The first time I ever wrote because I wanted to, I was in 8th grade. I entered an essay contest for a chance to win a puppy and appear on my favorite Saturday morning cartoon show, The Peter Boyle Show. I wanted a puppy badly, and begging my parents hadn’t worked, so I wrote that essay from my very being, and won the contest.
Despite such an auspicious start, I didn’t think about writing again until I finished my undergraduate degree in 1993. (You could say I’m a late bloomer) I got a job writing a cookbook review column for a small rag in South Philly. Okay— it was unpaid— and the editor was a friend, but I got to see my writing in print. My column was called, “A Cook and her Books.”
Then I moved to Japan, where I developed writing fever. I took a correspondence course from The London School of Journalism and before I got through 4 lessons, I saw my article, “10 days meditating in serene environment in Thailand” in the big English language newspaper, The Daily Yomiuri. Another travel piece, “Bali by Bicycle,” was published in The Alien, a humor magazine for expats.
When I returned to Philly, in January of 1998, I joined an online writing group called, The Internet Writing Workshop, and set out to make a living freelancing. After nine months of writing, revising, and submitting queries and articles, I knew I needed a real job. I applied for, and got, a job teaching English.
On my first day of school, my op-ed article, “A sole proudly ill-suited for the corporate world,” was published in the Philadelphia Inquirer. That piece was followed by a second, entitled, “The young carry resolve into post-boom Japan.” But my writing resolve faltered under the weight of teaching and taking graduate school courses, and my writing became confined to papers, and finally, my Masters thesis.
Now I’m retired, with time aplenty for writing. Stay tuned for my novel-in-progress, Revolution: A Political Fantasy.
Hi Myra
My name is Joyce, I am a marketing executive at expatfinder.com which is a leading expat information and services website.
I saw on your blog that you are and expat. I wish to interview you to further share some of your tips. The questions are mainly about the housing, the daily life etc.
It just takes 5 minutes (or more depending if you have lots to say 🙂
Of course, if you accept we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
If you are interested to participate at this project, please send me an email at interview@expatfinder.com.
Dear Myra,
I came across your post “Rejecting Conventional Wisdom” while looking for thermography places in Costa Rica. I would love to know your experience, as I might be traveling to Costa Rica and might consider having thermography done there instead of NYC.
Best Regards,
Leslie
Hi Leslie. I’m sorry to tell you that thermography isn’t available in Costa Rica. And thanks for reading and commenting. If there’s anything else,
let me know.
Dear Scribblegal,
My name is Joyce and I work for ExpatFinder.com.
ExpatFinder.com is a free one stop website for people preparing to move or working and living overseas. We provide a myriad of services for expatriates and we have over 2,000 articles to help and support the people moving around the world and we are now creating an interview section to help the expats with real life experiences!
We quite enjoy your blog about living in Costa Rica, it is very interesting and informative. Would it be possible to interview you to further share some of your tips and feature some of your first hand experience as an Expat and your interview will be published on our Expat Interview section as a guide for our expat readers. The questions are mainly about the day to day lifestyle of an expat. If it would be possible, could you also send some photographs that we can use?
Of course, if you accept, we can add a link to your blog or some of your website.
The questions are enclosed, feel free to respond freely. You can return the doc with your answers if you accept this invitation.
Thanks in advance and do let me know if you prefer other means to conduct this interview and we would be happy to accommodate your terms.
Best regards,
Joyce
Hi Joyce,
I’d be happy to share with you anything I’ve learned so far about Costa Rica. I didn’t get the questions.
Myra – you and your blog followers might be interested in a new release of short fiction featuring a story describing the expatriate experience in Costa Rica. Train Shots, by Vanessa Blakeslee, was recently released to strong initial sales and positive reviews. One of the featured stories, “Welcome, Lost Dogs”, shows an expatriate’s disillusionment with life in Costa Rica after her rescue dogs are stolen. Perhaps you would like to interview Blakeslee for your blog. Ms. Blakeslee is available for an interview and can be reached directly at vblakeslee@gmail.com or 407-310-2464 (voice and text).
I came across your blogs, I am interested in working with you on some specific articles. It is for a real estate website that will be featuring homes in the Costa Rica area and i want some insightful articles for new comers to the area. I look forward to hearing from you. My email is jherniak@solartronenergy.com
Regards,
julia
Let’s talk, Julia. I just sent you an email.