I have more than 20 years of professional editing experience, primarily for international development projects with a focus on health, food security, and child labor. As a member of a writing critique group that was established more than 20 years ago, I have read and critiqued manuscripts in genres ranging from fantasy and science fiction to mystery and memoir. My education includes a BA in English and a Poynter ACES Certificate in Editing. My biggest editing pet peeves are improperly using the word “its” and non-parallel construction, and I am a champion of the Oxford comma.
I have been writing for most of my life. At age 12, I won my first writing contest, a local contest in my small hometown in Massachusetts calling for stories written in the style of Edgar Allan Poe. Thus began my love of stories that are dark and fantastical. I believe genre fiction can be just as well written and valuable as literature. The universal themes of love, hate, revenge, and redemption are present regardless of whether characters live in the distant future, on other planets, or in fantastical realms.
Some of my favorite authors (and this is hardly an exhaustive list) include JRR Tolkien, Mark Lawrence, Seanan McGuire, Ursula K LeGuin, Octavia Butler, HP Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Jack Kerouac, Diana Gabaldon, Anne Rice (primarily the first three books of the vampire series), and Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist, of course, helped inspire my fascination with pickpockets).
A native New Englander, I currently live in Maryland and always wish for more snow.
Cindy Young-Turner 