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​Austin Writing Coach

AS FEATURED IN USA TODAY AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES

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Melinda Rothouse, Founder and Owner of Austin Writing Coach, is a professional writing, creativity, and communications coach and consultant based in Austin, Texas. She works with people to bring their writing and creative projects to fruition. She is also the Co-Founder of Syncreate, with Charlotte Gullick, which offers creativity coaching, consulting, workshops, and retreats designed to enhance creativity in life and work, and to foster communication, collaboration, and community. She is the host and creator of the new podcast Syncreate: Empowering Creativity, a show exploring the intersections of creativity, psychology, and spirituality.  

Melinda is a professor of Creativity, Innovation, and Leadership at Saybrook University, and the author of 
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A Mindful Approach to Team Creativity and Collaboration: Creating a Culture of Innovation, published in 2020 by Palgrave Macmillan, as well as the co-author of the award-winning Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities, with Charlotte Gullick (winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity and Innovation) published in 2021 from Mandorla Books.

Melinda did her undergraduate work at Vassar College, focusing on cognitive science and music, and graduated with a B.A. in Biopsychology. She also has a Master's degree in Religious Studies from Indiana University, a Master's degree in Performance Studies from New York University's Tisch School for the Arts and a Ph.D. in Psychology with a Specialization in Creativity Studies from Saybrook University. She's taught college-level courses in academic writing, composition, and creative non-fiction at Tulane University in New Orleans, and worked in academic writing centers at Tulane, Texas State University, and St. Edward’s University. From 2009-2013, she served as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities at Austin Community College.

In 2013 she completed the Co-Active Coach Training Program with the Coaches Training Institute, and she is certified as a coach with the International Coach Federation. 


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Charlotte Gullick is a novelist, essayist, editor, and educator. Currently at Vassar College in Upstate New York, she was previously Chair of the Creative Writing Department at Austin Community College. A first-generation college graduate, she received her AA with High Honors from Santa Rosa Junior College, a BA with Honors in Literature/Creative Writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a MA in English/Creative Writing from the University of California, Davis. She graduated with a MFA in Creative Nonfiction from the Institute of American Indian Arts in May 2016.   

Charlotte's first novel, By Way of Water, was chosen by Jayne Anne Phillips as the Grand Prize winner of the Santa Fe Writers Project Literary Awards Program, and a special author's edition was reissued by the Santa Fe Writers Project in November of 2013. Her nonfiction has appeared in The Rumpus, The Best of Brevity. Brevity, Barnstorm Journal, Pithead Chapel, Cleaver Magazine, The Los Angeles Review, and Hippocampus.

In the fall of 2020, American Short Fiction awarded Charlotte their Gold Star for Teaching and Mentorship.

Her other awards include a Christopher Isherwood Fellowship for Fiction, a Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship for Poetry, a MacDowell Colony Residency, a Ragdale Residency, Faculty of Year from College of the Redwoods as well as the Evergreen State College 2012 Teacher Excellence Award. She has taught in the Travis County Correctional Complex and organized classes and literary events for Veterans in the Austin Community.  Additionally, she has presented four times at the Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference (Washington, DC and Chicago, IL) on offering writing courses for Veterans and other topics.


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Shuja Uddin - Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, Shuja is a screenwriter, filmmaker and educator who graduated from Boston University with an MFA in Screenwriting. Shuja is an Associate Professor in the Radio, TV & Film department at Austin Community College. He previously ran the International Baccalaureate Film Department at Headwaters School. He is the Founder of Tishna Films, a film, video, and transmedia storytelling firm that creates thought provoking films, documentaries, commercials, emerging and social media.

Shuja’s short film “Article 370” received an Honorable Mention at the Prague International Indie Film Quarterly Festival 2021 edition for Best Screenwriter. Shuja has also written for international brands such as FIFA, P&G, Alibaba and was the first ever showrunner for PUBG Mobile Pakistan Gully Squads live action series, a popular video game owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent Games.

Shuja’s writings on cinema, memoirs and South Asian pop culture have been published in the Times of India, Film Companion, The Wire and The Express Tribune.

Shuja has taught undergraduate communications students at Boston University and has done guest speaking sessions at University of Massachusetts Boston, Emerson College and University of Iowa Summer Institute. Shuja also teaches Digital Filmmaking at East Austin based creative non-profit Austin School of Film.

We look forward to meeting you and learning about your creative dreams and aspirations!

MELINDA'S SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Navigating the Creative Wilderness: A Depth Psychological Perspective, Journal of Creativity, April 21, 2023
  • "Creativity is Your Birthright," Go Solo entrepreneurship digital magazine, February, 2023.  
  • "Criminal Injustice: A View from the Juror's Box," Texas Observer, September 26, 2022
  • "The Perfect Storm: How My Covid Nightmare Became a Karmic Blessing," Change Seven Magazine, Summer 2022
  • ​Syncreate: A Guide to Navigating the Creative Process for Individuals, Teams, and Communities, with Charlotte Gullick and Dreux Carpenter, Mandorla Books, 2021. Winner of a Silver Nautilus Award for Creativity & Innovation.
  • A Mindful Approach to Team Creativity and Collaboration: Creating a Culture of Innovation, published in 2020 from Palgrave Macmillan. It's the first book in Palgrave's new series "Studies in Creativity and Innovation in Organizations," edited by Dr. Roni Reiter-Palmon.
  • "Getting Started with Mindfulness" Coaching4Good blog post focusing on building mental resilience during COVID-19, April 23, 2020. 
  • Facilitating Team Creativity and Collaboration Using Mindfulness and Contemplative Arts, Doctoral Dissertation, Saybrook University, 2018. Available through ProQuest Theses and Dissertations database.
  • "Healing Power of Meditation." Iron Butterflies Project. Originally published October 2, 2017. 
  • “Mindfulness Techniques for Greater Workplace Productivity, Creativity and Engagement.” Coaching4Good blog, April 2017.
  • “A Healing Journey to the Land of Fire and Ice.” elephant journal, October 1, 2015.
  • “A Sacred Journey to Goa, India.” Shambhala Times community news magazine, July 8, 2015.
  • “On Pain and Healing,” Capturing Shadows: Poetic Encounters Along the Path of Grief and Loss, Edited by Michael Moats and Louis Hofmann, University Professors Press, July 19, 2015. Available on Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Capturing-Shadows-Poetic-Encounters-Along/dp/1939686091
  • “Art, Meditation, and The Creative Process – An Interview with Steven Saitzyk,” Syncreate blog post, February 17, 2015. Also featured in the Shambhala Times community news magazine, March 1, 2015.
  • “How Empathy, Trust, and Connection Enhance Creativity.” Guest blog post for The Creative Executive, December 1, 2014.
  • “The Tao and the Waking Dragon: A Spiritual Journey through Modern China.” A Community of the Spirit (Personal blog), March 19, 2012.
  • “Retreating to Dzogchen Beara: Eastern Spirituality in Western Ireland.” ReligionNerd.com, a daily e-magazine dedicated to informing the public about world religions, religious diversity, and the central religious issues shaping American and international culture, politics, and society, March 8, 2011.​

AUDIO & VIDEO

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Syncreate Podcast: Empowering Creativity
with Melinda Rothouse, PhD
Click here to Listen

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Stories4Good Podcast Episode Featuring
​Syncreate Founders Melinda Rothouse & Charlotte Gullick 
Click here to Listen 
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The Syncreate Process: Play, Plan, Produce

Syncreate / Writer's League of Texas Presentation:
​Play, Plan, Produce - Harness Your Creativity in 2022
with Charlotte Gullick & Melinda Rothouse

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