Publications, Creative Writing
“8 Hard Truths about Self-Publishing Children’s Books.” Prairie Wind, November 2024.
The Time-Jinx Twins. Chicago: Duckweed Books, 2025.
Maddie’s Ghost. Chicago: Duckweed Books, 2023.
The Bridge Dancers (2nd ed.) Chicago: Duckweed Books, 2023).
Eddie’s War (2nd ed.) Chicago: Duckweed Books, 2023.
“Urban Odyssey: Communing in Chicago’s Japanese Garden.” Newcity, June 19, 2019.
“Stickling for Words.” Review of Lane Greene, Talk on the Wild Side. Times Literary Supplement, January 18, 2019.
“The Substance of Style.” Research Information, July 30, 2018.
“Toward Accuracy, Clarity, and Consistency.” In What Editors Do, ed. Peter Ginna. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
The Subversive Copy Editor: Advice from Chicago; or, How to Negotiate Good Relationships with Your Writers, Your Colleagues, and Yourself, 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016 (orig. 2009).
Foreword to But Can I Start a Sentence with “But”? Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016.
“The Correctors.” Creative Nonfiction 53 (Fall 2014).
(more children’s books)
Podcasts
The Babblery, with Suki Wessling, April 2025
WEFT-FM 90.1 Weekender, with Vicki and Mike Niswander, April 2025
Bookaholic, with Deirdre Pippins, October 2022
PublishHer, with Alexa Bigwarfe, November 2022
Editing and Writing, with Wayne Jones, June 2022
Write About Now, with Jonathan Small, May 2022
Read and Write with Natasha, with Natasha Tynes, April 2022
Turning Readers into Writers, with Emma Dhesi, April 2022
Myth & Magic, with Neil Mach, April 2022
The Heartland Author, with Aaron Apollo Camp, March 2022
The Editing Podcast, with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle, September 2021 (in 3 parts)
Blogging
Chicago Manual of Style Shop Talk (Editor’s Corner, 2014–2018; Fiction+, 2019–).
The Subversive Copy Editor (2010–).
Lingua Franca, Chronicle of Higher Education (weekly, 2011–2012).
SCBWI-Illinois Prairie Wind. “Promoting Your Book: Is There Any Point?”
Terry Farish, The Elephant Rag. “Braiding the Verse Novel: Carol Fisher Saller.”
Nancy Bo Flood, The Pirate Tree: Social Justice and Children’s Literature. Review and Interview.
Chris Eboch, Write Like a Pro!. “Did I Really Write Eddie’s War?”
Pam Torres, So I’m Fifty. Interview: “Only You Can Write Your Book.”
Illinois SCBWI Prairie Wind. “The Character Who Got Away.”
Cynthia Leitich Smith, Cynsations. “Details from a Diary: Mining a Family Treasure for Fiction.”
L L Owens, Children’s Writing. “Poetry Friday Q&A.”
Darcy Pattison, Fiction Notes. “Shrunken Manuscript X-Treme: A Writing Trick.”
Clara Gillow Clark. “Celebrating Eddie’s Launch on Publication Day.”
Appearances
Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, Chicago, November 2024
University of Chicago Service League, February 2023
Society of Midland Authors, at the Book Cellar, Chicago, interview with author Joseph G. Peterson, February 2023
Pens & Pilcrows book group, November 2022
Kent State Editing and Publishing, October 2022
S&P Global, online, June 2022
Editorial Freelancers Association, Chicagoland Chapter, June 2022
Creative Nonfiction webinar, “Think Like a Copyeditor: Make Your Submission Shine,” March 2022
Pace University Publishing Program, online, February 2022
George Washington University College of Professional Studies–Publishing, online, January 2022
International Association of Professional Translators and Interpreters (IAPTI), online, November 2021
Editors Canada Student Affiliate Book Club, online, November 2021
The Editing Podcast (3-part series), with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle, September–October 2021
Beardstown CUSD #15 Elementary School, online, September 2021
Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies, online, August 2021
Willamette Writers Conference, Portland, OR, online, July–August 2021
Brigham Young University, online, June 2021
University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media, online, April 2021
Anne M. Dorner Middle School, Ossining NY, online, February 2021
Pace University Publishing Program, online, February 2021
Voss Middle School, Bourne, TX, online, February 2021
Premier Charter School, St. Louis, MO, online, February 2021
Leaman Jr. High School, Fulshear, TX, online, February 2021
Editors Victoria, Institute of Professional Editors, Victoria, Australia, online, November 2020
University of Roehampton, London, online, October 2020
University of Nebraska–Lincoln, online, October 2020
University of North Carolina Hussman School of Journalism and Media, online, October 2020
“That Word Chat” with Mark Allen, online, October 2020
Bookends and Beginnings “Literary Lunchbreak” with Benjamin Dryer, online, August 2020
University of Georgia, Athens, GA, online, July 2020
Midwest Writers Workshop, Muncie IN, online, July 2020
Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) Toronto, online, June 2020
Editors Canada Kitchener-Waterloo-Guelph, online, June 2020
CIEP Cloud Club West, online, June 2020
Whitireia Graduate Diploma in Publishing, New Zealand, online, May 2020
Oregon State University, online, May 2020
Novelists, Inc., St. Pete Beach FL, September 2019
Chicago Women in Publishing, Chicago, September 2019
Editorial Freelancers Association conference, Chicago, August 2019
Printers Row Lit Fest, Chicago, June 2019
Creative Nonfiction Writers Fellowship webinar, April 2019
Diamonds in the Rough, Phoenix, February 2019
Abu Dhabi Publishing Forum, Abu Dhabi, UAE, January 2019
American Library Association webinar, Chicago, November 2018
First-Look Play Festival, Prairie Players Civic Theatre, Galesburg IL, October 2018
International Association of Business Communicators, Montreal, June 2018
#MeToo Play Festival, 2nd Act Players, Evanston IL, May 2018
American Society for Editing, Chicago, April 2018
U-W Writers’ Institute, Madison WI, April 2018
Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP), Tampa, March 2018
Minnesota Book Publishers’ Roundtable, Minneapolis, November 2017
Northwest Independent Editors’ Guild, Keynote, Seattle, September 2017
American Library Association, Chicago, June 2017
Editors’ Assoc. of Canada, Ottawa-Gatineau, Québec, June 2017
American University Presses, Austin TX, June 2017
Int’l Assoc. of Translators and Interpreters, Keynote, Buenos Aires, April 2017
American Society for Editing (ACES), St. Petersburg FL, March 2017
Chicago Humanities Festival, April 2016
Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, Keynote, Denver, October 2016
Chicago Public Television, WTTW, Chicago Tonight, 2015–2017
University of Chicago Graham School, Editing Program guest lecturer, 2014–