I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. My career has taken me from technical writing to lifestyle journalism to copy editing and back again. It’s a varied portfolio; that’s for sure. But the through-line of my writing and editing career comes down to some essential principles of working with words:
Use clear language. Engage your reader with a warm, accessible tone. Make complicated topics easy to understand. Use pitch-perfect grammar and mechanics so your ideas don’t get lost in sloppy copy.
I’ve been able to achieve those goals in my own work and for countless freelance clients over the course of my career.
If you have a project that you’re working to get onto paper, let’s collaborate and make your ideas sing.
More About Me
During a lifetime of reading and writing, I’ve found myself focusing on a strong sense of place. As a kid, I loved reading books by regional authors about regional subjects (and I was lucky to grow up in the Driftless region of southwest Wisconsin, the homeplace of creative folks like Laura Ingalls Wilder, Carol Ryrie Brink, Frank Lloyd Wright, Kevin Henkes, Lois Ehlert, and more). While completing my degree in English literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I loved Shakespeare and George Eliot, but just as much, I found myself drawn to funky linguistics classes—especially one that focused on the dialects of the Upper Midwest (I can laugh at the niche-ness now!).
Like many writers, I fell in love with writing because I first fell in love with reading. For one school project when I was a teenager, I visited the Cooperative Children’s Book Center, a collaborative library and workspace for experts in children’s and young adult literature at the University of Wisconsin. It was heaven. I shadowed the folks who worked there and was seriously considering a degree in education or library science, though I ultimately decided to focus on my own writing track. To this day, I love children’s books, and I keep up with publishing news in the field. Most of all, I love sharing the “book friends” of my childhood with my own kids, and meeting new heroes and heroines in contemporary stories.
As an undergraduate, I was accepted to the prestigious Writing Fellows program at the University of Wisconsin, where I did rigorous coursework on writing and tutored peers who were completing academic papers and other projects. Now I mentor young writers and journalists. My own career has taken shape around lifestyle journalism and creative nonfiction, which has allowed me to specialize in interviewing, research, and both short- and long-form essays and articles. As the editor of a magazine group for many years, I managed projects and teams of writers, editors, art directors, and photographers, collaborating on stories that captured local people and culture. In addition to helming magazines, I’ve also worked with healthcare and technology companies on copywriting, marketing materials, research reports, and more. I’m an expert in taking information and making it accessible and memorable for readers.
And these days, when I have a moment to read a grown-up book, I love delving into historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and regional prose and poetry. Being a reader illuminates the best parts of why I love writing, and inspires me to keep up my own writing practice—especially to help others share their stories.