Meet Adrienne Ross Scanlan
I’m an award-winning author and a freelance developmental editor.
My nature writing, personal essays, memoirs, and other creative nonfiction explore repair, restoration, and resilience. What I write about comes from my life experiences, whether being a mother, restoring salmon runs in city streams, or exploring landscapes of nature, spirit, family, politics, and community. I am a member of the NW Science Writers Association, the Author Event Network (see my Book Clubs and Events page), and other networks that bridge writers with readers.
As a freelance developmental editor, I work primarily with writers of creative nonfiction (personal essays, memoirs, narrative nonfiction, nature writing, and nontraditional or hybrid forms) or narrative nonfiction, as well as short story fiction writers.
I am a graduate of the University of Washington’s Certificate in Editing program as well as Barbara Sjoholm’s course in developmental editing, and I’m a member of the Northwest Editors Guild (NWEG) and the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA).
From 2012 to 2017, I was the nonfiction editor of the Blue Lyra Review: A Literary Magazine of Diverse Voices, which celebrated four “notable essay” mentions in Best American Essays. Back issues are online, thanks to the Wayback Machine.
Among my (too many) other hats, I had the good fortune of being a judge (nonfiction category) for the Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE) 2024 Book Awards, a pleasure I hope to repeat in 2025. I am also a reviewer for the New York Journal of Books, with a particular interest in books about nature, science, and the environment, Jewish life and culture, creativity, and the writing life.
My writing is inspired by my love of nature.
As a former New Yorker (who still reads the New York Times), I have spent the last 25 years in the Puget Sound region as a lay naturalist, citizen scientist, and ecological restoration volunteer, not to mention my former day job as a freelance grant writer working primarily with environmental and arts organizations.
My family lives north of Seattle in the Puget Sound suburbs, which makes me a (sub)urban naturalist. Our house is located on a former plant nursery, so the backyard is filled with western red cedars, Garry oaks, Pacific rhododendrons, a western white pine, and more nonnative trees than we can find in a plant guide (as well as the ubiquitous English ivy and Himalayan blackberry, of course). Not surprisingly, my manuscript-in-progress (which I hope to publish in late 2025) is an essay collection (currently) titled What My Gardens Grew.
I’m increasingly expanding beyond nature to human nature, especially positive psychology concepts such as gratitude, joy, and hope. You can find my list of the “best hope-filled books about humans and nature” at Shepard, a newly launched, indie book platform for writers and readers.
I’m also a not-too-bad chess player who enjoys hiking, listening to the beautiful music of Artie Shaw’s “Begin the Beguine,” and (slowly) learning Hebrew.
