I've written a bunch of stuff, and really, it's building up. I'm so grateful we store it on computers now, because if it was back in the day, I'd have stacks of manuscripts everywhere.
I write fantasy, but of a particular sort. Most of it so far is fairy-tale based, although I also re-told a Greek myth. It's definitely not grimdark material. I admire Tolkien, McKillip, Pratchett, Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones, McKinley, Powers, Willis, Collins, and Zelazny in particular, and they've all influenced me, but I can't really claim to write like any of them. I write like me.
My fantasy has a light touch with the magic. Again, think fairy tales. Ordinary people run into something extraordinary, struggle to cope, and there are losses and gains.
There are a couple first chapters in my signature, as well as a short story, in case you want an example of how I write. It's fairly representational. There are more short stories on my blog (also in sig), if you're looking to see more of them.
I've done lots of beta swaps, and I have long-term treasured beta friends. I need more of them. I have eight manuscripts and a dozen shorts that I'm thinking about putting in a collection. The first novel is with an editor now, so I'll soon have that experience which will hopefully make me a better beta partner still.
I've done lots of crits in SFF SYW and QLH, so there's a lot of my default critting style floating around, although I'm willing to modify it to what my beta partner needs, within reason. I won't tell you I think something's good when I think it's flawed. I will shut up after I've pointed it out, if we do multiple passes and you want to keep something I dislike. At that point, I've done my job, and at the end of the day, it's your story.
I strongly prefer mutual LBLs. I think it's a lot more useful to point out that there are four adverbs in this graf, or that this sentence is eighty words long, than to give someone a blanket statement at the end that they use too many adverbs and need shorter sentences.
I'm hoping this can turn into a long-term professional relationship, but I'll take a one-off, too, it that's what you'd like.
I'm reasonably well-read in cozy mysteries, older thrillers like Clancy, the type of fantasy I listed above, and history. I've read enough sci-fi to be useful in that area. I've got a psychology degree and lots of teaching experience if that's relevant (it might be, if you have children as characters). I'm Catholic, own a horse, have done some scuba diving, own a fishing boat, waited tables, ran the books and worked in the field in construction--in case any of that life experience would be relevant to your story. My husband was on an EOD squad, so I've got a captive consultant if you need to blow anything up.
I don't read erotica or steamy romance. I'd be willing to skip over the sexy bits if it gets to be too much and there aren't too many. You don't have to pull them from the book for me to read it; you just won't get feedback on it. I'm really more of a PG kind of gal, but I'm willing to make brief forays into R rated territory. I've been told my battle scenes are good.
I'll copyedit manuscripts if that's what you need. My punctuation and grammar skills are pretty good. Just be advised that I don't have any credentials in this area. Still, if you're looking to submit/SP and you can't afford a copyeditor, it might be useful.
Line editing is the easiest, as that's what critting usually is. Repeated words and phrases, clunky sentences, too much telling--all that stuff.
I'm reasonably well-educated in the three-act structure if you're looking for that, although I don't use the Save the Cat beats.
I'm fine with blunt and/or snarky, but I'll live without snark if it will hurt your feelings. Nothing I say is ever meant to be hurtful. I'm trying to help you make your story better. Let me know if you need something else from me to do that, and I'll try to deliver.
Most of my stuff is longer (around 120k), although I'm willing to give you rough word count parity. So for example, if you wanted me to take a beta pass on a 70k manuscript, followed by a copyedit pass when you've done your revisions, that would work out. Or I could do two of your novels for one of mine. Or I could owe you a beta pass (I do really pay up on these). I also have one 72k manuscript (the Greek myth), and a bunch of short stories if you want to swap those. On the shorts, I'm more looking for feedback on how satisfying they are as a collection, and order of stories. They're all SYW veterans. But if you see something you think needs changing on any of them, by all means, have at it.
I told Hansel and Gretel in three 120k-ish volumes, although obviously, for that kind of word count, I did a bunch of other stuff with it as well. I set it in the Great Depression in southern California. Book 1 has had seven betas and is with an editor now, so that one doesn't need help. But I wrote book 2 as a stand-alone, and there's always book three as well, although that one doesn't stand alone at all. But still, I can give you synopses going in so you're not blind. But my first priority is book 2, Patrick, ch1 in my signature.
My other top priorities are my Greek myth (Bellerophon, also in my sig) and my short story collection that's around 13-14k.
And when I'm done with those, I have Snow White and the Civil War in two volumes, and two books as well telling Rose Red set in Bleeding Kansas in the 1850s. They're not ready for betas yet, but I hope to have them ready soon-ish. Hence my interest in long-term betas.
I can work fast if you need me to.
I can't think of anything else useful to say, so I'll stop here. Cheers and all that.
I write fantasy, but of a particular sort. Most of it so far is fairy-tale based, although I also re-told a Greek myth. It's definitely not grimdark material. I admire Tolkien, McKillip, Pratchett, Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones, McKinley, Powers, Willis, Collins, and Zelazny in particular, and they've all influenced me, but I can't really claim to write like any of them. I write like me.
My fantasy has a light touch with the magic. Again, think fairy tales. Ordinary people run into something extraordinary, struggle to cope, and there are losses and gains.
There are a couple first chapters in my signature, as well as a short story, in case you want an example of how I write. It's fairly representational. There are more short stories on my blog (also in sig), if you're looking to see more of them.
I've done lots of beta swaps, and I have long-term treasured beta friends. I need more of them. I have eight manuscripts and a dozen shorts that I'm thinking about putting in a collection. The first novel is with an editor now, so I'll soon have that experience which will hopefully make me a better beta partner still.
I've done lots of crits in SFF SYW and QLH, so there's a lot of my default critting style floating around, although I'm willing to modify it to what my beta partner needs, within reason. I won't tell you I think something's good when I think it's flawed. I will shut up after I've pointed it out, if we do multiple passes and you want to keep something I dislike. At that point, I've done my job, and at the end of the day, it's your story.
I strongly prefer mutual LBLs. I think it's a lot more useful to point out that there are four adverbs in this graf, or that this sentence is eighty words long, than to give someone a blanket statement at the end that they use too many adverbs and need shorter sentences.
I'm hoping this can turn into a long-term professional relationship, but I'll take a one-off, too, it that's what you'd like.
I'm reasonably well-read in cozy mysteries, older thrillers like Clancy, the type of fantasy I listed above, and history. I've read enough sci-fi to be useful in that area. I've got a psychology degree and lots of teaching experience if that's relevant (it might be, if you have children as characters). I'm Catholic, own a horse, have done some scuba diving, own a fishing boat, waited tables, ran the books and worked in the field in construction--in case any of that life experience would be relevant to your story. My husband was on an EOD squad, so I've got a captive consultant if you need to blow anything up.
I don't read erotica or steamy romance. I'd be willing to skip over the sexy bits if it gets to be too much and there aren't too many. You don't have to pull them from the book for me to read it; you just won't get feedback on it. I'm really more of a PG kind of gal, but I'm willing to make brief forays into R rated territory. I've been told my battle scenes are good.
I'll copyedit manuscripts if that's what you need. My punctuation and grammar skills are pretty good. Just be advised that I don't have any credentials in this area. Still, if you're looking to submit/SP and you can't afford a copyeditor, it might be useful.
Line editing is the easiest, as that's what critting usually is. Repeated words and phrases, clunky sentences, too much telling--all that stuff.
I'm reasonably well-educated in the three-act structure if you're looking for that, although I don't use the Save the Cat beats.
I'm fine with blunt and/or snarky, but I'll live without snark if it will hurt your feelings. Nothing I say is ever meant to be hurtful. I'm trying to help you make your story better. Let me know if you need something else from me to do that, and I'll try to deliver.
Most of my stuff is longer (around 120k), although I'm willing to give you rough word count parity. So for example, if you wanted me to take a beta pass on a 70k manuscript, followed by a copyedit pass when you've done your revisions, that would work out. Or I could do two of your novels for one of mine. Or I could owe you a beta pass (I do really pay up on these). I also have one 72k manuscript (the Greek myth), and a bunch of short stories if you want to swap those. On the shorts, I'm more looking for feedback on how satisfying they are as a collection, and order of stories. They're all SYW veterans. But if you see something you think needs changing on any of them, by all means, have at it.
I told Hansel and Gretel in three 120k-ish volumes, although obviously, for that kind of word count, I did a bunch of other stuff with it as well. I set it in the Great Depression in southern California. Book 1 has had seven betas and is with an editor now, so that one doesn't need help. But I wrote book 2 as a stand-alone, and there's always book three as well, although that one doesn't stand alone at all. But still, I can give you synopses going in so you're not blind. But my first priority is book 2, Patrick, ch1 in my signature.
My other top priorities are my Greek myth (Bellerophon, also in my sig) and my short story collection that's around 13-14k.
And when I'm done with those, I have Snow White and the Civil War in two volumes, and two books as well telling Rose Red set in Bleeding Kansas in the 1850s. They're not ready for betas yet, but I hope to have them ready soon-ish. Hence my interest in long-term betas.
I can work fast if you need me to.
I can't think of anything else useful to say, so I'll stop here. Cheers and all that.
