With a background in both writing and international politics, I have written and worked with a variety of genres, from fiction to academic articles to poetry.
I have editing experience in MLA, APA, and Chicago, and in both English and Spanish.
Through my experience in the publishing industry and in academic settings, I can offer advice on both marketability and academic standards.
Whether you need help editing, marketing, or writing, I can help!
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Overall, an interesting read with a lot of interesting characters but the pacing and resolution are somewhat unsatisfying. Read for a family drama that makes you think and maybe laugh. Read more here.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Easy Beauty is not an easy read, but, boy, is it worth it.
Chloe Cooper Jones tells her story of disability and motherhood as she copes with an unexpected pregnancy, navigates academia, and rehashes her difficult relationship with her father. Jones explores these complex themes not just through her own personal experience but also through a challenging lens of philosophy, even venturing into her own fraught relationship with philosophy itself. Read more here.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Nightcrawling is a stunning novel, combining powerful prose and a heart wrenching tale of poverty, race, and abuse. But it is also a story of family and friendship, of adolescence and first love.
The story is gritty, but the prose are smooth, if a little dense at times. But for a debut novel, Nightcrawling is complex and beautiful and necessary. I can't wait to see what Motley writes next. Read more here.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In summary, read The Sellout to find unexpected and haunting snapshots of American race relations. Read for belly laughs followed by guilt. Read to look at racial stereotypes from a new perspective. Read to reimagine were we can actually go from here... Read more here.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a challenging read for me, and I've let it simmer in my brain for a few weeks before writing my review. If the author's goal was to craft a story of beautifully written, if unlikeable, characters that defy traditional structures of gender and family, then she most definitely accomplished her goal. Read more here.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Black Buck is an unprecedented and satirical mix of Wolf of Wall Street, Get Out, and a sales manual. I never knew which turn Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour was going to take. Every few pages, some dramatic, unpredictable event landed at the doorstep of the protagonist, Darren Vender. Read more here.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Haunting and compelling. I found many of these stories to be page turning and stomach churning. The writing ranges from conversational, fantastical narrative to poetic, fractured introspection. Any collection with so much diversity in approach will inevitably have some stories that work for some readers more than others. I found "Especially Heinous" to be compelling, if a little cartoonish, while I know others found it tedious. The tone and general argument bound the stories together nicely, granted my reading was informed by Machado's memoir In the Dream House, so I entered the collection with an anchoring notion of narrative background. Overall, I found the grotesque insight into femininity and sexuality and violence to be compelling and well explored.
Read more here.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great roadmap to understanding contemporary feminist issues. The essays are meticulously constructed, and I often had the feeling that the essay was reading my mind, answering my questions immediately after they popped into my mind. The essay "On Not Sleeping with Your Students" resonated with me the most and precisely articulated thoughts that at first seem abstract and controversial then self-evident. A grounded and captivating collection of essays that I would recommend to anyone interested in bringing intro feminist theory into daily life. Read more here.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Disaster Tourist follows a young woman working for a tourism company specializing in transporting wealthy customers to the most disaster-stricken destinations, where they can gawk at the immense suffering of the less fortunate. The conceit and set-up of the novel is timely and captivating, an eery exploration of capitalism, climate change, gender in the workplace, and trauma porn in an increasingly unequal world... Read more here.
