Listen. Some of us know what we’re going to do from the age of six. We live lives aligned to a core desire that haunts us, inspires us, compels us.
And others…well, we know we are looking for magic, but the question of where to find it takes us all over the map.
I’ve been an adjunct professor and personal assistant, a light opera company member and retail manager, a college admissions tutor and PhD historian. But my magic, it turns out, was waiting for me at home, at my desk, where I build and untangle stories.
In 2022, I launched Lodestar Editing & Coaching to celebrate that magic, finally bringing all my skills together in one place.
When you hire me, you’ll get my organizational mindset, classroom acumen, and editing expertise brought to bear on your project, whether that’s an academic monograph, a folklore-inspired short story, or you—a work in progress as a writer, determined to find publication.
“Alex has engaged with my work with a thoughtfulness and sensitivity that I have been consistently impressed by. They always take great care to root down to the thematic core of my stories and to understand my creative intentions, offering precise and useful feedback that have helped to strengthen my work.”
Dr. Isha Karki, Clarion West ’19
You’ll benefit from my community-mindedness and rich network of resources:
- I’m a co-founder of Wholehearted Writers, LLC, with three terrific colleagues: Beth Wright, Eliot West, and Laura Burge. Together we create events and programming for writers’ whole selves.
- I’m a participating and continually learning member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, the Northwest Editors Guild, and the LGBTQ+ Editors Association.
You’ll benefit from my training:
- I earned my PhD in anti-colonial British history and science and technology studies (STS) from the University of Illinois at Chicago, 2018. There I edited hundreds of student and colleague projects and also earned a certificate in the philosophy and practice of teaching history.
- I attended the Clarion West Writers Workshop in Seattle, 2019. There I honed my speculative fiction narrative craft and learned how to professionally critique fiction.
- I completed the University of Washington Editing Certificate, 2021.
You’ll also benefit from my ever-evolving explorations of self, voice, and creativity:
- My most recent fiction piece, “How to Make a Spell Jar,” is in the Lambda-nominated Xenocultivars: Stories of Queer Growth.
- I walk the wheel of the year alongside my characters on my Patreon. Join me there for tea recommendations, cooking projects, forest photography, world-building fun, and personal essays.
- I update my author website as my portfolio grows.
Taken together, my life skills, my education, and my interests uniquely position me to work on your projects with empathy, keen insight, and good humor.
I’ve put down the map, and I’m here for you. In fact, there’s no place else I’d rather be.
(Except maybe the forest.)
Lodestar Editing & Coaching 