I’m an author, journalist and communications professional with 30 years of experience as a writer, editor and marketer for print/digital publications, technology companies and one charity. I’m the author of Revel In Fire, my first published novel, which is a doom-y speculative yarn about the gods of good and evil clashing at the end of the world. Outside of that, I write about a bunch of stuff, including technology, marketing and finance, and charitable giving. Also on the business end, I hold a Canadian Securities Course certification so I have a solid understanding of investment products and the securities industry. Click the links in the navigation above or to the right to view my work.

I’ve done work for publications including The Globe and Mail, Report on Business, Canadian Business Online (senior editor), Playback, Strategy (special reports editor), Adweek and Word magazine (managing editor). I also served for a time as coordinator for the Canadian Society of Magazine Editors. I’ve made several appearances on Newstalk 1010’s “Moore in the Morning” show to talk current events. (I won a contest. It was an interesting experience.)

My marketing communications background includes work at the charity World Vision Canada and technology company GS1 Canada. At both places I produced a variety of marketing collateral (infographics, one-pagers, email, reports and so on) and worked on branding efforts. I’ve also done some voice work for World Vision Canada video spots.

I survived the heady, original dot-com era of the late ’90s/early ’00s in New York City, but emerged, sadly, with neither riches nor T-shirts. Actually, I did get a couple of T-shirts. I worked at Adweek as a copy editor for the mag’s IQ section (its new media part, from back when the Internet was still fresh and DSL modems were a big deal), making sure that every writer’s Ps and Qs were in the right places. That led me to a gig at Urban Box Office as an editor at IndiePlanet, a start-up focused on the arts and backed by some music industry heavyweights, including the then head of Motown Records, George Jackson. We had the de rigueur loft offices on the West Side and at one point Martha Stewart moved in above us. I never did see her and I’m not certain her company ever finished moving in. The end. Our own came not long after, as it turned out a desperate attempt to market Bedazzlers (among other typical dot-com woes) was not only off-brand but also not a money-maker. I had a few other cool experiences in NYC, including interviewing comedian Chris Tucker for Oneworld magazine and editing the written work of musicians including Mark E. Smith (The Fall) and Marc Anthony Thompson (Chocolate Genius), before returning home to Toronto in 2001.

I continued on in the advertising and media industry side of trade magazine journalism with jobs at Strategy and Playback. Along the way I picked up a certificate in project management from Ryerson University on the notion that it might be time to diversify. However, years later, I remain a writer of various things.

If you’re looking for a seasoned writer, do let me know.

Let’s see, what else …

My creative writing site is at www.thesinkingsun.com. I mostly drink regular orange pekoe tea. Not a fan of coffee. Or cheesecake. Additional fact: My wife is right (so far) that the only good croissants in Canada come from Quebec. My passion is creative writing and if I’m not doing that I’m probably reading/watching something about culture, politics, technology, business or sci-fi, playing a video game, learning a language or going for very long walks where I just zone out to music and think. Speaking of which, my musical tastes run the gamut but I primarily listen to a lot of space rock, ambient electronica and heavy drone that my wife (and possibly a non-trivial number of other people) insists isn’t actually music. Oh well.

Contact:

e-mail: samson at okalow.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sokalow