About Me
Kimberly Kurzawa
Editor • Tea Connoisseur • Sometimes Writer
Welcome to my website!
I’m Kimberly. Let me share a little about myself.
I’ve always loved books, but more than that I love stories. I needed their strength and inspiration during a difficult childhood, and I still depend on them for support and to keep me moving forward. I read for fun too, of course, and to learn new things and meet new people.
I never considered editing until someone told me I’d be good at it. I took courses, did some jobs, and learned how rewarding it could be. And I am good at it.
My goal at Vital Ink is to help anyone tell a story even if they aren’t a practiced writer. Maybe they want to be, maybe they don’t, but I believe everyone should be able to share their stories, their formative experiences, with others—and the written word is an accessible and powerful medium! By sharing our stories, we learn about each other and build understanding and compassion. This is how we create community.
Social Media
The best place to follow me for updates and fun extras is Facebook.
My business page for Vital Ink.
My LinkedIn profile provides extra details about my education and work history.
I’m not currently using Instagram, but plan to include it soon.
Note: Following is open to all, but I do not accept friend (or connect) requests from anyone I have not met personally.
Education
| 2023 | Studied trade book copyediting with Susannah Noel of Editorial Arts Academy. |
| 2018 | Received my Copyediting Certificate from the University of California San Diego Extension. |
| 2012 | Graduated with a B.S. in Social Documentation from Clarkson University. This major combines Communications & Media with the Social Sciences. |
★ Fun Facts ★
I love to dance! I’ve practiced numerous styles over the years: salsa, West Coast Swing, contra, belly dancing, and others.
I find martial arts to be useful and empowering. I’ve studied: Aikido, Jo (short staff), Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, and archery.
I’m a cat person. (Most dogs mean well but… personal space, please.)
I’m an avid walker. I don’t like driving cars (or anything bigger).
I worked on local farms for several years, learning where my food comes from and how we are connected to the land. I dream of homesteading one day.
I love to cook! And sometimes experiment: vinegar, kombucha, sourdough, gluten-free, yogurt, kefir, miso, sauerkraut, kimchi, and many more.
I drink tea for health, practice tea for mindfulness, and share tea for friendship and connection. I love that tea is simple, yet immeasurably complex.
I’m fond of sweet wines, taking after my mother who grew up with my grandmother’s homemade raspberry wine: “for medicinal purposes only.”
Favorite Books
Fiction
I resist, emotionally, any attempt to quantify my “favorite” stories. I’ve done a lot of reading, and many books are amazing and wonderful in their own unique way, and so, for the sake of a list with an end, I’ve winnowed it down to the books I’ve re-read the most, my old favorites. They aren’t the newest novels on the block, but I come back to them again and again.
Note: The series name is provided only when it is unique and not the title of the first book.
| Anne Bishop | The Black Jewels: Daughter of the Blood Heir to the Shadows Queen of the Darkness The Invisible Ring The Shadow Queen Shalador’s Lady The Others: Written in Red Murder of Crows Vision in Silver Marked in Flesh Etched in Bone |
| Patrick Rothfuss | The Kingkiller Chronicle: The Name of the Wind The Wise Man’s Fear The Slow Regard of Silent Things |
| Brandon Sanderson | The Stormlight Archive: The Way of Kings Words of Radiance Edgedancer Oathbringer Rhythm of War The Reckoners: Steelheart Firefight Calamity The Rithmatist Warbreaker The Emperor’s Soul Tress of the Emerald Sea |
| Shannon Hale | The Goose Girl |
| Eva Ibbotson | A Countess Below Stairs A Company of Swans The Reluctant Heiress The Morning Gift A Song for Summer |
| Patricia C. Wrede | Enchanted Forest Chronicles: Dealing with Dragons Searching for Dragons |
| Frank Herbert | Dune |
| Orson Scott Card | Ender’s Game |
| Scott Westerfeld | Uglies Pretties Specials Extras |
| Caroline B. Cooney | Goddess of Yesterday |
| Hilari Bell | The Goblin Wood |
| Morgan Howell | Queen of the Orcs: King’s Property Clan Daughter Royal Destiny |
| Starhawk | The Fifth Sacred Thing |
Nonfiction
The nonfiction section is a little different. I continuously thirst for knowledge of how other people think and live, but I can’t bring myself to assign value, or a lack of it, to anyone’s story. They’re all important. The selection I’ve choosen here is in some ways random, although if I’ve included it, that means it stood out in my memory. Suffice to say, these are all great books.
| Lynne Truss | Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |
| Robin Wall Kimmerer | Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants |
| Joseph M. Marshall III | The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living |
| Mike Brown | How I Killed Pluto and Why It Had It Coming |
| Michael Schur | How to Be Perfect: The Correct Answer to Every Moral Question |
| Christopher McDougall | Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen |
| Kris Holloway | Monique and the Mango Rains: Two Years With a Midwife in Mali |
| Christopher Skaife | The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London |
| Felicia Day | You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir |
| Katy Bowman | Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement |
Vital Ink 