We're excited to become part of your student's story!
Dr. Daniel Schwabauer, Th.D. – “Mr. S.”
A lifelong fascination with the power of Story led Daniel to become an award-winning author, as well as a speaker and beloved writing teacher. He is the creator of The One Year Adventure Novel, Cover Story, and Byline Language Arts programs, and the author of the recent military sci-fi novel Operation Grendel and the young adult novels in The Legends of Tira-Nor series. His newest novel, Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney, released in March 2022 from Enclave Publishing.
Daniel’s professional work includes stage plays, radio scripts, short stories, newspaper columns, comic books and scripting for animated TV. He graduated with honors from the University of Kansas with a Master’s in creative writing in 1995 under the guidance of science fiction writer James E. Gunn. In 2023, he earned a Doctorate in Theology in semiotics from Kairos University.
A favorite story: The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin, Jr.
Carrol Schwabauer – “Mrs. S.”
While Mr. S. is the face of Clear Water Press, Mrs. S. does almost all the graphic and web design involved in our programs, as well as a lot of the filming! She’s also a painter! Her favorite medium is oils and she loves to paint in the middle of the night, free from daytime distractions, with an ear out for owls.
Mrs. S. is a major part of the annual Summer Workshop. Without her special brand of stand-up comedy, Workshop just wouldn’t be Workshop. She especially enjoys designing the Workshop t-shirts. The theme of the workshop is always a secret, so seeing students unfold their event shirt on the first day is super rewarding!
This interview on our blog is a few years old now, but is a fun way to get to know her a bit.
A favorite story: Life Is Beautiful, 1997 film—she says watch it in the original Italian!
Rachel Garner – “Nairam”
Rachel was one of the seven students who took part in the pilot class for The One Year Adventure Novel. Known as “Nairam” in our writing community, Rachel is an example of dedication to her craft and a gifted Story Coach. We’re lucky to have had her on the Clear Water Press team since 2010. Rachel administrates the One Year Adventure Novel Student Forum and helps coordinate the Summer Workshop.
A graduate of both homeschooling and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she earned an honors in history, she then studied cultural heritage management in York, England. She spends her days organizing books, pretending she’s a Guardian of the Galaxy, and writing Robin Hood stories.
To see some of Rachel’s thoughts on writing and stories, check out A Secret to Historical Fiction that Won’t Make Historians Cry, How One Smart Scene Can Pull the Weight of Many, and Telling a Religious Story Without Being Preachy.
A favorite story: Jack Shephard’s character arc in the TV series Lost
Kelly Howard
If you call us on the phone, Kelly’s is probably the voice on the other end! Kelly joined us in 2019. She runs Customer Service, and coordinates our Summer Workshop for teen writers. She is an amazing administrative talent! What drew her to join the team was our vision to unlock creativity and curiosity in the young people who take our courses. She loves getting our immersive learning experiences into the hands of new families.
Kelly and her husband are based in Kansas City. One of her favorite things to do is take her work to coffee shops—she’s in the right city! Kelly has a masters in professional counseling.
A favorite story: The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
Sarah Noé
Sarah coordinates our Cover Story contests and co-hosts the contest webinars. She also helps us with Customer Service seasonally and helps coordinate the Summer Workshop. Sarah is a piano accompanist at Mid-America Nazarene University. Music and Story have been a part of Sarah’s soul since childhood. She had the rare chance to take The One Year Adventure Novel live, in 2009, and loves connecting today’s teen writers to the program that transformed her writing. In 2014, she graduated from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance with a bachelor of music in piano performance.
Her few spare hours are filled with handicrafts, nerdy TV shows, reading, and writing her steampunk novel. You can enjoy her writing on our blog: When Words Stop Coming, A Girl and Her Goggles: Tips for Writing Steampunk, and A Writer to Her Younger Self.
A favorite story: 100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson
Carolyn Kirkman
Carolyn is a representative for Clear Water Press in the Top Picks Homeschool Curriculum Fair on Facebook. In 2020, she graduated from UNC-Greensboro with highest academic honors in Arts Administration. Carolyn is passionate about the impact of the arts on culture and believes that interest was originally sparked when she completed the One Year Adventure Novel program back in high school.
She and her husband welcomed their first child in September 2022 and are already looking forward to being a second-generation homeschooling family! They both also enjoy studying Christian apologetics and worldview and engaging with highschoolers and college students in campus ministry and beyond.
A favorite story: Emma by Jane Austen
