Think of them as three stages, each with a distinct job:

Line & Copy Editing is the deep work—sentence-level polish for clarity, flow, consistency, and voice. This is where the heavy lifting happens, and it comes first.

Final Proofreading is the last set of eyes before publication. Your story is locked at this point—we’re catching what slipped through. Typos, missing words, punctuation quirks. Light touch, but critical.

Manuscript Formatting QA is a visual pass on your final files—spacing, margins, chapter breaks, overall layout. Because a formatting hiccup in the final product is the last thing you or your readers need.

The short version: editing shapes your story, proofreading polishes it, formatting QA makes sure it looks as good as it reads.

Spellcheck and editing programs are useful tools—I use them too! But they’re still just tools, and they can only catch what they’re programmed to recognize.

An editor looks at your manuscript like an actual reader would, critical eye and all. That means catching things automated programs often miss, such as inconsistent character details, awkward phrasing, overused and repeated words, dialogue flow issues, formatting inconsistencies, timeline slips, missing words or incorrect words that pass “spellcheck,” and the small continuity problems that can pull readers out of a story because they’re like “Huh?”

Editing also isn’t about making your writing sound robotic or overly polished. A good editor helps strengthen clarity, consistency, and readability while preserving your voice—especially in romance, where tone, pacing, chemistry, and emotional flow matter so much.

It’s good to think of editing software as a helpful first pass. A human editor and proofreader, however, is the final quality check before your book reaches readers to ensure your work reads like it came straight out of a trad publishing house.

In short: No. Absolutely not. To both questions.

Re: AI and my editing —

The closest I will ever come to utilizing AI in any capacity while I edit or proof is when I hit something in a manuscript that requires me to google for clarity or understanding. Google automatically engages AI tools in their search engines now, which collect and summarize information from across the entire Web. While I do not rely exclusively on Google’s AI search engine summaries, I will review them in an effort to guide my research/next steps.

For example: if an author I am working with is from Canada, England, or any other English-speaking area of the world in which I do not live and they are using words, terms, idioms, or other phrasing unfamiliar to me, I will utilize Google to research so I can make fully informed editing decisions.

I may also use Google to confirm an editing choice I am making is the best one—such as around proper punctuation use (getting hyphens right in conversational, contemporary fiction writing is hard even for editors, y’all!) or confirming a particular word is, in fact, actually a homophone for the word the author meant to use.

Beyond the occasional Google search, I am proud to say that my long history of editing experience (and ADHD hyper-fixation on editing rules and functions in general) mean gen AI is useless to me and can get fucked.

Re: Writers who utilize AI —

I am adamantly against the use of gen AI in the creation of written fiction, and I make sure that the authors I work with also have an open stance against gen AI.

Additionally, after many, many years of working in corporate technical editing and copywriting environments (where, in recent years, AI has sadly been embraced with open arms), I feel I am uniquely positioned to identify obvious cases of gen AI and will address it accordingly with any author hoping to work with me.

That said, I am human like the rest of you, and AI has gotten scary good at tricking even the most astute among us. So, while I cannot prove without a shadow of a doubt that AI was not used in the works I support, I can confidently say that I do my best due diligence to ensure the books I edit are 100% human written.

Boy howdy, am I. The spicier, the better, baby. (But also totally on board with zero spice, you sweet, sweet, closed-door queens.)

As a romance reader myself, who loves everything—from no- to low-spice books like Abby Jimenez’s The Night We Met and Holly Black’s Tithe, to toe-curling, blush-worthy books like Kate Stewart’s “The Ravenhood” series and Rina Kent’s God of Fury—what matters to me most when editing s*x scenes is ensuring the physical logistics, continuity, and pacing keep your readers engaged and entranced from beginning to end.

Additionally, queer stories? Yes, please, and thank you. And in whatever way I can be of service in refining the works of queer authors, especially, I am so very down.

Finally, I welcome every romance genre (monsters? stalkers? shifters? oh my!) and love a dark and/or taboo storyline that really pushes the boundaries of basic propriety. That said, there are some hard lines I have regarding content, and TBH it’s a pretty short fuckin’ list:

🚫 Glorification or fetishization of SA against children This means showing, in any capacity beyond establishing the traumatic history of an MC, the abuse of anyone <17 y/o. We are not about to put child SA meant to titillate out into the world, folks!

🚫 Detailed descriptions of animal abuse Like, okay. Kill the dog, fine—I won’t be happy about it, but fine—yet if you want to include detailed descriptions of dog fighting or the dog being tortured… no thank you!)

Beyond that? LFG!

Every project starts with your inquiry—once we’ve connected and confirmed we’re a good fit (and if you’re new, that free 1,000-word sample edit is a great way to get there), we’ll nail down your timeline, scope, and service needs.

From there, here’s how it typically flows:

1. You send me your manuscript as a Word document
2. I edit using Track Changes so every suggestion is visible, reviewable, and yours to accept or reject
3. I return your edited manuscript along with any notes or observations worth flagging
4. We do a brief check-in to make sure everything landed well and your questions are answered

Simple, transparent, and designed to keep you in the driver’s seat of your own book.

I work primarily in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx), which is the industry standard for editorial work and makes Track Changes easy to use and review. If your manuscript lives somewhere else—like Google Docs—I can work with an exported Word file. Just reach out and we’ll figure out the smoothest handoff for your workflow.

Yes—always. Track Changes is non-negotiable for me because your manuscript is yours. Every edit I make is visible, and every suggestion is yours to accept, reject, or push back on. You should never open a returned manuscript and find your work silently rewritten. That’s not editing—that’s overwriting. With Track Changes, you stay in control of every decision.

For line and copy editing, your manuscript should be as complete and polished as you can make it on your own—meaning a full draft that’s gone through at least one round of your own revisions. I’m not a developmental editor, so if your story still needs significant structural work (plot holes, pacing overhauls, major character reworking), that’s worth addressing before we work together.

For final proofreading and formatting QA, your manuscript should be fully edited and either formatted or in final production files.

Not sure if you’re ready? Send me an inquiry anyway—I’m happy to take a look and give you an honest read on where you’re at.

Absolutely not—and I mean that protectively, not just professionally. Your voice is the whole point. It’s what makes your book yours, and it’s what your readers are going to fall in love with.

My job is to make your voice clearer, not quieter. I’m here to catch the things that get in the way of your story landing the way you intend—not to sand down your edges or make your writing sound like anyone else’s. If something I flag doesn’t feel right to you, trust that instinct. You always have the final say.

Turnaround time depends on the scope of your project—the service type, word count, and my current schedule all factor in. As a general rule:

• Line & Copy Editing typically takes the longest, given the depth of the work involved
• Final Proofreading is a lighter pass and moves faster
• Manuscript Formatting QA is generally the quickest turnaround of the three

When you inquire, I’ll give you a realistic timeline estimate based on your specific project and where you fall on my schedule. I know you’re working toward a publication date, and I take your deadlines seriously.

Both! Whether you’re publishing a standalone or building out a multi-book series, I’m here for it. Series work actually has a special place in my heart—keeping character details, timelines, world-building rules, and continuity consistent across books is exactly the kind of detail-oriented challenge I live for.

The short answer? All of them. Contemporary romance, paranormal romance, historical romance, romantic comedy, LGBTQ+ romance, dark romance, romantasy—if it has a love story at its heart, I’m in.

From the sweetest closed-door romance to the most toe-curling, fan-yourself spice, I read and edit across the full spectrum of the genre. The only thing that matters to me is that your story is human-written and your heart is in it.

Your book, your call—full stop. In the vast majority of cases, if a suggestion doesn’t resonate with you, you reject it and we move on. I edit with Track Changes precisely so that every decision stays in your hands.

That said, there are rare instances where I may push back more firmly—usually around something grammatical or technical where clarity or correctness is genuinely at stake. Even then, I’ll always explain my reasoning. You’re never going to get a silent, unexplained hard line from me. We’ll talk it through, and at the end of the day, your voice and your vision lead.

Possibly—but I want to be upfront with you: rush availability is never guaranteed. My existing clients are counting on me to meet their deadlines too, and I won’t compromise their timelines to squeeze in a rush project.

If you find yourself in a crunch, reach out and tell me what you’re working with. If my schedule can accommodate it, we’ll talk through what’s feasible and what it would cost—rush pricing is negotiable based on the scope of work and the timeline involved. The earlier you flag a tight deadline, the better your chances. When in doubt, inquire!