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 You send me your manuscript and answers to a few standard questions that will give me an idea of what kind of critique will help you best. |
 I return my critique to you. I give you new ideas, editorial direction, and general feedback on the characters, plot, theme, structure, and style of your book. |
 Now, it's your turn to ask me questions, so you can get clarity on my critique and bring up any burning issues I might not have addressed. |
 I live in Norfolk, Virginia, and work as a book doctor. I'm the author of two books, a novel and a short story collection, which I wrote under a pen name in my wild 20s. My writing has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, including Chick-Lit: Postfeminist Fiction. I've done readings from San Francisco to Tallahassee, and my reading at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City was aired on NPR. I've written movie reviews for TNT Roughcut, music reviews for Alternative Press, and one of my essays was published in Booksense's "Very Interesting People" feature. I received my undergraduate degree in English from Bowling Green State
University in Ohio, and went on to get an M.A. in English Literature with
a creative writing concentration from the University of Illinois at
Chicago. After graduate school, I started a family with my husband,
and now we have two children. Here's my blog about reading and writing, where you can get a sense of
the way I look at books and the style of my reviews.
Here's a look at the press that published my
novel and short story collection. I also homeschool my children, and I
write about that here. |
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| Lydia is the
reader we're all writing for. She's smart, generous, intuitive, and
honest, but she's also funny and inventive. So, if she has a problem with
a piece of writing, you'll have it halfway fixed before it even occurs to
you to have your feelings hurt. And then you'll be laughing too hard to
cry. Brenda Mills Lydia's like the talking mirror on the wall;
she shows us our ugly stepsisters (come on, we've all got 'em) as well as
our hidden beauties. The insights she provided have proven an invaluable
guide for revisions. She convinced me to take risks with my work - risks
that none of my previous readers would have been honest enough to demand.
She's helping me write the book I held myself back from writing. Allison Coluccio |
If it
weren't for Lydia, I wouldn't be a writer. I'd be a hack. Her keen
insight, writerly savvy, and savage wit have helped me become the writer I
am today. Lydia is a writer's writer, one with an uncanny ability to get
inside your head and help you write the book you didn't know you always
wanted to write. Susannah Breslin
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Lydia Netzer
has been my critique partner for well over a decade now. I have never
found a more insightful, honest, or clear thinking reader. She has a way
of seeing all the way through a manuscript, down to the bone, and
pinpointing the exact moment when a narrator acts out of character or the
pace falters. She can also see how how these flaws impact the manuscript
as a whole, and usually has several routes for solving problems. I cannot
praise her strongly enough.
Joshilyn Jackson
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| I don't usually critique romance novels, science fiction, mystery
novels, international spy thrillers, or horror novels. If you would like me to read a manuscript in
one of these genres, I can give you a critique that's more literary in its
focus than just vetting it for the requirements of the genre. Before you contract with me
or any other book doctor or independent editor, please read this
web site, which
will help you figure out what you want and need from this service.
Ready to begin? First, send an email to
editor@rpsd.com describing your project. If I decide I can take it on,
then you can submit your manuscript and answer the questionnaire. At that
point, you will pay a $50 reading fee, plus $1 per page, payable via
Paypal. |
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Are you ready for the Harpoonist? |
