At the tender age of ten, I published a pair of linked poems in the esteemed literary journal, The Buffalo News. Ready? Sure? Okay, here you go. In the City at Night In the city at night The lights shine bright Stray cats meow And dogs say “Bow wow” In the city at night. Clearly, […]
Right before I went on maternity leave, I was interviewed by Janelle Harris at Media Bistro, a website for writers and new media professionals. She wanted to know how I waste time. My response should have been, “How much time to you have?” But I am not that quick on my feet. Especially not at nine-months pregnant. So […]
With Anna out on maternity leave, guest writer Susan Johnston was kind enough to contribute this post. You can check her out at her website or her blog, The Urban Muse. Thanks, Susan! I recently received a direct mail piece that opened with this cheerful gem (unnecessary capitalization copied from original): “Happy Holidays! Did you […]
I am about to have a baby. In fact, by the time you read this, I will probably already have had the baby. So like all new moms, I have been spending a lot of time shopping, both online and in stores for all the things a baby needs. (They need a lot of things.) […]
I got this postcard the other day from Gentle Dental to remind me it was time for my six-month checkup. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t hate going to the dentist. I attribute this to regular flossing and my regular lack of time to do nothing but lie in a chair. It’s generally a […]
So we just found out that a project we worked on with the incredibly talented team at King Fish Media won a major award. What? You’ve never heard of the Daveys? Well, if you were a small agency seeking big recognition, you would have. I actually really like that they have on their website (*snip*). […]
Okay, all our writers have a special place in our hearts. Yes, even the ones who send us documents with two spaces between sentences. But it’s particularly cool when one of our Pens wins our client an award. So major props this morning to Pen extraordinaire Melanie DeCarolis. Her fantastic newsletter-writing prowess won our client, […]
Okay, here’s a little copywriting pop quiz for you. Which is correct: One period between sentences or two? If you’re like most people, even many professional copywriters, you’ll answer “two.” The correct answer is actually “one.” According to who, you may ask? (I’ll discuss who/whom another time, but I can sum it up like this: […]
Ask me to do basic math and … Oh, this sentence is too ridiculous to even complete. No one ever asks me to do basic math. At least nobody who knows me. In fact, my senior year of high school, my math teacher took me aside one day and said, very gently, “You know, you […]
At The Hired Pens, we like to say that the only recognition we need is the satisfaction of our clients. Well, screw that. Because we just learned that “Hired Pen [sic] has been selected for the 2011 Best of Gloucester Award in the Architectural Services category by the US Commerce Association (USCA).” According to the […]
