This year marks the 10^th anniversary of St. Lynn’s Press, which started as a gleam in Paul Kelly’s eye and heart and became a reality with the publication of our first book.  I’m proud to say I edited that one and I’ve been the senior editor at St. Lynn’s ever since.  So you could call me an old-timer! In these 10 years it’s been an absolute joy to work with our growing family of great authors, helping to bring their books from the realm of possibility into full-color reality.

Here I’m holding up a brand spanking new book – Cool Flowers!

 

I wasn’t always an editor, though.  Before that, I was an English teacher and a published author – mostly novels, with one biography that has ancient Egypt as its setting.  I still have a number of half-finished novels tucked away in drawers waiting for that “someday” when I’ll return to them…poor neglected babies!

How did I become an editor? Well, I had edited a friend’s first novel and had the best time.  I had always enjoyed analyzing other writers’ styles and narrative devices.  I grew up in a household that valued (obsessed about) words and the mysterious ways of the English language. My parents made it a game for us kids.  My father loved to read to us in the evenings, and that is where I first met Mark Twain and Shakespeare and many, many others I cherish to this day.

Both of my paternal grandparents were writers.  My grandfather used to embarrass my father when he would bring a playmate to the house for the first time; Grandpa would vet the playmate by asking very seriously, “Have you read Byron’s poems?” None of the little boys passed muster. I remember the day Grandpa asked me the same question; I was so pleased that I could say yes.  I was in!

It wasn’t surprising that I became an English teacher and a writer. But over time, I could see that those unfinished novels of mine weren’t going to write themselves and I was finding excuses not to get back to them.  Maybe subconsciously I was looking for another kind of challenge, so when my friend Paul asked me if I would like to edit a book he was interested in publishing, I thought, Why not…sounds like fun.  One thing led to another and here I am, 50-some books later (or is it 60? I’ve lost count) – still loving what I do, still loving “my” authors, who allow me to be a part of their exciting, creative journey into print.  For me, it’s a privilege and an honor.

 

 

 

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