Seattle, Washington, United States
I'm a seasoned writer, expert editor and communicator at large who’s looking to create content for virtuous businesses and organizations that try their hardest to put a little good out into the world and improve people’s lives.
Writes about sports betting and equine topics for horse racing's paper of record while trying not to butcher the copy of the DRF's incredibly talented stable of correspondents. I write a minimum of three stories a week about Emerald Downs and Hastings racecourses while editing at least that many stories on a daily basis.
Contributing Writer (1997-Present): New York Times, L.A. Times, Seattle Times, University of Washington Magazine, VICE, The Guardian, Grantland, ESPN, Rolling Stone, No Depression, L.A. Weekly, America’s Best Racing. For the New York Times, I’ve painted portraits of "walktail" culture & panic-buying camper vans during a pandemic, Washington state's foremost wine-producing region, the emerging "pet aquamation" industry, the cult of the Lincoln Town Car, how Lake of the Ozarks compares to its namesake Netflix hit, Las Vegas' most un-Vegas neighborhood, the surging popularity of the outdoor-education industry, and Vegas in the aftermath of the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, for which I won a Society of American Travel Writers Award. I wrote the most recent "36 Hours in Seattle" for the Travel section, and my story about Boeing's MAX 8 crisis made the front page of the national section. I've also contributed numerous stories to the L.A. Times, and for L.A. Weekly, paeans to America’s classiest dive bar, Chez Jay and the late, great Hollywood Park. Also, I've penned pieces on the greatest intramural bike race in America for Grantland and the great Austin (TX) singer-songwriter James McMurtry for No Depression, as well as an exploration of Whidbey Island’s peculiar telephone booths for the Seattle Times’ Sunday magazine.
Have written a minimum of three stories per week and edited at least three stories per day for the world’s leading legal gambling affiliate. (Main Sports Handle and US Bets author portal pages with clickable clips are https://www.usbets.com/author/mseely/ and https://sportshandle.com/author/mdseely/.) Subject matter has included, but not been limited to, responsible and problem gambling, horse racing, basketball, and gambling history, as well as complex industry, technological, legal, and legislative issues that pertain to the explosion of regulated sports betting and gambling at large in America. Also responsible for a good portion of social media for multiple sites.
Conceived and created advertorial articles for one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious liquor companies, engineering full-page and double-truck placement in Seattle Metropolitan magazine. Worked with distillery representatives and bar managers to tell entertaining and enlightening stories about such popular brands as Hendrick’s gin, Milagro tequila, and Tullamore Dew whiskey.
Responsible for creating content, charting editorial direction for and editing a 24-hour wire service which reaches over 300 commercial FM radio clients worldwide on a subscription basis. Responsible for a staff of five spread out over disparate locations in the United States. I was in charge of the same service for ReelWorld Productions prior to Prep Plus LLC's October, 2019, sale to Futuri Media; all told, our product's subscriber base has grown seven-fold since its inception, while content has become much more comprehensive, frequent, colorful and dynamic.