About Me

Book editing has always genuinely thrilled me. I was the child working through a stack of secondhand books with a pencil in hand, filling the page with marginalia: drawing hearts by my favorite passages, correcting commonly confused words, and marking up doubled words that made it into print.

(As you can imagine, as a teenager I was always in demand whenever final essays needed proofreading.)

Now I spend my days doing similar work, but with the training, certificates, and expertise to make it my career (read: for money instead of Twix). It is these copyediting problems—the last name that is spelled two different ways, the misplaced modifier that confuses the reader, the transpositions and typos that slipped through spellcheck—that I love to help excise from my clients’ work.

EDUCATION

I am a full-time freelance copyeditor specializing in all things nonfiction. I am professionally trained and hold a bachelor’s degree in psychology and certificates in both copyediting and proofreading. I lived and worked in the UK for many years, so I’m proficient in both US and UK English, as well as commonly used style guides in both countries. Besides keeping an international client list after moving back to the US, I’ve also held onto a love of Tunnock’s tea cakes, woolly jumpers, milky tea, and Gogglebox (IYKYK).

I am a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and ACES: The Society of Editing and have attended dozens of continuing education courses, webinars, and guest speakers through those organizations.

  • Bachelor’s of Arts, Psychology, Georgetown University

  • Proofreading certificate, passed with merit, Publishing Training Centre

  • Copyediting certificate, University of San Diego

TRAINING

  • Copyediting: Beginning, Editorial Freelancers Association

  • Conscious and Inclusive Language: Understanding Conscious Language and the Editorial Role, Editorial Freelancers Association

  • Business of Copyediting, University of San Diego

  • The Chicago Manual of Style, Seventeenth Edition

  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition

  • Butcher’s Copy-editing, Fourth Edition

  • New Hart’s Rules, Second Edition

PROFICIENCIES

MEMBERSHIPS

  • Editorial Freelancers Association

  • ACES: The Society for Editing

When I’m not working—oversized cardigan, overlarge cup of tea, and overweight cat nonnegotiable (see said cat to right)—you can usually find me indiscriminately deadheading in my garden, struggling through scales on the piano, swimming in the slow lane at the local pool, or eating Oreos in front of television shows of dubious societal value.

My editorial assistant/head of HR

TL;DR version:

Things I do: light copyediting | medium copyediting | heavy copyediting/line editing | proofreading

Things I edit: memoir | cookbooks | travel writing | self-help | psychology | creative nonfiction

Things I like: stationery | rain | whisky cocktails | otters | fountain pens | Scotland | snorkeling | tea | piano