My strengths as an editor include a love for story; respect for the writer's process and the courage and discipline it demands; love of language well used; a strong sense of structure; good instincts about what is and isn't working in a manuscript; and more than twenty years' experience. During the past decade, I've been on staff at two well-known national magazines, where I was fortunate enough to work with some of the best writers and editors in New York. Before that, I free-lanced for major book publishers. I've also had a career as a small-town radio news director, a job that's equivalent to a managing editor's and involved daily work in story development and editing with a small staff of reporters. I've worked individually with both experienced and novice writers on story development, manuscript evaluation, and revisions in a variety of fiction and nonfiction genres.    More About Kathleen What I like most about editing: Gently helping a writer sculpt her story, shape it, strip away the excess. My best advice to writers: Nail your shoes to the floor under your desk, put them on, and show up at the page. Don't give up. My favorite genres to edit: If I were to list subject areas of particular interest or expertise, they would probably be memoir, financial writing, current events, Native Americans, speculative history, theater. But whatever it's called—essay, memoir, biography, fiction, journalism—it's all story. Any genre is rewarding if the writer cares enough about it to want to do it really well. Number of years I've been editing: More than 20. Edit hard copy or on-screen: There's a place for each at different stages of the manuscript. I think for conceptual editing, hard copy is best. It allows for hand-written queries and comments as the editing process goes on, though you can, of course, do the same thing in software with a "notes" function. Copyediting can be done onscreen, but should also be checked in hard copy, particularly if the goal is print rather than online publishing. I have no problem with copyediting on paper, then inputting the changes. My "must have" writing reference books: Chicago Manual; Words Into Type Favorite background music when I edit: Nothing with English words. Classical; melodic jazz; world music; but often just the sounds of silence Scene outside the window where I edit: A really wonderful cityscape, looking north along Eighth Avenue in Manhattan. The focal point is the newly "green" Hearst skyscraper, whose harlequin metal crossbars put on a marvelous light show for about twenty minutes each evening when the sun begins to go down. Beyond that is Columbus Circle, and just a sliver of Central Park West. There's a constant stream of yellow cabs going up the avenue, and after dark, when a lot of soft neon lights come on, the view is both mysterious and beautiful. Favorite quotes: "There IS money! Spend it; spend it; spend more!" —Merry Wives of Windsor "There will come a time when you think everythng is finished. That will be the beginning." —Louis L'Amour Memorable fictional character: Anyone in Fried Green Tomatoes; Mark Twain's Joan of Arc; Jo in Little Women Most recent blog/website I bookmarked: AlterNet (I'm a news junkie) Currently reading: Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral; The War of Art; One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd; What You Must Know About Statin Drugs and Their Natural Alternatives.