Need feedback on your novel? Trying to improve your writing craft? I can help.

I have been writing and critiquing fiction for over fifteen years. I'm an accredited editor (Australian Institute of Professional Editors), with a BCrA (Honours) in Creative Writing and an MA in Publishing and Editing, and a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop, one of the premier audition-only workshops for writing speculative fiction.

I can take your novel draft (no matter how spaghetti-laden a mess it is) and help you shape the structure of the story, characterisation and character arcs, pacing, plot threads, setting and theme. All the big picture stuff.

Note that this isn't a line-edit or a proofread. I may comment on some prevalent craft issues, but I will not go through and edit your prose line-by-line looking for typos or awkward sentences or the fact that you've accidentally given your robot giraffe an extra four feet of neck on page 137. This is the kind of edit you do before that, when you're still trying to get the bones of the story to sit right. Be prepared to hear that large sections need to be cut, added or rewritten, that a major plot development runs totally counter to your character's motivation, or that your science doesn't work*.

*I have an MA in Computer Science and another in Commerce, but mostly I have an avid fascination with science, and I've been writing hard science fiction for years. I have a pretty strict sniff-test on scientific plausibility, and I will pull you up on things like explosive decompression (no), hacking banks with a Nokia phone (no), magical all-powerful computer viruses (no), or scientists failing at science.

While the principles of story craft apply to all genres, my area of expertise is speculative fiction--that's science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and everything that vaguely falls under that umbrella--I'm aware of the tropes, I can tell you what's been done a million times already, what the conventions are. While I can edit other genres such as romance, crime, literary fiction or thriller, I'm less well-versed in them, and there are enough editors out there that your money would probably be better spent with someone who specialises in your genre, but if you really want me to edit your literary crime-romance, sure, let's talk.

Where to from here?

1. You need a completed novel draft, whether it's been through a few editing passes already or it's hot off your creaking laptop.
2. Contact me with a brief description of your novel.
3. I'll get back to you and we'll discuss what you're looking for, my rates, and my turnaround time.

Please note this service is subject to availability.