Hi there and welcome 

I’d like to share a little about myself and how I’ve ended up here. Reading for a living! I was born in Oxfordshire in the UK to a mum who was a writer, and a dad in the civil service. My whole life was about reading and writing until I embarked on a career in nursing. Then it became just about reading, with writing going on the backburner for many years. There were a couple of points when I tried to write again, but by then I had become so familiar with academic and report style of writing that it was almost impossible to write any other way. I abandoned it, thinking the skill of writing had left me forever. Then I got diagnosed with breast cancer.

Bummer.
At the time, I was in the first year of a Doctorate, but it had to go on hold whilst I went through treatment. One day I was having a coffee break with two colleagues in the café across the road from the hospital, when one of them, a social worker, laughingly suggested I give the Doctorate up and take up creative writing instead. She was a writer, and enjoyed talking about it, but had no idea this was something I used to do.

I can remember now, sitting there, at a three-person table near the window. The café was busy, the coffee had just been delivered to the table, and there was a buzz of chatter around us. I just looked at her and something in my expression made her ask me if I’d ever done creative writing. An odd sensation bloomed in my chest as I declared that yes, I used to. And my mum wrote. And my step-father had also been a prolific writer. In fact, I’d grown up with writing.

There was a surprised silence, then she asked me if I already had something in mind I’d like to write and I said, yes, I’d had a story in my head for a few years but after one poor attempt, I’d aborted it.

She gave me an appraising stare and declared if I had a story in my head, I was a writer and that I should abandon the Doctorate and write it. I was already undergoing a shift in my personal outlook because of the cancer so I was ripe for such a suggestion and within two weeks I’d withdrawn from the Doctorate. Oh the relief! And the joy of allowing myself the freedom to write for pleasure!

I did a creative writing course through the Australian Writers Centre then embarked on my first novel. Of course, if you’re writing it’s helpful to join a writers’ group so that you can learn from other people’s critique of your work. And so that’s what I did next. It took a couple of false starts before I found the group I was happy with and a year or so later, I had my next epiphany.

One of the writers remarked on how quick I was to critique and return a chapter when she put it into the group. I told her that I just loved the process of editing and critiquing and looked forward to getting a new piece of work to review. It was true. Even in my nursing career the opportunities for editing are widespread: brochures, flyers, reports, policies, procedures, etc. and I took them all on with great delight. People got to know that I was good at it, and I was approached frequently to run my editing eye over a document.

My fellow writer laughed and said, so why not do it professionally?
Um, what?!

She talked with enthusiasm about how I could set up a business, and by the time she’d finished, I was filled with excitement.

Could I do that? Honestly?
Well, yes, turns out I can.  I’m still writing, which I see as a strength in an editor. Because I get it. I really do: It’s tough handing your hard work over to someone else. But hey, I used to wear a badge that said, “Trust me. I’m a nurse.” 

And now I like to say: Trust me. I’m your editor.