Erin Perry O'Donnell

Twenty years ago I started college thinking I would study psychology and somehow apply it to business. But between classes with 200 other freshmen in musty auditoriums, I would slip into the office of student publications to write for the yearbook. Before the first semester was up, I finally gave in to the path I couldn’t seem to stray from: writing.

I still have a book of short stories that we painstakingly pasted together in 2nd grade, with a yellow tartan felt binding. In junior high, an honors English assignment to write poetry got me published for the first time, and invited to a summer workshop for young writers. I went back every year for five years. I worked on my high school yearbook and literary magazine. And yet I still didn’t consider writing for a living. Too frivolous.

Once I began to take the hint in college, I thought I was being practical, choosing journalism versus English. Turns out today they are equally viable as career choices. But my experience in newspapers set me on a course first to websites, then to freelance writing, and that’s where I am today.

My first freelance gig was a doozy. I answered an ad to write for a Las Vegas travel guide, while still living in Sin City. The result was Moon Metro Las Vegas, a slim but handy travel guide. Since striking out on my own, I’ve written for an eclectic mix of publications:

• UNLV Magazine
• La Voce, “The Voice” for Italian-Americans in Las Vegas
• The LION Magazine, published by Lions Clubs International
• Focus magazine, Friends University
• Women’s Focus magazine in Wichita
• Your Health Monthly, a Gannett Magazines publication

My subjects have been all over the map, literally and figuratively. I’ve interviewed a hotel manager in Phuket, Thailand, who survived the 2004 tsunami; a former women’s professional baseball player; and celebs like foodie Guy Fieri and rocker Ronnie Vannucci of the Killers. I’ve written about university think tanks and student protests, minimizing pores and compounding medicines.

The freedom of freelancing lets me spend time with my three kids while they’re still young. And it introduces me to an unparalleled parade of personalities week in and week out. Last, and possibly least, there’s a germ of a novel lurking somewhere between the interview notes and the gazillion MB of my kids’ photos stored on my laptop.

I’m too practical to sit down and spend my hard-fought free (read: work) time on the novel just yet. I fill those precious hours with as many assignments as I can take on. At the very least, I’ll gain some local name recognition. At best, my portfolio may help me grab an agent’s or a publisher’s sorely divided attention. Day in and day out, though, writing is all I know, and it’s what I do.