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​​Professional Summary:  Writer and editor obsessed with haunting stories. Pop-culture enthusiast. Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm/Warner Bros.-approved copy. In-house agency copywriter for Funko for three years. Former educator (English comp/creative writing/Spanish: The Ohio State University, University of Dayton, Clark State College). Former reviewer for McGraw Hill, Cengage & W.W. Norton writing/composition publications. Stories published in anthologies & literary magazines in the United States, Canada, Singapore, UK, Australia & Nigeria. Pushcart nominee, 2023. Best Small Fictions nominee, 2024. Best of the Net nominee, 2022.

 

Skills Summary:​

  • Copywriting (3+ years)

  • Creative Writing (10+ years)

  • Editing (concept, developmental & line-editing, 10+ years)

  • Proofreading & Fact-Checking (Chicago, AP, MLA, APA, 10+ years)

  • SEO Best Practices (3 years, certificate from HubSpot Academy in 2023)

  • Microsoft Office, Teams, Zoom, Slack, Google Docs, Learning Management Systems (Blackboard, Angel, Thinkific), Jira, Asana, WordPress, Salesforce/Page Designer, Discord, Canva, Later, and Airtable

  • Spanish (test at the native/near-native level on the ACTFL scale, 20+ years)

  • Journalism/news writing/reporting/interviewing (2+ years writing feature articles and local government news as a reporter/stringer for The Delaware Gazette in Delaware, Ohio)​

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Education:

MA/PhD: The Ohio State University, Literary Criticism/Spanish (Golden Age Theater/Popular Culture). Art History (Minor)​

BA:  Ohio Wesleyan University, English. Spanish. Journalism (Minor). 

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Work Experience:​

Paper/Rock Writing (2018-Present, Sole Proprietor: https://paperrockwriting.com/)

Editor/Writer

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  • Proofread 365 flash-fiction stories each year for Flash Fiction Magazine. Check for grammar, syntax, punctuation, extra spaces, and resolve larger content issues with editors and authors. (2020-present)

  • Write craft articles for author-subscribers in the Flash Fiction Magazine program. Articles written so far range in length from 500-1,500 words; topics include grammar/proofreading points and how to use programs like ProWritingAid and Grammarly to analyze advice and accept and reject suggestions. Feedback from authors indicates that they will use the grammar strategies presented and remain in the author program. (2020-present)

  • Line edit and proofread ten craft articles on writing, per year, for Flash Fiction Magazine. Authors include Literary Agent Tommy Dean (Best Small Fiction and Best Microfiction winner) and Timons Esaias (Asimov's Readers' Award). (2020-present)

  • Edit fifteen to twenty Flash Fiction Magazine contest stories, including developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. Duties also include updating spreadsheets and sending rejection and acceptance letters to authors. (2025)

  • Edit manuscripts for authors at Running Wild Press, including several rounds of developmental editing, line editing and proofreading. (2021-present, seven titles so far, working on the eighth and ninth)

  • Collaborate with CEO, Lisa Kastner and the leadership team to acquire new authors and manuscripts. (2021-present)

  • Collaborate with Running Wild authors to write and edit marketing materials, such as loglines, back cover/jacket descriptions, summaries for cover artists, and bios. (2021-present)

  • Contribute to the weekly "Run Wild with Us: Running Wild Press Ask Us Anything Editors' Panel." This social media, live-streaming session answers authors' questions about the editing process. (May 2025-present)

  • Develop and conduct writing workshops: "Feed Me/Dance for Your Life: When & How to Push Back on an Editor's Advice" (Write on the Sound presentation, 2024, Edmonds, WA) / "Horror in a Flash" (writing workshop presented at The Schack Art Center, Everett, WA, 2018).

  • Wrote thirty social media posts, email headlines, and product descriptions for Super7 collectibles. Licenses included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, ThunderCats, and Peanuts. 

  • Created a style guide for Ridgewood Elementary School's (Springfield, Ohio) accreditation report and reviewed and edited the report, which was granted a favorable recommendation from the accreditation committee. (2018)

  • Served as the Inaugural Editor for the Journal of Virtual Exchange, a peer-reviewed journal housed with the University of Groningen Press. Duties included creating guidelines, evaluating articles for relevancy and academic rigor, and creating acceptance and rejection letters, as well as following up with authors. (2018-2020)

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Funko (Nov. 2021-April 2025)

Copywriter/Editor

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  • Wrote and edited marketing materials for 60+ DTC campaigns a year, including social media posts, email content, website headlines, SMS, video captions, blog posts, and paid copy for new/returning customers. Clients included Disney/Marvel/Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., DreamWorks, DC, TOEI Animation, Snoop Dogg, Flavor Flav, Dolly Parton, Reba McEntire, JuJu Watkins, Ice Spice, NFL, MLB, and more. Turnaround time for "Hot Markets" was typically one to seven days for all campaign copy. Internal analytics indicated that campaigns for which I contributed copy routinely ranked in the top six, quarterly.

  • Created narratives and bios for original Funko characters, including the Oddvocados and Boo Hollow collectibles. 

  • Applied SEO best practices to write over 200 meta titles and descriptions for Funko's website for both the United States and Canada. 

  • Collaborated with DTC and integrated marketing and email teams to create blog posts focused on our year-round horror fans. Used SEO strategies and lifestyle imagery to target this audience. Five of these blog posts landed in the top ten clicked on for the year.

  • Wrote packaging blurbs and invented names for new products ten times a year.

  • Created audio scripts for POP! Yourself evergreen and holiday campaigns. Early results indicated a 90% completion rate for listeners.

  • Wrote between 100-300 descriptions a year for both Loungefly and Funko.com products. (vinyl figures, apparel, backpacks, handbags, wallets, pins, journals, and other accessories) 

  • Proofread for 2,000 + packaging reviews a year, checking for spelling, grammar, syntax, licensor brand specifications, website accuracy, font, and spacing.

  • Proofread and line edited approximately ten POP! Yourself blog posts written by copywriters from an outside agency to ensure brand voice, spelling, grammar, syntax, accuracy, and licensor specifications.

  • Proofread headlines that went up on our website daily. 

  • Acting lead in the absence of the lead copywriter. Duties included distributing assignments from the Asana queue, presenting at monthly meetings before the creative director, uploading product descriptions to the management system, and holding weekly meetings with the copy team (three members) to discuss workload and projects. 

 

Pearson Publishing (Smarthinking Online Writing Center (2016-2021)

Writing Lead/Writing Center Instructor

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  • Trained, onboarded, and supervised the work of ten tutors per semester. Evaluated their work, provided feedback and professional development opportunities, and ensured consistent and accurate writing advice to students.

  • Updated Pearson Publishing's Writers' Handbook to appeal to a wider audience of students. 

  • Identified, explained, and showed writers how to fix higher-order issues (focus/thesis/development) in creative writing and academic projects (marketing, business, science, technology, health, education, and theology) in 30-60 minutes. (800 students per year, papers ranging in length from one paragraph to one-hundred pages)

 

Clark State College (2005-2016)

Associate Professor of English and Spanish

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  • Created online and in-person course content, including audio/video/blog posts in English and Spanish, resulting in an 80% retention and completion rate of students in the five-six courses I'd teach per semester. (Preliminary benchmark expectations were 60%-70% retention and completion rates.)

  • Created advertising materials to attract students to elective courses: Monsters & Mead Halls (Beowulf) and Women Who Took on the Devil and Won (Medieval Mystics & Visionaries).

  • Wrote press releases advertising the Humanities Colloquium and prepared back cover blurbs and advertising materials for textbooks co-authored. 

  • Wrote project briefs for assignments that were clear, focused, and designed to draw the best work from writers. Best practices implemented: outlining measurable objectives and scaffolding to meet those objectives.

  • Chaired the Clark State Curriculum Committee, which involved a thorough grammar and content review of all syllabi for all technical and associate degree programs.

  • Oversaw the College in the Classroom/Running Start Spanish program at Clark State, which involved observing five high school teachers' classes to ensure state compliance, providing feedback and professional development workshops, and writing reports to the state of my findings.

  • Served on editorial review boards for composition textbooks published by McGraw Hill, Cengage, W.W. Norton, and Bedford St. Martin. Provided detailed feedback regarding content, development, audience, skill level, academic rigor, and grammar/mechanics.

  • Served on the Ridgewood Elementary School Board and the Casa Amiga Advisory Board as part of the College's mission to serve the larger community. For both organizations, I participated in grant-writing and fundraising/advertising activities.​

  • Selected to present conference papers on various language, literature, and writing topics in English and Spanish for the following organizations: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Modern Languages Association (MLA), Central States Teachers of Foreign Languages, the Ohio College English Association, the Association for Hispanic Classical Theater, and the University of Cincinnati Romance Languages and Literatures Department.

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Publications Link

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Professional Organizations/Service:

  • Literary Mama, Social Media Editor (May 2025-present)

  • ACES: The Society for Editing (2024-present)

  • Horror Writers Association (2022-present)

  • NAMI Sno-Isle (Board Member/Marketing & Publicity Chair) (2024-2025)​​​​​

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Awards:

  • Best Small Fictions Nomination, 2024, by Vast Chasm Literary Press for "Particles."

  • Pushcart Nomination, 2023, by Vast Chasm Literary Press for "Particles."

  • Best of the Net Nominee, 2022, by Fiery Scribe Review for "The Manuscript Room."

  • Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award.

  • Clark State Community College Faculty Professional Excellence Award.

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