About Me

Some Vital Stats

Geography: I'm from the hilltowns of western Massachusetts (Boston, drive west for two hours). Currently I'm situated in the Piedmont area of North Carolina (I'm drawn to foothills). I've also lived in Italy and Turkey.

Occupation(s): Academic and Freelance editor; Assistant Professor of Italian at High Point University.

Qualifications: I have a PhD in Comparative Literature with focuses in Classical and Medieval Studies. I've worked as an editor in various forms for the past 15 or so years, with experience in both academic and literary fields. As an academic, I also have my own publications. Check out my editing resume and profile, my CV, and my academic profile.

Academic Interests: Medieval gender expression; classical reception during the Middle Ages; the construction of identity; narratology.

Languages: English (native), Italian (near-native), French (I speak fine, I read it very well), Spanish (I read it very well), German (just the basics), Latin (very good), Ancient Greek (not very good), Turkish (trying hard).

Free Time: Lots of reading, primarily science fiction, fantasy, mystery,  historical fiction, and comics. I play guitar, drums, and mandolin, and I sing, and I've tried not to have any of that appear online. Gaming, when I can – board and card games, TTRPGs, video games.

A Narrative

Before studying literature, I developed a passion for  languages. I would love to say my interest in language study came from an instilled sense of global connection through my family's immigrant background (that would come later), but in truth it was after serving detention for arriving late to my 7th-grade French class. In the hour after school that I helped my teacher prepare materials for the coming week, something clicked into place for me, perhaps the realization that we don't learn languages for their own sake but to do things with them.

A decade later, I'd begun my graduate studies in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts and was reading in Italian, French, Spanish, and Latin. It was early on in my graduate career, and in part due to my ability across several languages, that I was hired for my first editing job with Digital Philology: A Journal of Medieval Cultures, working as the editorial assistant with scholars from all over the world; this was quickly followed by the opportunity to work for NeMLA Italian Studies. I loved it. At every step of the process, I was able to apply the skills in the languages I'd learned. I also came to realize how satisfying it was to help other writers produce their scholarship, to support their voices as a native English speaker, just as I had relied on native speakers of Italian, French, and Spanish to realize my voice in those languages.

As I have continued to work in editing, I have focused on this aspect of the profession, specializing in translation reviews and line editing for authors working outside their native languages, as well as more standard editorial services such as developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading.