Bio

I have always loved words. I love noticing what they say and do. I love the subtleties of sentences and paragraphs. This led me to major in English as an undergraduate at Calvin University (’86) and later to earn an MA in English at the University of Notre Dame (’90). Fascinated by the precision of legal language, I obtained a certificate from Boston University’s Program for Legal Assistants (’95).

In the church I grew up in, I learned that the second greatest commandment from God is to love my neighbor as myself. I learned that words have great power to build up or tear down, to hurt or heal—to show love, or the opposite, to one’s neighbor.

Before starting my editing business, I worked as a greenhouse manager, landscaping supervisor, paralegal, and high school English teacher. I started my business in 2003, initially serving mainly Zondervan and a few individual clients, specializing in projects in biblical and theological studies. These have continued to be my specialties, but I’ve also edited many manuscripts in other areas of the humanities and a few in the social sciences.

How I View My Work

As an editor, I want to help you produce writing that serves. I think of this phrase in rhetorical, commercial, and ethical terms. Rhetorically speaking, I want to help you as an author to communicate effectively. In commercial terms, I want to help you as a publisher or author to prepare a manuscript of excellent quality so it will be admired, recommended, and bought. Ethically, I want to help you produce a text that truly serves—that is, honors and respects—your fellow human beings. A text that serves them will address them respectfully and will help them not merely acquire information but also grow in wisdom, flourish as persons, and contribute to the wisdom and flourishing of others. I love how scholarship, at its best, can contribute to people’s wisdom and flourishing.

If you think I might be the right editor for you, I invite you to contact me.