Why I Write
It’s Harper Lee's fault.
From the first time I read To Kill a Mockingbird, my desire to write began an amazing journey. School assignments became tomes as I experimented with the countless ways to express one thought.
Other writers only fueled the flame. A friend's brother was a reporter for the Associated Press, and his clippings quickly got pasted into my scrapbook with a pink vinyl cover. We had not one, but two, daily papers that came filled with new content, fresh stories every day. At the University of Florida, I got married as I entered the College of Journalism and soon realized that we could afford for only one of us to stay in school. I dropped out. He graduated. We moved. We had babies. We moved again. My pen and paper were always close at hand.
Six years after dropping out of school, I started writing news articles and dropping them off -- for free -- at the paper in the sleepy little town we called home. Soon, the editor offered me a job, and I was working at a newspaper in the New York Times Associated News Group. I've been writing ever since. Along the way, I went on to earn my MFA from the University of California -- Riverside.
In November 2014, Arcadia Publishing released a local history book titled Legendary Locals of Jacksonville, which I wrote with my daughter Kendall. Freelancing for a multi-billion-dollar health insurance company pays the bills, but my personal writing projects feed my soul. In between agent-shopping for a novel about growing up in South during the 1970s, I am burning up the keys on a set of Cozy Mysteries about murders during natural disasters.
My pen and paper are always close at hand.
Facts About Me
Professional
Current
• Communications contractor for a major Florida-based health insurance company
• Freelance writer and editor
• Co-author, Legendary Locals of Jacksonville, released by Arcadia Publishing
• Poet (pen name L.J. Provost), published in Writers Resist and Chasing Light anthologies, and as part of Visions & Verses Art Exhibit and PAM-Jam
Former
• FEMA Reservist, External Affairs Research & Writing Specialist 2009-2018
• Small business owner, award-winning public relations agency (now closed), and women's gym (also now closed)
• Public relations professional with more than 20 years of experience in integrated communications including crisis communications and management for major corporations and small businesses
• Journalist with 13 years of experience, including managing editor of the Jacksonville Business Journal, copy editor for The Florida Times-Union, and reporter/lifestyles editor for the Fernandina Beach News Leader
Professional Associations
• Editorial Freelancers Association
• Sisters in Crime
• National League of American Pen Women
• Book Review Editor, the Pen Woman Magazine
• Editorial cadre member, Pen Women Press
• Florida Writers Association
Professional Recognition
• Silver Anvil, National PRSA
• 2 Bronze Anvil Awards, National PRSA
• Golden Image, State of Florida, FPRA
• Image Awards, North Florida
• Grand All Image Awards (3), FPRA
• Awards of Distinction, State of Florida, FPRA
Education
• MFA in Creative Writing, University of California-Riverside
• B.A., Literature & Communications, University of North Florida
• Graduate studies, Linguistics, University of North Florida
• Executive Communications Program, J.L. Kellogg Graduate School
• Independent Study Courses, Emergency Management Institute
• Disaster Training Courses and Programs, FEMA
Keep scrolling to see samples of my work.
Portfolio
Medical Risk Adjustment Coding Newsletter
Physicians, hospitals, care facilities and their billing staff must meet federal requirements when submitting medical claims. These coding newsletters help them meet those requirements. (All links to publications are public access.)
Portfolio
HEDIS Quality Measures Tip Sheets
Federal regulators offer financial rewards for healthcare providers who
meet or exceed certain quality measures. These tip sheets help providers
and their billing staff stay aware of the ever-changing measures.
(All links to publications are public access.)
Portfolio
Wellness Newsletter for Health Care Consumers
No links available to materials behind the firewall.
Click on the image for a full view.
Portfolio
Publications
The center image below is of the local history book
Legendary Locals of Jacksonville, which I co-wrote
with Kendall Brunson.
Chasing Light and Writers Resist are anthologies that feature my poetry.
Click on the image for a full view.