ABOUT

If anyone asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, the answer was always and invariably, “A writer!” The immense joy, catharsis, and meaning that I received from the stories I read enriched my life, and I wanted to offer that same invaluable gift to others.

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Throughout my time in elementary, middle, and high school, my passion for reading and writing fiction never wavered. So when I graduated and went on to attend Centre College for my undergraduate degree, it only made sense to double major in English and Studio Art; I wanted to write and illustrate my own stories, after all.

My years at Centre were highly formative for me as a student of literature and an aspiring novelist. During the spring semester of my sophomore year, I was fortunate enough to be able to study abroad in London, England, while taking classes on both Shakespeare and Arthurian literature. Always partial to British fiction — particularly from the nineteenth century — I was ecstatic to have the chance to explore the city and country I’d grown to love through countless books.

It was during my last semester at Centre that I would indirectly discover a new focus within my academic interests. The professor of my senior seminar — a course on Irish Literature — dismissed and derided my enthusiastic request to write my final paper on an Irish author known for his middle grade books for boys. Her reasoning was that “children’s books aren’t literature,” and her words at first crushed me, then infuriated me. Of course children’s books can be literature! The stories we consume as children play a vital role in forming our understanding of the world, and I believed them more than worthy of academic study.

Following this passionate sentiment, I moved twelve hours from home to study Children’s Literature — an uncommon academic concentration — at Kansas State University. While there, I delved into everything from children’s classics to Harry Potter to the works of Dr. Seuss. For my master’s thesis, I even analyzed video game adaptations of film adaptations of children’s book series, including The Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Materials, and A Series of Unfortunate Events.

After earning my master’s degree at K-State, I decided I would complete my higher education with a doctoral degree in English. Before going off to pursue that lofty goal, I was fortunate enough to have the chance to work as an Associate Editor at Benjamin Press, a publisher of non-fiction books on the history, production, and consumption of tea. While I’d always brought the keen eye of a perfectionist to my written work, my time at Benjamin Press awoke in me a true love for both big-picture developmental editing and detail-oriented line editing, as well as page layout and design.

Upon arriving at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, I was thrilled to finally turn my academic focus from studying the fictional works of others to producing high-quality fictional works of my own. While an MFA is usually considered the terminal degree for creative writers, UTK offers a rare doctoral degree in English with a creative dissertation, and I was excited to be a part of that program.

Early on in my time at the university, I conceived of and began to develop in earnest the literary fantasy novel I dreamed would become my dissertation — and, hopefully, my debut novel as a published writer. While I received faculty approval for my proposed project, as my years at UTK passed, I unfortunately never received the creative guidance, professional mentorship, or personal support that I so desperately sought and needed from my professors. I labored hard on my novel, delving into the worldbuilding, outlining, and drafting with dedicated fervor, but it was overwhelming to work on such a massive and important project alone.

Although I was able to complete my creative dissertation and earn my PhD, I left the program with a feeling of deep frustration and a heavy heart. If a graduate-level creative writing program couldn’t offer me what I needed to successfully finish, polish, and pitch my manuscript, who could?

It was then that I discovered the concept of book coaching, and found both the answer to my question as well as my future occupation.

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