Tanya Bricking Leach

Senior Writer and Editor | Health Journalist | Content Strategist | Podcast Producer | Travel Writer

United States

Stories connect us. I built my career as a journalist and healthcare communicator shaping narratives. Now, as a freelance writer, editor and strategist, I transform ideas into compelling stories that leave a lasting impression.

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GoodRx
Tanya Bricking Leach - Bio

Tanya Bricking Leach is an award-winning journalist who has worked in both breaking news and hospital communications. She has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years.

Goodrx
GoodRx Patient Stories I assigned and edited

Scroll down the page to "Latest Articles" to see dozens of patient stories I assigned and edited, including: • A series on what it feels like to take pharmaceutical medications • A money series with personal finance tips • Medical topics explained in easy-to-understand terms

Pacific Business News
Travel Writing Is About More Than Pretty Beaches

Travel writing isn’t just about posting beach photos and ranking the best cocktails on the islands. It’s also about reporting on real-life issues, like how high hotel prices in Hawaii are affecting both travelers and the tourism industry.

Hone Health
Health Writing for Online Publications

A lot of women go into menopause without all the information they deserve. That's why I take on assignments like this to interview people who can provide honest answers on health topics that are often overlooked.

AARP
8 Warning Signs of Suicide

Many of AARP's stories take a practical and empathetic approach to topics, like this one I wrote about suicide awareness and prevention.

The Washington Post
Hotels Sell Big-Ticket Souvenirs

When I was a food and travel writer for The Associated Press, I wrote stories like this that were published in newspapers across the country.

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
An Award-Winning StoryCorps-Style Series I Created for a Hospital

At Cincinnati Children’s, I created these NPR StoryCorps-style audio slideshows, making them the site’s most-watched content at the time and prompting the creation of the hospital’s first video team, which I led.

Cincinnati Children's
Writer/Editor at Cincinnati Children's Hospital

At Cincinnati Children's, I served as managing editor for a consumer-focused publication and contributed articles to our research magazine and other print and digital materials. I worked closely with freelance writers, photographers and designers.

Research Horizons
Science/Research/Medical Writer and Editor

Part of my job at Cincinnati Children's included conducting interviews with researchers to translate complex scientific topics into clear, engaging narratives, including traveling to a coal-mining town in Kentucky to report on a cancer mystery for this hospital research publication.

NKY Magazine
Magazine Feature Stories

I've written dozens of feature stories for regional, alumni and academic magazines. This story about funny place names in Kentucky won a lifestyle feature award from the Society of Professional Journalists that year.

The Honolulu Advertiser
Reporting on National News

I was part of an award-winning team that covered the deadly collision between the Navy submarine and the Japanese fishing vessel Ehime Maru. Gannett sent me to Japan to interview victims’ families. I wrote a series of news and feature stories and provided extended coverage.

The Honolulu Advertiser
My Favorite Feature Story From the Hawaiian Islands

This story won first place in a short-form feature award category from the Hawaii Society of Professional Journalists and was one of my favorite memories from my time there. The paper sent me to do a story about what Christmas was like in Kalaupapa, on the remote northern coast of the island of Molokai. It's where there's a dying community of people who used to be exiled there because of Hansen's disease (formerly known as leprosy).

Vice-Versa
A Haunting Tragedy Turned into Nonfiction

When I was a news reporter in Hawaii, I covered crime stories, including this murder mystery I turned into a nonfiction story for the University of Hawaii's publication.

The Honolulu Advertiser
Covering the Aftermath of a Mass Shooting

I've covered some of the hardest stories a journalist can face: mass shootings, grieving families and communities in shock. I've sat with families who have lost loved ones and asked questions no one ever wants to ask. In one story marking the anniversary of a mass shooting, I tried to do more than recount the timeline. The result was something close to poetic — not because the tragedy was softened, but because their strength deserved to be heard with care.

The New York Times
Reporting for The New York Times

I’ve worked as a national stringer for The New York Times, contributing feature stories from Hawaii and reporting on major events such hurricanes and tornadoes in other parts of the country. I also support the national desk with research for special projects and reporting for breaking news stories.

Cincinnati Magazine
Personal Essay for a Regional Magazine

I built my personal brand by sharing emotional stories, including my own. I was a newspaper columnist for years, including on an Army post in Alabama, where I wrote weekly dispatches about life as a military wife. Later, in Kentucky, with small kids and my husband on his second deployment to Afghanistan, I wrote this magazine essay.

Newsweek
Writing for National Publications

I've written for national publications, including as a regional stringer for Newsweek. For two years, I was a Newsweek contributor, providing reporting on both breaking news and special projects such as the college issue.

The Honolulu Advertiser
Syndicated Relationships Columnist for Gannett

When I worked for the daily newspaper in Hawaii, I used to write an "About Women" relationships column (that USA TODAY sometimes picked up, along with Gannett papers nationwide). Then I became a military wife and learned hard lessons fast. This was a column I wrote when the best man from my wedding died in Afghanistan.

USA TODAY
What Being a Sports Writer Taught Me About Reinventing Myself

Lately, I've been reconnecting with peers from my reporting days at USA Today. For a brief stint, I was a sports writer in their "loaner" program, when reporters were temporarily assigned to different sections. One of my favorite stories was when the late Gary Boren, a legendary free-throw coach, tried to teach me to shoot free throws with a quarter. I also had the chance to meet the late, great Muhammad Ali and write a punchy 30-line brief about it. Above all, that chapter of my career...

The Associated Press
Food Writer and Recipe Developer

I spent several years as a contributing food writer for The Associated Press, with stories published nationwide. I wrote a weekly food column for The Dothan Eagle for two years. I also developed recipes for Food Lion, reviewed restaurants for Gault Millau travel guides and covered Cincinnati’s dining scene as the Cincinnati Food Examiner.

Hawaii for Heroes
A Travel Guide Focused on Military Families and Retirees

In 2010, my military-themed travel guide and app about Hawaii (published by GuideGecko) earned third place in an international travel-writing contest hosted by Insight Guides at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. Though now out of print, I created it to help military families, veterans and retirees make the most out of their time in Hawaii.

The Cincinnati Enquirer
Learning to Find the Heart of a Story

As a young reporter, I spent a lot of time covering crime and breaking news. I learned how to find the heart of a story on deadline and how to connect with people. These clips are from those years, including an award-winning sex crimes story published well before the "Me Too" movement.