About me, BSC, and Layla Dog Press
I am the proud co-parent of two derpy doxie mixes. I also have two amazingly talented daughters and a brilliant and funny spousal unit (a.k.a., Jason) who is also a writer, a musician, and a (mostly) retired engineer.
Even though I have a Bachelor of Arts in Government from University of Texas at Austin and a Masters of Teaching from the College of New Jersey, my whole career has been in writing, communications, and some sort of marketing and design. Since 2011, was the principal editor as well as the interior and cover designer for Blank Slate Press and Amphorae Publishing Group, a small independent publisher. Review a selection of cover designs under Portfolio.
I've also worked as a freelance editor and designer, and between my various projects, I have been involved in over 160 book projects. Titles I have worked on have garnered starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and have won numerous accolades including Benjamin Franklin awards, IPPYs, and a Gold Medal for Outstanding Book of the Year from Independent Publishers in the Peacemakers category.
My first solo book was Oracles of Delphi (under the pen name Marie Savage (my middle name and my great grandmother's surname) and I'm co-author, along with those talented daughters of mine, of The Seeds Trilogy (The Sowing, The Reaping, and The Harvest). My latest solo novels are The Trouble with Roommates and The Alchemist of Aleppo. The first book in the forthcoming Pantheon League series, Nemesis in Love, is coming in March 2026. I currently work in communications at a major research university.
Me wondering what to read or write next.
Mo being cute.
Ria being coy.
Layla Dog Press & blank slate communications
Layla Dog Press is our family’s publishing imprint under Blank Slate Communications, LLC. Under BSC, we offer design, editing, and some marketing services to authors. Our doggie icon (Layla looking off into the horizon) reflects both. Sadly, Layla has journeyed over the rainbow bridge, but we still love her and think about her every day!
If you’d like to talk with us about our author services, please send us a note using the form on the contact page.
editing
Cumulatively, we have almost forty years of experience writing and editing fiction, non-fiction, technical articles, and commercial marketing copy. Drawing on our extensive backgrounds, we offer both developmental and line editing services. Learn more about some of the books i’ve edited at Amphorae Publishing Group.
Book Design
I’ve designed over 160 book covers and have done at least that many interior layouts—as both a freelance cover designer and in my role as designer for Amphorae Publishing Group, a traditional small press I co-founded in 2014 and for which I’ve served as designer and editor.
Book Design
I’ve designed over 160 book covers and have done at least that many interior layouts—as both a freelance cover designer and in my role as designer for Amphorae Publishing Group, a traditional small press I co-founded in 2014 and for which I’ve served as designer and editor.