New directions

Having been through the full editing process for my own books , as well as having amassed 8 years as an active member of the East Dulwich Writing Group , it's been a logical step to use those skills and do freelance editorial work.
I'm registered with 2 of the major literary consultancies but am happy to accept direct commissions.
Here's how it works

• You contact me by email so we can discuss how I can best help you
• Assuming we're both happy, you send me your manuscript (double spaced and with page numbers) in the post
• I email you my report, which will be a minimum of 3,000 words, within the next week or so
  
• We have further email discussions to clarify any points raised in the report, culminating in a phone conversation

I charge £4.50 per 1,000 words and am happy to consider working in any genre.
Read on to see some of the positive comments I have received from authors whose books I have worked on.

• 'The overwhelming message I want to send you is "Thank You". I received your report yesterday and have read it - ooooh 30 times! Not only have you identified the key points (both fundamental and in finer detail) but also you have given precise and workable pointers towards where and how the improvements should be made. I feel validated and expertly instructed.I know you are 'doing your job' - but I feel you have applied great care and empathy in your reading and review of my manuscript, for which as a lonesome, first-time novelist working in isolation is very heartening and I'm so grateful. I'm also chuffed that you seemed to like it too!' MC

• 'As for your detailed report - it's very impressive. I agree with almost all your comments (and where I disagree I know you're probably right). I can't believe that you can see the issues so clearly... Debi - I can't thank you enough. Writing is such a solitary business. It's a great relief to get some encouragement after all this time, and so much good advice.' AC

• 'Thank you so much for this. It was vastly more than I expected and I doubt all the time that you obviously put in was covered by the fee that I paid for the appraisal! You’re a great lady for detail and I can see a number of instances where you’ve latched on to something, usually in dialogue, with which I’ve struggled manfully and still haven’t got right.' JC
  

• 'I have now been through your notes in detail and once again many, many thanks for your conscientious attention to detail. There is very little which you have noted that I am not prepared to look at again with a view to amending, tightening or deleting, and in regard to making the plot work more smoothly.' JC

And this is a copy of an email forwarded to me. It was sent by the man who runs one of the consultancies I freelance for to an author who wanted to work with me again on his 2nd draft:
'You can rely on Debi's suggestions. If you feel strongly that she's erred in a particular comment, then go with your gut feel not hers. Otherwise, trust her completely. If you get another opinion from us, then it'll most likely agree with Debi's on at least 90% of major points. If you get another opinion from anyone else, then it'll either (i) agree mostly with Debi, or (ii) be wrong. Your best bet is to get stuck into revisions, then come back to us when you're done. And thanks for your nice words about Debi - she's a star.' HB

New website for writers

This is cooler than cool.

No, I'm not talking about the migration of the polar ice cap to the freezer box of my fridge resulting in the fridge door not closing and me having to add defrosting the damn thing to my already unmanageable list of things I have to do today ....

No, no indeed.
I'm talking about this - the newest, bestest, coolest place to hang out in the literary blogosphere.



You may remember me telling you some time ago that I'd joined a Bloggers with Book Deals group, which explained the explosion of fab links (eyes right) since that time.

Well, for the last few weeks, we've been absorbed in creating a new collectively-run website.

(Actually, Lucy Pepper did the clever techy stuff and Clare's done sterling work as ever in pulling it all together.)
There are about 50 of us involved - some of the biggest names in the literary blogosphere, so you can imagine we're really excited about this.

The site is packed with resources, regular articles and features as well as links to all the Bookarazzi members' bios and books.

There's a blog where you can pop in and comment,
a useful FAQ section for writers,
news and events pages,
comprehensive links
and lots more.

The site will be regularly updated and will always be a work in progress.

Pop along now and make sure you bookmark us for future visits.
We look forward to seeing you there.

Tatiana in Spain

Senor Redwood has kindly forwarded this to me - a very positive review of Buscando a Tatiana - the Spanish translation of Trading Tatiana - written by Zeki, editor of Gangsterera.
(Clearly an enlightened and highly intelligent individual with wonderful taste in literature.)

My lovely man in Spain has also been kind enough to provide me with a translation.

Snippets:

'Looking for Tatiana (El Tercer Nombre) by the English writer Debi Alper reminds me of another novel which at the time, despite its undoubted qualities, passed more or less unnoticed through the commercial bookshop sector without attracting much critical interest. I’m referring to The Dwarves of Death by Jonathan Coe, another English writer. Both novels portray English society from the viewpoint of hopeless (’defeated’) young people who expect little from an establishment which has already destined them to the most menial tasks. They move through the underworld of the ghettoes relying on social aid, somewhere between the world of outcasts and libertarian and creative bohemia, resisting the failure looming over them with a mixture of hope, making do with the least possible, and a belief, somewhere between idealist and disillusioned, in the eternal values of solidarity and brotherhood.'

It's interesting that he's picked up on the way the book has passed under the general radar.

But he's also been very astute in sussing out the underlying themes of the book:

'The story combines the flight of the two young women in a kind of interior immigration. Tatiana, an immigrant from an eastern European country, fights to escape the clutches of unscrupulous compatriots intent on keeping her as a sex slave, while Jo, a permanent exile on the edges of the welfare state, strives for a place in this society which is denied her.

We are presented with the radiography of a cosmopolitan and variegated society which hides its social deficiencies under the cosmetic of a savage liberalism. However, the novel delves into the tiny opportunities left by hope, gambling on human relations free of spurious interests, struggling to give birth to an optimism that ends up by proving itself to be almost impossible.

A special sensitivity in the creation of the characters gives us a highly evocative reading experience that allows us to glimpse the challenges confronting the younger generations. Spaces of utopia won’t be created without victims – but they will be created: that is the final message of this text that goes beyond the usual clichés.'