Writing Contest: Can you write a better story than The Redhead?

Meet Colorado's copywriters: Q&A with Erika Napoletano, part 1

Her second favorite word in the English language is linoleum (first place is not safe to print here).

She summited Ranier, Whitney and Kilimanjaro—all in 2008—a self-described "climber with a writing problem." Erika Napoletano (aka The Redhead) lives in the heart of Denver and writes a ton...

She writes SEO copy for the web, taglines, social media, blogs and ghost blogs, fiction and non-fiction (short and long-form), editorials, ad copy and more. She writes as Director of Communications and Content for InvestorLoft.com, an award-winning real estate investment property web search resource. She writes for a growing freelance clientele and for her two blogs, RedheadWriting and RedheadedFury. Most interestingly, through all this she tenaciously writes for her own satisfaction.

During June's Denver Tweetup, over Silverback Smoked Porters and a Buffalo Burger at Wynkoop Brewing, DCCE met Erika and asked her for this interview. She agreed...

DCCE: How are you, Red? What's going on with you today?

EN: "Well, I'm currently nursing a broken leg. I climb mountains, ride my bike and run for miles. I'm extremely active! Then, over the Independence Day holiday, I went flying down a small flight of stairs. Ow.
"I went under the knife on Friday the 10th. So now, I'm the Bionic Woman, honing my gimp ninja skills. Crutches are the new nunchucks."

Writing Contest:

Ever since the fall, Erika's had loads of sympathy and attention from her wide and varied circles. So much that, she said, the story of how she broke her leg got old fast. The RedheadWriting Solution? Naturally, a story contest...

On Erika's RedheadedFury blog, you can read all the new versions of her mishap as told by readers. You can even submit your own story as a comment to the contest post—until midnight on Wednesday, July 16. Erika will then select her favorite three entries, and readers will vote. The winner gets a 16GB iPod Touch!

DCCE: What got you started in writing? How did that become part of your career?

EN: "I started writing when they made me back in elementary school. That whole forced pen-to-paper thing really got me going. Over time, it seemed I had a knack for storytelling.
"I've always written casually and privately, but I really honed my skills doing business writing beginning in about 2003. Companies felt that their shareholders needed a bit of "wow" in their annual reports, so my job was to dress those up.
"I translated that into a full-time writing career in 2007 after doing part-time freelance for many years. I went from being a part-time online copywriter to a full-time, baptism-by-fire senior copywriter in charge of social media to what I am today: a social media consultant, writer-for-hire and blogger with a kickass readership."

DCCE: So, you're co-hosting the Denver Tweetup. What's your plan for that event?

EN: "Denver and Boulder area Twitter users need cool, 'non-networky' events where they can get out and meet people. I'm really enjoying working with Allen Klosowski to organize the Tweetup. We've been fortunate enough to have some great local businesses like Breckenridge Brewing, Dazzle Jazz Lounge, Great Divide Brewing, Wynkoop Brewing Co. and Film on the Rocks (Denver Film Society) offer our group some incredible venues.
"Beginning in August, we're going to add a charitable aspect to each of our Tweetups. I like the idea of giving back to the community—giving is the 'social' part of social media. If people want more information on Denver Tweetup events, they can follow @thebigklosowski and @denvertweetup. All of our events are tagged with the #denvertweetup hash tag."

The Denver Tweetup for July has VIP seating to catch local Colorado musician Gregory Alan Isakov and watch the cult-status film "Office Space" at Red Rocks Amphitheater on Monday, July 13. Tickets go fast, so jump on this one if you'd like to join the fun.

DCCE: Much of your writing is bold, unapologetically... raucous; do you have to work to balance your professional image with your candid online personality?

EN: "My clients know what they're getting when they hire me. I'm fortunate that my clients hire me because they like all facets of me. If they don't, we're just not a good fit. One of the secret benefits of being a bold and unapologetic personality is that the relationships I forge from that are genuine. My clients benefit from that; they know when I make an introduction, there's no hot air behind it.
"But don't confuse bold and unapologetic with never feeling apologies are necessary. I rant—I don't attack. I counter—I don't chastise or condescend. If something pisses me off, or titillates me to no end, it inspires me to write. Both of my blogs are of the same tone but for different purpose. One is business with an irreverent edge. The other is the business of being irreverent. The audience for the two isn't necessarily shared, but I'm finding out there's a lot of unexpected crossover!"

Next up, in part 2 of this interview, Erika talks more about Twitter (specifically, how to find the right people to follow), unveils her personal tagline du jour, teases readers about her latest writing tricks and current projects, and shares her Top Three Denver Distractions.

While The Redhead gathers hopefuls for her new, improved "How I Broke My Leg" story, Colorado Rockies veteran pitcher Alan Embree already has a pretty good one. With more than 35,238 witnesses at Coors Field, he took a line drive to the shin from Braves batter Milton Prado that has likely put Embree on the "Disabled List" for the entire back half of the 2009 season. You can round out your Rockies baseball news fix with Travis Lay's Examiner page.