I'm so excited! A week ago, I interviewed for a newspaper job and last night I received a phone call from the editor. Can I start Thursday morning? Yep!
There's some nervousness about it...it's a little of a drive, and I'm on for a 45-day trial basis. Lord willing, with a little hard work and a little confidence I can make this work.
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Richard Zowie
I love ducks, but since ducks tend to be squeamish towards humans, a picture with a rubber ducky will have to do.
Hello! I'm Richard Zowie, a Michigan-based freelance writer, I hope you enjoy my blog postings on my life and dreams as a writer and my unhealthy obsession with Papermate pens.
Richard Zowie
Who is Richard Zowie?
- Richard Zowie
- Freelance writer since 2000. Attended a Christian college. Spent time in the service, studying Russian and Chinese. Have worked in radio and journalism. My birthday is February 6. I love spicy food, especially Chinese. And, yes, Zowie is my real surname. My longterm goal is to make my living entirely off of freelance writing--primarily as a columnist and as a fiction writer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zowie really your real name? Yes.
You're kidding, right? No.
How do you pronounce it? Rhymes with these words: wowie, Howie (as in Howie Mandel) and Maui.
Where did it come from? The Zowie family originated in Germany (Bavaria, to be specific). My grandfather's birthname was Sylvester Sebastian Zahnweh (pronounced "Tsahn-veh" and means "Toothache" in German), and a few years later his name was Americanized. He became Sebastian Paul Zowie.
When did you become a Christian? October 1981, reassurance of salvation April 1984.
You seem to be a quirky person with a bizarre sense of humor. Why? I suffer from a desire to keep myself constantly occupied and entertained. If I'm not writing or working on something that has to be done, then I say or do goofy things. Primarily, they're designed to make me laugh, but as I get older, I think I'm getting better at making others laugh. Still, considering the garbage that many Americans think is funny today (Knocked Up, for example), I tend to roll my eyes when people tell me my jokes aren't working.
Who are your favorite authors to read? Ray Bradbury, Harry Turtledove, Stephen King, Frank Peretti. Michael Crichton. Haven't read Ted Dekker yet, but I'm told he's very good.
Do you ever receive e-mail from readers? Sometimes. I received some very positive e-mails after a column about my cousin's death by a drunk driver was published. Another drunk driving column about a horribly-disfigured young lady resulted in an angry e-mail from a Wynonna Judd fan (I'd mentioned her since she'd been arrested on a DUI). And then, Imdb comments of mine about the loathsome show Seinfeld resulted in this kid writing me a very angry letter. I feel sorry for him and from the fan.
If you ever became famous, do you think you and your family would ever do a reality television show? Absolutely not.
Ok, so what are your favorite Papermate pens? Yes.
Seriously, what are your favorite all-time Papermates? Probably Pro-fit or Comfortmate.
Whom will you be voting for in November? Not Barack Obama!
You're kidding, right? No.
How do you pronounce it? Rhymes with these words: wowie, Howie (as in Howie Mandel) and Maui.
Where did it come from? The Zowie family originated in Germany (Bavaria, to be specific). My grandfather's birthname was Sylvester Sebastian Zahnweh (pronounced "Tsahn-veh" and means "Toothache" in German), and a few years later his name was Americanized. He became Sebastian Paul Zowie.
When did you become a Christian? October 1981, reassurance of salvation April 1984.
You seem to be a quirky person with a bizarre sense of humor. Why? I suffer from a desire to keep myself constantly occupied and entertained. If I'm not writing or working on something that has to be done, then I say or do goofy things. Primarily, they're designed to make me laugh, but as I get older, I think I'm getting better at making others laugh. Still, considering the garbage that many Americans think is funny today (Knocked Up, for example), I tend to roll my eyes when people tell me my jokes aren't working.
Who are your favorite authors to read? Ray Bradbury, Harry Turtledove, Stephen King, Frank Peretti. Michael Crichton. Haven't read Ted Dekker yet, but I'm told he's very good.
Do you ever receive e-mail from readers? Sometimes. I received some very positive e-mails after a column about my cousin's death by a drunk driver was published. Another drunk driving column about a horribly-disfigured young lady resulted in an angry e-mail from a Wynonna Judd fan (I'd mentioned her since she'd been arrested on a DUI). And then, Imdb comments of mine about the loathsome show Seinfeld resulted in this kid writing me a very angry letter. I feel sorry for him and from the fan.
If you ever became famous, do you think you and your family would ever do a reality television show? Absolutely not.
Ok, so what are your favorite Papermate pens? Yes.
Seriously, what are your favorite all-time Papermates? Probably Pro-fit or Comfortmate.
Whom will you be voting for in November? Not Barack Obama!
I love ducks, but since ducks tend to be squeamish towards humans, a picture with a rubber ducky will have to do.
Richard Zowie's Blog Archive
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2008
(251)
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July
(46)
- NEW JOB!!!!!
- Getting back to my true love--fiction
- Slight change again
- Experimenting with colors
- The Zowie family's origins
- Richard Zowie, animal rescuer
- The Decline of American Comedy: Kevin Smith
- Ahhh, the joys of writing satire
- News for today
- Will be meeting a Detroit Tiger tomorrow
- Ahhh, the fun finances of writing
- John McCain's running mate...who will it be?
- Hurricane Dolly hits South Texas
- Who will be Barack Obama's running mate?
- Paying to work
- Short fiction story: Capturing the idea
- Joined some writers sites
- Dallas Cowboys blog on hiatus
- Ads on my blog
- New blog photo of me
- Upcoming feature story about a soccer player
- John McCain set to choose his running mate soon
- Seeking domain hosting services
- The Dark Knight--is it worth it?
- My thoughts on Tony Snow's untimely passing
- Conflicts of interest
- Sleep...
- Who's the greatest Russian?
- Great interviews
- Seinfeld stinks
- Another misleading Barack Obama ad
- Stephen King's class versus Simon Cowell's, Piers ...
- Very proud of myself!
- Buyer beware
- Survey
- The Devil Wears Prada
- Papermate Clearpoint
- The Writer magazine
- Playing with Spreadsheets
- Minor change to blog; thoughts on the future
- Happiness is...
- Job search continues
- Mitch Albom’s ‘Guns for America’ column
- This election...
- Happy Anniversary!
- Working and writing
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▼
July
(46)
Richard Zowie's resume
RICHARD ZOWIE
(989) 871-2070
richardzowie@gmail.com
OBJECTIVE
To work in the publishing, print or radio media, using the experience to further myself professionally as a journalist, columnist and eventually as an author.
SUMMARY
Several years of experience in teamwork and completing crucial tasks in a fast-paced environment. Articles have been appeared in many publications and in Air Force news services. Strong knowledge of Microsoft Word and a working knowledge of Quark and Adobe Photoshop. Can type 77 w.p.m.
WORK EXPERIENCE
2000 – Now: Journalist and columnist. Currently work as a freelance news and features writer and photographer for the Flint Journal Community Newspapers, including the Clio Messenger, Flushing Observer and Davison Flagstaff. Have also written news, feature, sports and editorials and have taken photographs for several Texas and Michigan publications including the (Lapeer) County Press, San Antonio Express-News and San Antonio-based Prime Time Newspapers. Two columns written: “Richard’s Ramblings”, a column featuring commentary on political, social, current events, sports, humor and the enigmatic appears regularly in the Beeville Bee-Picayune. Religious commentary column “My Two Shekels” has appeared in the San Antonio Christian Beacon and currently appears in the (Redford, Mich.) Olive Branch Press and Saworship.com.
June 2000 – June 2007: Broadcaster. Have worked at Gospel 1230 WMPC, Lapeer, Mich. and in San Antonio at News Talk 550 KTSA, AM 630 KSLR and AM 930 KLUP. Duties have included running a control board, disk jockeying, recording news broadcasts, playing programs, making on-air announcements, call screening and guest hosting live talk shows.
June 30, 2003 – Nov. 18, 2003: Production analyst, Welder Exploration and Production, Inc. Responsible for maintaining paperwork on well files along with filing daily, weekly and monthly reports for various oil and gas wells across south Texas.
1996 – 2000: Russian language voice interceptor, United States Army, San Antonio, TX. Cleared for top secret information and granted access to sensitive compartmented information by the Department of Defense, based on a single scope background investigation. Two feature articles published in Globe magazine, the official publication of Defense Language Institute in Presidio of Monterey, Calif. Military service contract ended on February 21, 2000.
AWARDS
Michigan Associated Press – Top Contribution, Dec. 2006, Story of man charged in triple murder; Honorable Mention, April 2007, Story of girl who made dress out of dum dum candy wrappers. Honorable Mention, May 2007, Story of man being convicted of triple murder.
EDUCATION
1998: Diploma, Electronic Voice Interceptor School, Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, TX.
1998: Diploma, Russian Basic Course, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, CA.
1995: B.A., History (with an English minor), Pensacola Christian College, Pensacola, FL.
REFERENCES
Available upon request.
(989) 871-2070
richardzowie@gmail.com
OBJECTIVE
To work in the publishing, print or radio media, using the experience to further myself professionally as a journalist, columnist and eventually as an author.
SUMMARY
Several years of experience in teamwork and completing crucial tasks in a fast-paced environment. Articles have been appeared in many publications and in Air Force news services. Strong knowledge of Microsoft Word and a working knowledge of Quark and Adobe Photoshop. Can type 77 w.p.m.
WORK EXPERIENCE
2000 – Now: Journalist and columnist. Currently work as a freelance news and features writer and photographer for the Flint Journal Community Newspapers, including the Clio Messenger, Flushing Observer and Davison Flagstaff. Have also written news, feature, sports and editorials and have taken photographs for several Texas and Michigan publications including the (Lapeer) County Press, San Antonio Express-News and San Antonio-based Prime Time Newspapers. Two columns written: “Richard’s Ramblings”, a column featuring commentary on political, social, current events, sports, humor and the enigmatic appears regularly in the Beeville Bee-Picayune. Religious commentary column “My Two Shekels” has appeared in the San Antonio Christian Beacon and currently appears in the (Redford, Mich.) Olive Branch Press and Saworship.com.
June 2000 – June 2007: Broadcaster. Have worked at Gospel 1230 WMPC, Lapeer, Mich. and in San Antonio at News Talk 550 KTSA, AM 630 KSLR and AM 930 KLUP. Duties have included running a control board, disk jockeying, recording news broadcasts, playing programs, making on-air announcements, call screening and guest hosting live talk shows.
June 30, 2003 – Nov. 18, 2003: Production analyst, Welder Exploration and Production, Inc. Responsible for maintaining paperwork on well files along with filing daily, weekly and monthly reports for various oil and gas wells across south Texas.
1996 – 2000: Russian language voice interceptor, United States Army, San Antonio, TX. Cleared for top secret information and granted access to sensitive compartmented information by the Department of Defense, based on a single scope background investigation. Two feature articles published in Globe magazine, the official publication of Defense Language Institute in Presidio of Monterey, Calif. Military service contract ended on February 21, 2000.
AWARDS
Michigan Associated Press – Top Contribution, Dec. 2006, Story of man charged in triple murder; Honorable Mention, April 2007, Story of girl who made dress out of dum dum candy wrappers. Honorable Mention, May 2007, Story of man being convicted of triple murder.
EDUCATION
1998: Diploma, Electronic Voice Interceptor School, Goodfellow AFB, San Angelo, TX.
1998: Diploma, Russian Basic Course, Defense Language Institute, Presidio of Monterey, CA.
1995: B.A., History (with an English minor), Pensacola Christian College, Pensacola, FL.
REFERENCES
Available upon request.
Richard Zowie's favorite links
- You haven't lived until you've heard the Glenn Beck Show. He is absolutely hysterical. Yep, I'm a sick, twisted freak.
- Yes, I'm a dittohead (I agree with Rush on about 90 percent of the issues)
- Jim Rome, the best sports talk show host and best interviewer anywhere. Period. Good night now!
- My hometown newspaper (Beeville, Texas)
- Another place for Cowboys coverage, the San Antonio Express-News
- Where I go to get coverage of my favorite football team, the Dallas Cowboys
- Where I go to get coverage of my favorite baseball team, the Houston Astros
- EXCELLENT Website for Christian apologetics
- Besides Saworship, this Detroit-region publication runs my column My Two Shekels
- San Antonio-based online Christian magazine
- One of the best blogs out there
- Website of Pensacola Christian College, my alma mater
- Where I keep in touch with people I knew from college
- One of my favorite places to go on the Web
- Papermate, my favorite (and the best) pens
1 comment:
Right on Rich, we know you can do it. Hope it isn't long until you are moving closer to your job. Tell everyone hello for us. We love you. Mom & Dad
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