About Me
I am a published, Pushcart Prize-nominated writer, former literary agent’s assistant, and freelance book editor. My fiction has been published in the following: Adelaide Literary Magazine; Bethlehem Writers’ Roundtable; Freedom Fiction Journal; Full of Crow; Fiction Magazines; Tincture; Flash: The International Short Short Story Magazine; Aaduna; MacGuffin; Gothic City Press; Alfie Dog Press; Milvia Street; Concho River Review; and more. My blog pieces have been included in Writers’ Digest, Writer Unboxed, Creative Penn, The Kimberley Cameron & Associates [literary agency] blog; the San Francisco Writers Conference Newsletter and MASH.
I have a degree in writing, informal editing training from the agency I interned for (the senior agent I assisted had formerly been an acquisitions editor), and for a year-and-a-half I was active in Clive Matson’s Writers’ Workshop in Oakland, Ca. I have dozens of published stories in various literary journals and magazines and have written eight novels. I attend and teach at writers’ conferences all over the country (and beyond) in places including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, Oregon, and British Columbia.
Mainly, I focus on what’s called “developmental editing,” (novels and memoir) which zooms out the camera and focuses on the following: plot, structure, voice, character-development, story/character arc, dialogue, pace, tension, conflict, logic, etc. Basically anything that needs help in terms of making the story as drum-tight as it can be. My goal is to help you create your best work.
I believe authors need and deserve respectful, insightful, constructive feedback. Sometimes it’s hard for clients to take “tough news” about their manuscript, but I always deliver the truth and I do it kindly. Writers are hardworking, diligent, sensitive people. I take editing seriously. I not only read the entire manuscript, and mark up individual sections, but I also offer comprehensive, common-sense, helpful solutions to your story problems.
_JPG.jpg)
I am a member of the Bay Area Editors’ Forum (BAEF), the California Writer's Club (CWC), Duotrope.com, Thumbtack, and the EFA (Editorial Freelancer's Association).