About-A Me

Hey there! I’m so glad you were called to drop by my page. Welcome. I’m happy to have you in my cyberspace. I’m going rail off the boring preliminaries that you probably want to know. I’ve been a professional editor for 16 years. I started in grant writing and editing and progressed through every genre imaginable until I landed where I wanted—fiction, memoir, and creative nonfiction. Hell to the yes. I’ve come to see that my purpose and passion in helping writers step into their literary glory lies more in gently introducing new writers to the literary arts, to pinpointing exactly what to do to unkink a stuck manuscript through review, and helping you overcome limiting beliefs and personal, emotional stumbling blocks while guiding you through the writing process with feedback and all of the things as an author coach. I offer a multitude of courses and lean on my background as a veteran college writing professor and course designer. I know what I’m doing, and if you trust me, you’ll get what you came for.

Personality-wise, I’m a professional goofball and a born entertainer. I’m also a spiritualist who is maturing in both teaching and practicing the sacred spiritual healing arts through the emerging Lumos Healing Arts Collective. I’m a passionate Aries who strives for the mountaintop in all things, and in working with you, that’s also true. I’ll motivate you with affirmations and by helping you get out of your monkey-mind, so you can write with balls of steel and live your freaking dream. So often, we are in our own way, and we need help getting out of it and being the blaze of glory we were born to be. If you’re a cool person who is open to success, we’ll vibe. Feel free book a 30-minute consultation chat with me to learn more and to decide which of my offerings is best for you right now and that will serve your goals and dreams the mosts efficiently. So, hit me up. I got you, boo. I got you.

    • MPS, Publishing, George Washington University, 2019

    • MA, Creative Writing, University of South Alabama, 2009

    • BA, English literature, University of South Alabama, 2005

    • Developmental editor, GracePoint Publishing

    • Freelance developmental editor, content creator, copyeditor, and proofreader for Lumina Datamatics (ex: Wiley, Barnes & Noble SparkNotes, etc.)

    • Assistant Editor, Storyteller Agency

    • Visit South, travel writer

    • Vertical Measures, content marketing writer

    • Madden Media, content marketing writer

    • Part-Time Faculty, University of Phoenix Online, 2010-2022

    • Part-Time Faculty, University of South Alabama, 2010-2022

    • Assistant Director for Research Compliance, University of South Alabama, 2012-2014

    • Grants Development Specialist, University of South Alabama, 2008-2012

  • Designed

    • Editing & Design, University of South Alabama English Department

    • Grant Writing, University of South Alabama English Department

    • Technical Writing

    • American Literature

    • British Literature

    • English Composition

    • Intro to Writing

    Courses Taught

    • Memoir / Creative Nonfiction

    • Short Story

    • Fiction Writing I & II

    • Technical Writing

    • Content Marketing

    • Memoir

    • Creative nonfiction

    • Fiction

    • Short Story

    • Prose

    • Travel writing

    Contact me to discuss projects related to grant writing and content marketing.

  • Book-length work:

    • Secret Mobile: A Guide to the Weird Wonderful & Obscure

    • Work has also been published with Epoch Times, Radiant Life, Scenic 98, Alabama Business, MCI Magazine, Mobile Writer’s Guild Classic Pieces anthology (various editions), The Oracle, and countless others in various genres (short story, memoir, travel, marketing copy).

    • City of Mobile CVB travel guide copy, 2016 and 2017

    • City of Gulf Shores, Orange Beach travel guide copy, 2016

    Professional Memberships

    Author’s Guild

    Society for American Travel Writers

    Mobile Writer’s Guild (President)

    A Writing Room Collective

    American Copy Editors Society

    National Memoir Association

  • Follow me on Substack at @amysdwrites. I have five Substacks:

    • Surthrival deals with exploring aspects of the human condition and spirituality, including the levels of conscious awareness and using energetic vibrations for manifesting

    • Gone G-IRL: A Novel Based on a True Story is a project that emerged from a somewhat metaphysical yet very real stalking situation that I’m writing to raise awareness to change laws to protect stalking victims before “something” happens. The title is thus because the plot laid on my life was based on Gillian Flynn’s iconic Gone Girl.

    • Creative Editing for Authors probably should have been listed first, but oh well. On this Substack, I’ll offer chats and things. I’ll also post my blogs on that platform, so please click and subscribe to that Substack for free reads on the writing process.

    • Mother Lovin’ Self Care is one I need to jump on more, but it’s got content dedicated to moms trying to figure out how to raise their kids using more gentle methods while reparenting their own trauma. Anything I read and synthesize specific to parenting goes here.

    • Lumos Healing Arts Collective (coming soon) is another course-driven platform dedicated to helping people overcome trauma and leave traumatic situations, define their life purpose, and manifest their destiny—all based on my lived experience and thousands of hours of research.