“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter. ’tis the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

About Joanne

I was raised in Southern California but now live in West Michigan with my wonderful husband Marc, and our two kids - Andrew is 17 and Annika is 14. My husband and I were both raised in the Jewish faith and came to Christ in our early 30s (I beat him to it by a whopping three months!). Check out one version of my salvation testimony here, and another (less "facty" - more "pretty") here.

I have a Bachelors degree in English, and I have been editing/proofreading for friends probably since high school (or maybe even junior high). About ten years ago, however, I started taking on jobs to help supplement my family's income. I have edited everything from short devotionals to book-length manuscripts to course material, and I truly LOVE doing it, and working with people.

I am also a writer. I have written in lots of different styles - from science fiction (only once on a "dare" - and I will NEVER do it again!) to contemporary to historical to nonfiction - but my favorite genre, and where I believe God has called me to write, is children's writing - specifically, children's picture books (no - I am NOT an illustrator - someone else can take care of that). There are a few examples of my children's writing here on the blog, as well as on my FaithWriters profile. Writing picture books is completely different from any other style of writing, and I am still learning the ups and downs - and waiting on God to tell me when one of my works in progress is "ready for prime time." (Hint: not yet! :D) I am also the blogger for the FaithWriters blog (a great place to learn about FaithWriters - where I learned to write for a Christian audience. Give it a look!)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you like it here. If you have any questions,  comments, or suggestions, feel free to contact me through a comment on a blog post, or drop me an email!

My One Word: 2016 and 2017

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