BA English and Anthropology, Dean’s List, Grinnell College, USA.
MA English, University College Dublin.
Introduction to copy-editing (SfEP).
On-screen Editing 1 (SfEP).
Copywriting course, College of Commerce, Dublin.
Copywriter: 20+ years ad agency and corporate communications in the US, Dublin and Belfast.
Freelance writer/editor: 10+ years.
Mentor with Fighting Words creative writing and literacy workshops for schools in Northern Ireland
Print and online: Newsletters, magazines, websites, ezines, media pages, scripts, guidebooks, reports, sales presenters/PowerPoint, books, marketing materials.
Copy-editing and proofreading: Marketing literature, translated documents, fiction, policy papers, funding and awards submissions, scripts, memoirs, case histories, websites.
Americanisation.
Copywriting: Marketing communications covering print, digital, broadcast for diverse sectors - business-to-business, consumer, public and voluntary sector, recruitment/training, multi-media campaigns.
Editorial: Research, writing, interviewing, ghostwriting, proofreading and editing – corporate journalism, advertorials, case histories, features, thought pieces, newsletters, ezines, magazines.
Manuscript development: Fiction editing, proofreading and evaluation. Memoirs.
Marketing, tourism, business-to-business, economic development, fiction, education, memoirs.
Editing and copy for advertising and editorial/PR projects in clear English.
US vernacular and markets/audiences.
Memoirs: interviewing, writing and editing.
Advertising agencies, marketing and design consultancies: Genesis, AVB Group, ASG and Partners, Conceptroom, Think Design, MXB, additude, Red Revolution, Brand Triangle Marketing and Design.
Educators: Interlingua; Belfast Metropolitan College and Department of Education on a project basis.
I have worked as a PR/Media volunteer for the RSPB and Save the Children. I also work with individual authors, primarily self-publishing, and businesses.
Education providers: Belfast Metropolitan College website edit. Adapting translated elements to create single voice for DECET Training Guide, an EU early years body. Wrote marketing materials for Interlingua language courses, Queen’s University Belfast and University of Ulster.
Authors: Americanisation, editing and manuscript development for Half Irish, a self-published young adult novel. Edited and proofread the English translation from Urdu for self-published memoirs After you Were Gone and My Letters to You. First reader for Belfast authors including Tara West (Fodder, Happy Dark and Poets Are Eaten as a Delicacy in Japan).
Editorial and copywriting: Subcontracted on projects for Tourism Ireland, TourismNI, InvestNI, BT Biz ezine, Brett Martin, Northridge Finance, Lough Erne Golf Resort and Hotel, Irish Food Service Association.
My advertising background has been very useful for developing insights into audiences, a quick grasp of the brief and respect for deadlines. Every word matters, so the aim stays consistent: to ensure well-organised, accurate, fluent, succinct text that connects with the right people, no matter what the topic or vehicle. Clarity and readability is everything. So whether it’s a makeover, rewrite, final proofread, trim to fit, eleventh-hour SOS, waffle removal, or someone to bounce ideas off, let me bring out the best in your words. That’s right, your words.
