I’ve written a lot of books and things. Some for love and some for money.
- Author of eight books including the novel The Edge of Maybe
- 18 years on the UC Berkeley Faculty
- Private writing coach and developmental editor since 1992
- Featured and reviewed widely on NPR, SF Chronicle, SF Weekly, ABC and NBC, and internationally
- Actor, playwright, and solo performer
My Story
My original background was in the theater. I studied at the ACT Young Conservatory in San Francisco, and at the Lee Strasberg Studio in New York, and I acted in a lot of community theater.
In my twenties, I traveled widely. I was an active participant in the underground art scene in San Francisco in the 1980s; I worked on documentary films, exhibited thematic installations, and performed alone and with colleagues.
I earned a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University where I learned:
- To create expansively, across disciplines.
- How the arts cross-pollinate.
- To trust the seasons and tides of creative flow.
- That I need to work alone. Sometimes. AND that I do my strongest work when I have the support of colleagues and mentors.
At the age of 29, I began to focus on my writing.
I wrote and eventually began to get published: novels, short stories, personal essays, poetry, columns.
I held day jobs. I worked as a technical writer. I wrote seven commercial nonfiction books. I wrote articles, book reviews, and online content.
In 1992 I also began editing, coaching, and consulting with other writers and organizations.
In 1999 I joined the faculty at U.C. Berkeley, teaching Leadership Communication, writing, public speaking, and cross-cultural communications.
In 2007, I returned to my theater roots to write and perform one-woman shows with W. Kamau Bell and Martha Rynberg?s Solo Performance Workshop (SPW).
- I learned how solo performance is best created in collaborative settings.
- I realized again how, as writers, we have this societal assumption that writing is best done alone, in a garret, while suffering, and how punitive this approach is.
In 2012, my novel The Edge of Maybe was published by Last Light Studio Press in Boston.
– Regan McMahon – SF Chronicle Sunday Books
Later in 2012, I bought an old quirky house, deep in the forest in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
It’s known as the Secret Undisclosed Location.
For a few years, I commuted across the state twice a week, from my home in Oakland to the Secret Undisclosed Location and back until, at the end of 2016, I retired from U.C. Berkeley to live full time in the forest where I raise chickens, host the podcast Licking the Bowl, write … and BOOK MENTOR.
{ Book Mentor = Editor. Coach. Butt-kicker. Companion. }
Join me.
I offer one-on-one book labs for authors + (in non-pandemic times) I host writing retreats in exciting locations.
Get your book done.
My Vision is to tap deeply into my own story, to continue to write, perform, and live my life as Reverent Art in a dark time, and to model this to others; in revolution, in resistance, and in love.
My Mission is providing mentoring services to experienced writers, honoring their voices, passions, and skills. I bring a discerning eye, an attentive ear, an open heart, an honest voice, a sharp and strategizing brain, and 25 years of editorial and consulting experience to help writers navigate their way – joyfully and successfully – through their writing projects and artist’s life.