Fiction is my passion—as editor, writer, reader, reviewer, contest judge, and formatter. Helping authors with their stories is the best job in the world!

I came to it unconventionally, via two converging pathways: document production for corporate publishers, and personal art/writing/reading. Both channels exposed me to weirdly wide knowledge and experience. They met in the middle in 2006, when I hung out my freelance shingle. Since then I have edited novels for major traditional publishers, such as Penguin/Berkley/NAL, HarperCollins, and Little, Brown; and indie authors either seeking traditional publishing or self-publishing their books. I work with seasoned pros and first-timers, and all skill levels in between.

The range and diversity of my two-channel experience—subjects from equines to aircraft, genres from romance to steampunk—let me help authors transform their ideas into stories aimed at the readership they desire.

All books share the need for mechanical “housekeeping” after the developmental work has been done. I specialize in preserving each author’s unique voice and vision while attending to the four C’s: clarity, consistency, choreography, and comprehension. These translate into content and copy editing. Their purpose is to hone writing craft and story craft to avoid readers going “huh?” and stumbling out of the story.

Through direct experience publishing my own novels, coupled with indirect experience sharing the publishing journey with clients, I’ve learned the ropes from dream and first draft to prize-winning success.

That said, I’ve kept my hand in on nonfiction publishing, and welcome scholarly works along with business documentation and magazines, either individual articles or complete issues.