Your friendly, neighborhood story editor. 

I love stories. This is mine.  

I was raised by a family of storytellers. As an only child, I lived for the moments the adults would forget I was in the room and start the game of “Do you remember when…” I also had a hugely active imagination, a houseful of imaginary friends, and thought everyone talked to themselves out loud until I was about eleven years old. 

I had great dreams of becoming an author. I filled countless spiral notebooks with stories I was sure would be real books one day. Oddly, writing was the one thing my parents never fully supported me in. I think they assumed there was no way to make a living at it. So when the time came I didn’t go to college to become a writer (or lawyer—much to my parents’ dismay.) 

I entered the lucrative arena of public education. I taught middle school and high school for eighteen years. I loved teaching but I always said it would be best for everyone involved if I was done teaching high school by the time my own children started high school. Dealing with teenagers all day and coming home to two more never seemed like a fantastic idea. 

Fate must have taken that to heart. The first week of my oldest child’s eighth grade year, I walked out of the classroom on Friday with my bag full of papers to grade and the names of my new students swirling in my head. Those papers would never be recorded and those names would never be matched with the new faces. Over that weekend, my mother suffered a medical emergency that put her in the hospital for twelve days. We brought her home with a terminal diagnosis. I resigned to take care of her in the time she had left. Other than returning at the end of the year to pack up my personal items, I never went back to the classroom. 

My husband suggested I take a year and write. In theory, that sounded amazing. But for my highly extroverted, high-communication self, it was terribly lonely. I missed people and talking (I love talking!) I missed helping and teaching. 

I was judging a contest for a local writing grouping and lamenting to one of my author friends that I hated giving feedback and not being able to follow up on it. I could see the story potential. If I could just talk to this author and guide them a little bit, the story would be amazing. Her answer was, “You realize that’s an actual job, right?” 

So I started story coaching and editing. I was talking to people again. I could see that I was helping. I got the great thrill of teaching without the cafeteria duty! 

Then… 

I met Nancy in a bar. 

Okay, it was a bar at a writing conference and a mutual friend introduced us but it sounds so much more serendipitous to just say I met her in a bar. We just kind of clicked as we chatted about writing, editing, and life in general. A short time later, I joined Evident Ink as a developmental editor/story coach.  

Everything I do is at the story level. My focus is plot, characterization, voice, pacing, tension, conflict...all of the factors that engage readers and keep them turning the pages. 

Launching Story Strategy Live last year has been one of my favorite parts of Evident Ink. In addition to talking about stories and helping authors, Nancy and I laugh..a lot. 

I’m super excited about our plans for 2021. Authors, podcasts, and courses! Oh my!