Overview
My experience is diverse and dynamic.
I have more than 35 years of writing and editing experience, from journalism work to editing more than a hundred fiction and nonfiction books. Some of those books have gone on to win awards.
My specialties are crime fiction, science fiction and fantasy, multicultural novels with ethnic or racial themes (e.g., Hispanic or African-American), YA (Young Adult), and nonfiction. In addition, I teach Beginning Copyediting, Intermediate Copyediting, Advanced Copyediting, and Editing for Fiction through the University of California, San Diego, and other venues.
My approach is to work with you collaboratively while also sharing my knowledge of the ever-changing publishing industry. I aim to preserve your voice while polishing your manuscript.
I am currently accepting new clients for proofreading, copyediting, and developmental editing.
I have more than 35 years of writing and editing experience, from journalism work to editing more than a hundred fiction and nonfiction books. Some of those books have gone on to win awards.
My specialties are crime fiction, science fiction and fantasy, multicultural novels with ethnic or racial themes (e.g., Hispanic or African-American), YA (Young Adult), and nonfiction. In addition, I teach Beginning Copyediting, Intermediate Copyediting, Advanced Copyediting, and Editing for Fiction through the University of California, San Diego, and other venues.
My approach is to work with you collaboratively while also sharing my knowledge of the ever-changing publishing industry. I aim to preserve your voice while polishing your manuscript.
I am currently accepting new clients for proofreading, copyediting, and developmental editing.
Services
Fiction
African American Fiction
Anthologies
Cultural & Ethnic
Historical Fiction
Mystery & Crime
Science Fiction
Thriller & Suspense
Languages
English (US)
Awards
- Pulitzer Prize (staff), 1993 and 1997
Work experience
Self-employed
Jan, 2010 —
Present
I am an independent editor with individual clients, as well as ongoing corporate clients. I have edited more than a hundred books in different genres.
University of California, San Diego
Jan, 2012 —
Present
I teach beginning and intermediate copyediting as part of a certificate program in copyediting.
Newsday
Nov, 1995 —
Jun, 2015
(over 19 years)
News editor in charge of an editing team. Edited local, foreign, national, and business news, as well as special projects. Part of Pulitzer Prize-winning team.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jun, 1994 —
Nov, 1995
(over 1 year)
Chicago Tribune
Jun, 1993 —
Jun, 1994
(12 months)
Selected for highly regarded one-year editing program.
The Miami Herald
Jan, 1985 —
May, 1994
(over 9 years)
Part of Pulitzer Prize-winning team.
Portfolio
"...Blend a 21st-century New Adult version of Waiting to Exhale and "Girlfriends" with candid revelations about traumatic injuries of the spirit reminiscent of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf. Toss in the caustic wisdom o... read more
Walled cities. Citizens with dead eyes and perfect smiles. Government domination. In this near future, Candace fights to save a small band of Outsiders even as she struggles to maintain her own humanity.Candace will never trust society. A friend’s sorority bra... read more
Andres suspects his wife has left him—again. Then he learns that the unthinkable has happened: she’s been kidnapped. Too much time and too many secrets have come between Andres and Marabela, but now that she’s gone, he’ll do anything to get her back. Or will h... read more
Three years ago, Mantle’s three allied kingdoms banded together to defeat Menagraff and his evil minions. That defeat, however, was only the beginning in the War of Mantle. Menagraff, in the meantime, has grown stronger and a wave of darkness and terror has sp... read more
THE WRONG KIND OF HERO. “Girls can’t be in the navy! Girls take care of babies! You’re so stupid, you don’t know anything!”London. 1783. Wendy Darling is an orphan, living in an overcrowded almshouse, ridiculed for believing in a future she can never have. Mor... read more
For culinary challenged Sarah Blair, there’s only one thing scarier than cooking from scratch—murder! Married at eighteen, divorced at twenty‑eight, Sarah Blair reluctantly swaps her luxury lifestyle for a cramped studio apartment and a law firm receptionist j... read more
The small golden lights emerged from my hands and mouth, lighting up the space around me. They swirled in the air, pulled by the currents of wind, before reforming and coming together. The lights returned to me like a million fireflies and swarmed in a tall co... read more
Is the depot a symbol of the worst episode in a town’s history or does it stand for revitalization, bringing the citizens of Wheeler together with pride in their community?Kate Chamber’s trouble antenna go up when Dallas developer Silas Fletcher decides to hel... read more
Arson, a bad beating, and a recluse who claims someone is trying to kill her all collide in this third Blue Plate Café Mystery with Kate Chambers. Torn between trying to save David Clinkscales, her old boss and new lover, and curiosity about Edith Aldridge’s s... read more
Brain-Machine Interfacing is making telekinesis a reality for a select few.Three months ago Kristen Crede was a typical college kid looking forward to the weekend’s bonfire party at the beach. Now she’s a triple amputee, outcasted after an accident that shatte... read more
Born to society and a life of privilege, Bertha Honoré married Potter Palmer, a wealthy entrepreneur who called her Cissy. Neither dreamed the direction the other’s life would take. He built the Palmer House Hotel, still famed today, and became one of the majo... read more
In 2091, Victor and Maria created Adam, the world's first biological supercomputer. They dreamed of changing the world. Now it's 2101. Adam's running a mining asteroid. Maria's in a coma. Victor's dreams are in tatters.Living in the pollution-shrouded city of ... read more
In the 25th century, Earth is a place where countries and borders no longer exist and every citizen is required to be physically connected to a global information system called the Consciousness.
The first in a new series...Mercy Marigold Eaton has a special connection with the dead, able to piece together the lives of those who have passed on with a single touch. When an injured man nearly dies in her arms she isn’t given much time to work her magic b... read more
Abbé François Bérenger Saunière arrives in Rennes-le-Château in 1885 as impoverished as the remote mountain village itself. Inspired by the true story, this unconventional priest amasses a fortune, creates a magnificent estate and brings his ancient, crumbling... read more
Budapest: 1956. Newlywed Cara Walden’s brother Zoltán has disappeared in the middle of the Hungarian revolution, harboring a deadly wartime secret. Will Cara or the Soviets find him first?Cutting short her honeymoon in Paris to rescue a sibling she’s never met... read more
No one sheds any tears when overbearing English teacher Marcia Deaver is found dead in her classroom. Some staff members speculate it was a heart attack, or perhaps a suicide, but Liz Hopewell knows that no self-respecting member of the Valerian Hills English ... read more
Lost in the multiverse, Hellen Callahan is an unemployed, single mother trying to steer her son into adulthood. Then the lights go out.It’s the summer of 2025, in a parallel universe where the British Hawaiian Islands sit between rival superpowers, Britain and... read more
“Half of the bodies brought to my morgue are that of children, dead from starvation, exposure or wounds inflicted on them in life.” - Dr. Peter AinsleyLondon 1868 – The newspapers call him The Surgeon, a killer targeting pauper children in Limehouse district l... read more
Small-town secrets and subterfuge lead to murder in this fast-moving, deftly written tale of high-stakes real estate wrangling gone amok.Journalist Emily Garland lands a plum assignment as the editor of a niche magazine based in Lount’s Landing, a small town n... read more
In this new mystery series, meet Foreign Service Officer David Markam whose love for other cultures takes him around the world to encounter diplomats, expats, eccentric locals, and a frequency of subtle murderers.It is the late 1980s. In her mansion on Califor... read more
Spanish: Inside Conversations divulges the real lingo spoken among native Spanish speakers. It is a book for those who want the inside scoop on the words and expressions they use, how they use them, and in what context. Only you know your level of Spanish and ... read more
One-liners are the “set” phrases of a language that have been passed down from generation to generation yet never lose their relevancy nor their punch in our everyday conversations. You will find the phrases in this book to be some of the most interesting, use... read more
What will you learn from Mouthing Off in Mexico? You will gain invaluable insights into the world of profanity in Spanish—a topic that may otherwise take you many painstaking years to grasp. This book does not consist of just lewd and offensive dialogue. Not a... read more
Laurel McKay Hunter is thrilled to partner with new husband, Tom, in their budding detective agency, Gold Country Investigations. With her past experience solving crimes, even Tom admits she’s a natural. And Laurel’s first case is perfect for her financial ski... read more
Introducing Jolie Tucker, an introverted yet passionate restaurant co-owner of Cast Iron Creations, who, at her best friend Ava’s request, steps out of her comfort zone. This leads her into the shade of a killer in the small, cozy village of Leavensport, Ohio.... read more
1868 - Recently married and awaiting the birth of her first child, Margaret Davies takes a position at Wendall Hall, a privately funded charity for unwed, expectant women in a small town east of Edinburgh. With Christmas around the corner and a number of birth... read more
When we left Nathan and Lily at the end of ‘Gone But Not Goodbye’, Lily was preparing to give the only answer she feels she can ever give Nathan. But will she marry the man who saved her life? Or will she agree with the others who know she’s not ready?Nathan’s... read more
The 21st Century will be remembered by the rise of the Android.Alia Vicadora is not your normal Android. Created at the hands of a disgruntled genius working in a Washington DC lab, she was engineered with stolen government technology to be used in war games, ... read more
Melody Parifallo thought usurping Earth’s latest election to put President Haakon back in office was the right thing to do. She believed that she knew better than the Majesty and that breaking the one unbreakable law—“Obey the vote”—would go unnoticed. But the... read more
Baltimore February 1980 Clients don’t usually arrive at Baltimore PI Anne Carter’s office in a hail of gunfire, but EMT Charlie Magee does. He wants her to find out who is trying to kill him and why. The only unusual thing that has happened lately is that he f... read more
The year is 2030 and America’s economy is deteriorating. China’s ascendency continues alongside the rise of a heavily militarized Russia, both countries eying the weakened superpower with interest. For Chinese-American Kaden Sun, politics and poverty are just ... read more
Cramped, frozen, forced to socialize with one-hundred fifty fellow colonists, engineer Robert Mason came willingly to his own private hell.Leagues from civilization, Mason and the inhabitants of PMACS 1 have just embarked on a massive social experiment deep wi... read more
A collection of murder, mayhem and more; fifteen tales by members of the Capitol Crimes Chapter of Sisters in Crime. These short stories bring life to California's capital city as well as the business in the Capitol.
Summoned to Edinburgh after another inexplicable vision, Dr. Peter Ainsley and his sister, Margaret Marshall, are shocked to discover their good friend, and Margaret’s secret lover, has been arrested for murder. Dr. Jonas Davies, a celebrated surgeon and newly... read more
Love comes in all forms. So does infidelity. While Nathan is wrapped up in a case of a suspicious young mother's death, Lily must face the man who ruined her life.
Bridget Sway has survived the first week of her afterlife – but only just. Working a job that still doesn’t pay, wearing a uniform that’s still a fashion disaster and now facing a week-long assessment, things can only get better … right? Wrong. And there’s ano... read more
“Marry in Haste, Repent at Leisure” ―Benjamin FranklinMarry in Haste, is the story of two lives over a hundred years apart, both illustrating the resilience of women in the small town of Endurance.Grace Kimball, retired teacher, is writing for the Endurance Re... read more
The Big Band Era–Dancing on the Rooftop–Romance in the Air–and Murder in the Shadows“… the dispatcher called to tell her it was time to move the bones.”After solving a double homicide in the hot Midwest summer, Endurance police detective TJ Sweeney isn’t given... read more
On the night of her high school graduation, an aspiring space detective, Cosmic Callisto Caprica, Cosmo to her friends, received an incredible gift from a well-respected senator - a trip on board the Titan, a luxury spaceship. Cosmo is incredibly excited to me... read more
Based on true events... Award-Winning Finalist in the “True Crime: Non-Fiction” category of the 2017 International Book Awards. Politics in Philadelphia is a rough game...has been since the time of Ben Franklin. But, when political murder takes place in the Fi... read more
Meet the Penningtons: Lyssa, Ph.D. Economics, and her husband “the handsome Brit” Kyle, Ph.D. Computer Science. When their clever minds ask questions, clever killers can’t hide. It’s Monday of spring break when Professor Lyssa Pennington’s backyard garden proj... read more
1863 Weeksville, Brooklyn: The free Black community of Weeksville becomes home to an unusually small boy and his mother who fled Manhattan during New York’s Draft Riots. When his mother succumbs to her injuries, the boy swears revenge against everyone and ever... read more
Dr. Peter Ainsley knew it was only a matter of time before London claims another murder victim, but this time the body is discovered tied to a lamppost four doors down from the house Ainsley shares with his sister and their bedridden father. The day the body i... read more
The New York City Haiku Mystery Tour is dedicated to families of the FDNY firefighters and other first responders who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. It is also dedicated to those who worked long months at the toxic and smolde... read more
While struggling to survive in a hellish environment, rival colonies are forced to determine the greater threat--each other or the elusive entity believed to haunt the planet they inhabit.
From a gossip-spreading employee and an overbearing voice at a bar, to an Inn owner creating murder games, and a lonely man sitting on a Central Park bench, these stories blur the thin line between what we perceive and what is real.
This book describes an average middle class man's descent into drug abuse and how it affected his life for 13 years. Diagnosed withTourette's Syndrome at age 12, and Multiple Sclerosis at 23, are just two contributing factors leading up to addiction, and ultim... read more
"Hurricane Sandy's storm surge destroyed Long Beach City's boardwalk, washing up mutilated corpses of three men, a pregnant woman, two boys and a skeleton. Only three months in command of the Nassau County, New York, Homicide Squad South, Detective Lieutenant ... read more
Well-known as an architect and writer in Leipzig, Germany. Radulf is repulsed by the nature of other people's selfish living. Ironically, his own character is devoid of morals.Despite the destitution his schemes cause. The power turns obsessive and his appetit... read more
The cracks are beginning to show… Thrust into an undercover assignment, with a new partner, Nathan is prepared for neither. Lily is at Annie’s, trying to keep everything together -- contemplating the biggest decision she’s ever faced. Will they find a way back... read more
The world of Mantle has been shaken by evil, and marked for destruction."An enjoyable tale that centers on a spirited young heroine who possesses potentially world-changing powers. Fans of the genre should find much to savor here." - Kirkus ReviewsAn innocent ... read more
Kevin Whitehouse returns to his sleepy hometown of Brandon, Vermont to attend the funeral of his father, an apparent suicide. However, once he settles in and gets his bearings, he feels compelled to delve further into the circumstances of his father’s death, w... read more
Unable to shake the oppressive atmosphere of the city after a life changing case, Dr. Peter Ainsley retreats to his family’s country estate near Tunbridge Wells to find asylum and perhaps forgiveness. The discovery of a strange girl in the back woods introduce... read more
Ossie Piñero, Private Investigator in training, has a problem. Her Puerto Rican family keeps getting her entangled in their dramas. Working for family is all trouble and no dinero. As the only woman in the PI firm, she’s used to getting the boring and slime-ba... read more
From cozy mystery to classic crime, from gumshoe to urban noir, MYSTERY IN PARADISE 13 Tales of Suspense is a collection of twisted, heart-pumping tales of suspense in all its guises. These 13 utterly unforgettable stories by 13 of the hottest authors to hit H... read more
The local Westchester police turn to One Police Plaza when a high profile murder lands in their back yard. Captain Sam Jefferies takes the case and assigns two resigned police detectives on disability, now private investigators. Kevin Whitehouse has the analyt... read more
FOR FANS OF: Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain, Sheila Connolly, and Maggie BarbieriThree May Keep a Secret is a fast-paced mystery. Grace Kimball, recently retired teacher in the small town of Endurance, is haunted by a dark, past event, an experience so terrify... read more
From a theme party in Mizpah, NJ, to a surfing incident on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii, murders are planned. From a Malibu beach with remote control cars, to the northern hills of Las Vegas, people are disappearing. "Confetti" is a colorful mixture of deli... read more
Susan Hogan is smart, pretty—and prickly. There was no other word for it. She is prickly with Jake Phillips and her Aunt Jenny, the two people who love her most in the world. And she is prickly and impatient with some of her academic colleagues and the petty j... read more
RAW COURAGE...SHARP INSTINCTS...AN INNATE SENSE OF JUSTICE...Using the 19th century timeline as an instrument of magical realism, Chabelis accelerates the reader through the events that lead up to the Spanish-American War in the YA novel, CIMARRONA. Trained by... read more
The Inverted Mask takes the reader on a thrilling adventure through the pine barrens of eastern Long Island, the heights of the Catskill Mountains, and the depths of subterranean particle-beam tunnels hundreds of feet below Long Island. Physicist Dr. Jon Sanbo... read more
At the end of "Gone But Not Missed," we left Nathan and Lily on the boardwalk in Long Beach, New York. Weeks later we find them apart – physically by hundreds of miles and emotionally by very different views of their relationship. Lily is haunted by the kidnap... read more
Fresh off the red-eye from Baghdad, CIA analyst Lee Carruthers has to hop an Air France flight to Morocco. Alicia Harmon has disappeared from her office in Fez after reporting that she has found a new line of money going to terrorists. When Lee gets to Fez, sh... read more
On a trip that will make readers recall reunions they didn’t want to attend (but went to anyway), widowed Cealie Gunther gets a call to join friends from high school for a get-together during an Alaskan cruise. She hasn’t seen them for years, but jumps in when... read more
Lourdes has 20 reviews
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Justin S.
Apr, 2021
Karen B.
Mar, 2020
Jim L.
Jan, 2020
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Jan, 2020
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Jan, 2020
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