Dr. Shelley Thrasher is a college professor of English with a Ph.D. in her field who brings over thirty years of classroom experience to the works she edits. She has worked closely with the senior editor at Bold Strokes Books since fall 2004, who has helped her become a first-rate content editor of both category and general fiction. The skills honed in academia make her an especially effective copy editor and proofreader. Dr. Thrasher combines knowledge, experience, and patience with her long-time interest in women's writing to help authors produce a first-rate manuscript.    More About Shelley What I like most about editing: I most enjoy helping the women whose work I edit build on their strengths and eliminate their weaknesses as writers. To see a woman increase her confidence and pleasure in expressing herself through the written word gives me great joy. My best advice to writers: You have a story to tell, so don't be afraid to tell it. Listen to your heart and your head, and write about what means the most to you. My favorite genres to edit: I most like to edit general fiction that is clearly based on a woman's life experiences. Number of years I've been editing: I've been editing commercial fiction for four-and-a-half years, as of March 2009. However, I have taught creative writing, composition, and literature on the college level for more than thirty years, which has involved a heavy load of editing student creations and compositions. Edit hard copy or on-screen: I prefer to edit entirely on-screen, using Track Changes. My "must have" writing reference books: I rely most heavily on The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, and Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition. Favorite background music when I edit: I prefer total silence while I edit. The words make their own music. Scene outside the window where I edit: I face a soothing green wall when I edit, though in fair weather I glance through my open front door at the citrus trees that grow there. Favorite quotes: "Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it." —Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Memorable fictional character: China Bayles Most recent blog/website I bookmarked: Online Etymology Dictionary Currently reading: Locked Rooms, by Laurie R. King, a suspense novel featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes; Postmodern American Poetry: A Norton Anthology, edited by Paul Hoover.