Specialties

As an editor, I focus on creative nonfiction. My favorite topics are science, nature, travel, memoir, the arts, history, and sports (especially running).

My recently published projects

Most of my editorial work has been in the fields of science and nature writing. I copyedited the gold standard scientific reference on Arizona’s snakes, with content editors Andrew Holycross and the late Joe Mitchell. Snakes of Arizona is now available from ECO. I’ve edited two field guides: George C. West’s Guide to the Plants of Arizona’s White Mountains (published in 2019 by the University of New Mexico Press) and Zion National Park Wildflowers (published in 2018 by the Zion National Park Forever Project). I also worked with Charles Babbitt on Birding Arizona: What to Know, Where to Go, and with Eli Knapp on his book of essays, The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature With the Next Generation. Read my review.

Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about how to craft effective nature writing. Learn more here.

Thanks to my love for trail running, I became a sports editor in May 2018, when I took over as coordinating editor of the High Country Running column in the Arizona Daily Sun. It’s a weekly column that engages and nurtures the running community throughout northern Arizona. If you have an idea or a news tip, send me an email.

The previous coordinating editor, Myles Schrag, had a marvelous book idea, to celebrate the Flagstaff running community through the lens of our town’s unique relationship with the Imogene Pass Run. I partnered with him to bring that project to fruition. To Imogene, a Flagstaff Love Letter was published by the company we founded, Soulstice Publishing, in September 2019.

I also specialize in the arts, especially the theatrical arts. I served on the board of the Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival for six years and was the volunteer editor of its marketing materials for three years.

I love to read and write memoirs, especially travel memoirs. If you have one you’d like me to read, send it my way!

In fact, if you have a project of any type that you think might benefit from supportive editorial attention, please contact me.

Evocative Nature Writing

One of the finest nature writers I’ve ever read is Eli J. Knapp, Ph.D., whose book The Delightful Horror of Family Birding: Sharing Nature With the Next Generation was published in 2018 by Torrey House Press. I encouraged Eli along the path toward publication of his marvelously funny and insightful essays, a process that forged an enduring friendship and, now, a book we’re both very proud of. Here’s my review.

I was also privileged to assist Charles Babbitt with the editorial side of his informative book Birding Arizona: What to know, where to go. Published in 2019 by R.W. Morse Company, it’s an essential guide for anyone who wants to enjoy and understand Arizona’s abundant and diverse birdlife.

I believe that passionate, evocative nature writing can inspire readers to act on behalf of the natural world and its wild residents. Some of my favorite writers are nature writers,  from Henry David Thoreau and Robert Macfarlane to Richard Nelson, Annie Dillard, and Terry Tempest Williams (to name just a few).

As a devoted reader of nature writing and the former associate editor for Arizona Wildlife Views magazine, I have extensive experience writing about wildlife and wild places and coaching others to do their best work for publication. Over the years, I’ve developed “Seven Rules for Nature Writing.” Those basic rules are:

  1. Take your reader on a journey.
  2. Use specific language.
  3. Take reference photos.
  4. Have the experience. Then go home and write about it.
  5. Know your stuff.
  6. Give your audience motive, means, and opportunity to act on behalf of nature.
  7. Write well.

To get a helpful, slightly longer version that explains each rule, fill out the contact form. Click “Yes, I would like to read your seven rules for nature writing.” I’ll be happy to send it your way!

Sports Writing

I became a sports editor in May 2018, when I took over as coordinating editor of the High Country Running column in the Arizona Daily Sun. It’s a weekly column that engages and nurtures the running community throughout northern Arizona.

I came to the position through my love for trail running. As coordinating editor, I get to work with all sorts of runners, from self-proclaimed back-of-the-packers to national champions. If you have an idea or a news tip, send me an email.

In 2023, we launched a High Country Running book club for people like me: runners who love to read books about our sport. It meets in person in Flagstaff, Arizona.

The previous coordinating editor, Myles Schrag, had a marvelous book idea: to celebrate the Flagstaff running community through the lens of our town’s unique relationship with the Imogene Pass Run. Imogene is a rite of passage for Flagstaff runners and one of the top five toughest things I’ve ever done. Run in Colorado every September, it features more than 5,000 feet elevation gain as you travel from Ouray, up over Imogene Pass at 13,100 feet, then down to Telluride. Every year, Flagstaff sends more participants than any other town, including Denver.

To Imogene, a Flagstaff Love Letter includes contributions from more than 70 writers, illustrators, and photographers. Myles and I published it in 2019 under our new imprint, Soulstice Publishing. Come visit!