FAQ/ABOUT

Travelmongoose is your go-to when you want to look and sound amazing in English, express your ideas in English, and pull out the great ideas that you want to express in English, but can’t yet quite put into words.

Why ‘Travelmongoose’?

Mongooses are quick, agile, adaptable, and resourceful, and working with others’ writing means travelling into another mindset and world of ideas, which demands all those qualities.

...really..?

Well, in fact, the name popped into my head and I liked it, but what I’ve just said is true, and was the reason I decided to actually use the it.

What does Travelmongoose do?

Copy editing/proof-reading, content creation, online-presence optimization, ghost writing, book and dissertation planning, English-language coaching, subtitling, creativity catalysis/brainstorming, Italian- and Danish-to-English translation, and research. Also, other things: if you have a writing-related need that I haven’t mentioned (spinning your wheels on your writing project, deadline looming, and need help getting some traction?), contact me and ask. If I can’t help you, there’s a good chance I may know someone who can.

Can’t a computer do what you do?

There’s some excellent editing and translation software out there, but software does not have the nuanced sense of language that makes it sound solid and right, nor does it offer the sort of follow-up that serious professional authors demand. I’m committed to offering as much follow-up as needed, so whether you want to get together to go over your text, word by word, prefer to be given the essential information and do your own thing, or anything in between, I do that!

What can you do for me?

I’ll work with you to make your English sound as natural and engaging as your speech, and if it’s one of your foreign languages, I’ll also make you sound as good in English as you do in your native language, and help you nail down the tone and register you want.
Writing for an academic institution, journal, or conference? I’ll help you ditch the ponderous academese, and find a voice that is both authoritative and accessible.

Are you expensive?

I’m not cheap, but I make sure I’m worth every krone or cent you pay!

Travelmongoose is me, Michaela.

I’m a New Yorker who’s currently living in Denmark, and since I was about ten, I’ve been writing, copy-editing, and helping people to reach those ideas deep inside their heads. I lived in Italy when I was a kid, so I grew up bilingual, but once we moved back to the United States, English quickly became my strongest language.

Both my parents are artists, so art has always been an important part of my life. I have a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in andragogy (known as ‘education’ in the old days), and CELTA certification to teach English. I was particularly omnivorous in my course choices as an undergraduate, so my background is quite broad.

I began copy-editing informally when I was at school, and began doing it professionally at university; the discussions I had with the students and professors I worked with led to copywriting, which led to ghost writing, followed by a slew of other writing and writing-related work, which continues to expand today.

Recent clients include Aarhus University, University of Copenhagen, Uppsala University, TU Delft, Northwestern University in Qatar, SUNY, Museum Jorn, and redelefant; specific projects I’ve worked on include The New Human in Literature, Mapping World Literature: International Canonization and Transnational Literatures (M. R. Thomsen), The Social Life of Dreams (A. Heijnen), Jorn - Ensor (U. Eskekilde Nissen, Editor), and Defining “legal place” in archaic and early classical Crete (K. R. Kristensen).

Contact me here, and tell me about your project, and what you’d like some help, input, or advice on; even if it seems difficult to put into words, we’ll sort it out.