The Writer at Large / Portfolio

Another fashion conundrum solved. Just in the nick of time.

Denise L. of Fairborn, Ohio writes in to ask "What to wear for holiday parties that's festive but doesn't scream Christmas?" Coldwater Creek's Style Squad (aka moi) responds.

Enter the Holiday Sweepstakes on Facebook to win these Coldwater Creek looks (they're my favs).

Just "like" Coldwater Creek on Facebook and enter the contest - Nov. 15-21.  

Visit Coldwater Creek's newest micro-website, the Style Spot.

Exclusive Preview: NEW Style Squad Crushes

Just in case you don't know how to wear a blazer, I'm going to explain it to you. The Style Squad's newest picks go live 10/14. So you're seeing mine before anyone! And check out the Style Spot's new design. 

Today's E-Mail Campaign

This is a great example of how Coldwater Creek is building brand consistency across all channels. The email messaging was lifted directly from catalog editorial that I wrote months ago. 

Another burning fashion conundrum - SOLVED

Visit Coldwater Creek's Case Closed, a feature of our new social networking/fashion blog venture, the Style Spot, where I dispense mind-altering, life-defining fashion advice. 

Fall Sale E-Mail Campaign

I always loved September and the whole back-to-school thing so I came up with this email campaign concept which was then executed by the design teams  for direct and retail promotions. 

AKA "in-house fashionista"

Coldwater Creek just launched a new mini-website, the Style Spot, and I'm one of three "in-house fashionistas" featured on the Style Squad. It's a great outlet for expressing my inner boho-chic! These are my first picks from the late summer collection. I actually wore most of them on a recent 3-day weekend trip to Victoria, B.C. Stay tuned for the next update, selections from Coldwater Creek's gorgeous new fall collection.

Moisturizers, motorcycles, women's apparel and more...

That's one of the things I love about my work. The variety. One day I'll be concepting print ads for a new cookbook; the next day drafting a backgrounder for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS); the next night burning the midnight oil writing a speech  for the keynote speaker at an international business conference. That's because as The Writer at Large, I provide writing, website, and marketing/communications services to  national companies like Sunset Books, AeroVironment, Inc., and the Motorcycle Industry Council, among others. Check out the projects I've done for clients over on the left. Last year I rejoined  Coldwater Creek as a sr. copywriter for catalog copy, editorial, product naming, retail, e-commerce, and social media. Some of my published essays and articles are on the right. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a big deal to me to have been published in The Washington Post's Sunday Outlook section. Twice.

Prior to launching The Writer at Large, I headed up the web copy department for Coldwater Creek, a billion dollar women's apparel company headquartered in beautiful Sandpoint, Idaho. So I know a thing or two about e-commerce and writing for the web. Picked up some fabric and clothing terminology along the way, too, not that I  wasn't already a shopping goddess by avocation. Oh, and I came up with service names and wrote all the website copy for the company's new spa venture, a genre I picked up when I was a freelance copywriter for the Golden Door Resort and its sister spa Rancho La Puerta. 

Damn all that research getting facials and massages and what not.

And what about motorcycles? Well, I took my first Motorcycle Safety Foundation Beginning RiderCourse in San Francisco and then steered my career away from high tech public relations to a fast track in the motorcycle industry. In addition to working for Kawasaki's outside media relations agency, I worked at Kawasaki's North American

corporate headquarters, handling all new product introductions and media relations. Later I served in communications roles at the Motorcycle Industry Council, the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America. Besides working behind the scenes, such as helping to produce a feature on professional motocross champion James "Bubba" Stewart for 60 Minutes, I've also spent time in front of the camera as a spokesperson on the CBS Early Show and ESPN's Cold Pizza.

So whether it's motorcycles or moisturizers, shirts or skirts, and just about everything in between, I provide creative solutions for marketing and communications needs, one word at a time. With no hidden fees for style and wit.

A couple of seasons ago, I added to my copy repetoire by getting up at 2:30 a.m. every Friday and Saturday morning to be the first one making the 9-mile drive up to our beloved Schweitzer Mountain Ski Resort, where I was, ta da, a snow reporter.

Now when I'm not writing, you'll find me on the bike path, doing Sudoku, or making endless casts at the great northwest's favorite fly-fishing spots.