Our Work Together Will Be Different

I am here to cradle your story like two hands cradle the chin of a loved one.

I’ve been “Writing Hard Stories” since 2013 when I first discovered my love for writing while working in Uganda. More importantly, I am a Certified Instructor for Adult Mental Health First Aid USA, and have been a Certified Mental Health First Aider for seven years. This means that I literally have the tools needed to ask the right questions to pull the real story out of your mind, and to listen nonjudgmentally. This also means I will help you weave in self-care into your writing process. You want to talk about what your therapist said the other day (related to your project of course) – lay it on me! Are you unsure how to share your mental health challenge through your story, what words are okay or not okay to use? Let’s talk about it! Are you writing a story you have not shared with anyone else and are worried sick about letting anyone else read the words and what they are going to think? Try and shock me!

Listen – my greatest work to date, in my own opinion, is the letter I read at my mom’s funeral, her obituary, and the chapter of my memoir describing the morning she died while I held her hand. My dad died when I was 14, after living in a convalescent home for two years. Both deaths were related to addiction. I often tell my friends to try and shock me. It hasn’t happened yet. I have lived many lives in my years, and have heard countless stories of others’ experiences. You have the right to be heard, and to share your stories with those that need to read it, even if it’s scary.

I also majored in Sociology with a focus on Human Sexuality and Gender, so send me these stories! I work hard to be an ally to the LGTBQIA+ community and have spent extensive time educating myself in this area, so I hope to also read these stories with love, care, and feedback that will help you get your words to the audience who needs to read them.

If your story was hard to write because it brought you to tears or made you want to scream at the top of a mountain, or even sent you back into that moment and felt like it was re-traumatizing you, I am here to be that person to read and provide feedback, without judgement.

How We Work Together

• Critiques that are Wanted: Telling something what their doing well is easy. Figuring out where their work could best improve is the tough part, and it needs to be done with care. I take the time to dig into your work and tease out some ideas on how your piece could be improved, and give you guidance on how to get there.
• Meeting the Writer in Their Preferred Environment: Whether you prefer Google Docs, Microsoft Word, hard copy edits, or any other way to receive feedback, I will meet you there. I am very tech-savvy, and I don’t want a new process or software to distract you from your work.
• Prioritizing Growth: I don’t see our work together as something that will only improve this one standalone project. I aim for my feedback to guide you long-term, so your investment will continue to pay off over and over again.
• Co-Creating a Partnership: As a former business analyst for Google, Inc. I am all about efficiency and priorities. You tell me your deadlines, and I will let you know if I can hit them. You tell me what areas of your project you are struggling with the most and I will focus more of my time and energy there. Together, we will make the most of our time.
• Out of the Comfort Zone: One of my favorite things to do is ask a question or propose an idea that might nudge the writer a little out of their comfort zone. You never have to try it or follow my suggestion, but it might make you think differently, or it might spark a new idea for an additional piece.
• Always On Time: Ask any of my editors – I always submit my own work on time. Ask any of my clients – I am always on top of the schedule. Yes, life sometimes happens, but I will never leave you hanging, and you can rely on my type-A personality to deliver the product when it was promised.

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