I bring more than two decades of professional writing and editing experience to my tutoring practice. As a military public affairs superintendent with 22 years of service, I have written and edited extensively in AP style, producing news features and published photo captions. I also write internationally published speculative fiction under the pen name Desmond Astaire, and my storytelling earned the Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award in 2022. I am currently completing my undergraduate...
I bring more than two decades of professional writing and editing experience to my tutoring practice. As a military public affairs superintendent with 22 years of service, I have written and edited extensively in AP style, producing news features and published photo captions. I also write internationally published speculative fiction under the pen name Desmond Astaire, and my storytelling earned the Writers of the Future Golden Pen Award in 2022. I am currently completing my undergraduate degree at Western Illinois University, majoring in communications. I hold professional certifications in Google AI and Prompting Essentials. I apply this diverse foundation to help students master academic formatting—specifically Chicago style and APA 7—alongside complex structural logic.
My teaching background spans over 20 years of formal classroom instruction and informal one-on-one mentoring. Within the military, I have trained service members ranging from young adults to senior personnel. I lead structured public affairs courses and provide direct mentorship in applied communications. This environment demands clear instruction and immediate, actionable feedback. I adapt these direct instructional methods to civilian tutoring. When guiding a high school student through standardized test writing sections or assisting a college student with composition requirements, I focus on mechanics and narrative flow rather than rote memorization.
My approach to tutoring centers on deliberate practice and constructive editing. I work with secondary and university students to dismantle complex writing prompts and rebuild them into compelling academic essays or creative narratives. I teach students how to effectively structure their arguments and independently edit their own drafts with a critical eye. By breaking down the mechanics of written language into manageable steps, I equip students to tackle rigorous writing assignments with precision.
I love writing, and my goal is that you will, too!
