I rely on my experience, studies, and continuing education to evolve and inform my approach to writing. Community journalism, corporate communications, non-fiction, and novel writing are the primary areas of composition I’ve engaged throughout my adult life.
My professional writing began when I secured an internship at the U.S. Information Agency in Washington, D.C. as an Editorial Assistant for al-majal, a publication distributed in the Middle East, while attending the University of Arizona, majoring in political science, history, and philosophy.
Serving in local and state political campaigns from 1993 to 2005 as a campaign manager and strategist, I transferred those connections and community knowledge into content as a local columnist. I wrote for The Us, a free distribution weekly covering local events in central and northeastern Northampton County, PA, for five years.
I worked full time for the Healthcare Marketing and Communications Council for a decade, and as the Communications Manager, was mentored by serial entrepreneur and founder of Medscape, Peter Frishauf, who exposed me to and encouraged me to engage in the newly emerging blogosphere.
In 2004, I launched NewsOverCoffee: Nazareth, a community news blog serving residents of the Nazareth Area School District (population 32,000) and posted 3,500 content pieces through December 2011.
My site was recognized by regional traditional print media. “I can’t think of anyone who has done a better job of putting the Internet to work in the service of his or her community,” wrote columnist, Bill White, of The Allentown Morning Call. Competitor publication the Express-Times’ Editor, Joseph Owens wrote, “The best community blog I’ve seen hereabouts thus far has been NewsOverCoffee.”
At a time when Pew Research documented that only one in five Americans read a blog, Muhlenberg College’s Assistant Professor of Media and Communications, Jefferson Pooley, wrote, “I have known Ross for a few years now…his innovative placeblog was far ahead of the pack and won wide praise in the then emerging placeblogging community. He is truly a pioneer of the Valley’s blogging and online news world, and extremely knowledgeable about a range of new media applications.”
This regional recognition led to invitations to present and provide Q and A to classes in the Lehigh University School of Journalism.
My writing background at this time (1996 – 2005) included radio, where I wrote and delivered live broadcasts of Nazareth High School and Lehigh University wrestling matches, learning the interplay of structure, observation, and improvisation.
In 2010 I was hired into a newly created role managing online marketing strategy and analytics in the medical device division of the Olympus Corporation of the Americas. At Olympus I used my writing skills primarily in internal presentations to gain approval of major initiatives including the implementation of a new web platform for the Americas, and externally to make industry conference presentations on implementing change in the enterprise.
My love of Tolkien began when I was in 6th grade as an eleven or twelve year old and my transition from fandom to scholarship began in 2012 and accelerated in 2020 when the Tolkien Society embraced online engagement with members.
Following Oxonmoot 2020, the Annual Conference of the Tolkien Society, I joined the organization and the 2nd Breakfast Smial of Pennsylvania, which is a combination local chapter and book club of the Society.
With their input and support my papers have been accepted for presentation each year since 2021.
One presentation “Women in the Children of Hurin” was published in Amon Hen, the bimonthly bulletin of the Society. Another, “Lessons to Be Learned through Bad Decisions” was co-presented with Michael Urick, editor of the Emerald Publishing book series: Exploring Effective Leadership Practices through Popular Culture. He authored the first book in the series, Leadership in Middle-earth, which was used in conjunction with my work on The Children of Hurin for this co-presentation.
Each presentation I’ve made has been related to my non-fiction project, a reader’s guide to The Children of Hurin presented as a biography of the main character Turin. While not under contract, through query and follow-up, I have a publisher in place for when I have completed writing, editing and received required permissions from the Estate.
Since 2024, I have additionally presented at the New York Tolkien Conference at Baruch University in New York City.
In a sense, fiction writing is an aggregation and culmination of reading, writing, research and presentation, or considered together, scholarship.
My current undertaking is a novel, The Grit Girl: A Social Media Story, which explores authenticity in an age where individuals engage the world through the medium of the internet and what happens when the medium is disrupted and the curtain on life is lifted.
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Ross Raymond Nunamaker 