About Val Serdy

I help chart your course through the intricate woods of storytelling by leveraging my analytical skills and love for critiquing to transform your manuscript into a polished masterpiece.

I’m known for using my sharp wit and a touch of tough love to help ensure your story is both compelling and meticulously crafted.

TL;DR

I read, and I know things.
And I tell you about what I know.

I have opinions. So many opinions.

Val sits in her reading chair with her laptop and notebook
Blank notebook and pencil, waiting for Val's thoughts
Creative office space with "Punch today in the face" drawn on the wall

I’m pleased to meet you.

My ancient history

I earned a BS in computer science, then worked as a programmer and a program manager. I learned how to break down problems, brainstorm solutions to those problems, and then communicate options to solve those problems. I also learned how to translate customer needs to technical requirements.

You’d be amazed at how handy those skills are when I’m helping someone “debug” their novel’s plot or explaining genre readers’ expectations.

The start of my editing career

I took time away from the techy workforce to start a family. When my kid started school, I joined a writing group and quickly found I loved critiquing my partners’ works. So, I earned an editing certificate through the UW.

I hung out my shingle in 2010. Since then, I’ve combined my technical and creative sides to do instructional design, accessibility work, technical writing and editing, and—the most likely reason you’re here—fiction editing.

“I am who I choose to be. I always have been what I chose… though not always what I pleased.”

-Lois McMaster Bujold

Reading, my first love

Through it all, I read. Everything. Science fiction, fantasy, literary fiction, young adult, nonfiction, self-help, mystery, the back of cereal boxes…

If it’s got words on it, and it isn’t moving, I’m reading it.

(Sometimes I'm reading it even if it is moving. But then I get motion sick...)

Fantasy and sci-fi

I fell in love with science fiction with the first book I remember reading in the genre: The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts. That led me to Tolkien and Lewis and Brooks and McCaffrey and McKinley and Card and Bujold and Stephenson and and and…

I’m still reading sci-fi and fantasy today.

When I’m not working

If I’m not reading, you can find me cooking or baking, crocheting or knitting, or hiking and exploring around my new home. Or hiding from my three very needy cats…

My vice is curiosity; it hasn’t killed me yet. My other vice is sharing what I know. That’s come close a time or two...