Meet the Team!

Time to meet the people that make this machine run! Read on to see their faces, their jobs, and their writing or editing process

KIMMY BADAL

Kimmy is one of our interns, who play a major role in editing and proofreading. She says:

"As an editor, my process is a lot more focused on supporting the story that the author wants to tell. At the start of any content editing project, I like to read through it with an eye for what the author is working toward. Once I get the feeling for the goal of the story, I read through again looking for ways to support it. I ask questions such as, are characters acting in ways consistent with their personalities? Does the plot move in a way that make sense with those actions? Then I suggest points for the author to consider. I'm an intern, so I'm still learning about the editing process and refining my approach to collaborating with authors, but I love supporting them and watching their stories come to life!"

 

BOYDELL BOWN

Boydell is our CTO (Chief Time Travel Officer) and tech guru. His writing process goes something like this:

• Do some experimental writing of what I want out of the story, get a feel for what might work.
• Throw it all away.
• Outline my plot and character points
• Fight with my ADHD to not be distracted by other things, and my OCD to not expect anything from my first drafts.
• Write the first draft, then walk away for a while to get perspective.
• Come back and rewrite most of it.

 

MARION BOYD

Marion is, unfortunately, NOT a pirate. But she IS our marketing director! She says:

"Usually an idea is my first ingredient often from free-range science podcasts I listen to (if it’s a sci-fi book). My most recent idea was from a neuroscience podcast about consciousness. Then I imagine the changes this would likely have on the world to find my conflict and develop a theme. I also try to search around to be sure it isn’t an overdone idea or that there is something unique about mine. From that, I sketch a very basic plot with conflict, climax, and resolution. Then I gather my organic characters, found abundantly throughout the farmer’s market of my life, starting with my protagonist and antagonist. Naming characters is my favorite part. I also like coming up with book titles, because I’m insane, obviously. I create character profiles so they are consistent. Then I add my characters to my basic plot and let rise, sprinkling in other characters as needed with a dash of subplots and a generous helping of voice. I knead in romance to taste. Then I roll out my story dough across my chosen setting and bake."

ADRIANA CHRIST

Adriana is one of our Editors and a lovely human being. Despite her normally organized self, Adriana does not have herself figured out writing-wise. She loves daydreaming about her characters and asking too many plot questions. Her editing style has evolved after studying Editing and Publishing at BYU but she likes to look for the heart of the story and bring that out as much as possible. Her goal is to find any areas (big ideas to copy edits) that might hold the reader up, then collaborate with the author to smooth things out.

 

ELESA HAGBERG

Elesa is our Creative Director, Accountant, and resident control freak. Her writing process works thusly:

"As soon as an idea comes to me I write down everything I can think of, because if I don't do it then, I will forget it all. When I'm ready to do more with it, I just start writing. I don't worry too much about how it sounds at this point, I'm just trying to figure out enough details about my initial idea to turn it into a plot. Sometimes an amazing line or two comes out of this, but lots of it sounds like "And then this character whose name I will figure out later, does something crazy that has some sort of effect on things at some point." Then I have to stop about half way through and figure out what the heck is ACTUALLY happening with this story, which involves lots of brainstorming to try to get the good stuff out. Then I go through that first discovery draft again and try to pull out the usable stuff and start again to shape the ugly, stinking pile of garbage that is my current manuscript into a shiny, glowing, beautiful pile garbage. It's a magical process."

 

AMANDA HEMMERT

Amanda is one of our editors and our newletter wrangler. Of her writing process, she has this to say:

"I am new to writing, so my process isn't perfect yet. I always start with characters, and then plot comes after. I spend some time writing fun scenes or fanfiction of my characters and then I somehow sit down and write a novel. I don't plot enough for my own good."

 

KAYD JOHNSON

Kayd is another intern who we could not live without. They say:

"I usually start my writing process by nailing down my idea. I make a list of notes of anything I come up with initially, and anything else that comes to mind, like specific dialogue and descriptions. These notes are incomprehensible to anyone but me. Following that, I'll start expanding on the worldbuilding. I'll sometimes have an initial character vibe I'm wanting, but those characters are influenced by their worlds, so I'll wait until worldbuilding is detailed enough to build my characters. Next, I'll do a chapter-by-chapter layout. This is very much subject to change with how the characters drive the story, and should allow enough wiggle room for coming up with stuff as I write. I usually plays fast and loose with a lot of my initial preparation. A lot of the time, story details are fleshed out as I write. Having some writing down is better than no writing at all!"

 

FARALEE POZO

Faralee Pozo is our managing editor and kickstarter expert. Her words are these:

"I generally start with a voice or an idea, and play with some scenes in my head a while before I start writing anything down. Then I just push and write, ponder and write, imagine and write until it's done so I can get to the fun part! Editing!"

 

ANNA SEIPERT

Anna is another invaluable intern. She says:

"When I write, I usually start with some sort of inspiration: a character or scene or even just a phrase or vibe that I can’t let go of. I have a hard time writing down an outline, so I have to give the idea time to roll around in my head, let the pieces click together as I figure out what makes it so captivating and where I want it to go. Once I start writing, I can edit and re-edit and re-re-edit as I hammer out all the little details and make it actually good."