I quit my day job in August 2007
to finally be able to call myself a professional writer, at last
acknowledging the first dreams I can remember having (my 2nd-grade
scrapbook recorded my aspirations to be a writer, a mother and a
singer. One out of three ain’t bad, right?).

I was a little panicked about choosing a name for my company after I
gave notice to my former employer, and I spent hours every night after
work for two months sweating over the details of starting a new
business. I chose Avenue Z Writing Solutions as a somewhat respectable
way to keep the Z in my company name without ending up on the bottom of
a list of competitors. I had hoped to come up with a name that was a
little more inspired, but I kept gravitating toward things that would
be too feminine or too silly (the word “Lavender” and ridiculous plays
on the word “Write” kept popping up, and they had to be stopped).

Now I’m off and running as a freelance writer from my minuscule
apartment in beautiful San Diego, a block from my favorite coffee shop
and no more than 20 minutes from some of San Diego’s finest
attractions: Balboa Park, the beach, the border, La Jolla. I’m farther
away from my family than I’d like, but I get back to Denver when I can.