You can't succeed if you don't know your own strengths. Mine include an enthusiastic layman's knowledge of art and technology, and the skill to put that knowledge and enthusiasm into clear and concise English. I'm not an engineer and I don't write for engineers, but I can tell a consumer exactly what he or she needs to know to find the right solution, the right product, and the right price. And I can target that advise to novices, experts, or anyone in between.

I also know how to earn a laugh. My technology-oriented humor column, Gigglebytes, ran in various publications from 1986 until 2008, when I chose to call it quits.

Although I'll take the occasional humor assignment, I prefer serious articles. Why? Nothing gives me more pleasure than research (at least nothing I can get paid for). Whether I'm interviewing an expert, figuring out the easiest way to configure a gadget, or putting some new product through its paces before reviewing it, I love discovering something I didn't know and finding the best way to tell others about it.

Eight years on the staff of a major magazine taught me what an editor wants. In 23 years of freelance journalism (eleven as a full-time freelancer), I have never missed a deadline or had an assigned article killed.