About
I have been coaching creative writers and screenwriters for more than a decade.
Working with writers has become my life’s most fulfilling work. I’m meant to do this and am uniquely qualified for it.
As a former editor, published writer, screenwriter, playwright, story developer, and writing instructor with an MFA, I bring all my experience here to work with you. I have the knowledge and skills to provide what you need to become the writer you want to be, to tell the story you want to tell. Let’s get your voice out there and make your writing dreams come true.
I know a good sentence.
When I first read Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style in eighth grade, it was as if the universe suddenly made sense to me. The slim guide was my key to understanding how to write clearly, effectively, and powerfully. Later, I put my passion for perfectly crafted sentences to use as an editor at Scholastic, Inc.—working my way up from copy editor, to managing editor, to consulting editor. This experience prepared me to provide you with any micro-editing services you may seek.
I know story.
Growing up in a summer stock theatre in Pennsylvania, I spent my summer days camped out in a dark theatre, mesmerized, while drama and dialogue seeped into my bloodstream. At Northwestern University, I studied theatre and playwriting, winning awards in both. I then returned to the theatre of my childhood as its resident playwright, writing two original productions a year. This work set me on the path to becoming a story developer and screenwriter, which led to my job as an instructor in the Screenwriting Program at UCLA Extension. All of these experiences taught me how to craft dramatic arcs, character, conflict, setting, dialogue, pacing, and theme.
I know how to work with writers.
I earned my MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles, attending on a merit scholarship. At Antioch, I focused on creative nonfiction, learning about the reflective voice and the how and why to tell one’s personal story. I also studied fiction and felt liberated by its fundamental question, What if…? After I graduated, filled with the understanding of what made good writing work, I published my own pieces and hung my shingle to teach writing workshops in my backyard. As a writing instructor, I learned how to listen to writers, always inviting them into the conversations about their own work. I focused on their work’s intention and guided them toward fulfilling it, offering feedback that would actually help them and the encouragement to keep going. I continue to learn from the writers I work with and to grow as an instructor and coach.
Structure lives in my bones.
At the same time I started conducting writing workshops, I was hired by an independent production company to develop, write, and polish scripts for TV and film. I learned on the job—everything from creating effective loglines to crafting complex characters to adhering to different act structures. This work led to the opportunity to teach in UCLA Extension’s Screenwriting Program. More than any of my other experiences, teaching screenwriting has given me my deepest comprehension of story. I believe the art we create helps us make sense of the madness of the world and better understand the chaos of the human condition, allowing us to connect to one another. Structure is the secret sauce to forging that connection. If you’re structure adverse, don’t worry. I won’t thrust it upon you. I’ll just subtly work it into our conversations. Ha!
A little more about me and my work...
My writing has appeared in The Tishman Review, Hippocampus, Lunch Ticket, Griffel, Watershed Review, Sliver of Stone, and other literary journals. Working with Jarrett Creative Productions, I have developed countless pitches and written scripts for Oxygen and Lifetime. More than a dozen of my original Christmas shows and Murder Mystery Weekends have been produced by Allenberry Playhouse. I have also been an editor at Scholastic, Inc., and for the literary journal, Lunch Ticket.
I live in Eagle Rock in Los Angeles with my husband, production designer Kyle Kinsella, our teen-age son, a young Renaissance man in the making, and our nutty, needy rescue dog.