What I do …
Lynn Auld Schwartz is a writer, story development editor, creative writing teacher, and ghostwriter. For over 20 years, Lynn’s business (Writer’s Wordhouse) has provided both accomplished and aspiring writers with developmental editing, consulting, manuscript assessment, and ghostwriting. Lynn is experienced with many genres including the short story, novel, memoir, play, short-format writing (micro-memoir and flash fiction), live storytelling, and the lifestyle article. Her goal is to guide clients to discover the heart of their stories and tell them well, resulting in writing that is ready to be submitted for publication or suitable for a live storytelling performance.
More About Me …
Lynn has received two Individual Artist Awards in Fiction from the Maryland State Arts Council and a 2014 Literary Arts Annie Award from the Arts Council of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Lynn’s plays and staged readings have been performed in Atlanta and New York City, including the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center. She founded the Temple Bar Literary Reading Series in New York City, which The Village Voice reviewed as “Lively lineups … always smart, never predictable” and featured renowned authors including Susan Orlean, Oscar Hijuelos, Robert Stone, and Andrew Sean Greer.
Lynn is also a freelance nonfiction writer who has published over two hundred lifestyle articles. Many have appeared in regional publications such as The Capital, What’s Up? Annapolis, Annapolis Lifestyle, Chesapeake Taste, and Inside Annapolis. For twelve years, Lynn served as an online columnist for Center for the Advancement of Foodservice Education. Her “Chefs Speak Out” column featured such culinary luminaries as Carla Hall (co-host of The Chew), Rock Harper (winner of Hell’s Kitchen Season Three), Charlie Palmer (award-winning Master Chef), and Dr. Tim Ryan (President of The Culinary Institute of America).
Education and Teaching …
A graduate of The City College of New York (MA, Writing/Literature), Columbia University (BA, Writing/Literature), and the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre (a two-year New York City acting conservatory where she studied the Meisner technique with William Esper and Sanford Meisner), Schwartz has taught creative writing at a variety of venues in Maryland including St. John’s College, The Writer’s Center, Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, and is a Guest Artist for Anne Arundel County’s Apex Arts Magnet High School program. She also offers her own Tiny Tales Series throughout the year – Zoom workshops focusing on micro-memoir and flash fiction.
Speaking and Cultural Events …
Lynn is passionate about the promotion of literary arts to regional venues, and is often a guest speaker at arts organizations, writers' conferences, and literary events, including Seeds for Success, the Wellness House of Annapolis, Maryland Writers’ Association, Eastern Shore Writers Association, the Bay To Ocean Writers Conference, Johns Hopkins University, Hadassah, The Mitchell Gallery at St. John’s College, and the Annapolis Book Festival. She has directed over 25 Page to Stage live storytelling events in Annapolis, which offer adult and teen writers the opportunity to share their stories on stage. As a cultural event organizer, she was the co-founder and co-organizer of the Writing Intensive at St. John’s College, the chair of the Art of the Book exhibition at The Mitchell Gallery/St. John’s College, founder and organizer of the Temple Bar Literary Reading Series in New York City, and the creator and show manager for the original Food & Wine Festival at National Harbor.
And On A Personal Note …
I am the daughter of an anthropologist and English teacher and have lived in such diverse places as the Long Beach Peninsula in Washington state (where the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean meet), Los Angeles, upstate New York, Manhattan, and I now reside in a funky, waterside cottage near the Chesapeake Bay.
I love story in all its forms and spend my days puzzling over how to make a client’s writing better. I feel immense gratitude to have had the opportunity to work with thousands of students and clients from around the world – those who share writing with me and trust my recommendations and revisions – allowing me to do the work that I cherish.