Half a lifetime ago the words “a/s/l” meant something to me – the start of a conversation with someone halfway across the world with whom perhaps you shared a desire for escapism.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

I now have a PDF version of my portfolio. Click on the link to download it and feel free to pass it around to anyone who may want to see it. Cheers, Marisa

Note: I have been wrangled into writing a column on freelancing business related issues for the Society of Editors (WA) Inc.’s monthly newsletter Bookworm. There are times when I enter a room and I freeze. I know why I am there, I know I am supposed to talk to person X, Y, and Z, but I freeze regardless. I end up sidling around the room, propping up ...

The background: Sir David Attenborough was asked to extend his Australian tour/visit to Perth. While it’s still been sorted out, someone started up this website where people who may never get to meet him otherwise can still say what they want to say, even if it’s just “Thanks for inspiring me.” My letter, reproduced in full below, went live on ...

It’s been a busy week. I have spent the last two weeks interviewing, researching and tracking down information on Scientology, suppressive persons and suppressive person declares (actual list here) and these little orders called R2-45s which basically refer to any Scientologist being able to shoot someone through the head with a .45 Colt Pistol for the sake of freeing that person’s ...

Robin Bower posted about how she wanted to start using her mobile more for work and Wordpress posting. I asked if she would like a rundown of how I used my mobile for my work and she agreed. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

First off, I did not come up with the name. That was all Rob Kennedy‘s fault. Second, last I checked I am not a male member of the species so I am not actually an active participant – I am just there to make sure everything runs properly. And to carry a metaphorical whip so that the guys involved behave ...

If you were to ask me if I was a mentor, my immediate answer would be “No.” “No. I’m not.” But I’d have to correct myself. It’s not quite true. I’m not... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

J. Field's illustration for B. Rensberger's article for Nature, issue 459 on the history of science journalism In a sense (a very broad one at that), science journalism is the reporting and coverage of science news. The problem is ...

A brief summary of my seminar (part of the UWA Science Communication Seminar series) on 6 August 2010. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Conference Room by PW Haiti Intern via Flickr Since I am both organising a conference and attending a few for work purposes, I thought I’d write something to help journalists on how to cover a conference. This is the latest one I got invited to recently. The invite and the pitch Two days ago, I got an email in my ...

I might have gone a little stir crazy. I have been one week on a vegetarian diet as of today. As an experiment for an entire year. That’s right, 365 days. From 15 May 2014 to, quite uncannily... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Yes, 365 Veg is a daft name, I know. But apart from “Veg Log” which frankly seemed a bit more daft to me, it wasn’t one of my best creative days. But at three am one day at the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Recovering mostly. The conference is over. But the organisation part of it isn’t. There are accounts to be finalised and even now, still a lot of emails to answer. So let me digress to answer... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

From time to time, I scribble something out really quickly for a blogging challenge called Blogging for a Cause on Emergen. Then, Janine Ripper, tends to collate everything into an Ebook. Like the one below, a collection of blog posts written for National Volunteer Week 2011, where I am on page 37 and 38. Enjoy: Open publication - Free publishing ...

This entry is part 8 of 8 in the series Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013Who won the haul? That’s what you want to know right? What haul? This haul! Which I have to say is a pretty amazing haul. But what I found amazing were your comments. Thank you guys. It was really interesting to see what your favourite poems ...

Sholes’ First Typewriter (1872) by Eric Fischer via Flickr Discovered: WA JOURNALIST JOB: The Albany Advertiser in Western Australia has a journalist role they want filled by the end of January/start of February. It has two mastheads & a glossy magazine so falls between a daily paper and a weekly. You need to have done a degree in Journalism/Media/Communications/English, a ...

final exam by dcJohn via Flickr For the past few weeks I have been working as a tutor to the first year Journalism students at Murdoch University here in Perth. For the elucidation of those based in other countries, students go to a lecture here given by the lecturer on the theory of a subject and then break off ...

Freeline is a group for Australian freelance journalists. And this is a blog swap started over email where journalists somehow try to write guest posts for each other’s blogs despite the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

From the Colombo Telegraph, the speech: For those of you who are not Sinhala speaking: “This country still has a Sinhalese Police, this country still has a Sinhalese Army. It will be the end of all... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]