Writing Mentor Service

Hourly Mentoring Services: $45 Per Hour

The one-on-one, pay-as-you-go, mentoring service is scheduled one hour at a time. Mentoring sessions may involve brainstorming, problem-solving, and informal discussions about chunks of a work-in-progress. Writers have the option to schedule more meetings, if desired, at the end of each meeting. Payment is required in advance of each meeting with the mentor.

Perfect For Writers Of All Levels Looking For:

Personal interaction/conversation/consultation with a writing coach
Information and instruction through one-on-one discussion
Suggestions, instruction, information, and brainstorming
Feedback on a small excerpt of a work-in-progress
Flexible scheduling that matches your personal schedule and process
Pay-as-you-go meetings requiring no long-term commitment
Help with beginning, continuing, or completing a work-in-progress
Assistance with the business of writing including building a platform, marketing, and formatting manuscripts for submission to traditional publishers or for self-publishing

Things To Know Before You Solicit Services:

The hourly Mentoring Service is not intended for complete Manuscript Reviews which require a higher level of engagement, time, and input by a reviewing consultant. Find out more about Manuscript Review Service.
Mentors and consultants make every effort to help the author strengthen the current manuscript but they, and the Carnegie Center, make no guarantees that the author’s manuscript will be acquired by a publisher, or that it will achieve a specific level of sales.
Mentor, consultants, and the Carnegie Center have no ownership interest in the author’s work; the author retains all rights, including copyright.
Opinions, feedback, critiques, and reviews reflect the experiences and preferences of the mentors and consultants. The author determines what content in the sessions resonates with their project and writing style.
The Carnegie Center is not responsible for mentor or consultant comments or the content of sessions and reviews.

How To Schedule A Mentor Session

CHOOSE YOUR MENTOR
Browse bios of Carnegie Center Writing Mentors.

CONTACT YOUR MENTOR
Contact your chosen mentor by email with a brief description of your project and the type of mentoring help you are seeking. You can find a mentor’s email address in their bio.

PAY FOR SERVICES
Once you have scheduled the meeting, pay for your session online. Please specify your mentor in the ‘notes’ section during checkout.

SCHEDULE MORE SESSIONS
If you schedule additional hourly sessions with your mentor, be sure to pay in advance for each session.

Fee Reduction Request

If you would like to request a reduction of fees based on financial need, you may send your request via email to Program Director Z Valentine at zjackson@carnegiecenterlex.org. Include a brief explanation of your financial need in the body of the email.

Writing Mentors

Sylvia Ahrens

Poetry, Women's Writing, Editing, Revising, & Proofreading

Bio

Sylvia Ahrens has published several collections of poetry under the name Allison Thorpe, including Thoughts While Swinging a Wild Child in a Green Mesh Hammock (Janze Publications), Swooning and Other Art Forms (a National Federation of State Poetry Societies chapbook winner), What She Sees (White Knuckle Press), Dorothy’s Glasses (Finishing Line Press), and The Shepherds of Tenth Avenue (Finishing Line Press). She mentors poetry and women’s writing.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: poetry, women’s writing, editing, revising, and proofreading.

Robin Baskette

general writing skills, proofreading and editing, and non-fiction (memoir, articles, academic papers, and technical writing)

Bio

Robin Baskette is a freelance proofreader, copy editor, and technical writer. She has a background in engineering and math education. She started her own consulting business, where her work includes editing, technical writing, and education writing. She is a graduate of Purdue University and Eastern Kentucky University. Robin has published magazine articles and she is working on a young adult novel.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: general writing skills, proofreading and editing, and non-fiction (memoir, articles, academic papers, and technical writing)

Ashley Blooms

Fiction & Nonfiction

Bio

Ashley Blooms is the author of Every Bone a Prayer, which NPR says “bears within its pages striking beauty and strangeness in equal measure.” She’s a graduate of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop and received her MFA as a John and Renee Grisham Fellow from the University of Mississippi. Her fiction has appeared in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Strange Horizons, among others. Her nonfiction has appeared in the Oxford American.

Liz Carey

nonfiction writing, magazine and newspaper writing, ghostwriting biographies, and researching and writing about history

Bio

Liz Carey is a journalist, author and freelance writer living in Lexington. A graduate of Miami University, she worked as a reporter for 20+ years, winning more than 30 local, state, and national awards for her writing and reporting, before setting off on her own as a freelance writer. Currently, she writes about rural health, Appalachian culture, the transportation industry, workers’ compensation, and Kentucky arts and entertainment. The rural health reporter for the Daily Yonder–a national news outlet focusing on rural issues–Carey has focused lately on the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on the growing rural mental health crisis, the opioid crisis, the rural health care system, and vaccine distribution. She is the author of two books – Hidden History of Anderson County, published by Acadia Press, and My Little Zombie, which she self-published. Additionally, she has ghost-written six biographies.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: nonfiction writing, magazine and newspaper writing, ghostwriting biographies, and researching and writing about history

Erin Chandler

Memoir, Screenwriting, & Playwriting

Bio

Erin Chandler holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University and Masters in Theatre from University of Kentucky. Her memoir, June Bug Versus Hurricane was published in 2017. Her original play of the same name was produced at the Lost Studio in Los Angeles, prompting Nick Cassavetes to write a screenplay based on her book on which Erin worked as script doctor. Her collection of essays, Cinderella Sweeping Up came out in 2019. Erin is founder and editor of Rabbit House Press, where she published the critically acclaimed Bad Sex in Kentucky and others. Erin lives in Versailles and teaches creative writing, memoir, playwriting, and screenwriting.

Sarah Combs

Contemporary, Realistic, Literary Fiction (Adults & Teens)

Bio

Sarah Combs is the author of the young adult novels Breakfast Served Anytime and The Light Fantastic, both published by Candlewick Press. She mentors Author Academy writers of contemporary/realistic/literary fiction for teens and adults.

Tony Crunk

Poetry, Creative Nonfiction, Hybrid/Multi-Genre Works, & Picture Books

Bio

Tony Crunk‘s first poetry collection, Living in the Resurrection, was the 1994 selection in the Yale Series of Younger Poets. He has published numerous subsequent collections, as well as additional work in fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books. He has held fellowships from the National Writer’s Voice and the Centrum Center for Education and the Arts, and he has taught creative writing and literature at the Universities of Virginia, Montana, and Alabama, as well as in a number of community education programs, including Hellgate Writers, Inc. (Missoula, MT) and Magic City Community Writers (Birmingham, AL). He also served for nine years as Teaching Writer-in-Residence in the Writing Our Stories program in the Alabama state juvenile detention system. He welcomes opportunities to work with, and learn from, writers of any level of experience (or inexperience).
For more information about Tony and his work, visit Cr-Cz – Browse A-Z Authors – Research Guides at University of Kentucky (uky.edu)

Tony is available for mentoring in poetry, creative nonfiction (memoir, essay), hybrid/multi-genre works, and children’s picture books.

If you are interested in meeting with Tony, send him an e-mail at tcrunk56@gmail.com.

Amanda Davis

Picture Books, Picture Book Dummies, Pitches, Queries, & Children’s Nonfiction

Bio

Amanda Davis is a teacher, artist, writer, and innovator who uses her words and pictures to light up the world with kindness. Amanda is the author of the award-winning picture book, 30,000 Stitches: The Inspiring Story of the National 9/11 Flag, Moonlight Memories (summer, 2023) and a yet to be announced forthcoming title. She also has poetry and illustrations featured in The Writers’ Loft Anthology: Friends & Anemones: Ocean Poems for Children.

Tracee de Hahn

Author Academy Coordinator

Bio

Tracee de Hahn is a published author of both fiction and non-fiction. A frequent instructor in topics related to writing, editing, and “getting published,” she enjoys helping writers identify their path and set a course for success. She has experience across the gamut of publishing, from Big 5 and Indy houses to self-publishing. She has also created, authored, and edited a range of magazines for major universities. Her latest book is A Well-Timed Murder, the second in the series from St. Martin’s Press/Minotaur Books. Currently, she is working on a mystery set in Kentucky.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: YA and adult fiction, writing for magazines, and topics in non-fiction (arts and humanities).

Mentorship Service Contact Email: contact@traceedehahn.com

Tom Eblen

Literary Arts Liaison

Bio

Tom Eblen, a journalist, writer and photographer, is the Carnegie Center’s literary arts liaison. He was metro/state columnist for the Lexington Herald-Leader from 2008 to 2019 and the newspaper’s managing editor from 1998-2008. Tom returned to his hometown in 1998 after 14 years with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and five years with The Associated Press. He contributed a chapter to the book Bluegrass Renaissance: The History and Culture of Central Kentucky, 1792-1852, published in 2012 by the University Press of Kentucky. His photographs have appeared in newspapers, books, and magazines, including Newsweek and Garden & Gun.

He has won many awards, including the 2013 media award in the Kentucky Governor’s Awards in the Arts. He was inducted into the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame in 2016. A graduate of Western Kentucky University, Tom is a former president of the Bluegrass Professional Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He formerly served on the national board of Associated Press Media Editors. Tom taught journalism ethics at the University of Kentucky for four years and has been on the faculty of The Mountain Workshops, an annual documentary photojournalism workshop, since 1995. He and his wife, Becky, have two grown daughters and two grandchildren.

Leif Erickson

Fiction, Nonfiction, Creative Nonfiction, Editing, & More

Bio

Leif Erickson is an English professor who has taught composition, creative writing, literature, and other Humanities courses for nearly 20 years. Leif has been passionately obsessed with language and has come to view writing as a way of liberation. In the classroom (and to anyone who will listen), he takes joy in demystifying the writing process and encouraging students to view writing as a practice that enables them to enjoy the best life possible. Leif holds a BA in English from Georgetown College, an MA in American Literature & Rhetoric/Composition from Eastern Kentucky University, and an MFA in creative nonfiction from Murray State University. His work has appeared, among other places, in Kentucky’s Twelve Days of Christmas and Kentucky Monthly magazine.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: creative nonfiction; other types of nonfiction (i.e. academic writing, journalism, magazine writing, etc.); fiction; improved reading skills & habits; general writing technique and craft; analyzing literature and other writing; and proofreading/editing

Linda Freudenberger

Creative Nonfiction, Poetry, Fiction, Editing, & Proofreading

Bio

Linda Freudenberger resides in Lexington, Ky with her Westie, Clancy, a certified therapy dog. She began writing in 2017 after the loss of her husband by taking writing classes and enrolling at the Author Academy at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. Her story “The Call: was published in the Personal Publishing Project anthology, Bearing Up, edited by Randell Jones. The story, “In the Holler”, was published in the anthology, That Southern Thing, also edited by Randell Jones. Her story “His Final Act of Kindness” is included in the 2021 anthology, Luck and Opportunity edited by Randell Jones. “Bowtie Whimsy” is a short story in the 2022 anthology, Curious Stuff edited by Randell Jones. She also has three essays on the online grief site opentohope.com. She recently completed a fictional novella about a teahouse that she is submitting for publication. She participated in the yearlong Poetry Gauntlet at the Carnegie Center by writing 112 poems in 2020. Her poem, “Communion,” was published in 2021 Volume 1 Issue 4 of Literary Accents, Katerina Stoykova, Editor. Two of her poems have been published on the Highland Park online poetry site in 2022. This December her poem “The Other Side of the Bed” will be published in the Workhorse magazine, The Yearling. On 9/5/2022 she completed the Writers Digest University copy editing certificate program.

Linda is available for editing, proofreading, and mentoring for creative nonfiction, poetry, and adult fiction.

Jessica Handler

Literary Fiction, Memoir, Personal Essay, & Narrative Nonfiction

Bio

Jessica Handler is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a nominee for the Townsend Prize for Fiction. The novel is one of the 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a Southern Independent Book Sellers Association “Okra” Pick. Her memoir, Invisible Sisters, was also named one of the “Books All Georgians Should Read,” and her craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss was praised by Vanity Fair magazine and has been the focal text for grief writing workshops in the US and overseas since its publication in 2013. Her writing has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Newsweek, The Washington Post, Oldster, Full Grown People and elsewhere. She lives in Atlanta.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: literary fiction, memoir, personal essay, and narrative nonfiction (No YA, children’s books, poetry, or romance/fantasy/sci-fi)

Marcia Thornton Jones

Picture Books, Early Chapter Books, Chapter Books, Midgrade Novels, & YA Novels

Bio

Marcia Thornton Jones is the author/co-author of 137 traditionally published books for children with sales totaling more than 45 million copies worldwide. Her books include the mid-grade novels WOODFORD BRAVE and CHAMP, picture books THE TALE OF JACK FROST and LEPRECHAUN ON THE LOOSE, and seven chapter book series including the bestselling The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. Marcia is the co-author of WRITING FOR KIDS: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE and a former columnist for Writer’s Digest Magazine. Marcia’s latest books are the Graphix Chapter Books GHOSTS DON’T EAT POTATO CHIPS, VAMPIRES DON’T WEAR POLKA DOTS, FRANKENSTIEN DOESN’T PLANT PETUNIAS, and DRAGONS DON’T COOK PIZZA.

Marcia is available for writer mentoring, manuscript reviews, and as an Author Academy mentor for writers of picture books, early chapter books, chapter books, midgrade novels, and young adult novels.

Lisa Kerr

Picture Books, Middle Grade Fiction / Nonfiction, Memoir, Book Proposal Development, & More

Bio

Lisa Kerr is a children’s book author, playwright, educator, and essayist whose work has been featured in magazines and publications including Huffington Post, New York Magazine, Bustle, and more. She is the author of the nonfiction picture book, Wake, Sleepy One: California Poppies and the Super Bloom (West Margin Press). She lives in Central California. Lisa mentors writers on picture books, nonfiction and fiction middle grade, romance, memoir, using the specificity of language as a tool, book proposal development, and finding a place in the market for niche works.

Mary Knight

Fiction / YA Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, Memoir, & Personal Essay

Bio

Mary Knight is the author of Saving Wonder, a middle grade novel published by Scholastic and winner of the 2017 Green Earth Book Award. With an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University, Mary has mentored writers in both young adult and adult fiction, and is also willing to work with writers of creative nonfiction, memoir, or personal essay. You can contact her directly through the website’s comment section (link below).

Karen Leet

Children’s Writing and Religious / Inspirational Writing

Bio

Karen Leet has sold hundreds of stories and articles as well as several books including co-authoring Civil War Lexington, Kentucky: Breeding Ground of Power (The History Press) and a historical novel for middle grade Sarah’s Courage: A Kentucky Frontier Kidnapping (THP). She mentors writers of children’s and religious/inspirational material. See her Facebook pages for her books.

Sylvia Lovely

CRAFTING STORIES FOR PUBLICATION, MARKETING STRATEGIES, & MORE!

Bio

Sylvia Lovely has enjoyed guiding budding writers in her course, “Writing the Stories of Your Life” for the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. She loves coaching at all levels and ages of writers as they journey along the story writing continuum of collecting (journaling), choosing the right stories for the purpose at hand, and crafting them. She particularly enjoys working with writers on the appropriate vehicles and skills for delivering their stories to a desired audience whether it be a book or a presentation for business or pleasure. A lawyer by profession, she is the author of three books, “Dodging Coconuts, How to survive the Storm and Rebuild Your Life”; “The Little Red Book of Everyday heroes” about unheralded heroism in Kentucky communities and “The Little Blue Book of Cities in America.”

Services: Full-service coaching in the cycle of collecting, curating and crafting stories for publication or presentation in appropriate formats, marketing strategies; encouragement and inspiration for perfecting the craft of writing and sharing stories with appropriate audiences. sylvia@sylvialovely.com.

Claudia Love Mair

KBWC Coordinator

Bio

Claudia Love Mair is the author of 13 books, including Mourning Pages: Working Through Grief the Write Way, due to release in October of 2023. She holds an MFA in Writing from Spalding University, and is the coordinator for the Carnegie Center’s Kentucky Black Writers Collaborative. Claudia Love lives with her daughter, and two cats, Batman and Gizmo, in Lexington, KY.

Writing Mentor Service Topics: Fiction, Memoir, and Inspirational Writing

William “Bill” McCann, Jr.

Playwriting

Bio

William “Bill” McCann, Jr. is a playwright, a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, and a co-founder and past president of Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. His full-length play Boats Against the Current, was first produced at Flashback Theater, Somerset, KY in 2019. His 10-minute play Strained Pears, which was runner-up in the Kentucky Theatre Association’s 2020 Roots of the Bluegrass 10-minute Play Contest, has been adapted and produced as a radio play on WEKU (88.FM). Between 2012 and 2019 Mr. McCann produced 37 short plays by Kentucky playwrights at the Kentucky State Fair. Plays written by Mr. McCann have been produced in Berea at Spotlight Theatre, in Ft. Thomas, KY and elsewhere. Since October 2021 Mr. McCann has hosted an occasional radio series about Theatre Production in Kentucky on WEKU’s weekly newsmagazine, Eastern Standard. He has been Arts’ Watch columnist for the Winchester Sun since March 2019.

Currently, McCann is an MFA student in Creative Nonfiction at EKU. He has been a Playwright Mentor at the Carnegie Center since 2014. He lives in Winchester with his wife, Jeanine Grant Lister, three cats, and Halligan the Wonder Dog.

Tina Parker

Poetry

Bio

Tina Parker is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Lock Her Up published by Accents Publishing in 2021. Tina grew up in Bristol, VA. She is a long-time Kentucky resident and advocates for poetry across the state: she is the former President of the Kentucky State Poetry Society and a juried member of the Women of Appalachia Project. She mentors writers of poetry.

https://www.instagram.com/tetched_poet

Doris Settles

the expert book, nonfiction, magazine writing, corporate writing, and public speaking

Bio

Doris Settles writes for newspapers and magazines, managed her own desktop-publishing business and wrote an “expert book” first self-published then picked up by a traditional publisher, wrote a second at their request, co-authored a history of Prohibition in Kentucky, has a 2022 picture book on gardening and has a children’s gardening journal due out late 2022. She is currently working on a middle-grade historical novel, a historical fiction picture book, and an adult literary novel as well as other picture books. Doris reviews expert books and children’s books, as well as works with authors on marketing and public speaking.

Andrew Shaffer

Nonfiction, Mystery, Poetry, & Self-Publishing

Bio

Andrew Shaffer is the New York Times bestselling author of Hope Never Dies: An Obama Biden Mystery, the nonfiction books Literary Rogues and Great Philosophers Who Failed at Love, and numerous other humorous works of fiction and nonfiction. He is a two-time Goodreads Choice Award nominee and a finalist in the Humor category. His work has been published in McSweeney’s, Mental Floss, and The Daily Beast. Shaffer attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and now lives in Kentucky.

Ana Siqueira

Picture Books

Bio

Ana Siqueira is a Spanish-language elementary teacher, an award-winning Brazilian children’s author, and a published author in the Foreign Language educational market. Her picture books include BELLA’S RECIPE FOR DISASTER/SUCCESS (Beaming Books, 2021), IF YOUR BABYSITTER IS A BRUJA/ CUANDO TU NIÑERA ES UNA BRUJA (SimonKids,2022), ABUELA’S SUPER CAPA/LA SUPER CAPA DE ABUELA (HarperCollins 2023), and ROOM IN MAMI’S CORAZON (HarperCollins 2024). Ana is a member of SCBWI, Las Musas Books, and co-founder of LatinxPitch. She mentors picture book writing.

Jason Sizemore

Fiction & Short Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Horror)

Bio

Jason Size is a three-time Hugo Award-nominated editor, writer, and publisher who operates the science fiction, fantasy, and horror press Apex Book Company. He is the author of the collection of dark science fiction and horror shorts Irredeemable and the tell-all creative non-fiction For Exposure: The Life and Times of a Small Press Publisher.

Christine Van Zandt

Adult and Children’s Fiction & Nonfiction, Short Stories, Articles, Book Synopses, and Query Letters.

Bio

Christine Van Zandt is a professional freelance editor with 12+ years experience helping writers achieve their publication goals. Her skills include all levels of editing and author coaching. She’s there for you from creation to publication. Working from Hollywood, California, she knows what it takes to succeed in today’s marketplace. Her education includes a master’s degree in English literature with a specialization in children’s literature. Christine is also an award-winning author; her traditionally published work for adults and children includes a nonfiction picture book, fiction short stories, and both fiction and nonfiction articles. Find out more at WriteforSuccessEditing.com and ChristineVanZandt.com.