Books | writer

Ventures in Literary Land

My girlfriends and I took readers on a tour of Las Vegas with a chapter dedicated to each of the seven deadly sins and an extra one thrown in for repentance in Sinning in the City: A Girl's Guide to Las Vegas. As journalists, we had inside access to tour the hotest clubs and the swankiest hotel rooms from the lofty Strip penthouses to the Real World suite.

Argyle BrookeLynn Mikkelsen credits me with editing and design work on the 2024 graphic novel Fin: A Narwhal Musical. But the author/illustrator did much of the heavy lifting on the fun fantasy project. The story follows a team of narwhal scientists exploring a post apocalyptic planet.

To Dance on Sands: The Life and Art of Death Valley's Marta Becket was the project of a lifetime. The iconic dancer/painter wrote her memoir over the course of 10 years in all-caps on a manual typerwriter. My task was to transform her 1,000-plus pages into a compact, award-winning book.

Showgirl Betty Bunch shares her memories of classic Las Vegas in High Heels and Headdresses, a spunky fun book I organized using her newspaper columns. I've known Betty for years, and can't recommend her recollections enough.

Right out of college I worked as a proofreader and writer for Chapelle Ltd., a how-to book packager in Ogden, Utah. "Moments to Remember" was one of most involved projects on which I was a contributor.

Ever light your hair on fire working on a book? I have. Despite the bang-scorching danger, working on The Book of Candlemaking was a delight. Most projects at Chapelle Ltd. were. How can you beat working alongside passionate artists and editors?

For Two-Hour Vests, I convinced my boss to let me write romanticised

J. Peterman Company-inspired descriptions of the adventures seamstresses would most certainly have wearing any of these vests.

Most of Chapelle Ltd.'s projects focused on fine arts and crafts, so copy editing a book like Romantic Massage for Sterling Publishing was a unique learning experience. I think we balanced the clinical and the sultry for the perfect how-to blend.