Hi. My name is Ray Rhamey, and maybe the most important thing about me, as far as you're concerned, is that I love to write and love to read a good book. Those passions drive my editing, forcing me to help writers find the most effective words and structure to better tell their tales.

I'm a writer and editor, and have made my living through creativity and words for a few decades now. As a writer and then creative director in advertising, I rose to the top tier of the Chicago advertising scene, then left it to try screenwriting. In Hollywood, I became a writer/story editor at Filmation, one of the top five animation studios—look for my screenplay credit next time you rent my adaptation of The Little Engine that Could at your local video store. But L.A. is not a hospitable place to live and raise small children, so I left to focus on quality of life and writing.

In 2001 I launched editorrr.com, and have clients from the Pacific Northwest to Lebanon. I'm a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, Northwest Independent Editors Guild, the Pacific Northwest Writers Association, and the Seattle Writers Association.

If you're a novelist, I think it's to your advantage to work with a fellow novelist who has an educated editorial eye (that would be me). I've completed three novels and am at work on a fourth. Two are currently represented by the TriadaUS Literary Agency and under consideration at New York publishing houses. They are (the titles are linked to samples):

We the Enemy, speculative suspense that tackles guns and crime, a novel of ideas told with the action and tension of a suspense thriller.

The Summer Boy, a sweet & sexy, pastoral and dangerous coming-of-age story. Set in 1958, a once-upon-a-time-of-innocence.

Particular talents & skills: Whether your manuscript is fiction, narrative non-fiction, a memoir, or non-fiction, here are some of the abilities I will bring to bear.

A keen sense of language: Are you saying what you mean in the most effective way? This "sense" was honed in over twenty years of advertising as a writer and creative director. My instincts for grammar and structure are so acute my college freshman English instructor begged me to switch to an English major (I did psychology.) But wait, there's more.

Pace: my own first novel was a sprawling 130,000 words. It's now a crisp 97,000. By editing narrative to cut speed bumps and road blocks, I help you pick up the pace.

Voice: I respect every writer's voice, and never try to impose my own. My job is to make your writing better, not to make it mine.

Continuity: It's too easy to lose track of the details that take readers like me out of the story; I'm constantly on the continuity case. A current example of a continuity lapse is in the first 3 pages of Dan Brown's bestseller, The DaVinci Code. It would never have gotten by me. Ask me about it.

Structure: as a story editor in film and as a novelist, I've wrestled with (and have some evidence of having conquered) the same key structural issues that you face in keeping a story on track.

Story: A couple of times I've contributed the ideas needed for better endings on client novels. In one case I restructered the entire novel. The story's the thing, and I'll do my all to help you shape and bring out your story.