Available: Yes
Genres I like: I write Fantasy/Sci-Fi, Horror/Thriller and YA - these are my favorite genres, but I admit a soft spot for well written Westerns and Military Fiction. I'm a sucker for storylines that flirt with the darkness in people, but that's not mandatory by any means.
Favorite Books: Mistborn Trilogy, Harry Potter Series, Dark Tower Series, just about anything by Tom Clancy, scattered works by RA Salvatore and Raymond Fiest.
What I don't like: Not a big fan of slow starting drama. While cars don't have to blow up in the first scene, I definitely want the promise of cars blowing up soon, so to speak. Sub out cars for any sort of compelling conflict, however.
How I beta: I'm harsh. No getting around this. If I don't like something, you will know it. I will always be respectful of you as a person, but if you are looking for a fan and unconditional moral encouragement for writing that I believe is unengaging and boring, I'm not the beta reader for you.
Unconditional encouragement is something I *hate* when I give my piece to someone to read. It does me no good and doesn't help me improve my craft. If it's good, fine, I'm happy to hear it - but if there's a leak in the hull, I don't want you to tell me it's nothing. I want to know exactly how much water you think I'm taking on!
Regardless, I don't presume to speak for the industry. I've never published a work of fiction. I do consider myself a professional reader, however - and I know exactly what excites me and what doesn't. Just because I don't like something you write doesn't mean it's bad. I've put down books by people like Stephen King (hated Bag of Bones), Tad Williams (City of Golden Shadow was one of the worst books I've ever read) and Dean Koontz (That Odd Thomas sequel... wow.) because they failed to interest me... yet they are all phenomenal writers when they bring their A game to a book.
I won't touch up your grammar very much, unless something just strikes me as very odd. Line by line editing isn't really a passion of mine. As long as I can understand what you're saying, I won't let it distract from the merit of the work.
Turnaround Time: A lot of variables factor into my turnaround time, but I've been pretty good about getting folks 1 detailed critique a week. Excerpts tend to be between 10,000-20,000 words.
Feel free to PM me if you are interested in having me read your work.