I just finished work as a production assistant for Love Note, an interactive art installation about the act of giving and receiving love notes, created by my talented friends Ellen Forney and Jacob Fennell. I look forward to being able to point you toward some pictures of this amazing piece.

I’m also preparing to launch a little business on Etsy, selling some of the clothing and other handmade items I compulsively make when I’m not writing, mothering, or otherwise occupied.  I’m even toying with ideas for a new blog to support the Etsy store and put a little of my personal writing back out there again.

I feel like stretching my creative wings in other areas inspires me to do even better work as a professional writer, and I’m always open to awesome new clients. So, if you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line.

For now I’m focusing on several projects for Speakeasy. I’m also writing content for a new website for an east coast IT firm, and I’m looking forward to continuing work on the solar energy company business plan I mentioned earlier.

In more personal news, sleep training efforts with my toddler are going extremely well. I don’t want to jinx it, but it really looks like the whole family will soon be sleeping through the night on a regular basis – for the first time in 16 months! This is great news for my sanity and my career, but also for my creative aspirations. I’ve started finding more time and energy to chip away at my 6-year-old “maybe-novel” project, with help from an extraordinary piece of software. Scrivener is designed specifically for managing large writing projects, and it has completely changed my life. All the random scribblings that have been scattered through journals and word files and mobile app notes are slowly coalescing into something that may one day make sense as a manuscript.

That’s it for now. As always, if you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line.

It didn’t help when my glasses broke in half on Monday, right down the middle in classic nerd style. My optometrist is slammed because of people trying to use up their calendar year insurance, so I’m going to be wearing my old glasses for at least another couple of weeks. They’re thick and clunky, and it’s not a good look in combination with my current hairdo, which is much more orange and poofy than I intended. But since I’m spending most of my waking hours either typing furiously or reading “How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms?” to my son for the thousandth time, it doesn’t really matter.

In other news, I’m absolutely thrilled to hear that my beloved Elliott Bay Books is moving closer – practically into my backyard. I know my son and I will be taking a lot of walks in that direction this spring. I just hope they decide not to have a used books section because I wouldn’t want them to put the Capitol Hill Twice Sold Tales out of business. It would be great if these two favorites of mine could work out some kind of collaboration.

Back to work now. As always, if you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line. I have a feeling things are going to drop off in January, so I’m definitely up for new clients.

The Artemesia Healing Arts website is up and looking great. I encourage you Seattle folks to check it out because you don’t want to miss the best new acupuncturist in town. Jessica Timins offers a uniquely gentle approach to strong medicine integrating a full range of East Asian healing modalities and yoga therapies. Check out the website, find her on Facebook, or follow her on Twitter today! Or take advantage of her limited time special offers to schedule an appointment before the end of the year.

That’s it for now. As always, if you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line.

We selected an awesome logo for Artemesia Healing Arts, designed by my endlessly talented friend Cristy Miller. I’m putting the finishing touches on the web content now. The site will go live in about two weeks, and it’s going to be at least ten times better than the preview I showed you last week.

Other than that, I’ve just been continuing on previously mentioned projects. As always, I welcome new clients. If you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line.

I’m also very excited about helping my other friend Jessica get her new business started here in Seattle on my beloved Capitol Hill. Artemesia Healing Arts offers acupuncture, acupressure, Tuina massage, Chinese herbal medicine, Japanese meridian therapy, yoga, and much more. Here’s a rough preview of the WordPress site I’m building:

I have no idea how full-time designers stay sane. I get obsessive enough when I’m writing, but when I’m working on a design project I get totally and completely sucked in to my computer. I start tweaking CSS and suddenly it’s 5 hours later, I have 50 tabs open in my browser, and I haven’t eaten or blinked the whole time. It’s gratifying to have total control over both the content and design, but it’s definitely a good thing for my mental health that I don’t do this very often.

As always, I welcome new clients. If you’re looking for a writer, especially if you’re in Seattle, drop me a line.