"You've
been instrumental in helping me with the edits and
recognize opportunities for story improvement. I looked
into over a dozen editors and I found you to be the most
helpful because you point out things that others miss, and
you challenge me to think about story elements I need to
change."
"Grace is an editor extraordinaire, directing me to some
amazing resources about writing fiction, and finding and
offering corrections for structural problems, punctuation,
word usage, and dozens of other things to make this a
better novel. Most of all, I thank Grace for criticizing
the work without feeling the need to stroke my ego. She
did not hold back on her criticism, but it was all
constructive. That inspired me and let me know she was
honest in her work. In the end, it was the ultimate form
of encouragement."
"Grace
Bridges’ editing of my fiction was invaluable. She has an
eye for word choice and sentence structure, and knows how
to polish a manuscript while allowing the author’s voice
to carry through. I would never have made it through
publishing without the help of her tech skills—formatting
and typesetting—as well as her patience and ability to
teach those skills. As an artist myself, I found working
on cover art with her a synergistic experience. She strove
to help me create the cover I had designed but didn’t have
the tech skills to carry out. And I would be remiss if I
didn’t mention her penchant and ability for finding
exactly the right font and text layout for covers."
"Grace's extensive knowledge across all
areas of independent publishing were invaluable to
me as I started publishing under my own brand. Her
professional assistance, as well as friendly
advice, continue to guide me in my publishing
journey."
"An awesome editor, with an unusually keen
eye for detail. You are really good at seeing and
keeping continuity on a granular level. I really
respect how much you know your way around a narrative.
You are a discerning reader, and that is what I
appreciate most. I got to read [another client's]
manuscript after you got done working with it and I
have to say you worked some serious magic on it."
"Grace is an extremely professional but
amazingly quick editor. She is quite adept at finding
the heart of your story and cutting out all the
unnecessary tidbits to make it shine. Yet she does it
all in a way that only enhances your author voice. I
was quite impressed with her insights, but she does
have 10+ years of experience at her fingertips.
Definitely an editor I'd work with again."
"Grace Bridges has contributed her
skills to four of my books, with more to come,
and I highly recommend her work. I have
greatly enjoyed my association with her. I
have found her editorial suggestions to be
both accurate and insightful, and very helpful
for improving the quality of my books. I love
the cover designs she has created which
perfectly express my vision for my books.
Grace has professional standards in formatting
also, and it shows in the quality of what she
produces."
"Grace Bridges is an outstanding
editor. She is adept at both cover design and
interior book formatting. She offered clear,
concrete suggestions for improving my
manuscript, while at the same time affirming the
strengths of my story. She respected my vision
for Welcome, Earthborn Brother, instead of
trying to force it to fit a particular mold. In
addition, she has great expertise in marketing,
and knows how to maximize a book's
discoverability on the internet through
well-chosen key words and categorization. Her
responsiveness, attention to detail, and
professionalism have made her a joy to work
with."
"Grace Bridges proved to be
indispensable to me from the beginning of the
publishing process to the end, and although
I'm past my one-year anniversary, Grace's
advice and assistance remains invaluable. From
the editing of Isles of Myst, to its cover
design and every other aspect, Grace provided
a very positive experience for me. I would
recommend her services to anyone."
• Grace's unique editing perspective provided
insights that improved the structure of my story and
the basic word-smithing. She also pointed out places
where someone—particularly
in an international audience—might
get confused. The final result was a much stronger story
that maintained the unique voice of the characters
involved.
•
Her unconventional design approach resulted
in a wonderful abstract, wraparound cover that depicts
a unique perspective of the telepathic landscape as
seen by one of the characters.
•
My book's typesetting is an excellent bit of
work that included design elements from the story and
cover. The final result has gotten kudos from readers
and another publishing house that maintains a
meticulous standard.
I have been writing since I was very young. I favour
fiction with a local New Zealand flavour as well as
varieties of fantasy and science fiction. In 2007 I
self-published my first novel and in 2015 revamped it as
Mariah’s Dream. From 2009-2015 I founded and ran
my own publishing label, Splashdown Books, which went on
to include 40+ titles including a few of my own. I’ve
been editing professionally since 2009 and also continue
to write in my own series as well. I am also a freelance
translator of French and German, and have studied Te Reo
Māori for several years.
Editing client testimonials listed at the top of this
page.
Client achievements include:
Dusty’s Adventures by T.J.
Akers (edited by Grace Bridges), Finalist in the Realm
Award 2018 Finding Angel by Kat
Heckenbach (edited/published by Grace Bridges/Splashdown
Books), Finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book
Awards 2012,
Finalist in the Compton Crook Awards
2012 Alpha Redemption by P. A.
Baines (edited/published by Grace Bridges/Splashdown
Books), Double Category Finalist in the Next Generation
Indie Book Awards 2010 The Muse by Fred Warren
(edited/published by Grace Bridges/Splashdown Books),
Finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards 2010
Anthology Editor / Co-Editor
Aquasynthesis, Splashdown Books (2011)
Avenir Eclectia, Splashdown Books (2012)
Aquasynthesis Again, Splashdown Books (2014)
Te Kōrero Ahi Kā, SpecFicNZ (2017)
Alter Ego, Young NZ Writers (2017)
Timegate to Tomorrow, Young NZ Writers (2018)
Something Strange Happened in Rotorua: The GeyserCon
Book, GeyserCon (2019)
Something Strange Happened in Rotorua, Young NZ
Writers (2019)
Publication Summary: Books
Faith Awakened, self-published, 2007 (out of
print, reworked as Mariah’s Dream)
Legendary Space Pilgrims, Splashdown Books, 2010
(out of print)
Mariah’s Dream, Splashdown Books, 2015 (set in
Belfast, Northern Ireland)
Mariah’s Prologues, Splashdown Books, 2017
(collection of 16 short stories)
Earthcore Book 1: RotoVegas, Splashdown Books,
2017
Earthcore Book 2: Volcano City, Splashdown Books
2018
Earthcore Book 3: Aftershocks, Splashdown Books
2019
Earthcore Book 4: High Tide, Splashdown Books
2020
Short story publications in online
ezines:
(most now defunct, but several items have been
republished independently)
“Invasion” at Wayfarer’s Journal, February 2007
“Second Site” at Digital Dragon Magazine, August
2009
“Zara’s Quest” at Digital Dragon Magazine,
February 2010
“A Stretch of Time” at Residential Aliens, July
2010
Comet Born serial at Digital Dragon Magazine,
2010-11
“Hero Talent Quest”
at Havok, July 2019 (paywalled)
Short stories in print anthologies:
“The Night of the Gift” in Forever Friends, Mandinam
Press (2008)
“Underground—Undersea” in Underground Rising, The
Writers Café Press (2011)
“Second Site”, “A Stretch of Time”, and “Lily’s Tale” in
Aquasynthesis, Splashdown Books (2011)
“Fungus Among Us” and “Tell-Tale Signs of a Wonderful
Life”, Gilead Publishing (2012)
“Never Look Back” in Space Battles: Full-Throttle Space
Tales Vol. 6, Flying Pen Press (2012)
Several short stories in Avenir Eclectia, Splashdown
Books (2012)
“Second Site” in A Year of the Dragon, Digital Dragon
Press (2013, out of print)
“Max’s Black Box” in Regeneration: New Zealand
Speculative Fiction II, Random Static (2013)
“Never Look Back” reprinted in Aquasynthesis Again,
Splashdown Books (2014)
“To Leave His Mother’s Tent” in Realmscapes, Brimstone
Fiction (2017)
“Earthcore: Initiation” in Te Kōrero Ahi Kā: To Speak of
the Home Fires Burning, SpecFicNZ (2018)
“Sulphur & Sunshine” in Paws, Claws and Magic Tales,
Fellowship of Fantasy (2018)
“Sulphur & Sunshine” reprinted in Something Strange
Happened in Rotorua, GeyserCon (2019)
“Whiti te Ra—Let the Sun Shine” in Swashbuckling Cats,
Tyche Books (2020)
“A Chicken for Miss Cuthbert” in Cracked, Joyful Peacock
Press (2020)
“Pūkeko—The Blue Swamp Hen” in Cracked, Joyful Peacock
Press (2020)
Creative Nonfiction publications:
“Kaipatiki Forest” in The Milo Review, September
2014
“Dear Author” in Decades Review, January 2015
“Long Distance Friends” in The Mayo Review,
Spring 2015
“Oruamo Creek” in The Island Review, April 2015
“Manuka Road” in The Island Review, October 2015
“The Kaleidoscope” in Crab Fat Magazine, 2016
Writing-related volunteer work:
President of SpecFicNZ in 2012 and
2013; committee member 2014-2016; president 2016-2021.
SpecFicNZ is a group for New Zealand writers of
speculative fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy,
Horror/Paranormal). We run competitions, offer grants,
hold meetups and educational sessions, facilitate
exhibits at events, contribute content, speakers and
prizes at relevant conferences, and offer publishing
opportunities, advertising, manuscript evaluations, and
review services to members. See www.specfic.nz
for more information.
Writer mentoring and presentations at
Realm Makers conferences in the USA 2013-2019
Presentations for writers at NZ
National Science Fiction & Fantasy Conventions in
2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. Topics: Worldbuilding,
Editing, Publishing
Young NZ Writers: workshops in 2016,
2017, 2018. Topics: Worldbuilding, Editing
Chair of the 40th NZ National Science
Fiction and Fantasy Convention, held in Rotorua in
May/June 2019. Information archived at https://sites.google.com/site/geysercon.
Education Summary
Postgraduate Diploma in Translation Studies from the
University of Auckland, 2001
Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland, 2000
Employment Summary
Freelance fiction editor since 2015; edited 70 published
books and others not yet published
Freelance translator since 2006 (German and French)
Translator, Bavarian Border Police, 2002-2008
Other interests
Te Reo Māori, gardening, DIY, art and photography,
animal rescue
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