Work

I work full-time for an educational nonprofit. A large part of my work involves writing documentation. Another part involves providing initial tech support and writing basic SOQL. Why mention this? So many writers work in a variety of fields that are not very related to their work as writers. These diverse experiences often shape our creative work, and they certainly shape the ways in which we find time to write.

Volunteering GIGs

Writing Group: June 2023 to present, I am the volunteer facilitator of one of the writing groups affiliated with my local bookstore. It’s really lovely to have a community of writers.

Book Judging: From February 2022 to January 2024, I volunteered as a book judge for the Nonfiction Authors Association judging for the Nonfiction Book Awards.

With Kids: Circa Fall 2022, I volunteered as a Girls on the Run coach, providing opportunities for girls to learn more about social-emotional skills and practice running. At the end, there’s even a 5K, which was the first 5K I ever attempted to run!

Grants: Circa 2020, I volunteered as grant research support for my community chorus.

Editing: Circa 2019 and before, I have volunteered in a variety of editing or editor roles. These included serving as editor/website support for Care About Climate, serving as prose editor for Minerva Rising Press, and serving as a reader and fiction editor for The Bellingham Review.

International Latino Book Awards Judge

Latino Literacy Now (a California non-profit) and Las Comadres para las Americas, & Reforma: The National Association annually organize The International Latino Book Awards to promote library and information services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking. Part of Latino Literacy Now’s mission is to promote ”literacy in the community in all forms: educational, financial, reading, and community awareness. They aspire to advance the cause of reading as a means of self-improvement both personally and professionally.” They are affiliated with the American Library Association.

I am honored have served annually as a prose judge since 2019. I hope I can continue to participate in this way.

3-Day Novel Contest

The 3-Day Novel Contest is a remote writing marathon put on every year by the Geist Foundation in Vancouver. I first heard about it as a youngling when one of the winners did a book reading at my local library. You can find my blog posts from my last two years of participation here and here. While I don’t do this every year, it was a fun opportunity to kickstart my writing practice again when I’m feeling out of new ideas and projects.

Teaching

I taught English Composition for two years as part of my MFA graduate program and ran a short creative writing workshop for undergraduates as part of a graduate class. Spring 2019, I taught a small independent study Introduction to Poetry course.