I am a freelance editor specializing in commercial fiction—trained by my mentor literary agent Liz Kracht of Kimberley Cameron & Associates Literary Agency in California, Sophie Playle of Liminal Pages, and have attended workshops by Jane Friedman, and Alison K Williams. I am a sucker for stories that draw me into a tightly imagined world, especially where I learn a new skill or see life in a new way. I like nuanced, layered, emotionally rich text—and love helping authors bring out the best in their work.

I have also developed experience in the field of memoir, originally because Liz is such a great editor as well as an agent and I was lucky enough to work on some memoirs with her, but now because life has brought me my own memoir clients with fascinating stories.

Although editing is my full-time profession, I originally trained as an illustrator. I have also been an EFL teacher in England, Italy, and China; taught meditation for a couple of decades in Cambridge, UK; and painted a large mural on a restaurant wall in France! Life has been varied and stimulating, and it all feeds into my work as an editor. In my leisure time I practice qigong, kung fu, taiji and sanda—with so many hours at a desk, exercise is important for my mind and body, and I am always moved by the beauty of the forms and movements.

Special areas of interest include: ancient cultures, mythology, psychology, martial arts, high demand groups, the crossover between spirituality and science, and humanity’s relationship to the rest of nature.

The future? I want to continue my work with commercial fiction and memoir, but also I would like to develop experience editing mid-grade, tween and young adult fiction—partly because my time as an English teacher dealt mainly with those age groups, but also because that’s where my own creative writing is directed.