From 2009 to 2014, St. James was TV editor forThe A.V. Club, helping to build the TV Club, known fortelevision criticism of shows episode by episode. TV Club, while led by St. James, has been credited with helping build the online culture of television recaps.[4]
In 2018, St. James and fellow critic Zack Handlen wroteMonsters of the Week: The Complete Critical Companion toThe X-Files, which was published byTor Books.[11] This was followed in 2024 byLost: Back to the Island: The Complete Critical Companion to the Classic TV Series, which she co-wrote with Noel Murray.[12]
In July 2020, she spoke out against fellowVox co-founder and contributorMatthew Yglesias, following his signing of anopen letter published inHarper's Magazine which called for an end to what it described as "illiberalism".[13][14] After a tweet about her criticism byJesse Singal, one of the letter's signatories, St. James reported that she had receiveddeath threats.[15][16]
St. James has appeared onThe George Lucas Talk Show during theirMay the 4th Marathon andHoliday Special.[17] After leavingVox, St. James moved into novel and television writing. She and her wife joined thewriters' room ofYellowjackets for the show's third season, receiving writing credits for the sixth episode,[18] broadcast in March 2025. In the same month, St. James' debut novel,Woodworking, was published byZando.[19] The book, acoming-of-age story set inMitchell, South Dakota, is about Erica Skyberg, a high school teacher who is aclosetedtrans woman. In order to figure out how tocome out to her peers, Erica enlists the help of a student, Abigail Hawkes, atrans girl (and the only openly trans person Erica knows).[19]
St. James has been married to writer Libby Hill since 2003.[23] She changed her last name from VanDerWerff to St. James in January 2022.[24] St. James and Hill welcomed a child in 2022.[25]
