My childhood prepared me for a career as an editor before I even knew what editing was! Perusing the shelves at the local Carnegie library and the tables at Scholastic Book Fairs, cozying up next to my mom as she read Anne of Green Gables and the American Girls series to my sister and me, reading The Secret Garden for a book report, joining a book club in sixth grade—so many of my childhood memories involve books and the joy of experiencing exciting stories, fascinating history, and interesting biographies.
My introduction to editing came in college when an English professor recognized my writing ability and recommended me for a student tutor position in the writing center. I liked the challenge of improving essays and research papers, but I also discovered that I really enjoyed the tutoring process itself—having conversations with students about writing techniques and how they could best convey their ideas.
After college, I taught grammar lessons at a community college, and shortly after that I was hired as an editor to work on the AAA TourBook guides. I spent more than a dozen years writing and editing travel content for the organization’s more than 58 million members. AAA is where I learned how print and digital books and articles go from concept to production, and it’s where I first got to put my writing and editing skills to professional use. I received stellar training and a solid publishing foundation that quickly made me a go-to, trusted editor in my department.
Then, after a lot of additional training and research, I ventured into the world of self-employment, which has enriched my life in ways I never knew possible. I’m grateful for this career, and I look forward to getting to know you and what you’re writing!
A Few “Get to Know Me” Facts:
- I have a minor in art history.
- My cat, Graham, was my purrfect companion for 12 years.
- When I travel, I love visiting author homes and gravesites. A few I’ve visited include Louisa May Alcott, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Flannery O’Connor, and Henry David Thoreau. And the list of others I want to visit is long!
- I like making paper crafts, especially handmade cards and bookmarks.
- What I like to read: nonfiction (memoir, history), fiction (middle grade, YA, contemporary adult, 19th- and early 20th-century literature)
- Favorite book: Jane Austen’s Persuasion
