About
“The owl of Minerva takes its flight only when the shades of night are gathering.”
G. W. F. Hegel
Meet your editor
Hi, writers! My name is Gabriella, and I’m a CIEP-qualified editor specialising in fiction and creative non-fiction. I’m based in London but my client base is worldwide, and I regularly edit manuscripts in US and UK English. My niches are memoir and speculative fiction, but I thrive on variety – I cannot overstate how much! – and I approach my work as I try to approach life in general: perpetually curious, a student of everything.
Following an academic start – I have a Master’s and most of a PhD in English literature and taught English language and music theory for six years – I studied copyediting with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, the UK’s professional body for editing.
My approach to every manuscript is non-prescriptive, attuned to the author’s preferences and intentions, and rooted in a deep appreciation for language, style, and heart. I live by the mantra, learn as if you were to live forever. And my goal as your editor is simple: bring out the very best in your writing.
With a background in project management and developmental editing, and an enduring fascination with the processes and techniques of creative writing, I bring to bear on every project a deep knowledge of what makes a story great, what makes one memorable, and what makes one last.
And we’re all storytellers, aren’t we? Not just the novelists and raconteurs among us, but those of us seeking to communicate to other hearts and minds the tale of who we are and what we believe in. In our blogging, our marketing, our business and brand creation, our well-chosen words are often our only ambassadors, carrying our values, meanings, and ideas to our readers.
So, please contact me and let’s discuss how I can help bring your vision to life and ensure your story is the best version of itself it can be.
Night Owl refers to a nocturnal turn of mind, the flight of thought at dusk or dawn when normal limits to thinking relax, dreams take shape, and magic happens. It’s about retreating from ordinary day to take stock of all that’s bright and known, stretching out the time before the rush and routine of life begin again. It’s about stars at the window, writing as the sun or moon rises, indulging that deep need to read the whole night through.*
I’m trading too, of course, on the age-old association of owls with wisdom, a rich and storied tradition that stretches back through countless cultures to ancient Greece, to the little owl of mythic Athena. Athene noctua: symbol of insight and knowledge. Athena’s owl served as familiar and guide to the warrior goddess of wisdom and crafts, perching on her shoulder and enriching her natural wisdom by revealing hidden truths and protecting her blind side as she plunged into battle.
Yes, yes, maybe Night Owl’s also a little about too much coffee and indulging a waking obsession with all things language and literature. But it’s mainly a reminder that your editor is supposed to be your helpmate and familiar, not your boss or your enemy. After all, as every good editor knows, we tend to enter the scene at twilight. Like Hegel’s Owl of Minerva (Athena’s Roman counterpart), the editor swoops in after the hard work of creation is done to protect your blind side and help your writing dreams take wing.
* In metaphor or wishful thinking alone, of course, or at least only very occasionally in reality (please sleep responsibly).