About Jodie

on Feb 12 in

ABOUT JODIE RENNER

Although I have a master’s degree in literature, and was an English (and French and Social Studies) teacher for many years and a librarian for two years, I’ve also had a variety of other life experiences, worked at a number of other jobs over the years, lived in a lot of different places, and traveled to many more, all of which have broadened my horizons and enhance my input when editing fiction. From my background in a large, working-class family, first on a farm, then in a remote mining town, to living in several large cities, moving across the country, being involved in the academic life for a while, and my extensive traveling, I’ve been fortunate to have experienced a wide variety of social and geographical milieus.

For more information on my editing experience, please click here.

Through the years, I’ve traveled extensively throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. (See down for a list.) In the past three years or so, I’ve combined heading off to writers’ conferences with sightseeing in new places. In fact, I love traveling so much, I’m thinking of changing my tagline from “Let’s work together to enhance and empower your writing” to “Have laptop, will travel.”

As for books and fiction, I’ve loved reading fiction since I was a little kid, and my tastes have varied over the years. For the last four or five years, I’ve been choosing mainly thrillers and other crime fiction to read, and that’s also what I enjoy editing the most. Among my favorite authors are Lee Child, Sandra Brown, Robert Crais, Michael Connelly, Janet Evanovich, Harlan Coben, Lisa Gardner, John Grisham, Nora Roberts, and Dean Koontz.

When I’m not editing or reading fiction, I’m poring over craft-of-fiction books by writing gurus, and writing blog posts and books on various techniques for writing compelling fiction. I have dog-eared, marked-up copies of over forty how-to books on writing compelling fiction, by experts in the field like James Scott Bell, Donald Maass, James N. Frey, Sol Stein, Jack M. Bickham, Jessica Page Morrell, and many more. See the Resources page for a list of books I’ve read and recommend, as well as my own e-books, Writing a Killer Thriller – An Editor’s Guide to Writing Compelling Fiction and Style that Sizzles & Pacing for Power, also available in paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Both of these books are chock-full of excellent advice for writing a riveting page-turner that sells. For more info on my books, please visit my author website.

Besides Crime Fiction Collective and my own blog, my craft articles appear on The Kill Zone, Blood-Red Pencil, The Thrill Begins, The Writer’s Forensics Blog, Mystery Writing is Murder, and various other blogs. See the Writing Tips page for links to many of my well-researched craft-of-fiction articles.

I also present workshops to writing groups or at writer’s workshops or conferences. For more info on this, go to: www.JodieRenner.com/workshops.

I’m a past member of The Editors’ Assoc. of Canada (EAC) and Editorial Freelancers Assoc. (EFA); and a current member of International Thriller Writers (ITW – Associate), Sisters in Crime (SinC), and other author/fiction sites and organizations.

My writing clients are all across North America, especially on the west coast of the U.S. and the Eastern Seaboard, and I’ve also had clients in Australia, the U.K., Paris, Rome, and Brazil.

Facebook: Jodie Renner Editing

Twitter: JodieRennerEd

Contact Jodie at j.renner.editing@hotmail.com.

PLACES JODIE HAS VISITED OR LIVED IN:

Vancouver, BC, Aug. 2011

COUNTRIES:

Europe: England, Scotland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Serbo-Croatia, Italy, Greece.

The Middle East: Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Cyprus, Israel.

North America: Canada, the U.S., Mexico. Also, the Caribbean.

CITIES:

Europe: Amsterdam, Paris, London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna, Milan, Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples, Athens, Prague, Zagreb, Budapest, Hungary; and more.

San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

North America: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Cancun, Mexico; Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, & Berkeley, CA; Las Vegas & Reno, NV; New York, NY; Chicago, IL, Austin, TX; Nashville & Memphis, TN, Albuquerque, NM; Santa Fe, NM; Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; Myrtle Beach, SC; Tallahassee, FL; New Orleans, LA, Grand Canyon & Tucson, AZ; Portland, OR, Seattle, WN, Boston, MA, Vancouver, BC; Victoria, BC; Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec City; and many more cities and towns in Canada.

Also: Petra, Jordan; the Dead Sea, the Grand Canyon, the Rocky Mountains; Whistler-Blackcomb Ski Resort; the Okanagan; Long Beach, Vancouver Island; The Queen Charlotte Islands; and many more towns and cities in British Columbia.

Have lived: farm in Saskatchewan; mining town in BC; Vancouver, BC; Chemainus, BC (on Vancouver Island); Nanaimo, BC; Toronto, Ontario; London, Ontario (all in Canada).

Writers’ Conferences and Book Festivals Jodie has attended:

Tucson, Arizona

June 2009: Editors’ Association of Canada annual conference, Toronto (Jodie was a presenter)

June 2009: MagNet Conference, Toronto (magazine writers and editors)

July 2010: Thrillerfest (Craftfest), International Thriller Writers’ Conference, New York City

October 2010: Bouchercon (mystery and thriller writers fan convention) in San Francisco

February 2011: San Miguel Writers’ Conference, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. My proposal was accepted to present a 90-minute seminar on Point of View for the Feb. 2012 conference.

March 2011: The Big Chile – Left Coast Crime’s crime fiction writers’ and readers’ conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Jodie was on a panel there – “Industry Professionals on Publishing.)