My approach

Your book is your baby. It's the embodiment of many hours of labour, effort and no doubt a little heartache. So finding the right person to appraise your book is essential. You need someone who is . . .

Personal: Clients work with me because they want a friendly, personal service. They don't want to send their book to a corporate machine that farms it out to any old editor on a list (usually someone they have no contact with).

Sensitive: I'm not here to trample on your creativity, or to cut you down with harsh criticism. My job is to respect you as a writer, and to help you develop.

Honest: Although I'm sensitive in my critiquing, I'm not afraid to be honest. That means telling you about the weak areas of your book as well as the strong ones.

Constructive: My critiques advise you on how to improve, develop or correct your writing. I won't just tell you about a problem; I'll do my best to suggest how you can solve it.

My experience

I work with a range of publishers, writing content, offering editorial support for authors and helping to develop books. My client list includes John Wiley & Sons (For Dummies books and Frommer's travel guides), Folens, Routledge, Taylor & Francis, High Stakes Publishing, Kamera Books, No Exit Press, Pocket Essentials, Southbank Publishing, Oldcastle Books and Melrose Books.

I also work extensively with private authors who write in a range of genres, including autobiography/biography, thriller, crime, fantasy, historical, romance, general fiction, children's and all manner of non-fiction.

Client testimonials

Here's what some of my authors say about me:

I've just been contacted by three major publishers interested in the children's books you helped me with. They weren't interested before, so it must be thanks to your ideas and input. One told me how impressed they were that they couldn't find a single mistake in my stories! (Julia Harrison, author)

I'm thrilled with the hard work you have done and can't thank you enough. Now I feel a lot better about sending my ms out to agents. It is amazing what you have done in such a short time. Your constructive criticism is very much appreciated. (Steve Stoessler, author of The Awakening of the Lion)

I am totally amazed at the competence and thoroughness of your work. You have given me a superb analysis. I just do not know how you can do it for the price. I am sure I shall be back to you again and again. (Andrew Taylor, AA11Books.com)

I couldn't imagine finding anyone more helpful, supportive, or nice to work with – I never would have made it this far without your guidance! (Erin Hughes, author of Visions)

About me

I fell in love with books and writing at an early age. At three I was teaching teddies how to spell their names; at five taking great delight in correcting my own laboured writing with a red felt-tip; at seven keeping the first of many diaries, including such gems as, Went to the zoo toady. It poored and poored. By the age of nine I'd read every children's book in my local library. Twice.

Today, I can't go anywhere without a book, and I read voraciously and widely. I live in Kent with my husband, my baby son and a geriatric goldfish. In my spare time I write, bake inedible cakes, play peek-a-boo and embark on disastrous DIY projects. I recently achieved a lifetime ambition of creating a library in my home to house my ever-increasing collection of books. I pretend not to notice that the shelves are rather wonky.