As an artist, I feel it’s vital to engage with writers who seek support on their journeys, whatever they may be. Breaking down the inaccessible, I work one-on-one with individuals to help cultivate and nurture writing practices all while providing useful resources that help writers build upon their momentum. 

I offer individual consultations for writers seeking assistance with the following:

-sustainable, individualized writing practices

-craft techniques

-project planning

-manuscript writing and refinement (including, but not limited to, chapbooks and full-length manuscripts of poetry, fiction, and/or creative nonfiction)

-flash fiction

-creative nonfiction pieces

-poetry packets

-personal essays

-essay collections

-memoirs

-book reviews

-interviews

-lesson planning

-literary magazine submissions

Whether you’re looking for a one time consultation or consecutive supportive sessions, I feel confident in my abilities to aid you in your artistic endeavors. All are welcome! 

I am currently accepting new students. Please get in touch via the form below to start a conversation about what consultations may be able to do for you.

$75/hour session.

I have extensive experience working with individuals on applications and personal essays outside of the literary field.

My 2+ years of working within the medical field and working with doctors and surgeons on their applications, personal essays, grants, and letters of recommendation allow me to aid people outside of the literary community who still seek support with their applications.

Additionally, I work with artists who seek support outside of their creative projects, such as artist statements and bios, artist residency applications, etc.

Guidance is offered in developing and finalizing the following:

–artist statements

–author bios

–residency applications (literary and medical field)

–fellowship applications (literary and medical field)

–MFA applications

–undergraduate applications

–graduate school applications

–law school applications (personal essays)

–medical school applications (personal essays)

Whether you’re looking for a one time consultation or consecutive supportive sessions, I feel confident in my abilities to aid you in your exciting endeavors. All are welcome!

I am currently accepting new students. Please get in touch via the form below to start a conversation about what consultations may be able to do for you.

$75/hour session.

As an educator, one of my greatest joys comes from discussing writing and literature with communities of people, whether they’re within the literary field or not. I believe anyone interested in learning, regardless of one’s background, is welcome to educational spaces.

I’ve been invited to classrooms, events, and lectures at places like Oberlin College & Conservatory, Shenandoah National Park, the University of Costa Rica, Virginia Tech, Laurel Ridge Community College, and many other institutions. For a complete list of previous affiliations, please visit either the Workshop & Events page or review my abridged CV.

I’d love to visit and lead the following:

–a lecture

–a seminar (or series of seminars)

–a workshop (or series of workshops)

– and/or give a reading

Please reach out via the form below to get in touch with me!

This package includes a 60-minute consultation (via phone call or video chat) to discuss any and all questions you may have about the MFA application process.

During this time together, we’ll have the option to discuss the following topics:

–Elements to consider prior to deciding if an MFA program is the best fit for you (why are you considering an MFA program and what do you hope to gain from it?)

–How to find an MFA program that would best fit your needs

–A general overview of MFA programs at large (including fully funded vs partially funded, low-res vs full-res, etc)

–Tips on how to look for programs that suit you and your writing style best

–Specific details about Sonya’s experience in an MFA program

–Advice on finding faculty you’d like to work with within MFA programs

–Teaching vs GTA responsibilities associated with MFA programs and how to determine which path best fits your end goals

–Tips & tricks for making both your personal statement and writing sample stand out

–Advice on time management throughout the application process

–Plus any other questions you may have

This package can be purchased multiple times based on your needs.

$75.

This package includes the following: 

–30 minute initial consultation. This will be conducted via phone call or video chat and will provide you the opportunity to ask any application questions you may have as we work together to structure a tentative outline of goals you’d like to accomplish. 

–1 initial round of marginal notes on your personal statement AND manuscript. You will select ONE personal statement and ONE manuscript of your choice you’d like critical feedback on. Poetry manuscripts can be between 10-12 poems in length and fiction or nonfiction manuscripts can be between 10-30 pages. In order to give you the best possible feedback, I require 72 hours with your work. 

–120 minutes of live consultation. This will be conducted via phone call or video chat and can be broken up into the following segments: two 1-hour sessions, one 2-hour session, or four 30-minute sessions. This time will be spent answering questions about your application process, notes you received on your personal statement and/or manuscript, or additional advice you seek. 

–2nd round of marginal notes on personal statement OR manuscript. You will select EITHER your personal statement or manuscript for a final round of marginal notes. This can be done prior, during, or after your 120 minutes of live consultation. In order to give you the best possible feedback, I require 72 hours with your work.

$400 total (less than $75/hour).

Of course! There are no prerequisites for working with me. The perk of one-on-one mentoring is that I cater each consultation towards you and where you’re at in your literary journey to best support your goals.

Absolutely! Our time together can focus on anything from craft practices to building reading lists to cultivating healthy journaling habits.

Definitely! I’m happy to work with you on short-term projects such as MFA applications (from brainstorming personal statements to drafting and editing manuscripts), residency and fellowship applications (this could include drafting and editing an author bio, project proposal, and manuscript excerpt), workshop applications, undergraduate and graduate school applications (including personal statements and college-specific entry essays), and medical school, residency, and fellowship applications.

In addition to having 8+ years of editing experience, I’ve also served as a juror for several residencies (including The Peter Bullough Foundation and Blue Mountain Center) and the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards. I’ve been accepted to 7+ writing workshops and residencies and am the recipient of a poetry fellowship starting in January of 2024.

Yes, I do. I have extensive experience working with individuals on the following applications:

-undergraduate entrance essays

-undergraduate personal essays

-graduate school personal essays

-physical therapy school personal essays

-medical school personal essays

-medical residency personal essays

-medical fellowship personal essays

-law school personal essays

My 2+ years of working within the medical field and working with doctors and surgeons on their applications, personal essays, grants, and letters of recommendation allow me to aid people outside of the literary community who still seek support with their applications.

I teach online Zoom courses regularly. You can find registration details and specifics about the classes I’m offering in my “workshop & events” tab.

Absolutely! If you missed the registration window for one of my courses, I’m happy to setup some sessions for you individually so that you can still gain the knowledge from the offered class. However, please note that you’ll be paying my hourly fee, not the listed class price for our one-on-one time together.

Definitely! I’m happy to work with students individually in regard to previous courses I’ve taught. However, please note that you’ll be paying my hourly fee, not the listed class price for our one-on-one time together.

Sometimes, I teach the same course the following semester. If that’s the case, I’m happy to share that information with you so that you have ample time to register for it in the future.

Once you’ve completed the “contact me” form, I’ll review your goals and reach out if I think we’d make a good team. This will include a free 10-minute phone consultation where we’ll discuss your goals. If we both decide to move forward with one-on-one coaching, I’ll devise a game plan that best serves your needs and email it to you prior to our first meeting.

Generally, our first meeting is centered around getting to know one another and your relationship with writing. Think of it as a way for me to get to know you and your work. Topics of conversation could include (but are certainly not limited to): challenges you’re encountering within your writing practice, project ideas, questions about publishing, suggestions for authors to read, aspects of your writing that you’re proud of, writing strengths and weaknesses, your relationship with receiving feedback and editing your work, etc. It’s also your chance to get to know me. I’m happy to talk about my own practices and challenges as well.

I don’t normally enter our first session with direct feedback on your work as I want to make sure that we can establish achievable goals for subsequent sessions together. Don’t have an idea of how you’d like our future sessions to run? No problem! We’ll walk through that together by discussing the following: 1) your writing and reading goals 2) the style of feedback that works best for you 3) if a curated reading list would be helpful for you and 4) if having “homework” (i.e. work you’d like future support on) would be beneficial to you.

They are entirely dependent on your goals and what we’ve discussed in earlier sessions together. Sometimes, we may work on drafts of your writing together, other times we may talk through any frustrations/challenges you’ve come across since our last meeting. Although we devise a curriculum together, you have the freedom and flexibility to use our time together to best meet where you’re at at any given point in time.

This is entirely up to you and the level of support you’re looking for. We can meet once a week, bi-weekly, once a month, etc.

You can find a list of my work under the “publications” tab. You are more than welcome to explore some of the topics of interest I’ve written about but please keep in mind that I’m open to working with writers of all writing styles. Just because our writing might be different doesn’t mean I’m not interested in supporting you and your unique writing journey.

Students send payment the day of our session together. Please note that payments must be made prior to us meeting. I accept Venmo, PayPal, and Zelle.

I require a 12-hour heads up if you need to cancel. For example, if we meet on Wednesdays at 11 a.m., I’d need to hear from you no later than Tuesday at 11 p.m. Students who do not notify me of a cancellation within the 12-hour window will be billed for the missed session.

I’d be happy to visit and lead either a short lecture, seminar, workshop, and/or give a reading.

I’ve been invited to classrooms and events at places like Oberlin College & Conservatory, Shenandoah National Park, the University of Costa Rica, Virginia Tech, Laurel Ridge Community College, and other institutions.

Get in touch with me by filling out this form to discuss booking a seminar.