Hi, I'm Fiona Tankard. I'm a British writer living in Tuscany, Italy with my husband, three dogs, a few feral cats and a handicapped pigeon. We left our TEFL teaching jobs in Bournemouth in 1994 and moved to Italy to live the rustic life, do up a ruin and try something new. I was even on an episode of the reality tv show Get a New Life!
In 2001 I created the concept for Italy magazine. I took the idea to a publisher and was the magazine's editor and business management developer for five years, leaving in 2006. When it started it was the UK's only glossy magazine on Italy and I am extremely proud of what it achieved, especially when you look now at its online community which is one of the largest sites on Italy on the web.
I've been a professional writer since 1999 and have written or co-written over 20 books on teaching and learning English and also a kid's book on Italy. I've also written numerous magazine and online articles and ghostwritten novels for clients in the USA, Australia and Italy.
SPIDERYWRITING
I started spiderywriting in 2006 after leaving the magazine. Quite a few people ask about the name, which I modestly believe is a touch of genius but I think I'm the only one that gets it!
As I do a lot of writing for websites, the name is a pun on the 'web' as well as search engine 'spiders' that crawl sites. But its main inspiration was a quote that I have always loved from children's author Roald Dah
On the wall in spidery writing was written: “And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” Roald Dahl
I love that, because to me, writing is magic and books are friends. If I were on a desert island and could only have a few items then books would have to be there in the top three. I can't imagine a world without them.
MY WRITING LIFE
So I am lucky enough to spend my days here in my home office in Tuscany writing. Magazine articles, books, website copy, stories... if it has words in it, then I'm interested. I'm also aware that I couldn't do any of this without the Internet and so have made it my business over the last few years to learn all I can about it, from effective keyword strategy to search engine marketing and Google adwords campaigns. I currently work with several clients in Italy managing the content of their websites and their internet marketing, including one of the country's top luxury property developers in Puglia. I've also done brand naming work for two high profile naming companies in the USA and New Zealand.
I am also in the middle of ghostwriting books for clients – fiction and non fiction, which is a lovely contrast to the web writing work.
I have three websites reflecting my interests: apart from this one, there is my site to help animals www.petsinitaly.com and my tarot site www.tarotcanhelp.com. I blog regularly on all my sites (you'd be amazed how many people start a blog then fail to stick at it!) so make sure you check out this site's blog. I also tweet regularly and you can follow me on twitter.com/writerinitaly
I get many, many repeat clients and you can check out my portfolio and testimonials. I'd love to help you with any kind of writing so please contact me and we can have a chat.
