A. Victoria Mixon, Editor
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  • Amazing me with your competence

    So you guys are kind of blowing me away with your lack of needing Free Edits of your novel Climaxes. I remembered getting a lot more early entries last time. Is it that you have your climaxes just really gorgeously polished? Or is it, as Jordan says with her entry, because it’s so nerve-wracking to throw them out there on the table?

    Was I too hard on Andrew? Is that it? Andrew, did I really take you apart?

    Or were you expecting me to take him apart even more? Are you sitting there thinking, Heck, I could’ve told him THAT?

    Just kidding, Andrew. You did not need to be taken apart any more. I think you were a darn good sport about going first, particularly since I tend to dig deeper on the early ones and get more binary (Yea. Nay. Next.) the more Free Edits I do.

    So, if you’re out there truly and sincerely pleased with your novel climax exactly the way it is, I am truly and sincerely pleased for you. But if you’re still thinking there might be a little work there you could use some help on. . .I’m here for the next week and a half.

    2 Comments

2 Responses to “Amazing me with your competence”

  1. Iapetus999 said on February 3rd, 2010 at 9:42 pm

    Your edit was great! Gave me lots to think about.

    I’ve seen a few people retweet about this so the word’s out there.
    Maybe get some more bloggers involved.

  2. Victoria said on February 3rd, 2010 at 9:49 pm

    Thanks, Andrew! I see it being retweeted, too. I think people hang back to see how badly I’m going to skin you first guys.

    Lady Glamis is hoping to blog about it. And you are also welcome to, of course! I’ve been so busy on editing projects, I didn’t do any pre-publicity on it at all. Also, I’m not a marketer. That explains why nobody’s ever hired me into their marketing department.

    I’m glad you liked the edit! I do want to give writers plenty to think about. Myself, I can never talk about my own fiction enough, so it seems the kindest thing to give a writer is lots and lots of talk about their own work.

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Preditors & Editors

Clients’ Successes

Scott Warrender
Short story author Scott Warrender is a Mentoring Program client. I have done full Copy, Line, & Developmental Editing on a number of short stories for him, the first of which was his poignant fictional memoir of Africa, ''The Boy With the Newsprint Kite,'' now published in the Foundling Review.

Clients’ Books


Bhaichand Patel is the author of two nonfiction books: Chasing the Good Life (Penguin Books India, October, 2006), and Happy Hours (Penguin Books India, October, 2009). I edited Patel's debut novel, When the Streets Were Cold and Dark.

I've edited a number of nonfiction essays for my friend Lucia Orth. (Many years ago, my contribution to Baby Jesus Pawn Shop was simply a peer critique and participation in a standing ovation.)

The poet Chris Ryan is the author of The Bible of Animal Feet (Farfalla Press, 2007). He has recent stories in Pank, Anemone Sidecar, and A Cappella Zoo. I edited Ryan's novel The Ishmael Blade and worked with him on his debut novel Heliophobia and WIP Pogue.