Hello, Writer.
I’m your new writing & creativity coach.
I’m so excited to meet you!
Welcome to your new, next, and best writing adventure. This time, you get to have a coach by your side who specializes in inspiration, motivation, and accountability. Spoilers: I’m also an expert at celebrating your achievements, big and small.
My job, as your writing & creativity coach, is to guide you through the process of establishing a writing practice that fits smoothly and successfully within the natural rhythms of your life so you and your storytelling superpowers can thrive. I offer many different events and activities for writers that I have designed specifically to support your writing & creativity goals, plans, and intentions. Some are free, some require a fee, and all can be mixed and matched and tailored to fit your needs.
What do you already know about your writing? Where is it taking you and how will it get you there? It’s okay if you don’t know. That’s I’m here. It’s okay if you do know, but you’re stuck, or you’re overwhelmed, or you just want someone to see you. I’m here for that, too.
Impostor Syndrome is real, but I’m here to tell you one very important truth about each and every one of us: We all have storytelling superpowers. Whether they’re dormant, hidden, or on full display, I am delighted to help each and every writer I work with discover their very own.
BOOK YOUR FREE 60-MINUTE CONSULTATION HERE
Finding time and space to write can feel like a huge obstacle, which is why have someone riding shotgun who know how to break a long journey into a series of manageable trips is so important. It just makes the whole thing a lot easier and a lot more rewarding.
You Found Me!
Erm. But who am I?
I’m the ideal navigator for your writing adventure.
You are in the driver’s seat, but I’m not just along for the ride. As a writing & creativity coach, I know how to move you through writer’s block, open up your creativity, identify opportunities within your writing, show you how it feels to finish a story, show you how it feels to begin, and pace you through both long-term projects and short, sharp deadlines.
You and I design the map together. You write along your path, and I gently but firmly keep you on track. I feed you road trip snacks like Write Ins and Write Alongs and bring landmarks and milestones to your attention along the way.
I am here to help you define yourself as a writer and grow into your creative identity with the pride and respect it deserves. It can take courage to say who you want to be out loud and own it. And it takes effort to grow into that identity and stand proudly in who you have become.
The journey of a writer coming into their own and stepping confidently into their creative identity requires meaningful and effective support and encouragement — two values around which I have built my entire coaching practice and my writing community.
Bonus: If you have feel pressure to prove yourself to friends or fam, strangers or instructors, join the club — especially if the need to provide proof has stopped you from writing enthusiastically and with joy. I know how to help you feed the peanut gallery along the way so they’re too satiated to heckle, without letting you veer off track. We can handle those fools.
Why on Earth do I care about you and your writing?
I can’t help it. You writers and your stories, you make me so happy.
I’ve been mentoring writers on and off for about 25 years and I fall hard and fast for the imaginations and true stories and amazing ideas of just about every writer I meet. Always have, always will.
It’s borderline ridiculous.
Whether you’re established and published, nervously dipping your toe in new waters, or finding your way back to a life of creativity and self-expression, I want you to know that I will definitely shower you with moral support, gleefully invite you into possibility, and work with you to discover what makes your fingers fly across the keyboard with unfettered creativity.
Finding ways to do this is for you key to my own creative identity.
I know what it takes to claim your creative identity. I know how hard it can be to ignite the spark when you’re not even sure you have the tools. I also know what it’s like to have those tools but feel like life has wilted and creativity has fallen to the wayside, and to wonder if it’s too late to start again. And I know what it’s like to rediscover creativity, purpose, and direction.
I am here to help you find your way. Together, let’s discover who you are as a writer and what makes your creative soul come alive.
Variety is the spice of the writing lifestyle.
It keeps things fresh and interesting.
I work 1:1 with clients and I work with groups of different writers and creatives at the same time, all the time. That’s how I like it. Small groups, large groups, individuals — the mix is always changing, inspiring, and magical. You know why? Because writers and creatives like to mix with each other, and the magic we make when we do can take your breath away.
Guess what. There’s room for you. You are welcome and you are wanted. You know how I know? Because I run a writing community in the San Francisco Bay Area with 700 members and counting. I get to experience that magic day in and day out. I started with two extremely introverted members in 2014, and we have grown steadily ever since, and for good reasons: Variety, possibility, opportunity, and remembering we have a whole bunch of really great things in common (ie: storytelling superpowers).
When I say there’s room for you, I mean there’s room for you.
There’s room for you to take it one step at a time. There’s room for you to rush into it. There’s room for you to practice without judgment and there’s room for you to share your work for feedback or critique or simple kudos for making the effort.
Here’s why you want me along on your adventure:
The first word I ever wrote was cat. That scribble is tacked to my wall to remind me that we all begin somewhere and if we begin with something we love, it will take us far.
This is more than coaching for me; this is my purpose.
I run workshops, labs, and writing retreats, host writing salons and discussions, design creative challenges, and produce lit nights and open mics. In my world – in my community – newbies rub elbows with poet laureates, New York Times bestselling authors, and Pullitzer Prize winners, each giving and receiving inspiration, motivation, and support.
But will I work with you solo? Yes!
I love 1:1 coaching just as much as I love group coaching (a lot). Even though a great amount of productive sharing and connection happens in our group spaces, sometimes you need a little peace and quiet and a whole lot of privacy and personal attention to make meaningful progress.
Whether it’s a room full of people or just the two of us on a call or at a table, I provide safe, inclusive, sacred space for each writer and creative – including you – to take reasonable and appropriate risks with their writing. I do this so your exploration of self and craft can be authentic and rewarding.
This is my brand as a writing & creativity coach, a facilitator, and a human being.
Speaking of being human …
Here’s some of my human stuff:
In a former life, I wrote a week column in the Tracy Press, managed a dynamic and ever-changing pool of amateur and professional writers and photographers for five years, serving as the Our Town and special sections editor for three of them. Later, I became the Marketing and Community Relations Director at Alaska Sports, Inc., and enjoyed a busy freelance writing career with clients like Alaska Home and UC Merced for many years. In my spare time, as a single mom, I added ghostwriter for small business and self-help professionals to my freelancing adventures.
Now I write to please myself. I write short stories, flash fiction, mini memoir, and the occasional novel. Soft-boiled mysteries are my sweet spot, but I’m trying my hand at paranormal lit for personal reasons (namely, I’m not good at it and I want to learn).
I have three grown children, one neuroawesome g’kiddo, one opinionated Siamese cat (is there any other kind?), and home in the San Francisco Bay Area that I share with my octogenarian mother, her much less vocal black cat (such good luck!), and a box turtle who will outlive us all named Speed Bump.
I am passionate about stories and what the act of storytelling does for our brains, young and old, typical and original.
I remember the moment, as a child, that I learned I could tell my own stories and trigger reactions in other people. I loved to make my friends giggle but it was even more fun to watch their eyes light up as I took them on adventures in my imagination. The whole world changed for me in a blink of an eye.
I would love to give that to you. Write with me.
We can do this.
You and me, together we can make your writing dream a reality.
You are welcome to test the waters in a small group setting like an afternoon Write Along, a weeknight lab, or a multi-week workshop.
You can dive right in and join and event or activity that catches your attention and sparks your imagination, like a midday Write In, a Tuesday discussion, or an online Proof of Write.
You can watch how things work in my writing community, which connects on Facebook; subscribe to my Substack for our newsletter and bonus material from me; or follow me on social media to see who I am in the world. Join in when you’re ready.
Or, you can do all of the above. There’s room for you. You are welcome and you are wanted at all of our writing tables for all of our writing situations.
Let’s work together.
Email your questions, tell me what you’re looking for, and find out more about me, my writing community, and how I work with writers and creatives just like you.
CLICK TO EMAIL ME HEREOr better yet, set up a FREE 60-minute consultation. Let’s meet on Zoom and have a meaningful conversation about your writing journey and what I can do for you.
BOOK YOUR FREE 60-MINUTE CONSULTATION HERE