“It was a dark and stormy night,” Snoopy wrote over and over, the sentence forming the first line of all his unpublished novels. And apart from a few disconnected attempts at a fuller story, something about a maid, a pirate ship, and a Kansas farm boy, the beloved cartoon beagle seemed to be a bit stuck. If only he had found an editor who could have helped him develop his ideas and give him direction. But, alas, Charlie Brown’s dog only had Lucy who told him to avoid clichés and start his story with “Once upon a time.”

“It was a dark and stormy night,” Snoopy wrote over and over, the sentence forming the first line of all his unpublished novels. And apart from a few disconnected attempts at a fuller story, something about a maid, a pirate ship, and a Kansas farm boy, the beloved cartoon beagle seemed to be a bit stuck. If only he had found an editor who could have helped him develop his ideas and give him direction. But, alas, Charlie Brown’s dog only had Lucy who told him to avoid clichés and start his story with “Once upon a time.”

Unlike Snoopy, you don’t have to depend on a bossy neighborhood girl to help bring out the best in your book and ensure it says what you want it to say. Darkness and storms notwithstanding, as an editor with twenty years of experience, I would love to see how I might be able to help you with your project – whether you are looking for an overall assessment, or a developmental edit or a line edit, or a helping hand in conceiving your non-fiction book proposal, or a pair of fresh eyes and an attentive ear.

Over the years, I have had the privileged opportunity to work with a remarkable group of writers worldwide. Prior to striking out on my own, I was Senior Editor with the imprint Nan A. Talese (Doubleday/Random House). Under its eponymous legendary editor and publisher of Margaret Atwood, Pat Conroy, Ian McEwan, among others, I acquired, edited and published numerous critically acclaimed and bestselling works of literary and “upmarket” fiction as well as narrative non-fiction, biography, and memoir.

My projects to date include winners of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Rosenthal Award, José Saramago Literary Award, Somerset Maugham Award, Orange Award for New Writers, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award; and finalists for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Canada’s Governor General’s Award, Shirley Jackson Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, The Guardian First Book Award, Danish Golden Laurels, the Edgar Award, and the Booker Prize.

While my areas of interest are eclectic and broad-ranging, subject matter that I am particularly drawn to, both in fiction and non-fiction, touch upon art, nature, science, animals, foreign affairs, travel, and other cultures.

I am the author of Mouse Muse: The Mouse in Art (The Monacelli Press). My book was inspired by the tiny wildlife in the Litchfield Hills of Northwest Connecticut, where I live with my husband and two dogs who have no literary aspirations of their own.