Writing a book takes tremendous effort. People often quote Ernest Hemingway as saying that to write all you need to do is sit at a typewriter and bleed. According to Steve Paul, writing at The Hemingway Society website, there is no substantive evidence that Hemingway is the source of that quote. Most of the authors I’ve worked with would say that writing a book takes time, thought, persistence, effort, and, in the end, help.
I’m always a little embarrassed by some of the acknowledgements I have received for my work. I think developmental editing and ghostwriting are the most fun things to do–hardly work, although genuinely difficult. Usually by the end of a project, I feel a deep affection and fellowship with a book’s author. Some authors have become life-long friends. While I was working on the first edition of Kathy Schwalbe’s book, I was pregnant with twins, my second and third children. Kathy made beautiful, quilted pillow covers for each baby, and her mother knitted booties for them. I still treasure the pillows and booties. Don Gosselin has been like a brother to me over the years. And I owe my black belt in Taekwondo, in part, to Robin Wells, who I misheard as studying “force yoga;” Robin and I are about the same age, and I figured that if she could become a “force yoga” instructor, I could earn a black belt in Taekwondo. Of course, Robin was studying to become an instructor of Forrest Yoga, and I was experiencing a hearing issue.
I collaborated in 2016 with Jeanne Beliveau-Dunn on her book I’m the Boss of Me. Jeanne is a remarkable and energetic woman who grew up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, and was general manager of Learning @ Cisco and CEO of the Internet of Things Talent Consortium while we wrote her book. In 2017, I worked with Rasmus Gronfeldt Winther to develop a very special philosophy book called When Maps Become the World. Like David Bohm’s book Thought as a System, When Maps Become the World forever changed the way I see the world and words and how I work. But that’s a story for another day.
My portfolio and the testimonials will give you an idea of what authors say about my work.