Rebecca Horsfall - Editor
Rebecca been a fiction editor and creative-writing tutor for well over a decade, working with upwards of 150 authors in a broad range of genres.
She is the author of the bestselling epic character-driven novel, Dancing on Thorns, which was published by Random House in the UK and USA to wide critical acclaim in 2005. Before that, she was a script supervisor and editor in the West End theatre for many years.
In addition to her own writing and editing, Rebecca has given lectures and masterclasses in fiction writing for a number of colleges and organisations and is a regular teacher at Jericho Writers’ Festival of Writing, running courses and workshops in topics that include character creation, plotting, problem solving, and literary style.
Many of Rebecca’s editing clients over the years have gone on to sign with agents and achieve publication. She is happy to work long term with authors on multiple manuscripts.
Find Rebecca on Twitter here: @HorsfallAuthor
Testimonials
– Andrew
– Claire
– Jan
- Alison O
WHY WE LOVE REBECCA
Rebecca brings a passion for the written word and an extensive knowledge of the craft to all she does. Not a report goes past us without a little nugget of wisdom being noted down. Her reports are simply so brilliant, we could just cosy up in a corner somewhere and soak in all they have to offer. Rebecca is particularly amazing at making previously complicated techniques, or advice, at once understanding – all the while applying them to the specifics of your title. Her editing expertise is incredibly broad and applicable across genres, covering crime to fantasy – there’s little she can’t do.
You might want to catch her fantastic member’s only masterclasses on Revising Your Novel and Show Don’t Tell. We’re telling you, you’ll never think the same way again!
WHAT REBECCA SAYS ABOUT EDITING
For me, the success of a novel depends primarily on strong storytelling and compelling characters. I have a sharp analytical eye for these aspects, and my aim for each editorial project is to arrive at a technically polished novel that firmly grips the reader, allowing space for your personality as a writer to shine through. This is the combination we want in order for your novel to attract agents and publishers.
However, my own experience as a novelist has also taught me that fiction writing is as much a challenge of confidence, belief and perseverance as it is a technical one, so it’s important to me to take a personal approach to editing that is supportive and solution-focused.
I bring a broad life experience and education to my work as an editor – academically, I trained in science and then (much later) in psychotherapy – and I greatly value the opportunity to edit many kinds of adult fiction alongside my work as a writer.
What Rebecca works on
Manuscript assessment
Developmental Editing
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Genres Rebecca specialises in
Rebecca's published books
Dancing on Thorns
When Jonni Kendal comes to London to pursue her dream of becoming an actress, she’s young, naive, full of courage and determined to excel. Just nineteen, she’s desperate to escape the narrow, parochial life her parents have planned for her.
Jean-Baptiste St. Michel is haunted by his father: the man who abandoned him as a child, the man he can hardly remember, the man he cannot forget. Driven by his determination to forge a life for himself outside of the shadow his father’s famous name casts, he’s ambitious, talented and dangerously attractive – but suspicious of emotional attachments.