Developmental editing is one of the most transformative steps a manuscript goes through before it becomes a book. It's in this stage that a story truly comes to life.

As both a published author and a developmental editor, I'm passionate about guiding writers through that process and helping each book become the best, most elevated version it can be. My passion for literature and writing has led me to pursue my MFA at Spalding University and to publish a number of books, including Close to a Flame (Cornerstone Press); The Hound of Thornfield High (Conquest Publishing); Bonfires & Other Vigils (Red Rook Press); Skinny Vanilla Crisis (Atmosphere Press), among others.

I consider myself a "big picture" editor. I like looking for patterns in the manuscript, finding moments that land while pointing out ones that might benefit from revision. I especially enjoy forming a relationship with writers, helping them through the earliest stage in the publishing process. My hope is to make their editing experience a little less painful.

I have taught online, overseas, and in college and college prep programs. I currently teach creative writing for UC Berkeley Extension. On the editorial side, I served as a foreign rights coordinator at HarperCollins Publishers in New York. More recently, I worked as a digital editor for a nonprofit in San Francisco. My work has appeared in Witness, Rio Grande Review, Atticus Review, Cottonwood, Fiction International, and others.

I approach the editorial process as a steward — knowing the book is not mine — while helping writers sound like themselves, but better. I also view myself as both cheerleader and coach. My goal is that the author will end up with a book they're proud of.

I spent nearly two decades teaching English & creative writing at the university level before resigning my tenured professorship to become a freelance editor. I'm a poet, fiction writer, and nonfiction writer, with dozens of individual publications, as well as a short-story collection, poetry collection, and poetry chapbook.