Hello Writer.
I’m your new writing + creativity coach.
I’m so excited to meet you!
Welcome to your next, new, and nurtured writing adventure. This time, you get to have a coach by your side who specializes in inspiration, motivation, accountability, and celebration.
My job, as a writing + creativity coach, is to guide you through the process of establishing a writing practice that fits successfully within the natural rhythms of your life so you and your storytelling 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 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 why 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 a thing, 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 writer I work with discover their very own.
Finding time and space to write can feel like a huge obstacle, which is why having someone riding shotgun who knows 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 interesting.
You Found Me!
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 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 being, 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 it that identity and stand proudly in who you have become. It’s a journey that requires support and encouragement, two values around which I have built my entire coaching practice and my writing community.
If you have ever felt pressured to prove you’re a writer to friends or fam, strangers or instructors, join the club–especially if the need to provide proof has stopped you from writing enthusiastically or otherwise. 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.
Why do I care about you and your writing?
I can’t help it. Writers make me happy.
I’ve been mentoring writers on and off for roughly 25 years and I fall hard and fast for 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 to know you and I will definitely shower you with moral support and invite you into possibility.
I know what it takes to claim a 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 by the wayside, and to wonder if it’s too late to start again.
And — this is key — I know what it’s like to rediscover joy, 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 life and writing.
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 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 all the time. I started with two extremely introverted members in 2014, and we have grown steadily ever since. When I say there’s room for you, there’s room for you.
There’s room for you to take it one step at a time. There’s room for you to practice. There’s room for you to share your work for feedback or critique or simple kudos for the effort.
Hobby, lifestyle, career–where do you want your words to take you?
Here’s why you want me along on your adventure:
The first word I ever wrote was cat. That scribble is tacked on 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 Pulitzer 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 group coaching. Even though a great amount of 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 progress.
Whether it’s a room full of people or just the two of us on a call, I provide safe, inclusive, sacred space for each writer and creative, including you, to take reasonable and appropriate risks with your writing, 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 my past life, I wrote a weekly column in the Tracy Press, managed a dynamic and ever-changing pool of amateur and professional contributors for five years, and served as the Our Town 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, personal narrative, and the occasional novel. Soft-boiled mysteries are my sweet spot, but I’m trying my hand at paranormal lit for personal reasons.
I have three grown children, one grandchild, one opinionated Siamese cat (is there any other kind?), and a home in the San Francisco Bay Area that I share with my mother, her much less vocal cat, and a box turtle named Speed Bump.
I am passionate about stories and what the act of storytelling does for our brains, young and old.
I remember the moment, as a child, that I learned I could tell my own stories and trigger emotion and reaction in other people. I loved to make my friends giggle but it was even more fun to watch their eyes light up with images from my imagination. The whole world changed in the blink of an eye.
I would love to give that to you. Write with me.
We can do this.
We can do this, just you and me, with a series of 1:1 private coaching sessions.
You can test the waters in a small group setting like a weeknight lab or a multi-week workshops.
You can dive right in and join an event or activity that catches your imagination, like an in-person Write In or Storytellers Club Game Night, or an online Write Along or 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, until you’re ready to connect.
Or … you can do all of the above. There’s room for you, and you are welcome at our writing tables.
Would you like to work with me?
I’m sure you have questions.
I offer free 60-minute consultations on Zoom.
Let’s chat.
We can talk about private coaching, events and activities just for writers,
how to get started, how to keep your writing practice going strong, or
anything else writing-related you have on your mind.