Hi, I'm Heather!
I’m glad your here. Because if you’re here, that means you’re a writer looking to make your craft even better, and I have mad respect for you and your journey.
Now let me take a minute to introduce myself. I’m a writer like you, but, along with that badge of honor, I’m also a book coach and developmental editor. And I love helping writers of diversity-focused speculative fiction develop build deep and resonant worlds (and characters) that captivate readers from page one (and maybe change the world).
In fact, I can’t think of a more meaningful way to spend my time than helping writers harness fantasy, science fiction, and dystopia as a vehicle to explore our own world and our own real.
- I’m a writer too. So, trust me, I COMPLETELY understand how hard this stuff is from the other side. But you know what else I understand? It’s 100% doable if you have the right support!
- My favorite author is Stephen King. Not because I love horror but because he is a master storyteller.
- I’m a certified yoga instructor. So if you ever want to do a 61-point meditation or some ujjayi breathing, hit me up. We’ll Zen out.
- I am fascinated by how the human brain craves and uses Story. As social creatures, humans use Story to learn, adapt, and survive. And if we connect with a story? Well, it LITERALLY changes us (I’m talking about building new neural pathways here! Heavy stuff.)
- I’m a GenXer. That says a lot right? Yeah, I had a goth phase. Yeah, I listened to Nirvana. Yeah, I can entertain myself indefinitely. Yeah, I still love The Princess Bride.
- I believe you should write what you know emotionally. Who the heck wants to only write stories about people exactly like themselves? Ugh. What’s the point? Instead, I think we should dig down into the emotional journey we’re taking through life and bring a deeper truth to the page.
- I believe that books can change the world. Seriously. I do. I believe it. That’s why writers (like you) owe it to themselves (and everyone else) to get their books done and dusted and ready for readers!
Credentials
- Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach. Not only am I a certified coach, but I’m in community with an entire group of other excellent certified coaches, and we are constantly learning from each other and perfecting our craft.
- 10+ years of experience working with writers. When I say I’ve seen it all… I mean it. And that means I also know exactly how to help you fix any problems that are currently plaguing your manuscript.
- 15+ years of teaching experience. Yep, that’s right… I know how to develop a course and help writers understand craft. This is my jam.
- Certified Developmental Editor (EFA). I have specialized training in evaluating story structure, character arc, pacing, and the elements that make a novel work as a cohesive whole.
- Certified Copyeditor (UC San Diego Extension). Though I do not offer copyediting services directly, my copyediting know-how helps me spot the details and sentence-level work that really helps improve any manuscript I work with so there are far fewer mistakes to navigate at the end.
- Trained as a Story Grid Mentor. One of the biggest strengths of my Story Grid training was learning how to analyze scenes at a deep level. I became skilled at identifying what a scene is truly doing, where it may be falling flat, and how to strengthen tension, conflict, turning points, character decisions, and emotional impact so that every scene earns its place in the story and keeps readers turning pages.
- Los Angeles Review of Books Publishing Workshop Fellow. As a LARB fellow, I learned so much about the publishing world. From how editors edit to what literary agents are looking for, I gained an inside look at the realities of today’s publishing industry.
- Writing and Coaching Mentors: Lisa Cron, Jennie Nash, and Ben Frahm. I’ve had the privilege of learning from some of the best story and coaching minds in the industry. Their teachings have helped shape the way I approach storytelling, novel development, and helping writers grow their skills with confidence.
- Stories are my zone of genius. I love helping writers take a good story and make it a truly great story. And I want to do that for your story. ❤️
Books I Wish I had Coached:
There are a lot of great speculative fiction novels roaming around out there on bookshelves.
Some good, some bad, some just the “beach reads” of the genre.
But the ones I truly love are those that leave me thinking about why people behave the way they do, the nature of reality, how politics shape our view of the world, the evolution of social justice, the power of government, the need for freedom and equality, The treatment of minority groups, climate change, the inevitably of war, and other huge topics.
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
- When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
- Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
- Meet Me In Another Life by Catriona Silvey
- Gutter Child by Jael Richardson
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
- Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- Red Rising Series by Pierce Brown
- Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
- YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION NOVEL!