hen I turned 26 back in '96, I officially started getting paid to write: MSN hired me (of all people) to dispense advice and write internet commentary. Exhausting (it meant a sudden and large amount of writing) and disconcerting (who the hell was I to tell anyone what to do?) though it may have been, it was sure was good for me because it opened the door to a wide world of writing and editing work.

Want to see some samples of my writing for the 'Soft? Well, here's a smattering (all re-printed here thanks to permission from Martha, my awesome and liberatingly simpatico editor at MSN).

evany does dolly
[articulating my amazement over the whole "YOU'RE paying ME to WRITE?" thing]

Won't you be my neighbor?
[an amazing example of beating 'round the bush to get to the point]

5-question sampler
[like these? good, 'cause I've got 145 more of them]