I'm Beth! I'm a writer, editor, and writing coach, and I've been teaching writing at the university level for over 5 years. Here’s some cool stuff about me:

• I’m Editor-in-Chief of OFIC Magazine, a literary magazine for writers in fandom.

• I lead the Fanauthor Workshop, a bi-annual workshop also for writers in fandom.

• I coach writers through major projects and offer other editing services. You can read testimonials from writers I’ve helped here.

• I received my MFA in creative writing and pedagogy in 2018 from Miami University (Ohio, not Florida).

• My work has been supported by the Sundress Academy for the Arts, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and Hambidge Center residences, as well as the Tin House Workshop and New York State Summer Writers Institute.

• I'm represented by Mariah Stovall at Trellis Literary Management.

Beth's approach was so relaxed and friendly; I was nervous going into the conversation, but felt a thousand times more calm and confident coming out of it, and now I also feel that have the tools I need to approach the rest of my project. Her approach is intuitive, almost alchemical; I'm not entirely sure how, but she managed to convince me without seemingly trying that I already know what I'm doing, and that my skills are up to the task I've set myself.

—Sam

[Beth is] clearly extremely knowledgeable about writing, and the advice [she] gave was professional, succinct and very helpful! I feel much better about my story now—you have my sincere thanks!

—Kiri

[The consultation] was fantastic and super helpful! The most beneficial thing for me was definitely [Beth’s] emphasis on finding what it was that I wanted a work to be doing, then talking about how to get there. I really appreciate how openly [Beth] read[s] stories, that [she doesn’t] try to bend something to genre or format or outside standards. I also picked up a ton of larger ideas—about the work of simile and metaphor, how to structure a short story, using "you" as a narrative pronoun—that I'll be reflecting on when I'm writing other things.

—Marie

It's been so good to have another person helping me evaluate priorities and set goals—I get easily overwhelmed, but you've been great at taking a long view, and helping to break down gargantuan tasks into smaller, more accessible ones.

—Anna

Beth worked hard to really understand what I wanted to achieve and my issues. Within the first session I had found so much useful advise for things I'd been worrying about in my writing. Ongoing, I found it really helpful for identifying where I needed to work on the text: spotting gaps in plotting, characterisation etc. I also found it really helpful in planning; the way Beth laid out approaching writing and problems was really helpful.

—Beth

Every coaching session I have is always filled with such valuable feedback. I always come away having seen my own work through slightly different lenses, which helps in the overall development and my own understanding of the project. I can say confidently that these coaching sessions have been instrumental to the discovery of what my writing process looks like which leads to my growing confidence as a writer!

—Andrea

Beth is incredible. Her approach is fundamentally kind and encouraging, and she is wildly insightful. It is obvious that she is not just an expert at what she does, but that she is also deeply passionate about her work. On a syntactic editing level, her edits are sharp and effective, and her developmental feedback is consistently the most helpful and intuitive I have ever received. We worked together to prep a piece for my MFA applications, and by the end of our call I was excited to implement her edits and had a newfound confidence in both my writing and myself. In short, Beth is fucking amazing and I feel so lucky to have had the chance to work with her.

—Amber

I've been working on a book for a year and a half and keep getting stuck on the process. After meeting with Beth, I feel so much better about my project. She listened to my dilemma and was able to pinpoint what the issue was. She gave me small, manageable steps to work through before our next meeting. Now my MS doesn't seem so overwhelming and I'm able to make progress on it. What a relief to have someone to talk this through with and be guided by her experiences and knowledge. Writing is a lonely business, but it doesn't have to be. Having Beth to lean on has made all the difference.

—Beeda

I found the consultation helpful both technically and emotionally! It was great to talk through what I was thinking with someone who gets the fanwriting experience and who could also help guide me as I thought about pacing, pov and arcs. I appreciated that you came with specific questions. The questions themselves were pointed but always from a place of seeking to understand, and with the assumption that I knew the answer even if I hadn't thought about it yet. I came in with questions about setting up conflict and left feeling like I had a much better grasp of that. The cheerful encouragement was also great, and reminded me that I am (theoretically) tackling this story because it is fun, not only as a chore. :)

—Elizabeth

[My experience was] extremely positive!! I was hoping for both sentence-level stylistic suggestions as well as feedback on [the cover letter’s] overall structure and I got extremely helpful comments on both. [Beth was] just as harsh (? not sure if this is the right word because it didn't feel negative haha) as I was hoping, and overall all comments were actionable and useful.

—Alicia

My consultation with Beth was extremely helpful and encouraging. She asked me great questions that helped me articulate things about my writing that I had previously had a lot of difficulty putting into words. Her enthusiasm and passion for writing is infectious and made our consultation fly by! The feedback she gave me on my work was super informative while also leaving room for me to figure out the next steps on my own. More than anything, our conversation made me feel more confident and sure of my own direction as a writer, which is invaluable.

—Hannah

My consultation experience was great! I've been completely blocked on my process and Beth made me feel like I could actually accomplish things and start writing again! It was especially helpful that she gave me a series of goals to match a variety of energy levels, so that I have something to work on when I'm feeling really creatively productive AND something else to work on when I'm tired and drained. This makes me feel like I can further my writing regardless of where I'm at emotionally/creatively.

—Kate

I have extremely positive things to say about my sessions with Beth. I started out with a lot of big ideas and no idea what to do with them, and Beth has helped me organize and streamline my process, teaching me tools and techniques that have given me a lot more confidence in my ability to execute my vision. Since I started working with Beth, I find it easier and easier to produce, and also feel that the quality of my work has noticeably improved.

—Shan

I had no idea what to expect so having a well-structured meeting was helpful. It was useful for me to get honest feedback on my writing and to have questions answered knowledgeably.

—Cassie

[The consultation] was very helpful and thorough. The questions I was asked were very useful in order for me to realise what I truly wanted to work on and what mattered to me most. Breaking my goals down into tiny little steps was very beneficial as I develop my writing and editing style.

—Soph

The experience was great, and I'm excited to continue. I've felt pretty lost both as a writer and someone trying to get published because I had no clear direction to pursue. Now, I have concrete steps to take to not only improve my writing but become familiar with the space I'm trying to publish within. I need a lot of external motivation to get things done, and consultations are providing that for me.

—Elizabeth

I came to Beth because I needed some reorientation to who and where I am as a writer, and she provided the mile markers and landmarks I needed. I benefited most from her close-read skills. She lifted out techniques I had used that I didn't even realize I used and pointed out choices I made that might be disorienting for my reader. She had a masterful way of seeing the heart of my characters and the sweep of the conflicts in my work that helped me to better understand myself as a writer. She was extremely specific in her feedback, which will help me be more specific in how I write going forward.

—Sara

More than anything, I was impressed and deeply validated not only by how well Beth understood the intention of the text I submitted, but also how she was able to give voice to some of the elements I hadn't fully realized or conceptualized myself. She gave vision to these elements without feeling prescriptive, and engaged the ideas in the text in the spirit that they were portrayed, rather than editorializing—a challenge for anyone when dealing with difficult or challenging subjects. To anyone who is unsure or insecure about submitting a text that deals with content that might be deemed 'problematic:' Beth is uniquely canny in engaging these things in a cool, deeply thoughtful and empathetic way.

—Hannah

My experience has been, and continues to be, one of the most rewarding experiences of my creative life. Beth is an attentive reader and a discerning editor. Her experience informs her perspective but doesn't bias it in any detrimental way. I don't feel like I'm getting guided in directions that aren't true to my work. I especially appreciate her as someone who values fanfiction and thinks critically about it—I'm able to bring the entirety of my writing experience to our consultations, and let that inform how I continue to grow. Her big-picture perspective on the themes at play in my writing has led to my own deeper understanding of my work.

As a writing coach, she has gently pushed me to set more concrete goals around my writing, and that accountability has led to several months of high productivity. While at first I wasn't sure monthly coaching was for me, I have found it incredibly motivating. I so appreciate being able to bounce ideas off someone who brings both a commercial eye and a thematic eye to my ideas. On top of all of that, she's able to recommend related readings, writing exercises, newsletters, and authors relevant to my work. I always leave our sessions with a creative overflow of ideas, and a sharper understanding of my path forward. When my work is eventually ready to begin querying, I am confident Beth will guide me through that process expertly.

—Anna

I appreciate Beth and her expertise so much. She consistently provides thoughtful developmental feedback that is tailored to my specific goals and voice as a writer, and her communication style fosters joy and creativity. I have been working with her for the better part of a year and I could not recommend her more highly.

—Kat

Beth has the uncanny ability to make me feel energised and excited to tackle my writing goals, even after exhausting days where talking about writing should be even more exhausting! Her warm demeanour, encouragement, construction & actionable feedback, and insights into the publishing world combine into one hell of a writing coach and editor. It's also a joy to be able to discuss fandom and fanfic writing and synthesise learnings from both without ever treating fanfic as "less than". She always asks insightful questions and gives wonderful suggestions that help me get to know my stories and characters on a deeper level. I can't recommend working with her enough (well, as long as there is still calendar availability for me to book sessions, that is.)

—Ariel

[The consultation] was very helpful! I felt like it gave me a stronger perspective on the overall structure of the story, so that I could see what was lacking in the middle section (tension, some kind of crisis that would precipitate an emotional outburst) and better figure out how to keep it building and then ultimately resolve it. I was too bogged down in the scene I had started to realize that I could actually remove it entirely and have that conversation happen in a more interesting way.

—Nary

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