I’m a journalist living in Jacksonville, Florida, and in my other life I’m a poet. In my best life I’m a wife, mom and friend.
I’ve provided articles, copy and content to places like The Christian Science Monitor, The Writer, Coastal Homes, The Florida Times Union, United Press International, Sky News and many others. I currently freelance a regular column for The Writer at the magazine Web site (“Web Savvy”). I one-up articles at many different places. I’ve written one nonfiction book, ‘Killing Earl.’ It’s a memoir about a mystery illness our younger daughter experienced. I’ve contributed to anthologies featuring poetry and nonfiction.
My poetry is published in journals like the magazine published by Florida Council of Teachers of English and on Web sites and in magazines like Foliate Oak,Pif, ByLine and Fairfield Review. It’s included in anthologies like 'Letters to the World' and in text materials created by an educational publisher. I’ve done poems on TV and on public radio. An exciting moment for me was reading at the U.S. Library of Congress for Florida Poets Arrive. My collection 'A Poetry Break' won several awards and it was selected by a bookseller’s organization as a nominee for poetry book of the year.
My new book 'Hook, Line and Linker' will be out for the 2009 holiday season.
I'm honored to serve as senior media analyst for The Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention to be held in Charleston, SC, in 2010.
Last year I decided to come out of the political closet and write about politics. I’ve lost a few “friends” as a result but I’ve gained a large portion of my dignity in return. I knew that by doing this I would lose a few clients. I am, however, careful to keep politics out of the writing I do that does not relate to politics. I manage to anger members of both political parties and I would not be doing my job if I did otherwise.
Though The US Report is only a year old, our content is picked up by major media via our agreement with Newstex.
I also write the Live Music Jacksonville column for The Examiner.
If you really want to know more, or if you need a writer, email me by using the form on this website [link at the top of the page]. I get mountains of email from readers, and I really do try to answer them all. Sometimes I fail, so don’t take it personally. I always answer emails from editors and potential clients. I am a capitalist.
If you’re an aspiring writer, your best resource is the magazine The Writer. I’ve already disclosed I’m published there and I do the column online. But I read that magazine long before I was polished enough to do either. It’s the very best writing resource you’ll find in my opinion. It's also the oldest continually published trade magazine for writers in the US.
My professional memberships include The American Society of Journalists and Authors, The Authors Guild and the Online News Association.
I invite you to visit my other pages:
kayday.com
Kay Day pages at Media Bistro
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Books*
*One of a number of contributors to Faces of Freedom, The Writer’s Handbook 2005, The New Writer’s Handbook, vol. 2 (2007) and Letters to the World. Sole author of 'A Poetry Break' and 'Killing Earl'. All are traditionally published. All are available at online booksellers and can be found in a number of bookstores. Barnes and Noble has been fairly kind about carrying my books.
You may contact me by using the form on this website or by sending a message to kaybday (at) gmail.com.
Please visit our bookstore.
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Jen Day-Thompson is a victim advocate in Jacksonville, FL. She has a B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Criminology from the University of North Florida. Jen has edited a textbook on women and crime, conducted research on family violence, and evaluated domestic violence programming in Jacksonville as part of her graduate program of study.
