Brandy Hilboldt Allport creates stories. She does it in newspapers and magazines, on radio and television, in public relations offices and from a lectern. 

She is known for engaging readers by:

• cultivating sources

• developing fresh angles

• asking the right questions (and the unexpected ones)

• choosing quotes carefully for maximum impact

•  turning in succinct copy (on deadline, of course). 

She understands that every word needs to address the why-should-I care mantra in readers' minds. That might mean offering a how-to guide, contextualizing policy or eliciting a laugh, a grimace or a whaddayaknow.

Professional Boiler Plate
Though she covers breaking daily news, her expertise is features. As a reporter, writer, editor and children's book columnist with an audience of 250,000 daily readers at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, she won numerous awards. These include two national ones for feature editing from the Newspaper Association of America. 

As a multi-media journalist, she chatted weekly during "First Coast Connect," a morning segment broadcast on NPR affiliates WJCT 89.9 FM in Jacksonville, Fla. and on WUWF 89.9 FM in Pensacola.Topics: Literature for children and young adults from her weekly column, "Read All About It." This included summaries of her interviews and news coverage of acclaimed authors including Kate DiCamillo, E. L. Konigsburg, Jan Brett, R.L. Stine and Faith Ringgold. 

The 9 Point: Some Specific Examples

In addition to the books beat, Brandy specializes in home and garden coverage for diverse audiences. A few of her thousands of bylines include trendspotting at the International Furniture Market, growing orchids in a window sill, throwing a dinner party even if you have no dining room, purchasing a lawn tractor for suburban yard maintenance, and reaping the psychological benefits of decluttering. Her features engage readers because they incorporate elements of health, wellness, business, policy and community connections.

Post-Newspaper Industry Era

When newspaper staff sizes shrank (and shrank again and again), Brandy transitioned to public relations roles. After serving as communications coordinator for the Florida Small Business Development Center Headquarters, she began consulting.

Two of her current collaborations include Market on the Square, a boutique and community hub in Ozark, Alabama. She provides expertise about inventory/merchandising related to books and coordinates event planning such as a semi-monthly "Story Time" for children, and other readers of all ages.

She also serves as media liaison for Flowers Center for the Performing Arts, a regional community theatre and fine arts venue with a 12-month annual season. She contributes to script writing and editing for original productions, assits the grant writer and ghostwrites speeches for the director.

Other Endeavors (From the lectern)

After earning her master's degree in Secondary Education/ English Language Arts, Brandy became "Mrs. Allport" to teach creative writing, speech, and journalism in Jacksonville high schools. She also taught a freshman study skills class at Troy University and provided academic advising to communication, journalism and fine arts majors. 

Curated Personal Details 

When she is not working or reading, Brandy searches thrift stores for trash-to-treasure candidates and vintage children's toys to add to her collection. She and her husband, Richard, also a newspaper industry alum, adopt and care for geriatric rescue dogs. Their females have traditional Southern double names (Sally Sue, Daisy Bell and Lily May). Their males have literary monikers (Zeebo and Huckleberry). Their current furry charge is a long-haired dauschund of indeterminate age. His name is McGee, as in protagonist Travis McGee, salvage consultant and de facto private investigator, from John D. MacDonald’s novels.