A Ghost Writers Blog

Last July, one of our writers was featured on PT Money Blog.  Philip interviewed Miranda Marquit, who happens to be one of our freelance writers.  Miranda writes mostly on financial matters, helping our clients with online content and also having written a number of finance-related books for business clients.

The podcast, which I am running below with permission, asks Miranda about the business of freelance writing and what it takes to become a freelance writer. As an aside, when you work from home, you are not working in some antiseptic office environment, where almost everything is artificially controlled. At home, office life and real life collide ion the most unpredictable of ways, especially when there are children running around. In the case of this podcast, you hear the doorbell ring at one point. My comment to Miranda after I had listened to the interview was, “Next time instead of a doorbell, maybe you could have a motorcycle followed by a scream and a crash.” That would be much more entertaining.

Here is the podcast, as it was first published.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

One of the big takeaways from this podcast is the value of journalistic training – yes, go take some journalism courses if you are serious about being a freelance writer.  Here is an excerpt from the podcast.

Well, one of the questions that really embarrasses me is people ask me how long it takes me to write a post. And I always just answer, you know … and one of the things I learned how to do when I took this journalism course of study was to write fast and to write with a minimum of grammatical errors—I mean, I still make mistakes; everybody does—but I do try to take those things, and it really helped me learn to write concisely, to write quickly, and it taught me how to do research quickly, so that I could pull together my writing on a deadline. And so, it really helped me learn how to write in a way that was efficient for my time and help me to get things done a little bit quicker.

Miranda offers much more incredible advice for budding freelance writers, so take a few minutes to listen to the full podcast.

These Golfing Geese Are About To Ruffle Some Feathers at Penny Ehrenkranz’s Blog

Meet Sami DeMani, a Canada gander with a legendary golf game. He’s on track to win the prestigious Waterfowl Tour — and put his nemesis, the ruthless Pete Swan Lake, in his place once and for all. But right as Sami prepares to take a critical swing, a surprise scare changes everything — ruining the shot and putting Sami in the hospital. What happens next dashes any hopes for golf glory — or does it? No longer able to play, Sami throws himself into coaching his nephew, Myles, in the game he loves. Then the golf pro hatches a plan to help his nephew win a tournament with the aid of the specially designed Gooseneck Putter. This breakthrough device has the potential to change everything — including the confidence of the golf prodigy who uses it. But none of them are prepared for what’s about to occur as the tension rises on the course. Along the way, Sami and Myles will learn a powerful lesson regarding sportsmanship, perseverance, love, and what really matters in the game of life. A heartwarming and inspirational tale, The High-Tech Gooseneck Putter is about the power of golf to boost self-esteem, change lives, and bring a community together.

This is the latest Happy Guy Marketing success–my collaboration with artist, singer and Laughter Yoga leader Samuel DiMatteo. I am excited that Sami listed me as co-author because Samuel is one-of-a-kind. He, along with the colorful cast of golfing geese, sportscasting squirrels and business-minded beavers in the book, has won over several lovely lady authors–and I am thankful to every one of them.

It is Thanksgiving this month, after all!

• July 18–Walking Through Walls author Karen Cioffi-Ventrice guested on A Ghost Writers Blog
• July 24–We celebrated Christmas in July at Susanne Drazic’s blog.
• August 5–We golfed through walls on Karen Cioffi-Ventrice’s blog.
• August 22–We had more fun than geese dancing at Lisa Haselton’s blog.
• November 14–We swapped tales of ghosts and geese, dragons and co-writing at Penny Ehrenkranz’s blog