The Northern Pen is a multi-faceted professional writing service rooted in Leslie's extensive experience:

• Advanced degrees in Journalism, English, and Creative Nonfiction
• Thirty years of publishing:  books, essays, poems, and articles
• Six years of teaching graduate level creative nonfiction (in Seattle Pacific University's Master of Fine Arts program)
• Fifteen years of professional editing

• More than fifteen years of teaching college English, Business English, Creative Writing, Research and Academic Writing, Writing in the Professions
• Speaking at conferences, workshops, and seminars across the country

What Can the Northern Pen do for You?
In the Literary Arts:

• Guide you in writing your family history in vibrant, exciting prose
• Help you compose compelling query letters
• Assist in constructing effective book proposals
• Provide honest and encouraging evaluations of your nonfiction manuscript/essay/article
• Proofread and edit your  manuscript to assure correct grammar and mechanics
• Tailor individual writing tutorials to suit your particular needs
• Advise and assist in gaining a literary agent/publisher

In Business, Academia, and the Professional Arts, all stages of editing, composing, and proofreading are available for:

• College and grad school applications and essays
• Technical reports and manuals
• Resumes and cover letters
• Brochures and pamphlets
• Business Letters:  Conveying bad news positively, Persuading your reader
• Newsletters
• Theses and dissertations

Artmatters, July 2003

Leslie Leyland Fields recently opened the doors to a new business, The Northern Pen.

Leslie offers a range of literary services that reflect her own experience as a writer and professor of English and Creative Writing. She is an editor, an agented author of eight books (Waterbrook, St. Martins Press, University of Illinois Press) , numerous articles and essays which have appeared in publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, Best Essays Northwest, On Nature: Great Writers on the Great Outdoors, Orion, Christianity Today, and The Christian Science Monitor, Books and Culture. She is a columnist for Christianity Today. Her award-winning essays and poetry have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary journals.

With thirty years of experience in publishing, The Northern Pen has several areas of emphasis, among them Manuscript Critique, Preparing compelling Book Proposals, Coaching Toward Publication, and Writing Life Stories.

Since releasing her two memoirs ( Surviving the Island of Grace and Surprise Child) and teaching annual Writing Life Stories classes, she has a particular affinity for guiding people in writing autobiography.

"Many people have family histories they want to write, or they want to write down their own life story to hand down as part of their family heritage.  I love helping people create something that is meaningful and beautifully written."

Though she is currently working on two book projects, and speaking around the country, Leyland Fields is happy to continue her role as mentor and coach.  "I've spent a large part of my life either writing or teaching writing. I am so energized by what can happen when two people bend their heads together over a text . . .  I gave up fulltime teaching in part to do this, to work individually with writers of all stripes and abilities. It's as nurturing and stimulating for me as it is for my clients."