About Me
How I Got Started in Copyediting:
When I was in seventh grade, I ordered a book from Writer's Digest about how to write a novel. I had saved enough babysitting money and sent $20 cash in the mail. I did not tell my parents. When it came, I had some explaining to do. I told my mom that I wanted to write stories, like Grandpa Flinn. Grandpa, whose name was Paul Morton Flinn, was a columnist and historian for The Bonners Ferry Herald in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He wrote “The Old Timer’s Column” for the newspaper. He was 96 years old and still writing for the paper when he had his heart attack in 2010 and succumbed during surgery.
Mom did not get angry. She did not make me send the book back. She did not tell Dad. Instead, she bought a typewriter at a yard sale. It was actually two typewriters welded together to make one. It was very clunky and heavy. I sat at my desk in my room one night and clanked out the first few chapters of a western novel. I even lugged that thing to my dorm at Boise State University.
Fast forward a few years. Boys, sports, college, etc., interrupted my life, and I put writing on the back burner. It wasn’t until 2009, after marriage, children, jobs, and widowhood changed my life. Mostly, it was the widowhood. I found myself suddenly single after nearly 20 years of being together with my spouse. I needed to do something with my life as I struggled to raise four young daughters alone. Writing had always been in the back of my mind, and I did write short stories and essays here and there. But they weren’t paying the bills. That’s when I decided to give editing a try. It came as naturally as writing itself. I pride myself in knowing grammar, punctuation, and spelling, almost innately. In elementary school, the kids fought over me during spelling bees. PE? Not so much.
As an introvert, I have always been curious. My favorite topics include: young adult romance, contemporary romance, historical romance, memoirs, creative nonfiction, and inspirational. I am currently writing a coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s post-Vietnam. It's fun, challenging, rewarding. I adopt that way of thinking in pretty much everything I do.
Education and Experience
Genres
Fiction:
Nonfiction
My Clients
Are you ready to let your voice be heard? To share your stories with the world? If so, please contact me.
When I was in seventh grade, I ordered a book from Writer's Digest about how to write a novel. I had saved enough babysitting money and sent $20 cash in the mail. I did not tell my parents. When it came, I had some explaining to do. I told my mom that I wanted to write stories, like Grandpa Flinn. Grandpa, whose name was Paul Morton Flinn, was a columnist and historian for The Bonners Ferry Herald in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He wrote “The Old Timer’s Column” for the newspaper. He was 96 years old and still writing for the paper when he had his heart attack in 2010 and succumbed during surgery.
Mom did not get angry. She did not make me send the book back. She did not tell Dad. Instead, she bought a typewriter at a yard sale. It was actually two typewriters welded together to make one. It was very clunky and heavy. I sat at my desk in my room one night and clanked out the first few chapters of a western novel. I even lugged that thing to my dorm at Boise State University.
Fast forward a few years. Boys, sports, college, etc., interrupted my life, and I put writing on the back burner. It wasn’t until 2009, after marriage, children, jobs, and widowhood changed my life. Mostly, it was the widowhood. I found myself suddenly single after nearly 20 years of being together with my spouse. I needed to do something with my life as I struggled to raise four young daughters alone. Writing had always been in the back of my mind, and I did write short stories and essays here and there. But they weren’t paying the bills. That’s when I decided to give editing a try. It came as naturally as writing itself. I pride myself in knowing grammar, punctuation, and spelling, almost innately. In elementary school, the kids fought over me during spelling bees. PE? Not so much.
As an introvert, I have always been curious. My favorite topics include: young adult romance, contemporary romance, historical romance, memoirs, creative nonfiction, and inspirational. I am currently writing a coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s post-Vietnam. It's fun, challenging, rewarding. I adopt that way of thinking in pretty much everything I do.
Education and Experience
- Bachelor of Arts: English, creative writing emphasis, Lewis-Clark State College
- Minor: Publishing Arts, Lewis-Clark State College
- Editor-in-Chief, Syringa Copyediting Services
- Former President, Talking River Club, Lewis-Clark State College
- Former Secretary/Treasurer, Talking River Review , Lewis-Clark State College
- Former editorial staff writer, Talking River Review, Lewis-Clark State College
- Internship, Publishing Arts, Talking River Review , Lewis-Clark State College
- Participant, Rocky Mountain Peer Tutoring Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah
- Former peer tutor, Writing Center, Lewis-Clark State College
- Former peer tutor, Writing Center, Boise State University
- Former Senior Word Processing Specialist, Boise Cascade Corporation
- Word Processing Specialist, Idaho State Insurance Fund
- Account Management Specialist II, Underwriting, Idaho State Insurance Fund
Genres
Fiction:
- Adventure
- Children's
- Coming-of-Age
- Contemporary Romance
- Crime/Detective
- Fantasy
- Historical Fiction
- Humor
- Mystery
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Short Story
- Western
- Young Adult
Nonfiction
- Autobiography
- Journaling
- Memoir
- Narrative Nonfiction
- Personal Narrative
- Resumes
- Self-Improvement
My Clients
- Biologists
- Engineers
- First-Time Authors
- Geologists
- Indie Authors
- International Authors
- Teachers
- Young Adults
Are you ready to let your voice be heard? To share your stories with the world? If so, please contact me.