Writing can be a bit of a solitary business and I really value having Mary to bounce ideas off. Her insight and thoughtful feedback have helped me identify multiple ways that my stories can be improved. Two of the books she’s worked on with me have gone on to be traditionally published and I’m currently working through the third.

I’ve worked with Mary for around a dozen books now. It’s gotten to the point where I hear her voice while I’m writing. “What does that mean?” she says, or “Will we learn more about this?”, or, “Why did they do that?”.

Mary doesn’t just give me criticisms. She also includes little notes from the reader perspective. The bits that made her laugh or smile or cry. These comments can be just as important as the criticisms. They tell me when I’m getting it right.

I always brace myself before opening Mary’s edits because I know they’re going to contain a lot of hard work for me. She provokes me into thinking more deeply about things I might have glossed over previously, and she encourages me to dig deeper. You know the thing that always drives me crazy? When she asks why. Why did you say that? What does that mean? Half the time, the answer is “I don’t know, it just sounded cool/mysterious/interesting”, but it makes me justify myself. I really appreciate her insights and she so often comments on something that seems perfectly obviously once she points it out, but I wasn’t able to see it before.