I believe that writing and editing are a way of life, the constant creation and refinement of thought and action that leads to our highest level of contribution.
I am an award-winning ghostwriter, developmental editor, and publishing consultant who specializes in working with high achievers on commercially viable nonfiction and upmarket fiction projects.
My clients have contracts with Big 5, academic, and respected independent publishers. My clients have earned more than 60 book and writing awards; bestseller rankings, including New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and Amazon Charts; and media placements, including Parade Magazine, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and New York Post.
As a developmental editor, I'm focused on all aspects of crafting a high-quality book--substance, structure, and style.
As a strategic partner and consultant, I educate my clients about the publishing industry and the business of books and help them navigate and find their place in it. I also help my clients build their author platforms and reach more readers.
My experience working with neurotypical and neurodivergent clients and with traditional, hybrid, and self-publishing authors gives me a deep understanding of my clients' needs, fears, and experiences. I use my industry knowledge and experience to help authors determine which publishing model is right for them and teach them how to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
When I work with screenwriters and documentary filmmakers, I apply my understanding of screenwriting and experience crafting well-paced books both fiction and nonfiction to help my clients find the backbone of their narrative and develop a script or film treatment that is both intellectually and emotionally compelling.
I grew up in a home without a television but with hundreds of books. Our evenings were spent listening to my father or mother read to us--Louisa May Alcott, J.R.R. Tolkien, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Johann David Wyss, and many more. We were encouraged to read aloud, and I learned early on the pleasure of capturing an audience's attention and shaping their experience with a text through the combination of written and spoken word.
Not long after reading a WWII trilogy about a group of young freedom fighters, I began to write my own novel. Approximately three chapters in, I realized it was derivative at best and plagiarized at worst. Perhaps that was the day this editor was born. I was 12.
My first job was working for a small newspaper where I started as a survey taker and worked my way into ad layout. Many years later while studying anthropology, I worked in a university bookstore where I learned the ins and outs of textbook returns and met my first publishing industry insiders. The entire experience was interesting, but I saw a future related to my area of study.
I graduated magna cum laude from Boise State University with a degree in anthropology. I'm particularly interested in medical and socio-cultural anthropology and public health.
On the professional side, prior to going back to school and after graduating, my background includes investment sales and personal and institutional (university) risk management and insurance.
While at university, I discovered and fell in love with public health and medical anthropology but found the academic and government agency opportunities--as interesting and important as they are--too constraining.
I've always been entrepreneurial and with the encouragement received from professors and publishing professionals I chose freelance writing. Shortly after my first piece was published, I stumbled into developmental editing and then ghostwriting and saw their potential to satisfy both my creative and business itches and do work that impacts people's lives.
I became interested in the film industry through the many excellent books I read about the craft of writing, most of which were written for screenwriters. I started using the fundamentals of screenwriting when structuring ghostwritten books and helping clients and workshop participants do the same. Results in the form of awards and media attention followed. When I started writing about films and filmmakers and meeting them at film festivals, I found a new creative outlet and dynamic group of thinkers and feelers that I wanted to engage with as a peer and collaborator.
On the personal side, members of my family and I are neurodivergent and work in the neurodivergent community. I credit my success to my lifelong, intense fascination with words and my neurodivergent creativity and ability to hyper-focus.
I value autonomy within community and am, therefore, an inclusive businessperson. I do not discriminate based on race, ethnicity, country of origin, age, marital status, disability, religious or political affiliation, gender identity, or sexual orientation in any of my activities or operations and will not contract with any author or vendor who demonstrates a disregard for the dignity, safety, and overall well-being of any other person or group.
When working with clients, we agree that without intellectual integrity and respect for human dignity, our work has little value. Therefore, we place the wellbeing and education of readers in the forefront of our minds and agree to focus our efforts on providing maximum value to them.
