Megan Collins

25th February 2021/in Fiction /by James Grace

Megan Collins – Editor

Megan Collins is the author of the psychological thrillers The Winter Sister (2019), Behind the Red Door (2020), and The Family Plot (2021), all published by Atria/Simon & Schuster.

Megan holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Boston University, and she taught creative writing for twelve years. Throughout her teaching career, she guided many of her students through the process of writing and revising work that then went on to win prestigious regional, state, and national writing competitions. Many of her former students have since had their work published. Megan is also the managing editor of 3Elements Review, a prompt-based literary magazine, where one of her duties is to provide extensive feedback (on the developmental and line-edit levels) to submitters who pay for such services.

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Why we love Megan

Her debut novel, The Winter Sister, was an official Book of the Month Club selection for February 2019, and was called “a bewitching thriller with surprises detonating in nearly every chapter” (Kirkus Reviews).11 and has helped 1 in 5 writers to success. Debi IS Jericho Writers.

What Megan says about editing

As a former creative writing teacher, I know there is nothing more rewarding than helping someone find their voice, shape it, and then use it to say something deeply resonant in a way that’s completely unique. Working with aspiring writers is, for me, a magical and inspiring experience; as a witness to their struggles, their bravery, and ultimately their successes, I find I often get as much as I give. I strive to guide each writer I work with toward artistic growth and creative breakthroughs.

Among the creative writing students and faculty at the school where I taught, I had the reputation of being “the editor,” which meant that I had the immense privilege of working with students as they prepared to submit their writing to competitions or journals. I always offered thorough, meticulous feedback that addressed both the big picture (character development, story arc, etc.) and the small (diction, cadence, etc.). As such, in addition to manuscript assessments, I’d be happy to do line editing for authors.

What Megan works on

Editorial Assessment

Agent Submission Pack

Post-Editorial Guidance

Line-Editing

Genres Megan specialises in

Fiction:

Contemporary
Literary (including ‘bookclub’)
Crime / Thriller / Action
Women’s

Non-Fiction:

Memoir/Autobiography

Megan’s published books

The Winter Sister

The Winter Sister

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close bond with Sylvie dissolved in the weeks after their loss, making for an uncomfortable reunion all these years later. Worse, Persephone’s former boyfriend, Ben, is now a nurse at the cancer center where Annie is being treated. Sylvie’s always believed Ben was responsible for the murder—but she carries her own guilt about that night, guilt that traps her in the past while the world goes on around her…

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Behind the Red Door

Behind the Red Door

When Fern Douglas sees the news about Astrid Sullivan, a thirty-four-year-old missing woman from Maine, she is positive that she knows her. Fern’s husband is sure it’s because of Astrid’s famous kidnapping–and equally famous return–twenty years ago, but Fern has no memory of that, even though it happened an hour outside her New Hampshire hometown. And when Astrid appears in Fern’s recurring nightmare, one in which a girl reaches out to her, pleading, Fern fears that it’s not a dream at all, but a memory…

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The Family Plot

The Family Plot

When a family obsessed with true crime gathers to bury their patriarch, horrifying secrets are exposed upon the discovery of another body in his grave in this chilling novel from the author of Behind the Red Door and The Winter Sister.

At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse remains haunted by her upbringing. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has been unable to move beyond the disappearance of her twin brother, Andy, when they were sixteen.

After several years away and following her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house where the family soon makes a gruesome discovery: buried in their father’s plot is another body—Andy’s, his skull split open with an ax.

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Margaret Kirk

24th February 2021/in Fiction /by James Grace

Margaret Kirk – Editor

Margaret Kirk writes ‘Highland Noir’ – Scottish crime fiction with a gothic twist, set in and around her home city of Inverness.

Her debut novel, Shadow Man, won the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition in 2016. ‘A harrowing and horrific game of consequences’ according to Val McDermid, it was published by Orion in 2017. What Lies Buried, book 2 in the DI Lukas Mahler series, was described as ‘an absolute cracker’ by Caroline Green and ‘Tartan Noir at its very best’ by the Daily Mail. Book 3, In The Blood, will be released in April 2021.

Margaret is also the writer of several award-winning short stories. Still Life was broadcast on Radio 4 as part of their’ Scottish Shorts’ series, and The Seal Singers (Das Lied der Seehunde) has been published in translation in Germany and Switzerland.

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Why we love Margaret

Neil Lancaster, bestselling author of the Tom Novak series, says: ‘Margaret offered honest and incisive feedback on my first book. Her advice was crucial in me securing a publishing contract’.

What Margaret says about editing

I know from personal experience just how invaluable it can be to get feedback on your writing – and just how much of a difference the right kind of feedback at the right time can make.

I hadn’t been writing for long when I attended a crime-writing course tutored by the amazing Val McDermid. I had no idea whether my work was any good and I had zero confidence, but her perceptive comments and encouragement gave me the boost I needed to keep going. So when I won the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition, I promised myself I would do whatever I could to help others in return.

Whatever your eventual writing goal is, my aim is to give you the tools you need to take the next steps towards it. I’ll offer honest and supportive feedback, in clear and concise language, based on everything I’ve learned since my first book was published.

I’m particularly fond of crime or suspense with a gothic vibe/hint of the supernatural.