter for a medical lab in Dallas, TX.
***Manuscript Preparation - Copyediting/Proofreading/Layout***
I have prepared one full-length book and a few booklets. These were for individuals and businesses who were self-publishing.
***Press Releases/Press Kit Creation***
I have written many, many press releases for churches, organizations, political candidates, and businesses. A sample press release is on my blog.
***Webpage copy/editing***
I helped to write and edit copy for www.illusionministry.com for professional illusionist Bruce Chadwick, if you want to see a sample of my work. I also put up two myspace pages for him, which are on my top friends.
***Brochure Copy/Layout***
I have written brochures for churches and political candidates.
***Postcards/mailers/door hangers***
I Have done many of these for organizations and political candidates.
***Advertising Copy/Copyediting***
I am not really an artist, but have access to a couple of very talented individuals. I am also learning how to do some artwork and photo preparation on the computer. I have some experience with photography.
***Research***
I love research!!!
FEES
While I am interested in submitting articles, columns, literary pieces, etc., to magazines and newspapers on speculation, I work on a fee basis for all desk-top publishing projects. I am not interested in any projects for which I would have to invest capital, work on commission, or share in royalties only after publication.
A book that I have found invaluable is The Writer's Market Companion by Joe Feiertag, Mary Carmen Cuito and the Editors of Writer's Market. I have the 2000, edition. (I guess I should really update and get the newest one.) On pages 356-328 is a list of sample fees that represent the range of prices charged by freelance writers across America. I usually refer to this as a guideline when setting my fees. However, I always take the scope of the project into consideration when setting a fee.

My Interests

Howdy from Texas!

Writing is what I do most of the day. My husband calls me an "email junkie" because I spend so much time communicating through that medium. I think it is helping me with my "empty nest" syndrome. LOL.

I love to do research. I love history and had it as my second major in college. I am fascinated with learning about other cultures. I was once involved in politics, but became burned out by all the stress. I have several health issues and it has caused me to do quite a bit of research in recent years on nutrition and medicine.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence
You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well.
An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly.
You are also good at remembering information and convicing someone of your point of view.
A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary.

You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator. What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

Next to writing, my favorite hobbies are acting, gardening and some crafts. I have on the blog of my other page a video of a dramatic piece I wrote that I perform at churches. I was recently interviewed by Pastor Jim Reese on his blogtalkradio program Cross Connected about this video. If you want to hear it here is the banner/link. It is the August 17 broadcast. Following that program, Pastor Jim invited me back on August 30. On that program I did a reading from one of my favorite books, "I've Got To Talk To Somebody, God" by Marjorie Holmes. You have to subscribe to the program to get to it, but it is free.

As you can see by my background, I adore gardening. I have uploaded some of my favorite gardening and craft pics. I do occasionally sell some of my crafts, so if you see something you like, let me know. Maybe I should do a craft page too - LOL.

The slide show below is posted in memory of a special person who showed unconditional love to all she met, my sister-in-law Janice Marie although handicapped by Down Syndrome, Jan lived a full life. She laughed, she hugged, and she knew how to have fun. Most of all, she ministered to those around her with her love. She is now safe in the arms of Jesus. What a joyous reunion awaits us in heaven!

I'd like to meet:

Friends
While I put up this page to promote my new desk-top publishing business and to network with other writers, I love meeting people from all walks of life. Who knows, I may want to interview you some day!
If you want to add me to your friends and your page is set to "Private" please send me a message with a little bit about yourself and why you want to add me.
I feel I must also add here that if you are a man who is on myspace just to meet women, please do not contact me or send me an add request.
Comments
I have also discovered that I need to say something about comment approval. I am meeting people through this page from many faiths, cultures, and philosophies of life. I am enjoying the exchange of ideas. However, I ask that whatever your personal beliefs are, that you please respect mine. Please do not send me comments that include sexual/erotic content. It is your right to have these on your page if you so desire, but this is my page and it reflects who I am. If you are of another faith, I promise not to send you comments which include the religious symbols of my faith and I ask that you return the favor and do not send me those of yours. I believe that mutual respect is the key to building friendships among those who come from diverse backgrounds.

Music:

MUSIC: I like most genres of music, except hard and heavy metal rock. I have discovered some "genres" that I didn't even know existed during my few months on myspace, and I am still evaluating them - LOL. My favorites are Contemporary Christian, Worship music and Southern Gospel, but I also really love country. I particularly love country ballads. I also like show music (musicals, etc.), jazz, classic rock,easy-listening and classical. I have decided to indulge my love of country on this page, although if I get tired of it, I may put up something else. I discovered the project playlist site shortly after joining myspace and have just gone crazy creating playlists. Here is the link to my site www.pplaylist.com/user/3333195 I have discovered that too many songs make the playlist too hard to load up, so I will limit the number of songs and change them every once in a while. I almost didn't include the "Nut" song. After all, who wants to hire a NUT! But I have such fond memories of watching Roger Miller on variety shows when I was a kid. And this song is so much fun, I just couldn't resist. "Angels Among Us" by Alabama is dedicated to my late, sister-in-law, Jan. And, of course, all of the love songs are dedicated to my wonderful husband - my partner, my lover, my best friend.
This was fun. I went to a site where I could create an animated me. This is the country western me - LOL! I have some others in my pics. I think it's been a long time since I was that skinny! No, I can't really play the guitar. I started to learn once when I was a kid, but decided pressing on the strings hurt my fingers too much. I wish I hadn't been such a sissy. But I do wear a lot of western wear. After all, I'm a native Texan!

Movies:

MOVIES: CHARIOTS OF FIRE and THE SOUND OF MUSIC are my all time favorites! Other favorites include most John Wayne movies, Star Trek movies, "THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA", "THE ROBE", "BEN HUR", "BRAVEHEART", "FAR AND AWAY" and "THE WIND AND THE LION". Basically, I love musicals, epic movies, historical movies, westerns, spy movies, sci-fi, romantic comedies and most anything that is good "CLEAN" fun. I do not like horror movies or anything with graphic sexual content).

Television:

TV:

LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE and THE WALTONS - I think these are two of the best shows ever to be on television. I am a huge fan of Jeopordy and have to admit that I am also a Trekkie. Other favorites are NUMBERS, NCIS, and 24. I love to watch reruns of old shows especially westerns and sitcoms from the 1960s and 70s. I enjoy the history channel when I get a chance to watch it.

Books:

BOOKS: I read with a passion. The Bible, novels, history, biographies, magazines, theology, philosophy . . . It would take too much space to name even my favorite books and authors. One book that has had a tremendous affect on my life is "The Hiding Place" by Corrie Ten Boom.I have also been greatly affected in my own writng by the works of Marjorie Holmes and Catherine Marshall.

Heroes:

Kneeling Soldier Statue in Iraq
This statue currently stands outside the Iraqi palace, which is home to the 4th Infantry division. It will eventually be shipped home and placed in the memorial museum in Fort Hood, TX.
The statue was created by an Iraqi artist named Kalat, who for years was forced by Saddam Hussein to make the many hundreds of bronze busts of Saddam that dotted Baghdad.
Kalat was so grateful for the Americans liberation of his country; that he melted 3 of the heads of the fallen Saddam and made the statue as a memorial to the American soldiers and their fallen warriors.
Kalat worked on this memorial night and day for several months.
To the left of the kneelig soldier is a small Iraqi girl giving the soldier comfort as he mourns the loss of his comrade in arms.
Why don't we hear about things like this in the news?

Prayer Request: When you read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world.

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen."

If you have a photo that would fit well in this slide show, please send it to me, I found most of these on photobucket.

My Blog

The Quest To Know The Real Me

The Quest To Know The Real Me I decided to take a break from posting my clippings and do a real blog. I have been planning this for a while to post on my other page, but decided to post it here on ...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Sat, 28 Jul 2007 06:44:00 PST

Autism awareness interview - WHJ 10-9-02

Autism Awareness interview - White Hall Journal 10-9-02I really enjoy interviewing people who are involved in their communities and who promote important causes. This is an interview and research arti...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Sun, 22 Jul 2007 04:56:00 PST

I love interviewing veterans - WHJ 2-12-03 interview with Col. Charles Lovelady USAR, retired

I love to interview veterans!Veterans are among my favorite people to interview because they are real heroes and always have such fascinating courageous stories. Here is one of the many interviews I h...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 07:53:00 PST

My favorite interview of all time - a young musician named Chad King

My favorite interview of all timeMy interview with a young man named Chad King has to be my favorite interview and one I will never forget. Since I moved from White Hall shortly after this article was...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Mon, 16 Jul 2007 04:03:00 PST

from White Hall Journal 9-11-02 - Local Red Cross Worker spends Time at Three Sites

This is one of my favorite interviews. It was published in the White Hall Journal (White Hall, Arkansas) on 9-11-02 as part of the newspaper's rembrance of the one year anniversary of 9-11-01. I inter...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:17:00 PST

a story from a long, long time ago

A story from a long, long time agoFor some reason the story that I wrote for my high school literary magazine came to my mind today. I have been debating all day whether it would just be too weird to ...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:09:00 PST

Press release for Bruce Chadwick

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONTACT: Magic by Bruce Chadwick, ...
Posted by Dedicated Writer on Tue, 10 Jul 2007 12:17:00 PST