Hi, I’m Christy.

What’s Your Story?

So how the heck does someone end up as a book coach?

While on a writing retreat, I was reading Story Genius and Wired for Story by Lisa Cron. She talks about her book coach, Jennie Nash, founder of Author Accelerator.

Book coach. Wait? What? Someone's whole job is to guide people through the writing process from start to finish?

I was like…yessss!!! This is the work I am supposed to be doing. It was a moment of both aha and you don’t say.

Everything in my career has happened to bring me right to this place…

…and I finally realized it! I love being a part of the children’s literature community. I love my critique group (Pandas shoutout!). The brainstorming. The support. The encouragement. The feedback. The celebrations and the setbacks. In the before times when we enjoyed in-person conferences and workshops, and now when we take them virtual.

As a managing editor, I have guided writers—new and experienced—through the writing process. As a freelance editor, I have cleaned up many manuscripts while preserving the author’s voice and vision. I have project management and accountability experience from running my own freelance editing business since 2004. And as a published author, I’ve been through the entire publishing process myself, from conception to outline to first draft to edits to dragging my family to find the finished book in the bookstore. Books for young people has basically been my life!

I see you because I am you.

Through my book coach training, I learned A LOT about my own writing. And how my writing process was failing me.

I've written and rewritten and revised the first chapters of so many manuscripts to make them perfect—before finishing the draft. And that makes no sense! Talk about a waste of time and energy for something that will most likely change.

I can help you write forward, whether you are a pantser or a plotter, both, or somewhere in between. Whether you've also written and rewritten those first few chapters over and over again, or you've not yet written any at all. Whether you have the beginning of an idea floating around in your head, or you know exactly what you want to write. Whether this is your first book or your fifth.

Children’s books are special, and you should work with someone who has children’s book expertise.

I believe that we need more great children’s books in the world.

We need YOUR story.

Let’s make magic together.