Hi, I’m Erin!

I’m the editor behind Gray Owl Editing, and live in sunny Colorado with my husband, three kids, and very elderly Westie mix, Daisy.  In the winter, you can usually find me curled up with a book, drinking something warm, and sitting as close to the fireplace as I can get.  In the summer, I like to be outside taking advantage the sunshine and all the beauty Colorado has to offer.  I love exploring the world with my kids, word games and puzzles, trying to be crafty (mostly failing), and I’m always trying to learn something new.  

Though I came into professional editing in a roundabout way (I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and worked with kids in that capacity for many years), I have always been an editor at heart.  I have loved digging deep into stories and figuring out what makes them tick for as long as I can remember (and learned much too late in life that people do not actually appreciate having their grammar corrected in casual conversation). When I realized I could read for a living AND help writers create the best versions of their stories, I never looked back!

I chose to specialize in editing middle grade and YA because these are the books that I feel have a huge capacity to change the world for the better.  Kids who are reading middle grade and YA are actively figuring out who they want to be in the world, and I think that these books have the power to help kids realize how brave, strong, resilient, and empathetic they can be.  Kids deserve complex, rich stories that not only show them other worlds, but also give them insight into themselves. I love working with authors who feel the same way, and being a part of bringing their stories into the world is such an honor! I can’t think of anything I’d rather do all day than help writers strengthen their manuscripts so they can confidently release them into the world.