I've lived in Central California off and on since I was little, so if I consider myself to be from anywhere, it's here. As a kid, I seem to remember not thinking my hometown was lively enough for the person I wanted to think I was, but now that I'm drifting into middle age, I'm realizing that I prefer the slower pace of quiet, seaside towns like the one I live in. I've certainly developed a certain sense of pride in where I come from for a variety of different reasons. (This is Steinbeck country, after all.)
Personality-wise, I'm quite introverted. I spend the bulk of my free time reading and learning just for the fun of it. I don't get out a lot or have much of a social life, but my mind is always busy. I think a lot -- maybe too much -- and I love to contemplate anything and everything. My other interests include but aren't necessarily limited to astrology, religion, cooking, makeup, and just about anything to do with nature, animals, or plants. I've worn my hair one shade of red or another ever since I was really young (as Mother Nature did not see fit to bless me in this regard). I'm a huge linguistics nerd and am actively learning 13 different foreign languages at the moment. I like bread, cheese, and chocolate a little bit more than I should. I like to people watch, even if I don't always consider myself a fan of humanity. I don't think I'll ever quite get over the death of David Bowie.
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Professionally speaking, I'm a freelance copywriter, content writer, critic, and blogger. (Yes, really. As in I earn a full-time living doing that.) I work for myself on a full-time basis out of my home. I set my own hours, my own rates, and make all of my own choices about who I work for, as well as which projects I take on. I've wanted to work for myself from home for as long as I can remember and I'm overwhelmingly grateful that the internet gives me a way to do that these days. I was never cut out for the old 9 to 5 in any way, shape, or form anyway.
However, while I'm thrilled to actually be making a living doing what I consider myself to be best at, I wouldn't say copywriting is my passion or my ultimate goal as a writer. I'm still largely figuring out where I'd like to take my writing, but it's my dream to make all or most of my living expressing my own opinions and ideas one day, as opposed to simply being a mouthpiece for other people. Once upon a time, I thought that would mean writing fiction or poetry in some capacity, but these days I almost feel like memoir writing or even a column about a topic I'm really into would be an even better fit. Currently, I contribute writing of this type to Medium and similar outlets, and that's been working out well for me, but we'll see where life takes me in the years to come.
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I'm married to the person I consider to be my very best friend. His name is Seth and he's a fellow creative freelancer. We met on LiveJournal of all places years and years ago. After becoming fast friends, we eventually decided to move in together and enter a committed "forever" relationship (yes, those two things happened at the same time). At this point, we've been together 17 years and counting. He remains my closest friend, as well as the one person I feel truly understands me and accepts me for who I am. I truly consider our relationship to be one of my greatest accomplishments in life, especially considering my rocky romantic history.
The start of my relationship with Seth was the beginning of a long period of change and self-discovery for me. Before that period, I was an aging salesgirl married to a stuffy, dismissive man that was old enough to be my father. Now at the end of that period, I'm a self-employed writer who's making a place for herself in the world. I'm in a relationship with someone I love and trust. I'm slowly coming to terms with many things from my past including difficult family dynamics from my childhood, lifelong struggles with mental illness, and the challenges that come with figuring out who you are and who you want to be in life. A lot of those themes come up in my blogs and journals. They'll probably continue to for years to come.
