Barb Feldman - Editor

I've edited family histories and business memoirs, speculative and science fiction, mystery and romance novels, children’s books and self-help books. I’ve also edited case studies examining public administration, municipal policing, energy grids and public-private partnerships and written summaries and introductions for many of them, applying plain-language principles to help my clients effectively communicate complex ideas to their non-specialist readers.

I enjoy working with first-time authors and have a special interest in stories of entrepreneurship—in how people come to make things and how they develop their ideas. I’ve interviewed people who design modular-component bridges, manufacture bagpipes, harvest and market wild rice, grow nut trees, are developing plastics from potatoes, managing construction noise and increasing diversity on non-profit boards.

I've written travel articles and children’s books that I’ve also illustrated with fabric appliqué, polymer clay and pen and ink. For many years I ghostwrote a popular psychic newsletter.

EDITING: FICTION AND MEMOIR
• “Aydy’s Fiddle” by Edward Curnutte: historical fiction
• “An Immigrant’s Story” by Pernille Fischer-Boulter: memoir by one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence https://www.amazon.ca/Tales-Immigrant-Entrepreneur-Womans-Story/dp/1460287770
• “The Swordbearer” by Marcy Erb: fantasy adventure
• “Fear Nothing” by Jacqueline Snyder: science fiction
• “Tova Tovarah” and “Of Bonds and Bondage” by Rita Baker: historical romances
• “ECMOdays” by Sandra Fleming : memoir of a child's grave illness and his family’s survival
• “The Path” by Maria Trautman: memoir of a difficult childhood and triumphant adulthood
• “Follow Me Now” by Jennifer Kaplan: contemporary fiction

WRITING AND ILLUSTRATION: CHILDREN’S BOOKS
• Alphamagnets, Penguin (illustration)
• Alphamagnets, Penguin (illustration)
• Make Your Own Jewelry Book and Box, Reader’s Digest Press (design, writing)
• Butterfly Bangles and Ladybug Beads, Reader’s Digest Press (design, writing)
• Stephen's Frog, Annick (writing, illustration)
• Going, Going, Annick (writing, illustration)

EDITING AND WRITING: GOVERNMENTS, NONPROFITS AND TRADE

Canadian Council for Public-Private Partnerships (editing, proofreading, research, writing)

IPAC Series in Public Management and Governance, University of Toronto Press (editing)
• Off and Running: Canadian Government Transitions, Prof. David Zussman (2012)
• Deputy Ministers in Canada, Prof. Jacques Bourgault, ed. (2013)

Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs (writing, editing, proofreading)
25,000-word summary reports of four-day events, including brief speaker biographies and abstracts of keynote speeches and panel discussions

Lester Publications, 2011‒present
Articles for regional, agriculture and construction industry magazines Northern Experience, Communicator, Groundbreaker, Northern Experience, PileDriver, Piling Canada, and Think BIG

Aydy's Fiddle: The Memory Thief

Edward Curnutte

In 1887, the precocious twelve-year-old daughter of a café manager aspires to be a concert violinist. She inherits her grandfather’s violin and begins to play it with rapid and stunning progress. However, music has the power to draw memories from people and she soon realizes she can see these memories in the people who hear her play. As she plays over time, her visions become stranger and she ... read more

In 1887, the precocious twelve-year-old daughter of a café manager aspires to be a concert violinist. She inherits her grandfather’s violin and begins to play it with rapid and stunning progress. However, music has the power to draw memories from people and she soon realizes she can see these memories in the people who hear her play. As she plays over time, her visions become stranger and she ... read more