I have been writing since I was about 8 and reading since I was old enough to pick up a book (yes, literally). I plan on becoming published someday, preferably soon. I have previously (and still) beta on another website, as well as for my writer's group offline. What all of this adds up to is a serious love for the written word and a lot of experience. I don't play around.

I generally like documents in a .doc form or an Open Office format, either will do. This gives me a chance to highlight issues and suggest changes. Please do not send me originals, as you will not get them back in the form you sent them.

Please be aware, I am thorough. I try not to be a tactless boob, but I also won't preserve your feelings. If its bad, I will say its bad and suggest improvements. If its good I will say its good and suggest improvements. Everything can be improved. :) I will look for spelling, grammar, flow, and believability and tell you tactfully exactly what I think. I'm a great person to go to if you really want to improve your work, but not so good if you are looking for warm fuzzy affirmations.

I'm also a very good editor. There are a couple of areas I am weak in, but by and large the feedback I have received from those I edited has been positive. In one notable case my suggested improvements were directly responsible for helping someone else get published. (And my inner frat-girl goes SQUEEEE!!!)

I will do everything I can to help you improve your work, up to and including brain storming, story ideas and suggestions, and assisting in snapping you out of writer's block if I can and you desire. All I ask in return is don't send me really first draft stuff (every other word misspelled, etc.), know HOW to write (internet lingo will be returned post haste), and please LOVE your story, or at least the story's concept. First of all, if you don't love it, no one else will either. Secondly, if you really love it, you are more likely to finish it, and I'd like to see the end as much as you.

Bonus: Mature situations do not make me go squick.

My strengths are all the creative little aspects.
Plot and flow,
believability and more,
oh yes, the creative little aspects.

Wow, sorry, I apparently have lullabies in my head. But point still stands, I am GOOD at these things. I am also good at handling mature content, as long as its not gratuitous. Gratuitous violence/sex/cussing/whatever will be met with a firm but kind boot up your backside and a request to cut it back to improve story flow.

I am also good at helping tease out original ideas. If your take on, say, as an example, vampires and their hunters could have come straight out of Dracula or Buffy, I will work with you until we find you a unique spin on the concept. I am very good at mixing multiple kooky ideas into an eclectic-but-workable mix, and I am more than happy to share this talent. However, I don't do cliche, and you shouldn't either. Trust me, you are better than that.

I will NOT force my ideas on you. After all, its your story, and no one will ever write it quite like you can.

Grammar and spelling are my Achilles heel. I need spellcheck, just like everyone else. However, I am good enough to know when you are substituting words ("bear" instead of "bare," for example) and can catch a majority of errors a spellcheck will not.

I consider grammar a weakness not only for a personal penchant for chicken-scratch commas, but because most really good authors I know laugh in the face of grammar. Yes you will have fragmented sentences, dangling participles, and other atrocities, ESPECIALLY during dialogue, and yes that's okay. I WILL point out any grammatical errors I think are so bad as to distract from the flow of your work, but I will also leave others intact if they seem natural to read and do not disrupt the story's flow.

Don't get me wrong, I am still good at these things, and a darned sight better at catching errors in other people's work than in my own. However, if you are needing special focus on these areas, we may not be a good match.

I am an unashamed, unabashed, and unapologetic fantasy chick through and through. For the best possible betas, send me your fantasy, your romance, your supernatural, and your horror. I rock in these categories.

I will also take, read, enjoy, and do a darn good job of editing mystery, manga, mythology, fable, some young adult, and whatever doesn't fit in a category otherwise named.

I am game to try action, humor, historical, sci-fi, and thriller, however, my main concern is I do not have the research background for these genres. If you start talking about the specifics of a thermonuclear detonator or insert a detailed description of what a ballroom looked like back in the 1780's, I simply don't have the knowledge base to be able to catch discrepancies. However, if you are simply looking for story flow, grammar, and so on, and you are quite confident in your research, I'll happily be your beta.

I am not gentle enough for the category "Kids." I will not do a good job with these stories. There is some slice-of-life young adult I will also not do well with. I'll let you know if you send me one of these.

I hate non-fiction with a passion--it puts me to sleep. Please trust me, you will not get a good beta from me with a Biography, Essay, or other nonfiction piece.

I have no experience with Plays, so I doubt I could offer a good beta with them, though I adore reading them.

The same with Westerns, no experience there either. I am definitely not a cowgirl.

I am also bad at Poetry. Trust me, I have written all of three good poems in my life, and those nearly by accident. I love the hell out of poetry, but I also have Very Definite Opinions(tm) on it, and my opinions do not always mesh with the free verse style of Poetry that is currently so popular. I'd be happy to look at it, but I can't improve on it, only tell you how it strikes me personally upon reading it.

Spiritual is not my cup of tea, as I see spirituality as a very personal thing. I tend not to read spiritually based works, even when they have something to do with my own religion.

I also don't do stories where you read and read and read as the character moves from one miserable situation to another, only to have the story fizzle out into some depressing ending that screws everybody. If I am left wondering why the character didn't just off himself and save everyone a lot of trouble, I WILL hate your story. No offense, I just don't see the point.

I will do intricate interpersonal relationships in a story, and in fact I love this stuff. However, I will NOT do soap operas. If it could be on the Bold and the Beautiful, Gossip Girls or (*cringe*) Jerry Springer, please find another beta.

All Fiction

General Romance Humor Drama

Adventure Mystery Horror Angst

Supernatural Suspense Sci-Fi Fantasy

Family Friendship