Freelance Book Reviews and Blog Entries

Book reviews for the Washington Independent Review of Books:

I Liked My Life: A Novel (February 2017)

Loner: A Novel (September 2016)

Luckiest Girl Alive (July 2015)

Winter Street (January 2015)

The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra (September 2014)

The Lost Sisterhood (April 2014)

Caught (February 2014)

The Smart One (June 2013)

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II (April 2013)

These Girls (March 2012)

Dangerous Ambition: Rebecca West and Dorothy Thompson - New Women in Search of Love and Power (November 2011)

An entry for the baking/crafts blog, I Like To Do Crafty Things:

Its Fleece Was White As Snow: More Easter Treats! April 12, 2012

Work for AM Radio

From the Fall of 2011 to the Spring of 2013, I worked as an anchor/reporter/producer on AM radio.

Here's an example of my anchoring the news on the weekend, from August 4, 2012:


And here's my local news from the same day:

Radio Essay about the Peace Corps

In the summer of 2011, after I had left Missouri, KBIA ran the radio essay I wrote the year before for a class. It was about unexpectedly having to teach a certain class to a group of 4th graders while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine ...

Work for "The Kojo Nnamdi Show" on WAMU

In the spring of 2011, I was an intern for "The Kojo Nnamdi Show" on WAMU, the NPR-affiliate in Washington, D.C. While there, I helped produce four shows:

Economic History in the Black Community, Feb. 23, 2011
Guest: Dr. Julianne Malveaux

Equal Opportunity, On & Off the Playing Field, Feb. 28, 2011
Guest: N. Jeremi Duru

Women's Health Care and the Law, March 16, 2011
Guests: Rosemary Codding; Maryland Del. Adelaide Eckardt; Maryland Del. Pamela Beidle

Musical Artifacts of the Civil War, April 7, 2011
Guests: Prof. Patrick Warfield; Prof. Dan Milner

And I pitched and researched one last show before leaving:

Charter Schools in Virginia, April 27, 2011
Guests: Stuart Gibson; Dan Soifer; Lacy Ward, Jr.; Virginia State Sen. Mamie Locke

Work for Vox Magazine / Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Award

When I lived in Missouri, I did several pieces for Vox Magazine. My first is here:

Horsing around: Stephens College equestrian students and their horses have a symbiotic relationship, March 18, 2010

My next pieces were part of a package that won the 2011 Missouri Press Foundation Better Newspaper Award for "Best News or Feature Series." The package focused on issues of fertility: I wrote about religion and fertility treatments, and interviewed an egg donor about her experience.

Religion and fertility: how major religions view receiving help with reproductive issues, Dec. 9, 2010

Becoming an egg donor: an anonymous egg donor shares her story, Dec. 9, 2010

Series on Missouri Roads for KBIA

While at KBIA, in the fall of 2010, I produced a five-part series on the history and economics of rural roads and bridges in Missouri. I wrote and voiced two of the stories:

Anchoring Work for KBIA

In the fall of 2010, I anchored and wrote a six-minute newscast for KBIA once a week. Here's an example of one of my newscasts:

Work for WTOP

In 2010, I was a summer intern for WTOP in Washington, D.C. Here are some of the pieces I did while I was there:

A piece about asking people who wrote "The Star-Spangled Banner" - July 4, 2010

A piece about asking people why we celebrate the 4th of July - July 4, 2010

A medley of people attempting to sing the national anthem (not bad) - July 4, 2010

A medley of people attempting to sing the national anthem (pretty bad) - July 4, 2010

Piece about National Hot Dog Month - July 24, 2010

Piece asking people if they will celebrate National Hot Dog Month - July 24, 2010


First piece on locally made skin care product "Skincando," July 24, 2010

Second piece on "Skincando" - July 24, 2010

Feature Pieces for KBIA

When I was at KBIA I did several features for the weekly programs they had on different subjects.

Here are some of those:

A piece for “Under the Microscope” on how harsh winters might relate to climate change – Feb. 22, 2010

A piece for “Off the Clock” on the State Historical Society of Missouri’s exhibit on Mark Twain and Thomas Hart Benton – March 10, 2010

A piece for “Exam” on the MU Choral Union for students and community members – March 19, 2010

A piece for “Talking Politics” on Tea Party candidates in central Missouri – April 11, 2010

A piece for “Business Beat” on the Energize Missouri Rebate program – funded by the federal stimulus to promote energy-efficient appliances – April 21, 2010

A piece for “Under the Microscope” on research being done at MU’s Animal Sciences department on fixed-time artificial insemination for cattle on beef farms – May 2, 2010

Short Pieces for KBIA

In 2010, I was a reporter for NPR-affiliate KBIA in Columbia, Mo. Here are some of the shorter pieces I did for them:

Missouri Counties Ranked High By Welfare Researchers, Feb. 1, 2010

A piece on the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition– Feb. 26, 2010

Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition by vbpasley

A piece on whether former state Representative Ed Robb would run for Boone County presiding commissioner – March 12, 2010

Boone County Presiding Commissioner by vbpasley

Health Care Bill Affects Primary Health Care Providers, March 25, 2010

Health Care Bill by vbpasley

A piece on the Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition– April 30, 2010

Central Missouri Stop Human Trafficking Coalition by vbpasley

A piece on Stephen Webber‘s re-election to the Missouri House of Representatives – Nov. 2, 2010

Stephen Webber's Re-election by vbpasley

Essay about Rural Immigrant Community

This is an essay I wrote about visiting a Ukrainian community in Sedalia, Mo. for The Columbia Missourian.

Ukrainian community in Sedalia stirs Peace Corps memories, Dec. 21, 2009

Excerpt:

“A little over a year ago, I was packing to return to the United States after living in Ukraine for two years. It’s hard to believe it’s been so long since I was frantically filling my suitcases and trying to wedge in last-minute gifts from my Ukrainian friends and neighbors, including a large wooden mace and multiple bottles of flavored vodka …”

Work for "Radio Adelante"

Also while I was studying in Missouri, I was a reporter for a weekly Spanish-language news program called “Radio Adelante” on KOPN 89.5. Here are some of my contributions to that program:

A piece on the H1N1 virus – Sept. 12, 2009

A piece about the Latin Food Summit in Columbia, Mo. – Sept. 19, 2009

An interview about a call center for immigrants in Tucson, Ariz. – Oct. 3, 2009

A piece on the MU Hispanic and Latin American Staff Association picnic – Oct. 10, 2009

A piece about a Spanish class for medical professionals – Oct. 17, 2009

Work for The Columbia Missourian

These are local and national news stories I wrote for The Columbia Missourian while I was in grad school in Columbia, Missouri.

MU School of Medicine requests early review of probation status, Aug. 21, 2009

Two in hospital after collision on St. Charles Road, Aug. 28, 2009

No. 9 in ’09: Columbia named the ninth-best college town, Sept. 12, 2009

Columbia Catholic high school named for America’s first black priest, Oct. 2, 2009

Barack Obama fourth U.S. president to receive Nobel Peace Prize, Oct. 9, 2009

Miss Virginia in Ukraine

I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2006 to 2008 in a small town called Bratslav in Ukraine. While there, I taught English to 5th through 11th graders. I also taught seminars on HIV/AIDS and human trafficking, and wrote a water sanitation grant.

This is my blog from when I was there: Miss Virginia in Ukraine (so named for all the programs I had taught and tutored at where I was known as Miss Virginia).

Here are some highlights:

My first, frantic post after arriving: “I’m here!!! I’m fine!”, Oct. 21, 2006

My trip to Germany: “Christmastime for Virginia in Germany”, Jan. 5, 2008

The Paul McCartney concert in Kyiv: “Paul McCartney, Summer Camp, and T-Shirts”, June 26, 2008

My trip to Mozambique to visit another friend in Peace Corps there: “Miss Virginia in Africa”, July 15, 2008

My final HIV/AIDS seminars: “Crimea, and Seminars (Long Entry!)”, Sept. 27, 2008

And, my final entry: “Road Verginia Robertivna”, Nov. 19, 2008

Attitudes toward the antebellum past in post-Civil War Southern literature: nostalgia, anti-nostalgia and escapism

May as well begin at the beginning: my honors thesis for the English department at William & Mary – comparing, among other things, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain to Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I presented the thesis in May of 2006, and earned honors.