Let me introduce myself. 

I've taken the long road to technical writing as a career, and now I’ve finally found my calling. Technical writing combines my love of research and learning with my love of writing, and it allows me to produce material that might make someone's day a little easier. I especially appreciate that aspect of the work—I like being able to help someone out, even indirectly.

In UALR's graduate program, I've learned many new skills I enjoy practicing, such as indexing, editing, and basic web design. However, I'm especially partial to instructional writing. Taking technical information and putting it into words a layperson can understand and use to accomplish a task is rewarding. For most people, “tech-speak” might as well be a foreign language, and I consider myself a translator. Creating a document or online help people can refer to in order to get something done feeds into my desire to help out where I can.

A little personal information . . . I’m from Little Rock, Arkansas, and currently live just across the river in Maumelle. I have a husband, a son, a daughter, and several furry “kids” running around the house. When I get a hold of a subject that interests me, I read everything thing I can about it (I have an extensive collection of books on tech writing, editing, indexing, and the like). I’m not only interested in technical writing, but would perhaps like to delve into medical writing someday.

I recently took a position at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as a technical editor. Part of my job is writing help documentation for software used by researchers at UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital to study birth defects and search for ways to prevent them. I’m thrilled to be a part of such an important project, and I’m already using what I’ve learned in the program about editing, instructional design, and writing online documentation. I have my wonderful professors to thank for teaching me the skills I need to do this job well.