About

An award-winning author and feature writer, Dena contributes to publications globally, specializing in articles on product marketing, career and job-search strategies, public speaking, and pets.

Dena has authored and contributed to numerous books and is completing a book on speaking tips for the everyday speaker. A speechwriter for corporate executives, Dena teaches nationwide workshops on public speaking, networking, and writing for magazines. She has presented to the National Speaker’s Association, the International Cat Writers' Association, and Toastmaster’s Leadership Training Groups, among others.

Dena is the former Associate Editor for North Carolina Career Network Magazine and for Diversity Woman Magazine. She was the marketing columnist for Art Jewelry magazine for three years, and wrote humor columns for Cats & Kittens and U magazine for two years, each. She is a member of The American Society of Journalists and Authors, the International Cat Writers' Association (former board member), Animal Protection Society of Rockingham County (APSRC) (board member), the Rockingham County Arts Council (board member), the Advanced Blue Moon Toastmasters group, and way too many book clubs. Dena enjoys writing on a variety of topics, unless math is involved, in which case her head will explode...

Connect with Dena on LinkedIn, Facebook, and follow her tweets as Lucy_Cat on Twitter. 

In Dena’s Words...

I grew up in Ohio--Mid-westerners rule! --graduating with a Mass Communications degree from Miami University in Oxford, OH (favorite t-shirt: Miami Was A University Before Florida Was A State). I have my Masters in Library & Information Studies but am still a fun person to invite to parties.

Before becoming a full time writer, my occupations included bodily injury insurance adjuster, corporate librarian, public speaking instructor, and program coordinator for a return-to-work program for displaced homemakers. The last job listed has made me forever grateful for the marvelous gift of getting to do what I love every day for a living.

Traits I value include accepting personal responsibility for how I create my life, having fun, giving back, and laughing every day.

My tip to the masses is that purring cats can solve most--if not all--of life's problems. Give it a shot.

Benefits of Being a Writer

• You get to see your name in magazines.
• You can work from anywhere, including coffee shops and bed.
• Being asked to autograph a book you wrote never gets old.
• The boss encourages cat naps.
• There’s always something new to learn.

Did anybody mention coffee and snacks?