About

Me and Coaltrane

I’m a novelist, a copyeditor, a writing coach, a mom, a backpacker, and a whole bunch of other things.

I teach workshops on the writing craft at writers’ conferences and retreats. If your writers’ group would like to have me teach, drop me a line. I live in California, near San Francisco, just so you know how far away I am from you and your writer friends. I also enjoy guest blogging, so contact me if you’d like me to write a post on writing, editing, or Labrador retrievers (just threw that in there; I’m not an expert but I love them). I am, however, quite the expert on pygmy goats. I ran a commercial pygmy goat farm for ten years and delivered a lot of kids! So, if you need some goat advice, I’m your gal.

Skritz: Guardian of the Plot

I love to help writers with their novels. I specialize in thorough annotated critiques, so if you have a manuscript that needs some work or you’re not sure if it does, check out my site specifically dedicated to my critique services. You’ll find a lot of informative articles on why you might need a critique and how to choose the right editor for your needs. Not many copyeditors are writers, and few know how to critique all the major elements that hold a novel together.

If you would like me to edit your manuscript, I do it all–from substantive editing to proofreading. If you’re not sure what kinds of editing services are available, the description on my editing page will help you figure that out. If I’m not available, you can hire Skritz (see photo on right), although I wouldn’t give him a high recommendation. He tends to leave muddy paw prints on my charts and outlines, and he just can’t resist knocking pages to the floor with his frisky tail (His editorial style: shuffle them all up and put them in any order; that’ll do!).

I’ve also written twelve novels in some different genres, most traditionally published and a few that are only in eBook format. I was told to stick to one genre by many agents and publishers, but I just don’t listen, and so write what I love to write, which suits my eclectic tastes. You can actually buy them and read them too!

 

Contemporary Fiction

You can check out descriptions and links to purchasing my contemporary fiction in various forms (printed book, eBook, audio book) at my author page here:

Contemporary Fiction by C. S. Lakin

Someone to Blame

Conundrum

Innocent Little Crimes

 

Fantasy

You can check out descriptions and links to purchasing my fantasy in various forms (printed book and eBook) at my author page here:

Fantasy by C. S. Lakin

The Map across Time

The Land of Darkness

The Wolf of Tebron

 

Young Adult Sci-fi

My very cool Young Adult Sci-fi Time Travel Adventure chock-full of physics and romance! A bit reminiscent of A Wrinkle in Time.

Time Sniffers by C. S. Lakin