Mary Elizabeth Summer
Case study: YA hybrid editing
“This experience has been truly a unique one in my professional writing career.”
-Mary Elizabeth Summer, YA Mystery Author
Mary Elizabeth writes for people who are ready to be swept away by the story and open to being ok with their own unexpectedness, their own liminal spaces.
No matter how terrifying or exciting, there’s always a happy ending in this house. Mary Elizabeth takes readers on a thrilling journey - but they’ll always get a soft landing, too.
Finding the core themes
Knowing the core themes of your writing is key to growing your confidence in your voice. That’s why Author Voice Alchemy editing goes far deeper than just the quality of your prose.
We start every project talking about what your book means to you, and your ultimate vision for it.
Mary Elizabeth’s work is based on the beauty of liminal spaces. We identified that her work has strong themes of:
Subverting expectations. Her work is a land where the villain could turn out to be the kindest character, an assassin can fall in love, and truth always wins.
The quest for freedom. From self-imposed cages to societal expectations, Mary Elizabeth is all about freeing her characters, and therefore her readers, from their prisons.
Appreciating the mystery. In Mary Elizabeth’s work, mysteries don’t have to be tied with a neat bow. Her readers learn to embrace ambiguity, and trust that eventually they’ll figure it out if they just keep going.
“Allie is unfailingly kind and supportive and has a knack for asking questions targeted to exactly the places you need to plumb to reach depths of yourself you never knew existed. I felt seen.”
-Mary Elizabeth Summer
Defining the heart of the work
Defining who you are as an author can be hard. We identified that Mary Elizabeth’s core theme in five words is: Hope is always a choice.
We summarized the heart of her work as: You write mystery books that centre on intriguingly damaged characters learning to carve out their own space in the world.
Getting clear on this gave us a strong basis for the rest of our work together.
Hybrid editing: Where strong bones meet polished prose.
Mary Elizabeth and I agreed that her work, Burden of Proof, was an ideal candidate for hybrid editing.
Hybrid editing is a practical, in-depth, dare I even say fun, editing experience where we tackle your book chapter-by-chapter. This organic editing approach is perfect for pantsers and discovery writers.
Hybrid editing was the ideal solution for Mary Elizabeth as it combines the big picture (developmental edits) with intense focus on flow, voice, and language choice (line edits.) Burden of Proof had strong characters and a solid plot, but some of the details needed hashing out, and Mary Elizabeth was looking for a fresh set of eyes on the language and flow, too.
Working in depth page-to-page this way provided Mary Elizabeth with an immersive experience that built the world and words from the inside out.
Because we’d had some deep discussions before starting, we were able to keep an eye on her key themes shone throughout the manuscript.
“Allie has a gift for teasing out your unique author voice, meaning that she focuses on bringing out your characters and theme and story the way you would do it, not the way anyone else would. Her suggestions (gently and supportively given) enhance your story by understanding and staying true to the core of your characters’ personalities and the purpose your story is meant to serve.”
-Mary Elizabeth Summer
“There are editors who will help you find your character’s voice in your book. But I’ve never come across a person who can look into my very soul and pull out the universal parts of myself so I can know and share them in a compelling and consistent way. Allie has a knack for helping you craft a story that is as true to you and your vision as it can possibly be.”
-Mary Elizabeth Summer
Inviting readers into the world Mary Elizabeth had lovingly crafted
Understanding Mary Elizabeth’s commitment to the beauty of the liminal meant I could keep an eye out for the liminal spaces in her work, and help her decide which mysteries needed to be solved, and which were always meant to be strange dreams.
Her sparky, funny, intelligent characters were the perfect vehicle to bring out her core themes of truth, justice, and escaping our prisons. Understanding that helped me to ask the right questions about character motivation and their responses to situations. It also meant I could see where they were shining at their most bright, and encourage Mary Elizabeth to do more of that.
From liminal spaces to characters that value truth and love, even in the midst of the grittiest mysteries, it was a true pleasure to help Mary Elizabeth find and see the heart of her work - and herself.
“All of my experience as both a traditionally published author and now an independently published author have taught me how essential a clear and distinct author voice is to success. If you have even the tiniest doubt about how to present yourself as an author, now is the time to act. And Allie will help you get there, in ways you never even imagined!
This is the best money you’ll spend on your author career. Cannot recommend highly enough.”
-Mary Elizabeth Summer, YA Mystery Author
Ready to experience the magic of true confidence in your author’s voice?