Returning for a FOURTH year!
Voted Top Judge in 2020.
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Alex Gruenberg
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Alex has spent over 30 years helping beginning writers find their voices and develop their skills. He enjoys the process of finding the hidden gold in a manuscript and working with the writer to refine and polish it. With BA and MA degrees in literature from Lycoming College and Bucknell University, he also has solid experience teaching both fiction and nonfiction at the college level. He now works as a freelancer. His wide-ranging life experience includes caving and climbing, making and playing guitars, working as an auto mechanic and sailing a tall ship.
Returning for a second year.
Voted Top Judge in 2020.
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Allison LaBorde
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Allison graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Thomas Edison State University after completing an accelerated two-year program. It was here that her reading experience was broadened and she obtained valuable skills of analysis and editing. Since then, she has worked mainly in the financial industry honing her skills in technical and procedural writing. She has also worked as a freelance writer for a couple of small periodicals, focusing primarily on historical features, and has continued the side-hustle she began in college of tutoring students in writing and composition. She is excited to rejoin the I&I team and is looking forward to another great contest.
TOP-RATED JUDGE in 2018, 2019, and 2020!
Ready for a FOURTH year.
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Amy Hong
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Amy is an avid reader who has always loved immersing herself in fictional worlds. As a freelance writer and editor, she is passionate about helping developing writers build their skills and confidence in their craft. She holds a BA in Modern History and English and is in her final year of a Master of Teaching, and also tutors children in literacy and numeracy. She is very excited to be returning for a fourth year and is eagerly awaiting submissions.
Ready for a FOURTH year.
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Beth Lee-De Amici
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Beth is a published author of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. She recently completed her first novel, a humorous supernatural thriller, and is currently seeking representation. Beth holds a PhD in Music (historical musicology) from the University of Pennsylvania and the professional certificate in editing from UC Berkeley Extension. She also has formal training in creative writing and screenwriting. All told Beth has nearly 20 years' experience as a writer and as an evaluator of others' writing, mostly in her prior capacity as a university instructor.
Since 2018, Beth has been working as a freelance editor and ghostwriter, and as a judge in the Ink & Insights literary competition. She joined the Editorial Freelancers Association in 2020, and her recent editing experience includes a novella with elements of magical realism and science fiction, a feature film script, and an inspirational self-help book. Institutional clients include Clemson University Press.
Back for a second year.
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Beverley BevenFlorez
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Beverley earned an MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from the Vermont College of Fine Arts as well as a BA in English with an option in literature from the California State University, Long Beach. She has almost two decades of experience in giving and receiving critiques, in both academic as well as conference settings, having attended over ten writers’ retreats, events, conferences, and workshops, including the SCBWI Summer Conference, the Big Sur Writing Workshop, and the Pacific Coast Children’s Writers Workshop.
Currently, she is Editor of the Construction Defect Journal, and is a freelance writer and editor. Her fictional work is represented by Jamie Weiss Chilton of the Andrea Brown Literary Agency. As a writing coach, Beverley enjoys guiding writers through their projects and helping them strengthen their craft.
Back for year number FIVE!
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Dawn Olmo
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Dawn holds a bachelor's degree in Creative Writing and a master's degree in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from Eastern Washington University. For the past ten years, she has done extensive freelance editing and writing for self published and indie writers. Many of her clients return to her again and again with new work.
Not only has she had a plethora of experience editing self-published authors, she also has experience in judging writing contests, reading submissions for literary journals, and giving feedback to burgeoning writers. There is nothing she enjoys more than sitting in front of the computer and editing, knowing she is helping writers create stronger stories, characters, plotlines, and grammar.
Readyfor a SIXTH year!
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Denise Stern
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Denise has been a freelance ghostwriter and editor for over 20 years. Experienced in providing manuscript evaluation and critiques for authors, she enjoys mentoring and instructing new authors as much as she enjoyed being mentored throughout her early writing career. A voracious reader since she picked up and read her first book on 1st grade, she has loved to read and write. From serious literature to suspenseful horror and beyond, she loves books in most genres. The written word has enriched her life and her dedication to help new authors develop and hone their writing chops.
This is Denise's sixth year as an Ink & Insights judge and she looks forward to reading author submissions and helping contestants grow as writers.
Ready for a second year.
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Ian Tan
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Ian graduated the budding summer of 2019 from Messiah University with a Bachelor of Arts in English (concentrating in Creative Writing). His college career had given him plenty of exposure to various genres of literature (from classic epics to play scripts to YA novels). Writing and peer-reviewing these same genres has developed his eye for critiquing creative works like Inks & Insights submissions. In addition to academics, Ian volunteered for two years as a column writer for the Pulse, Messiah University's news website, further honing his storyteller abilities.
These days Ian boosts his writing skills by reading fiction daily (and he will recommend this method in his critiques). At least once a week, he'll watch channels/podcasts of acclaimed writing gurus to glean some extra tips. Ian finds joy in interacting with other writers' pieces and connecting with a part of them through this medium. He is honored to receive every piece that comes his way and wishes all contestants a healthy journey of learning.
TOP-RATED JUDGE in 2018, 2019and 2020!
Ready for a Fourth year.
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Jackie Jones
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Jackie is a Barbadian-British writer and editor. As a writer of both prose and scripts, she enjoys digging into stories and getting to their roots. This also feeds her fondness for developmental editing and critiquing.
Jackie's ready for your Ink and Insights' submissions. Speculative fiction, thriller/mystery, and action/adventure are among her favourites. Her inbox is thirsty for those featuring Caribbean-based settings/characters, original creatures/monsters/aliens/odd animals, and unusual friendships/partnerships. Find out more about her Ink and Insights' preferences on her website Pages Unforgotten.
Returning for a FOURTH year
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Jake Waller
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Jake’s a UK-based editor who ditched a career in engineering to pursue his love of words. It was at the university creative writing society in Durham that he realized how enjoyable firmly but gently picking manuscripts apart could be! He tweets about his I&I assignments using #AskIandI and is passionate about helping authors realize their dreams so that they don’t have to worry about getting a 'real' job.
There's a good chance he'll be your judge if your MS includes ‘horror’ in the genre!
Ready for a Third year!
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Katie Borg
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Katie is a December 2020 graduate of Cornell University, where she was an English major with medieval and early modern English. In pursuit of her degree, she dissected the language of many texts, engaged in heated debates, and examined legends that still inspire modern fiction writers. She is a freelance illustrator, graphic designer, and writer with more than five years of experience. Aside from helping classmates and colleagues with proofreading, she has written opinion pieces for a popular news website, research papers and reports for academic purposes, and, of course, fiction. She has enjoyed fantasy and science fiction from a young age and spent many nights finishing books instead of sleeping. She is looking forward to another year as a judge for Ink and Insights.
Ready for year number FIVE!
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Kimberly Egan
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Kimberly discovered her love of helping other writers find their voice while working at the Kennesaw State University "Lifelong Learning Center." Since that time, she has assisted university students and writers with research, proofreading, and editing. Her primary topics of interest include horror, mystery, and fantasy fiction, as well as dog-related training, genetics, and conformation/anatomy-focused nonfiction.
Kimberly has worked for almost two decades as a freelance writer and editor. She spent several years working for Demand Media Studios, under contract as both a writer and a punch-up editor. She has acted as co-editor and writer for "Teddy Tales," the United Teddy Roosevelt Terrier Club of America newsletter and is currently working on a series of dog training articles and videos with her TRTs. Kimberly looks forward to working for a fifth year as a judge for Ink & Insights.
Ready for a Second year!
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Kristal Pinili
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Kristal loves to read and will never understand the endless debate between paper books and ebooks because they're all books full of words and people should just read them and enjoy the experience. She works as a freelance writer and helps authors develop chapter outlines in between her real-life corporate job. She can help authors with content or substantive editing, proofreading, and beta reading.
Voted back for a second year
AND voted a TOP JUDGE!
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Lisa Booth
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Lisa is an Ithaca College graduate. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing as well as minors in Education and Counseling in May, 2020. While at Ithaca, she was a peer tutor in the Writing Center, helping students and faculty work on their writing skills; she was an editor for the Writing department publication StillWater, and her own work has appeared in publications such as StillWater.
Lisa is currently pursuing her MSW at Sacred Heart, working with children, and of course, always reading and writing.
Voted back for a second year.
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LP Wirth
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A former tech executive and Communications Director, LP has lived in Europe and the Americas. He speaks several languages and likes to read original versions when time allows. On occasion, LP corresponds with accomplished authors to consult on early or published manuscripts.
As Editor in Chief for a Floridian business, he is responsible for content management, copy editing, and proofreading. He is frequently writing copy for a Seattle based author. LP is also ghostwriting books with focus on preserving the voice of the author. His guiding principle? " Always add value to someone else's life." He hopes to do the same for aspiring writers here at Ink & Insights.
Ready for year number FOUR!
Voted Top Judge in 2020.
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Marcie Wood
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Marcie Wood is an editor, tutor, and writing consultant with a degree in English and Creative Writing. She’s worked on a variety of projects—everything from proofreading a massive engineering thesis to copyediting a Dungeons & Dragons supplements—but her greatest love is fiction: reading it, writing it, and talking about it. (Off the clock, she loves geeking out with writer friends about narrative structure and compelling characters. This makes her a good editor, but a tiring movie date.)
One of Marcie’s favorite parts of editing is collaboration—helping writers develop and refine their work, so that the stories of their heart are translated clearly to the page. Delighted to be returning to the Ink & Insights team, Marcie hopes to build some lasting connections both with the writers who receive her critique and with her fellow judges.
Back for a second year.
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Marilize Loxton
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Marilize is a recent Creative Writing graduate from the North West University of South Africa. In 2019, she interned at the Foundry Literary + Media Literary Agency under two senior agents, and in 2020 she interned at TouchPoint Press under the senior acquisitions editor. Currently, Marilize works as a scriptwriter for an entertainment company's YouTube channels, collectively with over 1 million subscribers. When she's not reading or writing, she's probably in the kitchen baking something sweet, or in the bathroom trying - and failing - to towel off her pup after his bath.
Returning for a second year.
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Melody Quinn
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Melody Quinn is a professional freelance writer and editor with a strong background in manuscript copyediting. She spent four years of her editing career working with novice and established authors at Touchpoint Press. She believes that there is nothing more magical than discovering a new favorite book, and she enjoys using her talents to help authors reach their goals of writing someone's favorite book. She has a BA in English and Technical Writing from SFASU.
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Mercy Whites
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Mercy graduated from University of North Texas with a BA in Psychology, a minor in English, and a love of creating stories as well as helping others create theirs. Between critiquing her fellow students when she was still in class and working individually with contestants or freelance clients, she lives nothing more than to help the creative ideas people want to share with others become the best possible versions of themselves.
Whether it be fantastic lands or someone's backyard, Mercy has always been enraptured by fiction and how it can affect its readers. She's excited for another year of visiting new worlds and meeting new characters via the Ink & Insights competition!"
On board again for a FIFTH year!
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Rachel Harden
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For as long as she can remember, Rachel has fought dragons and Dark Lords, journeyed with time travelers, pirates, and outcasts, and is a frequent visitor to other worlds and societies. She is a freelance editor and graphic designer. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from Southern New Hampshire University and a degree in graphic design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, which she uses to help create book covers for published authors. For over fifteen years, she has been writing fantasy and sci-fi for young adult and middle grade audiences, and enjoys stories with found-families and coming-of-age. She is always looking for a new adventure and looks forward to helping you make your book the best it can be. When she isn’t reading or writing, Rachel can most likely be found drawing, learning Japanese, or dreaming of living at the beach.
Ready for a SIXTHyear!
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Rachel Hoff
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Rachel Hoff is committed to providing quick, careful, considerate critique. She’s been editing professionally for more than five years and writing for more decades than she’d prefer to admit. The bulk of her editing experience is in romance, sci-fi, fantasy, YA, and historical, but she’s happy to work on almost anything (even non-fiction) that tells a story.
As an editor, Rachel can talk plot, characters, and world-building, but she’s best at spotting typos and cleaning up confusing prose.
Rachel is a once (and possibly future) English teacher who has a BA and an MA in English.
Back for year Three.
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Shabana Kayum
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I am a freelance editor and writer with roots in college level tutoring and creative writing workshops. The editor’s pen has held a special lure since the first true blush of my youth – roughly a half million years ago! As a developmental editor, I have helped my authors proudly self-publish their clean and polished manuscripts. I have even earned the title of “Book Doctor” by one of them! Now I hope to use both my experience and understanding of the art of the written word to give valuable feedback and insight to our contest hopefuls. Good luck to everyone, and I cannot wait to read your work!
Ready for a FIFTH year!
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Visnja Murgic
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Visnja graduated in education from Montreal's Concordia University moons ago and continued her studies in several fields including editing and writing through Waterloo University in Ontario.
Apart from loving art making, travelling, gardening and translating, reading is at the top of the list of her favourite things to do. From current events (pandemic story anyone?) and contemporary fiction, Visnja reads a lot in just about every genre making her an ideal judge for the Ink and Insights writing contest.
She's made and kept many friendships through the contest over the years and loves this aspect of the job, but it is the search for the yearly gem that holds her highest attraction. Ink and Insights is a wonderful experience for many writers; some professionals who have published through traditional ways and amateurs, from the original Latin, meaning 'a lover of', benefit alike from the great feedback and genuine care given by the judges and Visnja is one of them.