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Ray_web_150wHi. My name is Ray Rhamey, and maybe the most important thing about me, as far as you're concerned, is that I love to write and love to read a good book. Those passions drive my editing, forcing me to help writers find the most effective words and structure to better tell their tales.

I'm a writer and editor, and have made my living through creativity and words for a few decades now. As a writer and then creative director in advertising, I rose to the top tier of the Chicago advertising scene, then left it to try screenwriting.

In Hollywood, I became a writer/story editor at Filmation, one of the top five animation studios--look for my screenplay credit next time you rent my adaptation of The Little Engine that Could at your local video store. But L.A. is not a hospitable place to live and raise small children, so I left to focus on quality of life and writing.

front cover 100W shadowSharpen your manuscript before an edit

If you read the Reader Reviews for Flogging the Quill, Crafting a Novel that Sells on Amazon.com, you’ll get an idea of how it helps writers with their craft.

In 2001 I launched my editing service and have helped clients from the Pacific Northwest to Lebanon. I've been a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association and the Northwest Independent Editors Guild, and a member/board member of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association and the Seattle Writers Association.

If you're a novelist, I think it's to your advantage to work with a fellow novelist who has an educated editorial eye (that would be me). I've completed five novels, have had a literary agent (since parted), and my work is being considered by top literary agents. My work ranges from thriller/suspense to coming-of-age/mystery.

Particular talents & skills: Whether your manuscript is fiction, narrative non-fiction, a memoir, or non-fiction, here are some of the abilities I will bring to bear.

A keen sense of language: Are you saying what you mean in the most effective way? This "sense" was honed in over twenty years of advertising as a writer and creative director. My instincts for grammar and structure are so acute my college freshman English instructor begged me to switch to an English major (I was a psychology major.) But wait, there's more.

Pace: the first draft of my first novel was a sprawling 130,000 words. It's now a crisp 83,000. By editing narrative to cut speed bumps and road blocks, I help you pick up the pace.

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Voice: I respect every writer's voice, and never try to impose my own. My job is to make your writing better, not to make it mine.

Continuity: It's too easy to lose track of the details that take readers like me out of the story; I'm constantly on the continuity case. An example of a continuity lapse is in the first 3 pages of Dan Brown's bestseller, The DaVinci Code. It would never have gotten by me. Ask me about it.

Structure: as a story editor in film and as a novelist, I've wrestled with (and have some evidence of having conquered) the same key structural issues that you face in keeping a story on track.

Story: A couple of times I've contributed the ideas needed for better endings on client novels. In one case I restructered the entire novel. The story's the thing, and I'll do my all to help you shape and bring out your story.