Love and Happiness in Editing

I’ve always wanted to be a part of something greater.

For me, a stay-at-home type of introvert, my escape and adventure has always been through books. Putting books out into the world for people to escape with is my main goal. 

To do this, I edit, I read, and I give them all the encouragement that I can. Not only do I want others to have a chance to escape, but I also want to see the happiness of the authors--the visionaries. This was something I have always dreamed of. 

I’ve done some editing through internships before graduating from YCP along with other freelance work. But I was never really connected to the authors. I’ve never seen the happiness that I thought I would get.  

Then I graduated. I was not sure what I would do for work; I knew I wanted to continue freelancing, but I was not sure where to start. I had only a few internships under my belt, and none of the books I worked on were published. Luckily, Professor Travis Kurowski thought of me when a graduate of YCP reached out to him, looking for an editor. 

S. Oliver Eldridge has an amazing imagination. I had the honor of editing his novel, Through the Amazon: An Ayahuasca Story (now republished) that he wrote and originally published in 2018. The story follows a tribe in the Amazon as they prepare to send one of their people into the jungle to find out what is causing the rivers to dry up. Oliver’s descriptions of the tribe members’ encounters and the surrounding jungle are beautiful. He did a fantastic job of creating the world his characters live in.

Oliver’s most recent book, Pandæmonium (The Divine Tragedy), was published on September 2nd, 2021, and it’s even better. This novel takes you on a trip through Hell with characters Nathan and Morgan.

On their journey, you see them go through every layer of Hell in an attempt to find Nathan’s mother. The images Oliver creates of Hell show how different each layer is, from the physical attributes of the surroundings to the means of torment of the souls stuck in Hell. Oliver did a beautiful job creating all the characters in this novel. Their personalities and emotions are written well and I felt like I was alongside them. They find themselves stuck in a raging war, all while learning about who they really are. The character development of Pandæmonium is truly beautiful as the characters learn about the hell around them and the truth of their own lives. 

It was amazing working with Oliver, and I am so thankful for Travis and every other professor I had at York College. I have been introduced to someone that expresses the happiness that I always wished to give someone. My goal is to make every author I work with proud of their work. I like to think that I have done this during my time working with Oliver. I look forward to working with him again in the future.