Neil Blackmore - Editor
Neil Blackmore is the author of several novels published in the UK by Penguin Random House as well as internationally. His work has been widely acclaimed and is regularly reviewed in major newspapers and magazines. The Times wrote that his 2023 novel Radical Love “confirms Blackmore one of the most original voices in historical fiction today”. His 2020 novel The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. His latest novel, Objects Of Desire, was published in 2025 by Penguin.
Neil is very experienced in offering editorial support and professional advice to writers. He has been for many years been a member of the North London Writers Group, which workshops whole novels by published authors across a wide range of markets. He has worked on novels by literary novelists such as Naomi Alderman (Bailey Prize) and Zoe Gilbert (Costa Prize), historical novelists such as Anna Mazzola and Alix Christie, and crime/thriller writers such as Emma Flint and Tammy Cohen. He has also edited memoirs.
You can hear an extensive radio interview with Neil talking about his career here.
Testimonials
Emma Flint, author of Little Deaths and Other Women
Tammy Cohen, author of When She Was Bad and The Wedding Party, co-author (as Elly Conway) of Argylle
Anna Mazzola, author of The Clockwork Girl, The Unseeing and The Story Keeper
Alix Christie, author of Gutenberg's Apprentice
WHY WE LOVE NEIL
Neil specialises in a range of commercial fiction and has experience working with a wide variety of authors. As well as being an acclaimed author of historical literary fiction, Neil has supported writers including Naomi Alderman and Emma Flint as part of the North London Writers Group. He has extensive experience in elevating manuscripts to the next level, including as a Jericho Writers mentor, where he supports aspiring authors to develop their writing. His feedback is incisive, insightful and full of practical advice for developing your manuscript further.
WHAT NEIL SAYS ABOUT EDITING
I am a full-time working novelist with much experience of providing editorial and professional advice to writers. I can help you get to the next stage of your writing journey, in whatever way you need.
As an editor, I can help you look at your whole work, at whatever stage it is at, and see not only the “big picture” issues but more importantly, their solutions. I am collaborative, creative and encouraging. I am strong on seeing a whole narrative, what’s good and what needs work, generating new plot and scene ideas, making your characters crackle (a real passion of mine), and that last, crucial part of the process: thinking about what agents, editors or readers want from you.
I also offer mentoring via Jericho Writers.
What Neil works on
Manuscript Assessment
Developmental Editing
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Post-editorial guidance
Short Stories
Opening Section Review
Genres Neil specialises in
Neil's published books
Objects of Desire
Upcoming, May 2025
Hugo Hunter was the most celebrated gay novelist of the 20th century. He published two masterpieces, securing his place alongside the dazzling literary greats of the 1950s, 60s and 70s, and rubbing shoulders with everyone from Truman Capote to James Baldwin, Gore Vidal and George Orwell.
But after decades of fame and excess, just as New York City enters the 1980s and awakes to the coming horror of AIDS, Hugo finds himself running out of money. Out of nowhere, he receives an extraordinary lifeline: an offer from his longtime publisher. Two million dollars, for a memoir and a new novel.
The money will solve all his problems – except for one thing. Hugo Hunter is an imposter. He stole both of his novels. Now, how far will he go to produce a third?
At once dark, moving and deliciously vicious, OBJECTS OF DESIRE traverses the 20th century, featuring an astonishing cast of characters. It is both a colourful glimpse into the lives of the cultural elite, and a tense, gripping story of betrayal, deceit, and literary fraud.
Radical Love
“One of the most original voices in historical fiction today” The Times
“Astounding…I relished every page.” Sir Ian McKellen
London, 1809. By day, minister John Church preaches to a congregation of commonfolk in Southwark. By night, he is drawn to the secretive, alluring world of a molly house on Vere Street. There, ordinary men reinvent themselves as outrageous queens: lads on the make flirt with labourers and princes alike, and John finds himself ordaining marriages between men.
When he meets the unworldly and free-thinking Ned, one of a group of African abolitionists who attend his chapel, John falls in love with Ned’s tender nature and discovers how quickly desire can turn to obsession.
Based on the true story of one of the most important events in queer history, RADICAL LOVE is a sensuous and prescient story about gender and sexuality, and how the most vulnerable survive in dangerous times.
The Dangerous Kingdom Of Love
“Witty, original and clever, this tale of Jacobean power and lust is a blast.” The Times, Best Historical Fiction of the Year
Francis Bacon, philosopher, politician, writer, is an outsider at the court of King James I. He is clever but not aristocratic, has ambition but no money. So when his political enemies form a deadly alliance against him, centred around the King’s poisonous lover Robert Carr, Bacon has no choice but to fight for his survival.
Together with the neglected Queen, Bacon resolves to find a beguiling young man who can supplant Carr in the King’s bed. But as Bacon soon discovers, desire is not something that can be controlled.
Bold, irreverent and utterly original, The Dangerous Kingdom of Love is a darkly witty satire about power, and a moving queer love story that resonates through time.
The Intoxicating Mr Lavelle
Shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2021.
Brothers Benjamin and Edgar have so far led a quiet life, but change is afoot as they enter a world of glorious sights and People of Quality on their Grand Tour of Europe. But a trunk full of powdered silver wigs and matching suits isn’t enough to embed them into high society.
As Edgar clings on to conventions, Benjamin pushes against them. And when the charming, seductive Horace Lavelle promises Benjamin a real adventure, it’s only a matter of time before chaos and love ensue.