I’m the author of two popular and critically acclaimed memoirs: Nothing Good Can Come From This and Exit Interview: The Life and Death of My Ambitious Career, as well as the forthcoming novel Album Tracks. My essays and short fiction have appeared in publications like New York Magazine, Elle, The Believer, The Cut, The Mississippi Review, Columbia Journal, and many others. I’ve been a finalist for the Washington State Book Award, a 40 Over 40 honoree, and first runner-up for The Mississippi Review’s short story award, and have been awarded residencies at Ragdale and The Mineral School. My work is particularly known for its formal playfulness and tragicomic elements; I’ve been described as “the love child of Joan Didion and David Sedaris,” which I think was a compliment. I have extensive experience teaching creative writing at places like Hugo House, the Universities of Michigan and Washington, Write Doe Bay, and here at the Work Room.

As a manuscript consultant, my superpower is guiding writers from a chaotic or anemic first or partial draft into a deeper understanding of what their book is trying to accomplish and how it should be structured to achieve that goal. I love sending previously exhausted, bewildered writers into the revision process with a solid plan and a gleam in their eye, and I employ a mix of empathetic listening, coaching, and direct (but always kind!) feedback to make it happen. 

Full Manuscript Option

This option begins with a one-hour conversation where we discuss your overall vision and goals for your project, where you feel like it’s going well, and where you’re struggling. I then read your manuscript in full and write a detailed editorial letter covering key story elements such as structure, voice, character, dialogue, tension, and narrative stakes, along with anything else you’ve specifically asked me to read for. I will also line-edit 10-15 pages of your manuscript to show you where you have opportunities to improve elements of prose throughout the book.

Once you’ve had time to digest my written feedback, we’ll have another one-hour meeting to discuss my notes and talk about a concrete plan for revisions. I’m also happy to chat at that time about paths to publishing or any other aspect of the writing life. Follow-up calls are optional and offered at a reduced rate. Maximum word count: 100,000 words. 

First Fifty Pages Option

I’m also available to consult on just the first fifty pages (or roughly 12,000 words) of your manuscript, which often reveals strengths and opportunities that extend throughout the whole. This offer also begins and ends with one-hour meetings and includes an editorial letter addressing the key story elements as reflected in your fifty pages. It does not include sample line edits. Maximum word count: 12,000 words. 

Fee Structure

My full-manuscript fee is a flat $2,000 for up to 60,000 words, and a flat $2,500 for up to 100,00. For the first fifty pages, I charge $1,200. In all cases, the first half is payable before we start work, and the remainder after the work is complete. (If for some reason we decide after the first meeting that we aren’t a good fit, I’ll refund your first payment minus $50.) 

Getting Started

Before I take your money, I want to feel sure that I’m the right person to help you, so please submit the first 20 pages of your manuscript in advance. I’m open to all genres of fiction and memoir, including memoir with reported elements. When people ask about the right timing for working with me, I generally say “When you’ve pushed it as far as you know how to on your own, or you can no longer see the forest for the trees.” Both of which are for you to determine, of course. 

I look forward to helping you move your book closer to your vision for it, and to bolstering or reigniting your sense of focus and energy. Let's have some fun.