About Laura

Journalism is not my first career. But it was my first choice for a career.

In college, I wanted to go into journalism but let myself be talked out of it. Because it was too unstable a career.

Instead, I went into film. Because it is such a secure industry.

Acutally, I have always wanted to get to the truth and understand the human condition so filmmaking was one way to do that.

I ended up really enjoying my years at NYU grad film school and the more than a decade that followed during which I produced, directed, edited, coordinated, did sound and lighting. I also wrote several short films and three feature-length screenplays.

All of this turned out to be a great training ground for journalism. It taught me to think visually and tell a story as a story rather than just a string of events.

But I did leave the film business.

I then conducted writing workshops, edited manuscripts and screenplays and did publicity for groups and individuals. I also went to the Sundance Film Festival as publicist for a film.

Somewhere in there, I needed a Web site. I decided to learn to do it myself, got hooked and began designing sites professionally. This became, and remains, a nice balance to the other things I do. It is creative and interesting, like making small films.

Then in February 2007, my first byline appeared in a newspaper for a story I wrote about one of the trips I took to Sundance.

A few months later, I was talking to the editor at the Easton Courier newspaper. She mentioned that she had lost one of her freelance writers, would I be interested in giving it a try. And I began writing for the Courier on a regular basis.

Which just goes to show that you may forget your dreams for a while but they remember you.

I have also written for the Connecticut Post, Greenwich Post, Weston Forum, Redding Pilot, Trumbull Times and Monroe Courier.

I came to specialize in organic farming and local eating but continue to do a lot of general reporting and write about the arts. As far as I am concerned, community newspapers are a really big deal.

In 2009, I began writing for Edible Nutmeg magazine and in 2010 I created my blog, titled, A Return to Simple @ thefarmingjournalist.com.

In March 2011, I was awarded the 2010 Connecticut Agricultural Journalism Award for best feature story in a weekly newspaper during Connecticut Agriculture Day at the state capital.

My latest project is a proposal I am putting together for a non-fiction book.

And through it all I use what I learn to gain a better understanding of the world around me ... and of myself.

Stay tuned.

My site for Web design and writing services can be found at: www.aspetuckmedia.com.