Loma Halden - Editor
London, United Kingdom
Friendly, efficient editor and researcher with a deep passion for books and authors. Reading is my pleasure as well as my profession.
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Overview
I am an extremely experienced copy-editor and proofreader, specialising mainly in fiction. I have worked for many publishers over a period of some twenty years, most notably Constable and Robinson, Macmillan and HarperCollins Publishers. In addition I have recently become a freelance researcher for the Royal British Legion, and have been producing and editing material for their Somme 2016 activities and publications.
Services
Languages
English (UK)
Non-Fiction
Biographies & Memoirs
History
Travel
Fiction
Crime & Mystery
Fantasy
Historical Fiction
Literature
Romance
Short Story
Thriller
Women's Fiction
Young Adult & Teen
Work experience
Freelance copy-editor and proofreader
Self-employed
May, 1998
–
Present
(almost 21 years)
I have been freelancing for HarperCollins and other major publishers for nearly twenty years now, proofreading and editing titles both in the traditional style on paper, and increasingly on-screen. I have also had stints of working in-house as an editor and editorial manager, covering for holidays and maternity leave as and when needed. I also worked as part of a team recoding texts for digital use, and am now working on an ongoing basis for the Killer Reads team, which publishes crime fiction straight to eBook. I have also worked on historical fiction, romantic fiction, fantasy fiction and some non-fiction titles. Below is just a small sample of the titles I have either edited or proofread over the years.
In addition to my work for HarperCollins and other mainstream publishers, I have recently been working with a friend on her memoirs, and also a selection of short stories. These are yet to be published, but the work has involved a certain amount to rewriting as well as advice and editorial input on my side.
For pleasure I enjoy reading crime, mystery and suspense, and so my work projects tend towards this genre, however I am just as happy working on other forms of fiction and biography,
Portfolio (27 selected works)
House of Cards
Michael Dobbs
The Number 1 Bestseller that inspired the hit Netflix series starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright. Politics, intrigue and passion in the corridors of power. Chief Whip Francis Urquhart has his hand on every secret in politics - and is willing to betray them all to become prime minister. Mattie Storin is a tenacious young political correspondent. She faces the biggest challenge of her life wh... read more
‘DCI Matilda Darke is the perfect heroine’ Elly Griffiths The second book in Michael Wood’s darkly compelling new crime series featuring DCI Matilda Darke. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid. When elderly George Rainsford goes to investigate a suspicious noise one night, the last thing he expects to find is a bloodbath. A man has been killed and a woman bruta... read more
A darkly compelling psychological thriller, full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of AFTER ANNA and THE GOOD GIRL. There are so many ways to fall... Catriona needs help. Her seventeen-year-old daughter Elena was found dead at the bottom of a cliff near her boarding school. The death has been ruled a suicide, but Catriona isn’t convinced. When her old friend, journalist Alex Devlin, arrive... read more
The Bad Things (Alex Devlin, Book 1)
Mary-Jane Riley
A darkly compelling psychological thriller, full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of THE WICKED GIRLS by Alex Marwood and THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT by Kate Hamer. Alex Devlin’s life changed forever fifteen years ago when her sister Sasha's two small children were snatched in broad daylight. Little Harry’s body was found a few days later, but Millie’s remains were never discovered. Now Jack... read more
The Toy Taker (DI Sean Corrigan, Book 3)
Luke Delaney
The third novel in the DI Sean Corrigan series – authentic and terrifying crime fiction with a psychological edge, by an ex-Met detective. Perfect for fans of Mark Billingham, Peter James and Stuart MacBride. Your child has been taken... Snatched in the dead of night from the safety of the family home. There’s no sign of forced entry, no one heard or saw a thing. DI Sean Corrigan investigates.... read more
Louisa Young, the best-selling author of MY DEAR I WANTED TO TELL YOU is also the granddaughter of the celebrated sculptor, Kathleen Scott. In A Great Task of Happiness: The Life of Kathleen Scott she tells us about an extraordinary woman and a celebrated artist. Kathleen Scott led a remarkable life despite an unremarkable start as a Victorian girl in a normal, middle class family; but she wen... read more
Tuesday Falling
S. Williams
‘An awe-inspiring main character...I recommend it hugely!’ SHARON BOLTON ‘I could not put it down. Totally loved it. Excellent writing, brilliant story’ ANGELA MARSONS A relentless thriller that will grip you by the throat and refuse to let go! Perfect for fans of SILENT SCREAM by Angela Marsons, and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO. You’ve never met anyone like Tuesday. She has suffered extrem... read more
My Dear I Wanted to Tell You
Louisa Young
A letter, two lovers, a terrible lie. In war, truth is only the first casualty. ‘Inspires the kind of devotion among its readers not seen since David Nicholls’ One Day’ The Times While Riley Purefoy and Peter Locke fight for their country, their survival and their sanity in the trenches of Flanders, Nadine Waveney, Julia Locke and Rose Locke do what they can at home. Beautiful, obsessive Julia... read more
I Am No Longer Myself Without You: How Men Love Women
Jonathan Rutherford
Why do words fail men when they need them most? Why is the subject of what men want emotionally, shrouded in silence? This is a book that attempts, in the style of Blake Morrison and Richard Rayner, to put men’s experience of Love into words. ’A slim, elegantly written account, packed with quotations from poetry, fiction, cinema, items from newspapers, popular culture and personal anecdote, wh... read more
Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow
Tony Parsons
Seven short stories from bestselling author Tony Parsons, based on his week as Writer in Residence at Heathrow airport. Here is Heathrow as it has never been seen before – a secret city populated by the 75 million travellers who pass through every year, a place where journeys and dreams end – and begin.From the brilliant twenty-something kids who control the skies up in Air Traffic Control to ... read more
‘Powerful story telling with a dark mystery at its heart’ Amanda Hodgkinson, New York Times bestselling author of SPILT MILK Twelve years ago Joycie Todd’s mother abandoned her. But what if she never really left? A tautly written psychological suspense novel, perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Alex Lake. London, 1965. Top model Joycie Todd lives a glittering life with photographer Marcus Blake... read more
A No.1 e-book bestseller, perfect for fans of HER by Harriet Lane and IN A DARK DARK WOOD by Ruth Ware. Two suburban women. Two dark secrets. The almost perfect murder. Everybody needs good neighbours... Melissa and Hester have lived next door to each other for years. When Melissa’s daughter was younger, Hester was almost like a grandmother to her. But recently they haven’t been so close. Hest... read more
The Case of the Gilded Fly
Edmund Crispin
A VINTAGE MURDER MYSTERYAs inventive as Agatha Christie, as hilarious as P.G. Wodehouse – discover the delightful detective stories of Edmund Crispin. Crime fiction at its quirkiest and best.Yseut Haskell, a pretty but spiteful young actress with a talent for destroying men's lives, is found dead in a college room just metres from the office of unconventional Oxford don and amateur detective, ... read more
‘DCI Matilda Darke is the perfect heroine’ Elly Griffiths The third book in Michael Wood’s darkly compelling crime series featuring DCI Matilda Darke. Perfect for fans of Stuart MacBride, Mark Billingham and Val McDermid. Eight killers. One house. And the almost perfect murder... Feared by the people of Sheffield, Starling House is home to some of Britain’s deadliest teenagers, still too young... read more
Spring at Blueberry Bay
Holly Martin
Welcome to beautiful Hope Island where the sea sparkles, the daffodils are blooming and a blossoming romance is just around the corner…Bella has always had a sunny outlook and caring nature, despite recently falling on hard times. When she finds a handsome homeless man on her doorstep, her kind heart tells her she must help him. So, she invites Isaac into her cottage and into her life in ways ... read more
Don't Stop Me Now
Colleen Coleman
A hilarious feel good read about making lemonade when life gives you lemons, and finding the silver lining in every cloud. Poppy Bloom planned to finish her PhD and walk straight into a job at her university. But here she is, unemployed, unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend, and living back at her mum’s in her vampire-themed childhood bedroom. Not exactly what she was hoping for. But when P... read more
The Bad Mother
Isabelle Grey
Are there secrets that should never be told? If so, how far must a mother go to keep them? Tessa Parker runs a successful B&B in a seaside town. During a surprise visit, a long-lost aunt lets slip a family secret with devastating consequences. Navigating her own turmoil at a crucial moment in her children's lives, Tessa's search for her birth father forces her to decide who she really wants to... read more
For My Brother's Sins
Sheelagh Kelly
The second in the bestselling Feeney Family sagas. How one treacherous act can turn a brother’s love into murderous rage...Summer, 1867: a sudden change in fortune promises to save the Feeneys from their life of poverty. But what will save the Feeney family from itself? Patrick and Thomasin Feeney and their children, Erin, Richard and Sonny, each have different dreams – and as these dreams gro... read more
Dead Souls
Angela Marsons
The truth was dead and buried…until now.When a collection of human bones is unearthed during a routine archaeological dig, a Black Country field suddenly becomes a complex crime scene for Detective Kim Stone.As the bones are sorted, it becomes clear that the grave contains more than one victim. The bodies hint at unimaginable horror, bearing the markings of bullet holes and animal traps.Forced... read more
The Spy's Daughter
Adam Brookes
'Authentic, taut and compelling. Brookes is the real deal'Charles CummingThe stunning third novel from multi-award-nominated author Adam Brookes is paranoid, tense and spy fiction at its very finest.In many ways, Pearl Tao was a typical American child. She spent summer days at the pool, played softball and lingered at suburban barbecues in her home city of Washington DC. Yet she is also an aca... read more
The Babysitter
Sheryl Browne
You trust her with your family. Would you trust her with your life?Mark and Melissa Cain are thrilled to have found Jade, a babysitter who is brilliant with their young children. Having seen her own house burn to the ground, Jade needs them as much as they need her. Moving Jade into the family home can only be a good thing, can’t it?As Mark works long hours as a police officer and Melissa stru... read more
Frankie's Manor
Anna King
She loved two men on different sides of the law...Rose Kennedy was lucky to have two men she could trust. Keeping her job as a barmaid in the East End wasn’t easy, but with the support of her sweetheart Jack Adams, a local constable, and Frankie Buchanan, whom she loves like a brother, she dreams of a bright future.But there is no love lost between the men. Hackney is ‘Frankie’s manor’ and bec... read more
A Party In San Niccolo
Christobel Kent
The Pit-Prop Syndicate (Detective Club Crime Classics)
Freeman Wills Crofts
From the Collins Crime Club archive, the third standalone novel by Freeman Wills Crofts, dubbed ‘The King of Detective Story Writers’. Seymour Merriman’s holiday in France comes to an abrupt halt when his motorcycle starts leaking petrol. Following a lorry to find fuel, he discovers that it belongs to an English company making timber pit-props for coal mines back home. His suspicions of illega... read more
Specials: Based on the BBC TV Drama Series: The complete novels in one volume
Brian Degas, Harry Robertson
This novel, based on the groundbreaking BBC TV drama series, shows how it takes both guts and a sense of humour to become a part-time policeman. It was adapted by the series’ creators from all twelve episodes, four of which are published here for the first time. ‘You’ll learn what it’s like out there in the streets, and we’ll learn whether you’re competent to wear the uniform.’ From nine to fi... read more
The perfect neighbours tell the perfect lies... A top ten Kindle bestseller. A dark and twisty psychological thriller from a rising star in the genre, perfect for fans of THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR. When Helen moves into an exciting new neighbourhood, she finds herself in a web of evil with no escape. Behind the shutters lies a devastating secret... When Helen moves abroad with her loving husband Ga... read more
Gunmetal Gray
Mark Greaney
Mark Greaney, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy's recent Jack Ryan novels, delivers another breakneck thriller following the world's deadliest assassin - the Gray Man.After five years on the run, 'The Gray Man' - Court Gentry - is back on the inside at the CIA. His first mission makes him wish he wasn't, when a pair of Chinese agents try to take him down in Hong Kong. Norm... read more
Loma has 4 reviews
Professionalism
Quality
Value
Communication
While her edit was more of a guideline than a full edit, she has helped me to bring the book down to a reasonable length while keeping many of the important messages within the story. She made many comments for me to review and have changed many things according to her perspective, without needing to challenge or question her decisions much. I would say this collaboration was a success, despite...
Read moreLuke Belsten, October 2018
Thank you for this, Luke. I hoped I at least managed to fulfil some of the things the book required. It really did require a full rewrite in places rather than an edit, and that was not requested. For the price, I did as much as I could to make suggestions as to how content/expression could be improved, so I am glad you found this useful. I do tend to suggestion rather than full intervention, which most authors prefer. After all, when all is said and done, it remains the author's book. I suggest you have it proofread at least before it hits the marketplace. Good luck with it!
Reply from Loma Halden
What a brilliant editing experience I've had with Loma! She is extremely professional, gave me updates on her progress and has been so helpful in tidying up my manuscript. I can't thank her enough.
Read moreMiranda Rijks, May 2018
Excellent communication, professional editing, and a pleasure to work with
Read morePete Duncan, February 2018
Loma is a consummate professional. She's a pleasure to deal with, and highly recommended.
Read moreSimon Collinson, April 2017
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