Books are essential. I’ve always felt this way.

I was an avid reader as a kid – it was a family joke. If I couldn’t be found it was because I was hiding with my “nose in a book”. I’ve wanted to be a writer since third grade, when my teacher sent a poem I’d written into the town paper and I saw my name in print for the first time.

So it’s no surprise that I stuck it out, through many, many rejections, through many, many years learning the craft of writing, through going back for my MFA in writing, through the ups and downs of publishing, through changing agents, through books that failed and books that did well, through books that went out of print, to books I’m deeply proud to have written. I believe in the power of story to affect lives.

I believe in books.

And I think now that books – stories, whether true or imagined – are more essential than ever.

Last fall I embarked on something that came to me from out of the blue. I enrolled in a course with Author Accelerator that would teach me how to become a book coach.

This speaks not only to my love of reading, but also to my love of teaching. For many of my writing years I’ve been teaching at conferences and in workshops, on a monthly basis in my local SCBWI group, and I’ve taught language arts at the middle and high school levels. With book coaching I feel I can use all my skills in one-on-one interactions that are both greatly satisfying to me – and also to those I coach.

Book coaching is a bit like developmental editing. It’s reading and working with a client on a manuscript from start to finish, and helping that client reach their personal goal for their work.

I’m thrilled that after six months of taking the course, and completing the Practicums, I’ve been certified through the Advanced level of Author Accelerator’s Book Coach Certification Program.

In a few weeks I’ll be opening my business – Big Picture Story Coach – right here, as part of this website. Please check back after June 1, and do let me know if you’re curious about what I’ll be doing.