Résumé

This is where it all began for me: as an avid reader, along with my siblings and dog.
Guess the era!

Experience

Freelance editor and writer

Currently I provide the following services: manuscript evaluation; developmental, substantive, and copyediting; proofreading; copywriting; rewriting; and ghostwriting.

Editorial director, Chicago Botanic Garden 2011 – 2015

I managed all editing and writing projects for the Chicago Botanic Garden, working closely with print and web designers within both traditional print media and online communications, including the Garden’s website, blog, and other social media outlets. My primary responsibility was managing the Garden’s quarterly magazine, Keep Growing (available online at keepgrowing.com). I also edited two Garden books: Bonsai: A Patient Art (Yale University Press, 2013) and Chicago and Its Botanic Garden: The Chicago Horticultural Society at 125 (Northwestern Press, 2015). I also compiled and annually updated the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Style Guidelines.

Editor and writer, Chicago Botanic Garden 2001 – 2011

I edited and occasionally wrote for the Garden’s quarterly member magazine and the Garden’s website of more than 8,000 pages. During this time I also edited other printed material and e-communications, including newsletters.

Freelance writer and editor 1992 – 2004

During this period, in addition to completing a master’s degree in English, I published reviews, articles, and literary criticism in publications including Compton’s Encyclopedia, Nabokov Studies, and Studies in American Jewish Literature. I also edited Captain and Captain II, self-published novels.

Editor, senior editor, and intelligence officer,
U.S. Department of Defense 1983 – 1991

My main job during this time was editing articles intended for the intelligence community. Eventually I gathered, analyzed, and reported classified information on national security topics.

Education

Master of Arts in English, Northwestern University
1991 – 1994

Bachelor of Science in Journalism,
Virginia Commonwealth University
1979 – 1983

Skills

My main strengths are more than 30 years of editing experience, which include extensive knowledge of The Chicago Manual of Style; meticulous attention to detail; strong writing skills; and the ability to work with many types of people united in the task of producing a book, magazine, blog, or other communications on deadline. I typically edit and write in Word, but I occasionally edit PDFs and work in Google Docs as well.