About Me
Well . . . me. How much do you really want to know? My name is Deb Boyken and I’m a lifelong reader who loves words and just wants to see them get the respect that they deserve. I’ve been reading since I was three, and I clearly remember the moment where the concept of reading made sense to me. A flash of insight that came with the realization that all I needed was to learn the words and I would be able to read anything. The family joke is that I’ve been trying ever since. So, there’s that.
Then there’s writing, which I also love to do. I wouldn’t say that I know every grammatical rule out there, or that I never make mistakes, or that there aren’t some rules that I cavalierly ignore. There are. The ban against starting sentences with a conjunction, for example, has never been a favorite of mine, if only because I sometimes let my sentences get more complicated than they perhaps should be, making a period a very useful thing. And when that happens, you really just have to start the next sentence with an “and.” (Yes, I did do that on purpose, and, oh yes, I’m more of a fan of parenthetical comments than I should be, though I do limit this sort of thing for serious writing.) I studied writing in college (along with Poli-Sci and Business Management), and attended the Denver Publishing Institute in 1990. I have a complete novel under my belt, and a partial manuscript of another, but I consider their unpublished state to be my own fault for not pressing to find a publisher as hard as I could or should.
All of which is in addition to the fact that I’ve worked for a magazine fulfillment company for 18 years, doing all the design work for thousands of invoice and renewal letters. Every, single subscription letter that has gone out the door since we got our first laser printer around 1992 was created by yours truly. As was all the internal documentation, the employee manual, the binder explaining all the reports, as well as all the company’s promotional materials. (Incidentally, if you’re looking for a magazine fulfillment company, I can’t recommend Fulco highly enough. If it were a bad company, or did a lousy job, I wouldn’t still be working there.)
Of course, we mustn’t forget the Freelancing.
Otherwise? I spend the rest of my time playing with my dog, knitting, spinning (yarns of the fibery variety as well as the fictional type), baking . . . all of which gets documented over at my other blog, Chappysmom. I have a site devoted to knitting book reviews and interviews, too, called Knitting Scholar. I run a weekly meme on reading, too, called Booking Through Thursday. All in addition to the full-time job. If you want to reach me directly, my e-mail address is deb AT punctualityrules DOT com. (Or just use the handy-dandy “Contact Me” link above.)
Other, random, non-professional skills, that I’m listing just because.
- Knitting: 20 years of experience.
- Spinning (as in making yarn, not working out at the gym)–4 years’ experience
- Other crafts, too, like quilting and embroidery. A girl has to keep busy.
- Cooking and baking–I’ve been baking from scratch since high school and regularly make my own bread. (Mmmm.)
- Reading. Does it surprise you that a writer loves to read? I’ve been reading since I was 3 and am more or less reading at any time that I’m not doing something ELSE. But I’ll read almost anything, which means I kill at Trivial Pursuit–except for the Sports questions.
- Dog training. Because teaching your dog new tricks is fun for both of you, and really, my dog is more fun to be with than a lot of people I know.
- Photography. I’m no expert, but love to take pictures. Lots of pictures with my Nikon DSLR, many of which I sell in my Cafe Press store.
- Fiction. I do have a complete novel sitting on my hard-drive, as well as most of its sequel and 3/4 of another book. As well as a couple short stories and some poetry. Just saying.
- Web 2.0 Interaction. I also spend a lot of my time interacting with fellow writers, knitters, photographers, and dog trainers on the internet. Social Media is not only a great marketing tool, it’s darn fun, too.