BEATING HEART of the WORLD coming May 2026!

Hello and thank you for being a reader! I write narrative nonfiction and am also a book editor. As an author, I’ve written five books and have won the PEN Center Literary Award for Research Nonfiction. My books have also made “Best of” lists at National Public Radio, Amazon, Kirkus, The New Republic, The Daily Beast, and more.

As an editor I’ve created four books and have helped guide another 25 books by others to publication. My most recent edited book, a multi-author anthology titled Viva Texas Rivers was named the Texas Great Read for 2025.

I served as the longtime literary curator at the Wittliff Collections, which holds the archives of many distinguished writers. I also served as president of the Texas Institute of Letters.

I am available to edit manuscripts and help writers create the best possible versions of their books. Please contact me if you are interested.