Terese Brasen

Some houses hid under big trees. Others had no front lawn or just a patch of grass behind a chain-link fence.

The community league held Christmas raffles. Buy a ticket, and you could win a 25-pound turkey. At six years old, I volunteered, walking from house to house with a box of raffle-ticket booklets. My raffle tickets gave me permission to open the gate, ring the doorbell and peek inside at peculiar living spaces. I sold the most tickets, but—more importantly— I met the strangers who lived around me.

In 1977, author Rudy Wiebe and NeWest Press included my work in a collection of short fiction by women authors. That publication credit allowed me to launch a freelance writing career. I started selling magazine features about artists, arts, history and business. Calling up a movie star, musician or company president to ask for an interview was a lot like ringing doorbells and selling raffle tickets. Each assignment was a chance to enter a new world and meet someone with a unique story.

Writing for magazines taught me to research. I show up prepared, having read everything I can get my eyes on. I ask new questions other reporters miss. Since I am genuinely interested, my interviewees feel comfortable opening up and telling their stories.

Magazine writing led to consulting contracts, where I apply my research and interviewing skills to each unique project. I create marketing materials, reports, newsletters, brochures, speeches and  websites for agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, airports, scientific organizations, seniors’ facilities, co-operatives—and so on.

In 2013, I went back to university to complete a master’s degree in writing. After graduating, I published my first novel. I have since completed a collection of creative nonfiction and have also started a new novel. 

Every time my email bings and it’s a new client, my curiosity takes over, and I am ready to listen and learn something new.