Fiction Projects

The coolest part of my job? I get to snuggle with my puppy and read a good book, then I just say I was doing a fiction project and call it work!

I have been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy since I was young. However, I enjoy any book where the women are strong, realistic portrayals of the fabulous women I have in my life.

Disclaimer: Getting a book published can be a timely process. Many of the fiction projects I work on are still being finalized. Sometimes I never even get the actual title. I have provided links where I can. I love to promote my author-clients!

Science Fiction and Fantasy

As I said above, this is my favorite area of fiction. I grew up on Anne McCaffrey and Tamora Pierce. I went through a Heinlein and Asimov phase. A dear friend of mine introduced me to JR Ward and Nalini Singh. The year I lived within walking distance of my local library, I started at the A’s, where I fell in love with Cat Adams, Jim Butcher, and later Kevin Hearne’s work.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy

I was very fortunate to be recommended to Greg Alldredge. He is a prolific author. I have lost track of how many series of his I have gotten to work on. I can recommend his Ostinato Trilogy, or if you like it darker, Fractured Lands. He’s had some shorter works making it through the epic story lines in his head, including a dystopic fantasy adventure and a paranormal western.  Even a horror title!

In other sci-fi worlds, editing a book with a fully alien race, not even humanoid, was a fun challenge. It is still in progress, and I promised the author I wouldn’t say more about it… I also worked on a hard science fiction series about genetic engineering. (Nerd alert: I loved it!)  Alldredge is also over in this lane, with a great series of stories all taking place on a space station.  Lots of fun.

Paranormal

JL Adams has left me hanging on a couple of these books. I can’t wait to see where they end up.

Most of the paranormal fiction I have edited has involved shifters (a lot of werebears, actually) but there has been a vampire book.

Time Travel

I debated whether to include these under the paranormal heading. I think magical realism would also be a good fit. But I went with Christa Bedwin’s Amazon listings and chose time travel. She most recently released Idelle’s Inheritance, and I cannot wait to read (oops, I mean work on) the others she has planned for this series. She is also working on another one in the universe of Caterina’s Renaissance—it’s fun!  Plus there’s a dragon…

Dragons

Speaking of dragons and as a fan of Anne McCaffrey, I feel like this just needs its own category!  Plus I just had so much fun working on this book.  William Culbertson has a new title in his dragon-bound universe.  I was honored to be asked to do a sensitivity read for his first female main character.  And let me tell you, he hit it out of the park!  I’ll post a link when it goes up, but for now you can sate yourself on his other works.

Steampunk Fantasy

Greg Alldredge has completed his steampunk series, and it even has a spinoff!  I started editing these two series in the middle, but I can’t wait to find the time to start them from the beginning!  I also heard there might be more, at least the spinoffs…

Romance Fiction

There are so many genres of fiction! Amazon has 27, but some of them have subgenres. And there is a bit of a crossover. I mean, you can have an action-packed romance or a romantic action and adventure novel. I’ve chosen to keep anything with a fantastical element out of here. Head back up for those works.

Western Romance

Have you heard of the mail-order bride genre? After the Civil War, there were a lot of men out west in America, but most of the women were on the east coast. So periodicals cropped up to help them find each other, sort of an old timey Match.com. My favorites are the ones who include a feisty heroine who wanted to live life on her own terms.

Regency Romance

The dates of the Regency era of England are debatable. Some people want them to only refer to the reign of the Prince Regent from 1811 to 1820. Others include a time of specific trends in various cultural elements (fashion, politics, architecture) which stretch from 1795 to 1837. Either way, this is a grand time of dukes and viscounts and the ladies trying to win their hearts during the Season.

Victorian Romance

Just after the Regency (the extended period) came Queen Victoria’s reign.  It was a time of moral standards, so there is a lot of concern about propriety.  These books seem to have less focus on the peerage and more on the lower and middle classes. In fact, as one of my publishers said to me, it’s more about just trying to survive at times.

Amish Romance and Mysteries

I am going to include the mysteries here, because there is usually a romantic element to them. Amish society is fascinating, and it is wunderbar to learn the Pennsylvania Dutch that is scattered throughout.

Contemporary Christian Romance

These and the Amish fiction that I edit are set in the year they were written. You may have noticed that most of the other romance is historical fiction. Also in common with the Amish books, at least one character in each story has a strong Christian faith.

Scottish Romance

Made so very popular right now by STARZ’s Outlander series, Scottish romance novels can take place over a wide range of centuries (roughly 800–1600). Ah dinnae ken why people are only now becoming interested in my ancestors’ home, but I can say that I had a lot of fun editing a book set in Inveraray Castle.

Other Romance

So far, I have edited a few billionaire romance novels (I get it—marrying a rich person would be helpful for some things, like my travel habit), romance in the medical world, a BDSM erotica novel, and a couple sports romances (specifically, baseball and basketball).

Fifty Shades made the world a lot more familiar with BDSM and had the people talking publicly about erotica novels. If you had some issues with Fifty Shades or would like to get a better introduction into the world of BDSM, I highly recommend Allure. The characters are well crafted and the plot was good enough that my mom enjoyed it… almost.

Other

So far, there are only a few fiction titles I have edited that don’t fall into romantic or fantastical works.

The first is a Western series.  It is so much fun!  While it mentioned mail-order brides in one of the books, there has been almost no romance at all.  The damsel in distress was reunited with her fiancé in one book, and the main character dabbled in a love affair in another. That’s it so far!

The second made me so excited to even see this was a genre: YA eco-fiction! This book told the story of a girl who could hear and understand animals, and they all helped save a little wetland ecosystem in her backyard. I hope this genre takes off like Harry Potter!

Finally, I was entrusted with the work of a new author. Her goal is to create children’s books that talk about how an older sibling can help with a new baby in the family.  More importantly, she wants every child in the world to be able to see themselves in one of her books. So she has partnered with an illustrator to show boys and girls of different colors watching their baby siblings grow! It was such a delight to work on these.