Work With Me
I’ve spent 25 years on your side of the desk — USA Today bestselling author, with 24 novels currently in print, two million words a year at my peak, and an independent press I’ve run since 2006. I know what it takes to write series readers binge, and I can see what’s wrong with a book fast. That’s the skill every service on this page is built on: a novelist’s eye, pointed at your story — whether it’s still an idea, a stalled draft, or a finished manuscript that isn’t landing.
Three ways to put it to work:
Four Types of RIA Outlines
For the book that isn’t written yet
After thousands of outlines for hundreds of authors, I noticed the same four patterns showing up in how writers need their maps built. Those patterns became the four Author Houses — the diagnostic my whole practice runs on. Your House points to your tier.
ULTRA BASIC
Most Mythmakers start here — big-idea writers who need the skeleton, not the skin. (I'm one of them.)
Chapter-by-chapter breakout. Generally 1–3 sentences per chapter covering one plot, character, romance, or setting point.
From $90
BASIC
Wildscribe usually land here — staged in chapter blocks that never get too far ahead of the magic.
Chapter-by-chapter breakout. Generally 4–6 bullets per chapter through the emotional and plot movement points.
From $300
DETAILED
LoreKeepers tend to love this tier — steady builders who want a clear beat to hit every session.
Chapter-by-chapter breakout. Generally 1–2 paragraphs per chapter: plot, character, romance, setting, and character motivation.
From $650
ULTRA DETAIL
Heartweavers often want this depth — the emotional through-lines mapped so the heart of the book never gets lost.
Chapter-by-chapter breakout. Generally 3–4 paragraphs per chapter: plot, character, romance, setting, character motivation, and author productivity support.
From $900
I take a limited number of outline clients each month — when the slots are full, the waitlist opens for the next.
Developmental Editing & Book Doctoring
Story-first, voice-respecting, genre-fluent. I edit like a novelist because I am one: structure, stakes, character arcs, pacing, and the promises your genre makes to readers. You’ll get a clear editorial letter that tells you what’s working, what’s leaking, and what to fix first — in plain language you can act on. I will never rewrite you into me. My job is to make the book more yours, not less.
Book doctoring is the same skill in triage form: your manuscript has a problem you can’t name, and you need someone who can find it fast and hand you the prioritized fix list — not a treatise.
For the manuscript that exists — and isn’t working yet.
What you get:
A full read by a working novelist who knows your genre’s promises
The editorial letter: what’s working, what’s leaking, what to fix first — prioritized, specific, actionable
A follow-up call to walk the letter together, so you leave knowing exactly what to do
Developmental edit — 2.4¢ per word (an 80,000-word novel: $1,920) Book-doctor diagnostic — $497 flat
I take a limited number of editing clients each month — when the slots are full, the waitlist opens for the next.
Book & Author Coaching
For the writer — when the problem isn’t the book, it’s the process around it.
You know how to write. You’ve proven it, maybe many books over. But the finishing keeps breaking down — the stalls, the burnout spirals, the marketing plans that die in three weeks. Coaching is where we figure out how you’re actually wired to work, then build your writing life around it: finished drafts, honest deadlines, a career that doesn’t eat you. I rebuilt my own career this way after burning out at the peak of it. That perspective is the whole practice.
Coaching runs through my Story Stamina programs — from a free diagnostic call to the full Stamina Author Engine. The right starting point depends on where you are, and there’s a page that routes you to exactly that.
Not sure which one you need?
Quick test:
If the book isn’t written, it’s an outline.
If the book is written but not working, it’s an edit.
If the books keep not getting written or something just isn’t working, it’s coaching.
Still not sure? The free Unstuck Author Call exists for exactly this — twenty minutes, and I’ll tell you straight which one fits, or whether none of them do.