Rachel

Looking to Critique

1) ‘Inferno’ – a young adult novel (paranormal romance) based in the modern day, aimed at 12-15 year olds. It is part of The Gateway Trilogy (Book 1 is complete, Book 2 almost complete and Book 3 at an early draft stage). There are elements of humour and mystery, and it also explores how to deal with the loss of a parent

2) ‘Freak or Robot’ – a humorous book for 9-12s about a child genius who learns that his family is not quite what it seems and that he is being groomed for a role he is not sure he wants to take.

I am a seasoned pro!

Yes, I’m serious about getting published

Deep critique. I am experienced with critiquing., Regular feedback

Enforced structure and deadlines

Weekly

I am unpublished as a fiction writer (except for winning one short story competition) but I have ten years experience as an advertising copywriter and freelance writer/editor. I probably write about 10, 000 words per week, but fewer than half of these are on my fiction projects.

Neil Gaiman, Sarah Waters, Anthony Horowitz, Rick Riordan, Philip Pullman, Roald Dahl, David Walliams and many more

I have a hugely eclectic taste in books. I love kids authors like Roald Dahl and David Walliams for their sense of fun; I like the ‘vampire’ stuff for teens; I loved Steig Larson’s trilogy and JDRobb’s series. I also adore the classics – Wuthering Heights, Tess of the D’Urbevilles, Great Expectations etc. My top 3 books ever would probably be – Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel, An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears and The Giver by Lois Lowry

I’m a 30-something mother of 2, who peaked young (with 11 A grade GCSEs, 5 A grade A-levels, a degree and an MA from Oxford and a postgrad from Cambridge) and has been getting steadily lazier and dafter ever since.

I began my career in advertising, where I worked as a planner and a copywriter.

When I had my kids, I tried to find a job with better hours and worked as a PA to the Governors in Whatton sex-offenders prison for a while, before retraining as a Secondary School teacher in English Lit & Lang.

Teaching was incredibly rewarding on the good days, but utterly soul-destroying on the bad, so when my husband was offered a job in Dubai I agreed to move out here.

I now work freelance as a writer and editor and also do a bit of stand-up comedy. I have spent the last year working on a YA trilogy, and have recently started work on a ‘funny’ book for 9-12 year olds, because I want to write something my kids can read.

I’m pretty confident about my ability to write and I think my ideas are good (I have submitted to 6 agents, 4 of whom asked for the whole manuscript – but sadly none of them wanted to take things any further). What I’m looking for is an experienced critique partner who can help me ensure that what I’m writing is the kind of thing teens want to read and agents want to represent!

I find it easy to see opportunities for improvement in other people’s work, and my years in teaching have given me an idea what interests this age group. I’m just finding it hard to apply this to my own work and would love someone to look at it with fresh eyes.

@rachelindubai

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