About
About Todd
I’m a writer and teacher who’s helped thousands of creators of all ages actualize their creative potential. As a practicing author, I know from experience the many challenges and setbacks creators face. I also know from experience that creators rise together. Personally, I see the call to create as sacred work, and I feel called to help others flourish through this work.
Currently, I serve as the Director of the Beginning Creative Writing Teaching Program at Colorado State University, where I’ve taught creative writing courses for nearly twenty-five years. I also have experience teaching in other top-notch graduate writing programs such as Antioch University MFA in Creative Writing in L.A.
As an author, I’ve won several awards for my writing, including an American Fiction Award, the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature, two Colorado Book Awards, a Green Earth Honor Book Award, and a Nautilus Gold Book Award. I’ve written and published in multiple genres, including adult literary fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, poetry, creative nonfiction, comics, YA, and middle grade books. My books have been published by large publishers (Penguin Random House, Scholastic Press, DC Comics) and I have experience working with independent publishers such as Candlewick Press and Owl Hollow Press.
My most important qualification, though, is that I know what it’s like to struggle with the challenges of the creative path. In fact, some of the greatest things I’ve learned in life came not from achievements, but from perceived failures and losses. After experiencing a devastating creative breakdown, I began exploring how to establish a healthier creative practice. The things I learned ended up being life-changing for me.
I take a compassionate, holistic approach to helping fellow creators actualize their full creative potential. In my personal creative practice, as well as in my work with clients and students, I integrate insights from a variety of nondual wisdom traditions and evidence-based therapeutic modalities (including Advaita Vedanta, Tantra, Buddhism, transpersonal awareness, integrative therapy, and holism).
