Company Information:

WriteGuide.com, also known as Ludwig Education Services, LLC, is a small, independently owned business that serves homeschool families, students who attend public school, and adult learners, providing them with their own private writing teachers.  Founded in 1998, we remain devoted to providing our students with daily, 100% individualized writing instruction. To learn more about our teaching approach and methodologies, please review our company's philosophy and mission statement.  Updates regarding our business activities are available on our blog, and also on our Facebook page.  All schools, businesses, and individuals are welcome to contact our main office via the information on our Contact Us page.  

Benjamin Ludwig

Benjamin Ludwig is the founder of WriteGuide.com.  Having served as president of the company for 12 years, he turned the direction of the company over to his wife, Ember (pictured with him here) in 2011, so that she could work from home while homeschooling their children.  A writer himself, he is the editor of the Homeschool Literary Quarterly.  

Nicole duPlessis

Nicole duPlessis earned her doctorate in English from Texas A&M University in 2008.  She has her M. A. from Texas A&M and her B.A. from the University of New Orleans, both in English. She has published articles on C. S. Lewis and E. M. Forster. Her article on “conservation and anti-colonialism in the Chronicles of Narnia” was selected for reprint in Harold Bloom’s volume of essays on the Chronicles of Narnia.  Nicole has been teaching writing at Texas A&M since fall 2000.  She also enjoys teaching later British Literature (especially poetry), Fantasy and Science Fiction, and Children’s Literature.  She and her husband live in College Station, TX, with their son (born in 1997) and two daughters (born in 2005 and 2007).

Ellen Finnigan

Ms. Ellen Finnigan was born in Omaha, Nebraska. She holds a B.A. in English from Boston College and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing/Creative Nonfiction from The University of Montana. She has worked as a writer and editor in various fields such as public relations, marketing, and higher education. As Editorial Director for an online media network, she managed a staff of young writers, providing writing training and mentorship. As a volunteer with the non-profit program Growing Together, she provided tutelage for elementary school students from low income families. Formerly a political columnist for The Journal Newspapers in Washington D.C., her op-eds have appeared in The Washington Times, and her personal essays have been published in many venues.

Peggy Folan

Mrs. Peggy Folan lives in rural Iowa with her husband and three children. She graduated from Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas and received M.A. degree in English from the University of Kansas. Her B.A. is in also in English, with a minor in Secondary Education. She is a homeschooling mom, and has taught college-level English. She has written corporate correspondence, contributed to training manuals, and published fiction and non-fiction in a variety of publications, including Oblates, Byline, and Today’s Christian.

Karen Ford

Mrs. Karen Ford lives in Springfield, Massachusetts, with her husband and four children. A graduate of Youngstown State University (located in Youngstown, Ohio), she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and Editing.  She holds a Master’s degree in English (also from YSU), and a graduate certificate in Professional Writing and Editing. In addition to her work as a writing consultant for WriteGuide.com., Mrs. Ford homeschools her four children and teaches composition at Springfield Technical Community College.  Mrs. Ford has served as editor for various newsletters and websites, including CatholicExchange.com. She enjoys writing feature articles.

Kathryn King

Mrs. Kathryn King grew up in the South. She holds BA and MA degrees in English literature from East Carolina University. She has since moved to New England to finish her graduate studies, working towards a PhD in literature at the University of Connecticut. She co-edited a Medieval Institute collection of monastic rules, published an annotated bibliography in The Children’s Folklore Review, and for the past ten years has been teaching college composition and literature. She is happily married with three children.

Franz Klein

Mr. Franz Klein earned his B.A. in Philosophy and Classical Languages from the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., and his M.A. in English Language and Literature from Winona State University, Winona, Minn. He also studied theology at the Angelicum University in Rome, Italy, for two years, and is presently working toward his Ph.D. in Literature at the University of Dallas, Irving, Tex. He spent three years as a staff writer for The Catholic Times, newspaper of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis., and continues to work for a number of publications as a free-lancer. He lives in Irving with his wife and their one son.

Amy Manning

Mrs. Amy Manning is a doctoral candidate in English at the University of New Hampshire.  She holds a B.A. in English, a B.A. in Religious and Philosophy Studies, and a M.A. in English.  Her doctoral dissertation focuses on Asian North American literature from the mid-Twentieth Century through the present.  She has been teaching and tutoring English for over a decade at the high school and collegiate level, specializing in American literature, the teaching of writing, and tutoring ESL and international students.  Mrs. Manning has had her work on several Asian American authors published in the Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature, and is currently working on publishing chapters from her dissertation.  She and her husband have two beautiful young daughters, four cats, and live in New Hampshire.

Jillian Schedneck

Ms. Jillian Schedneck currently lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She received a B.A. in English and Education from Boston College in 2002 and an MFA in Creative Writing from West Virginia University in 2006. She has taught English composition, literature, and creative writing to university students for the past five years. As assistant to the Writing Center coordinator at West Virginia University, she worked one-on-one with students and served as a mentor for peer tutors. Her creative work has been published in journals like Brevity, The Common Review and Fourth River. She recently presented a paper at the American Academy of Religion / Western Region.

Melissa Siik

Dr. Melissa Siik holds a BA in English from Saint Anselm College, an MA and PhD. in English Literature from the University of New Hampshire.  Her area of academic specialty is sixteenth-century British literature with a concentration on Catholic Studies and Political Philosophy. She has over ten years of experience teaching and tutoring at the college level, teaching courses such as Literary Analysis, Survey of British Literature from its Origins to 1800, and Freshman English. She has tutored students from various humanities courses, including Philosophy, Political Science, Theology, and History. She has published her work on sixteenth-century literature in the Companion to British Poetry Before 1600 and has presented papers at a number of international academic conferences. Currently, she lives in NH with her husband and two young daughters. She spends her days working on publications, reading, playing with her babies, and going to Mass.

Ruth Slack

Mrs. Ruth Slack lives in California, and teaches our Introduction to Grammar course.  She received a BA from Thomas Aquinas College and an MA in English Literature from Catholic University of America.  She is currently finishing work for a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of Dallas.