client love
“The manuscript critique and private sessions I’ve done with Heather are some of the most impactful things I’ve done for my writing, ever, including Columbia Journalism School, working with editors at magazines like GQ and Departures, or later as a freelancer for Conde Nast Traveler and corporate clients.”
Caroline Callahan Janson is a freelance writer based in Miami, Florida. She is a former staffer at GQ Magazine and Departures, and has written for Condé Nast Traveler, New York Magazine, and the Palm Beach Daily News, among others. She is currently at work on a début middle-grade novel.
Medium: @ccjanson
Caroline Callahan Janson
I actually learned about Heather through her Insight Timer meditations, and began subscribing to the Lotus and Pen newsletter after that. Once I’d finished a very rough draft of my first middle grade novel I enlisted Heather to offer commentary. In the most timely, professional, and heartful manner, Heather delivered an intensive, in-depth critique of my book in a digestible and easy-to-metabolize way. (This was no easy feat—like so many first drafts mine was laden with structural problems.)
The manuscript critique and private sessions I’ve done with Heather are some of the most impactful things I’ve done for my writing, ever, including Columbia Journalism School, working with editors at magazines like GQ and Departures, or later as a freelancer for Conde Nast Traveler and corporate clients.
Heather delivered timely, extensive, thoughtful and very precise instructions on how to take my story from an episodic batch of pages to a streamlined, well-planned out middle grade novel.
She managed to make a forthright, difficult critique into an empathetic, kindly written editorial letter that I refer back to often during my revision process. (I am sure I will also refer back to her words with future books.) Heather has also been a solid soundboard to me about how to deepen my meditation practice as a way of deepening my writing practice, getting to know my characters, and focusing on the ‘why’ of my book.
Lastly, I had the good fortune attending a retreat Heather lead this past October. Again: game-changer. The group that came together was a reflection of Heather’s persona as a writer and teacher: warm, curious, insightful, and purposeful.
She cultivated deep discussion on how to navigate challenges of plot, character, and the publishing world with a unique mix of self-compassion and stick-to-it-iveness that has made her, I think, doubly successful as an author and a teacher.