About Shirley Kennedy

• Author of 7 books, published by either Signet (Penguin) or Ballantine (Random House.)
   

• Graduate of the University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with a BSc in Computer Sciences.  In addition, two years at University of California, Berkeley, majoring in English.
   

• Permanent judge for Romance Writers of America Golden Heart and Rita contests.  Have judged countless contests in all genres.
   

• Thirty years experience editing manuscripts ranging from romance to mystery, historicals, men's adventure, hard-boiled P.I. and more.
   

     While attending UC, I had a crusty old English professor who downgraded his students over the slightest mistake in composition, grammar, syntax, and content.  He taught me a lot.  Since then, I, myself, have been a stickler for excellence in English; so it follows that when I edit a manuscript, I catch all errors, however slight.  Of course we all know that in this day and age, writing rules are made to be broken and often are.  (I break them myself--a lot.)  Still, I contend if you're going to be a writer, you had better know the rules before you start to break them. 

WHAT I EVALUATE IN YOUR MANUSCRIPT:

• Content
  Does your story invite curiosity?

• Organization
  Are events clearly connected?  Does the ending tie the story together well?

• Sentence structure
  For example, are there too many short sentences with no variety?

• Paragraph structure
  Should be consistent, each with new idea.

• Vocabulary
  Do words and expressions create vivid and effective images?

• Conventions
  Here's where spelling, grammar, & punctuation come in.

• Presentation
  Have the rules for manuscript presentation been followed?

     Does the story flow?  Is the pacing too fast?  Too slow?  There's more, but the most important part of my evaluation cannot be found in the items listed above.  You may have broken all the rules, but what really counts is:  does your story fly?  Have you left Bland City (where, sadly, many writers dwell ) and soared to new heights with a story so enticing, so compelling, that the reader won't be able to put your book down?

     If you have, I will gladly tell you.  If you have not but are close, or maybe even not so close, I'll tell you that, too, with advice on how to improve.

     What if your writing is beyond atrocious?  It happens.  Over the years, I have seen some horrifically bad writing and privately thought, this writer must NEVER quit his day job!  Yet no writer is hopeless, especially one who is dedicated to the craft and sincerely wants to improve.  In an honest but kind-as-possible manner, I will suggest methods to improve even the most poorly written manuscript. (See Samples.)  I do not give "puff" critiques, though, so if you're overly sensitive, better not come to me.

MY BOOKS:

Three Wishes for Miss Winthrop, ISBN 0-451-20938-9, Signet
Lady Flora’s Fantasy, ISBN 0451-20463-8, Signet
The Irish Upstart, ISBN 0-451-20280-5, Signet
The Selfless Sister, ISBN 0-451-20138-8 Signet
The Rebellious Twin, ISBN 0-451-19899-9 Signet
The London Belle,ISBN 0-451-19836-0 Signet
Lady Semple’s Secret, ISBN 0-449-22830-4 Ballantine