Image from upnorthlive.comLast week I reached a positive step in my writing activities. Last July 22,I have my first article published (Marinduque: Ecotourism Capital of the Philippines) by www.huliq.com. Yesterday, my second article ( US Parks Encourage Tourism to National Parks and Monuments) was also published by this Citizen News Review-an on line newspaper/magazine. Huliq.com is an independent news organization that encourages citizens like me to contribute daily news and reviews on business, politics, health, science, technology, sports, arts, recreation and social issues from all parts of the world. Huliq.com will publish articles on the above topics or on any subject that in the judgment of the author will make our world more livable and better. So why do I consider this event a positive step in my writing career. Let me explain why.
I never had any formal training on news writing or creative writing. My first writing experience was during my high school days way back in the late 1940's in a small rural high school in the Philippines, when I was elected Editor of our high school newsletter published quarterly. My whole college experience is all devoted to science and chemistry so that by early 1960's, I obtained my masters and doctorate degrees in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Illinois in Chicago. Then there is the period of almost 38 years, working as a bench chemist for three major Pharmaceutical companies and later as a Chemistry Team Leader for the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) supervising the work of five Ph. D.'s reviewing new drug applications submitted by pharmaceutical companies worldwide in the field of Anti-infective drug products ( antibiotics, anti-malarial and anti-parasitic drug products). My professional career did not require the ability to write news articles. However it did require, the ability to write concise and simple scientific reports, easily understood by both non-scientists and scientifically trained personnel.
After my retirement from FDA in 2002, I decided to start blogging, just to keep busy. Surprisingly, I enjoyed writing articles about my life experiences, then about my second home and island Paradise ( Marinduque), as well as other miscellaneous topics, such as retirement, travel, hobbies ( gardening), medical mission management and volunteerism. I also started creating a website for my small beach resort business( Chateau Du Mer) in the Philippines. As of today, I have 8 blog sites on tourism, retirement opportunities in the Philippines, life in general in the Philippines and United States. I have also completed my autobiography that I dedicated to my six grandchildren here in Northern California. It will be ready as book by Christmas time. I hope that this book will be a Christmas present that my grandchildren will cherish and always remember. In this book, I also discuss the lives of my parents ( their great grandparents) who were born in the early 1900 in the Philippines. In my dedication, I indicated that knowing their roots should give them a better understanding and clearer picture of their future.
Prior to the publication of my first article on Huliq.com, I have three articles about the Philippines that has been published by a private on line magazine publisher. Today, I have written more than one hundred articles in my 8 blog sites. Prior to the publication of my first news article, I feel just like an ordinary blogger. Once in a while, I will get comments from a couple of visitors in my site that they enjoy my style of writing. One day, I called myself a frustrated writer. On that day, I learned that Dodie's (my oldest son) first novel has been scheduled for publication by Three Clover Press this Fall. I was very happy and excited to learn of this good news, but deep inside I was a little bit envious of my son's accomplishments, since writing is not also his major source of livelihood and I always wanted to write a novel myself. Dodie's first novel is titled "The Cloyne Court." Cloyne Court is a student housing at the University of California in Berkeley. As a proud DAD, I will be the first one to buy a few copies of the book.
The picture below is the garden of this student housing in UC Berkeley, CA,-the major scene of Dodie's first novel. He is now writing his second one, a thriller and suspense novel in the the corrupt and fictional world of the district attorney's office somewhere in Northern California
When I wrote in Face Book that I no longer feel like a frustrated writer but a full-pledged citizen journalist, my sister-in-law from Australia commented that any thing you want, you can accomplished, since the POWER IS WITHIN YOU. With this comment I feel motivated to write more news articles for Huliq.com. Today, I finished my third article( Revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant(BNPP), Philippines. It takes at least a couple of days to see if it has been accepted. Who knows someday, I may be even be paid for writing news article for this on-line newspaper/magazine. However, financial renumeration is not my goal, but the thought that my articles are good enough for publication reinforces my feeling that I am now a full-pledged citizen journalist and not just a frustrated writer/blogger.
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My third article, on the Revival of the Bataan Nucelar Power Plant was published today ( July 30, 2009) by www.huliq.com. This reenforced my feeling that I am now a full-pledged citizen journalist, not just a common blogger or frustrated writer.
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