Hi! I’m Sahra. I’m a freelance developmental editor specialising in speculative fiction (and stories that blend genres in ways that make booksellers nervous), and I also write my own (a 200k-word upmarket epic fantasy currently in editing stages and a romantasy still being drafted).
My path to editing has been a bit all over the place: from working on a farm to studying Japanese and Culture at Birkbeck, University of London and training in acting and screenwriting. I’ve been dissecting stories compulsively since I was a child, and in 2019 I finally made it my profession.
I’m AuDHD and chronically ill, and I understand what it’s like to work around a brain and body that don’t always cooperate. I’ve completed several developmental editing courses (including through the EFA), and I’m about to start a course with Club Ed, with the hope of achieving the Club Ed Certificate in Developmental Editing of Fiction in the near future.
When I’m not working on client manuscripts, you’ll find me in the garden growing tomatoes with varying degrees of success, getting way too emotionally invested in whatever book I’m reading, or having deep conversations with my cats about plot inconsistencies. I’m also a bit of a music nerd and my taste is all over the place (Buck-Tick, Pink Floyd, Loreena McKennitt, Paco de Lucía, film music,…). As you can see, I have a tendency to blend genres there, too. Apparently, I can’t help myself when it comes to mixing things that aren’t supposed to go together. 🤭 I’m bilingual (German/English), and know a bit of Japanese, Danish and Spanish, which probably explains why I’m so particular about language.
Why I Do This Work
Besides the fact that I’ve always loved reading, my brain just analyses everything. Patterns, connections, the “red threads” running through stories and real life,…it’s like an automatic process and not always appreciated in everyday life. 😂 Turns out developmental editing is the perfect place for it. I’m fascinated by psychology and how humans actually work, which translates directly into understanding characters. And I love stories with thematic depth, the kind that reward close reading. This work uses my brain the way it naturally functions, which makes it feel less like work and more like… finally finding something useful to do with all that compulsive pattern-spotting. My family is relieved.
