Lauren Burdette

I had never written a book before, and I had no idea what it would take to “finish” a first draft, from how to structure it to how many words were sufficient. I could have stayed stuck for months.

Christianne cut through my worry and uncertainty. “Write to the bottom of your well,” she said, “and we’ll go from there.” I could do that. I didn’t know what “done” for the book looked like, but I knew what the bottom of my well felt like. It was freeing. I finished in weeks instead of months.

After I sent Christianne that first draft, I couldn’t sleep. I hadn’t shared the book with anyone. I felt vulnerable, exposed, and nervous. What if she didn’t like it? What if I didn’t have what it takes to be a writer?

My mind was spinning, but I needn’t have worried.

Christianne’s response was validating, encouraging, and inspiring. She saw the potential of the first draft, and she recognized the book it could become. She helped to find the structure that would most connect with the book’s audience and that would be attractive to potential publishers. She named every moment in the book that worked, and she cared for my writer soul in a way that, when I did need to rework things or flesh out sections, I felt empowered to do so—opened up instead of shut down.

My book is an exploration of the spiritual journey of motherhood. I needed an editor that I could trust with both the editorial process as well as the spiritual soul of the book. Christianne was the perfect person. She is a gifted spiritual director and a talented, rigorous editor, and she brought all of her gifts to this project. Her edits respected and protected the spiritual content of the book, tended my own soul, and pulled deeper, better writing from me. Working with her has been a dream come true.

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Karen Milioto

When I finished the first draft of my manuscript, I had no plan. I had tiptoed through the writing of it, riddled with insecurity and apprehension that I was walking through the doorway of a place I didn’t belong.

In her first round of edits, Christianne took the bolts off that door permanently and invited me in. She convinced me I was a writer, and she released me from any doubt that made me write from a place that wasn’t my most authentic self. I can still see her comments in the margin of that first draft: “Do more of this.”

It doesn’t surprise me that one of Christianne’s other “hats” is spiritual direction. She has the innate ability to ask simple questions that make you think complex thoughts. With her I could not only pick and choose my sentences and figure out where to put my hyphens, but also talk Scripture and break down parables. She prayed alongside me as I made the difficult decision between traditional publishing versus self-publishing. She told me what typesetting was and why I needed it.

I am so grateful for Christianne. I am grateful for the example she set for me, the encouragement she provided me with, and the role she played in the book that was born from that first sweet draft. This experience has taught me to show up, to bring what I have to offer, and to trust the miracle work to God.

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Jan Richardson

As an editor, Christianne has the rare ability to see the forest and the trees. She has an innate capacity for helping me step back and discern the big picture of a book and then to attend to the details—all the textures and lines that form an intricate, integral part of that picture.

Her gifts and experience as a soul care practitioner—one who listens deeply and fully and well, relying on both intuition and skill—help ensure that both the book and the author will emerge whole from the journey of creation.

I love receiving feedback from Christianne because of her exquisite talent for doing what an excellent editor should do: she helps me sound most like myself. In a vocation that can feel quite solitary, I am grateful beyond measure for the clarity, wisdom, and companioning that Christianne brings to the creative path.

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Becky Eldredge

My book idea marinated for years. After many failed attempts to get the book out of me, I was ready to put it on the shelf permanently.

I met Christianne through our mutual spiritual direction work, and we instantly clicked. She offered to meet with me to use her skills of compassionate listening and discernment to help provide clarity for the direction my book wanted to go. After our first meeting, I knew she was the right person to walk with me through this book process.

Her big-picture content edits were vital in helping me clarify the overall vision of the book. The gift of her detailed and honest editing helped me to not only turn in a professional book proposal, but also a very clean version of my completed manuscript.

Christianne was a companion for me along the journey and a constant encourager when I was in a season of doubt or hitting a brick wall. Her skills as a spiritual director and editor combine to make for a true midwife of both word and soul.

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Christine and I have worked on two books together: Moving Water (2016) and The Meandering River of Unfathomable Joy (2018). We’re now working together on a third.

Christine Mason Miller

This is what I learned through the process of writing Moving Water and working with Christianne from day one: writing a book is one thing, and crafting a compelling, well-written book is quite another.

The latter happens in the editing process.

With Christianne as my editor and guide, I am now holding a book that one person after another after another has said they could not put down. On my own, perhaps my book would have been decent. With Christianne, it positively shines.

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Caroline Oakes

I am certain that it was Christianne’s professional guidance and intuitive insight that enabled me to pull together and submit a top-notch book proposal that was accepted for publication by my top-choice publisher.

From our very first meeting, I was able to better understand my writing journey, my target audience, my social platform, my voice, and even my book’s topic with more clarity and focus—and in very timely, methodical fashion. (I needed deadlines!)

I am beyond-words grateful to Christianne for answering her call to offer her gifts of guidance and insight to writers who are bringing their light into the world.

Her 20-year career in publishing and editing shines through her on-point and detailed guidance in pulling together a book proposal that includes every section and every detail that publishers are looking for. Her true and natural vocation as a spiritual director is evident in her innate gifts of insight and guidance through the entire writing process, beginning to end, and then onward, post-launch.

Christianne is every to-be author’s dream come true. My book would not have been published without Christianne as my book’s mentor/midwife. I can say this unequivocally.

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Melynne Rust

I remember when I first heard about Bookwifery and how it felt like a godsend, even before I started working with Christianne. I knew I wanted to write a book, but I didn’t know how to take the stories I had already written and develop them into a book-length manuscript. And I was freshly divorced and in a very tender place, so the last thing I needed was a harsh editorial critique of my work.

So when I read about Christianne’s expertise as an editor combined with her experience as a spiritual director and how she would bring these gifts together to help writers birth books while intentionally caring for their souls, I knew she was who I needed to move forward with my work.

Her meticulous skill as an editor helped me hone my craft as a writer and find my voice as an author. She believed my work could be more than I initially imagined it to be. She believed in me and the message I wanted to share, and she nurtured, encouraged, and challenged me to face my fears in going deeper with my work. Her wisdom and discernment in soul-tending helped me become more authentic in the way I wrote. And when it was time for her to edit my manuscript, she did it with sensitivity and respect for both my work and my dignity.

What had been a terrifying process for me turned into a transformative journey with Christianne as my spiritual companion and editorial guide. And I am delighted to be working with her again on my second book.

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Kathy Swaar

Writing and publishing a book was at the top of my bucket list—the only answer to that “what do you want to be when you grow up?” question. But despite how much I wanted to be a writer, life happened, and between marriage, kids, farming, college, teaching, family responsibilities, and pastoring, it seemed the dream was never going to come true.

Then life happened again. After my husband’s untimely and unexpected death in 2014, the day job was no more. I had time to write and words burning in my soul.

Getting them on paper I could do. But I had no idea how to turn what was on the page into a book and bring that book into the world.

Enter Christianne.

When the original incarnation of Bookwifery launched, my best friend forwarded an email about it to me with the subject line “YOU HAVE TO DO THIS!”

So as a way of honoring my late husband, who for the last five years of his life badgered me—in the nicest possible way, of course—about when I was going to quit my day job and write, I took the “Are You Pregnant With a Book?” assessment and signed up.

Christianne’s tag line “Birth your book without losing your soul” is absolute truth.

The time between my husband’s stunning diagnosis and his death at 60—just four days before our 42nd wedding anniversary—was less than three months. There was so much to say about his life—and his death—I could easily have lost myself in the  telling of that story had I not had a trusted and compassionate companion walking the “valley of the shadow” alongside me.

Christianne’s spiritual sensitivity, her ability to notice patterns and themes, her desire to help people live as authentically as possible— to become the fullest expression of who they are created to be—and her considerable editorial expertise made the huge and tender undertaking of writing a grief memoir as easy and as life-giving as it could possibly be.

Her keen eye and expert guidance helped me turn an alphabet soup of emotion into a coherent volume, caring not only for my words and the book they would become, but also my heart, my soul, my spirit, and my faith.

I am beyond grateful for Christianne’s expertise and companionship in birthing my first book, and can’t wait to work with her again.

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Melanie successfully funded the printing of her two art card decks and their companion booklets through a Kickstarter campaign in November 2017. 

Melanie Weidner

Working with Christianne made my project shine. She offered excellent editing for my two booklets with accuracy, detail, and creative ideas. Her skills and teaching sharpened and enlivened my writing. But our joyful collaboration included so much more than revision!

Christianne responded with flexibility to my unusual project as we integrated images and shared digital files in new ways. Her fresh perspective and smart alternatives helped me make better choices for my timeline, concept, page layout, and even publicity. 

Best of all, Christianne’s presence was a touchstone throughout my writing process. I always looked forward to her emails and especially our video sessions. She held faith in my abilities, kept me gently accountable to my deadlines, joined my spiritual intentions, and answered with timely and sincere encouragement when I hit the inevitable frustrations and blocks.

I’m so glad I invested in my writing by hiring Christianne! I never dreamed I could receive such empowering and compassionate help, and now I can’t imagine the success of my booklets without her work and friendship. I wholeheartedly recommend Christianne.

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