Hi! I’m Amy, and I run Elkheart Editorial. As my homepage says, I am a Society of Authors Member, Arts Council of Northern Ireland supported writer, and CIEP-trained developmental editor who has facilitated creative writing and multidisciplinary arts workshops in Limerick, Belfast and Paris. But why am I in this business and, most importantly, what can I do for you?

Writing is my original love and even in the busiest times of my life, I’m never without pen and paper (or phone) at hand for those inspiring jolts of the muse. On the editing side, I love nothing more than to empower new voices. Witnessing a client’s joy when they realise, “hey, I can write!”, sharing their excitement as the dots connect and their story unravels, and finally hearing them say for the first time, with confidence, “I am a writer!” is absolute magic. I get as much out of my clients’ joy, growth, and success as they do, and that’s what keeps me in the game.

My experience includes line editing, synopsis assistance, and memoir ghost-writing as well as developmental editing and creative writing. I have had the joy of working on a wide range of projects, including prison story collections, Madagascan travel memoir, nail-biting political memoir, scandalous alternate universe novels, successful Arts applications for clients, heartbreaking American queer memoir, creative wellbeing and personal development programmmes for organisations, a literary journal for new and established authors, and Irish-based short stories, synopsis and novels, two with ties to the Irish Novel Fair.

Developmental Editing

Developmental editing (also known as structural editing) looks at story elements, plot, characters, structure, setting, narrative, dialogue, theme, and world-building – in other words, your foundations. It is one of the most important edits a book can undertake because stories build from the base. Let’s strengthen yours together!

I am a trained developmental and line editor with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), hold an MA in Creative Writing from University of Limerick, and have worked with individual clients, organisations, and new and established authors alike. I specialise in contemporary speculative fiction – if your story can be classed as ‘our modern world, offbeat’, then it’s likely to fit under this genre. Feel free to get in touch to check if you aren’t sure.

If you have a story idea but aren’t sure where to start, we can work together to build your story from the ground up using Developmental Consults. Or if you have a draft ready to go, our Annotated Edits and Manuscript Assessments provide a scrutinising eye to catch sticky plot holes, unpack your characters, and offer advice and feedback for your next steps.

To discuss your book idea, request quotes, ask questions, or simply say ‘hi!’ and find out more information, please contact me here or at amyelkheart@gmail.com.

Writing Commissions

Hear ye, hear ye! Seeking an Arts Council supported writer for a new exciting project? Turning big ideas into tangible stories is core to developmental editing, and this extends to my own creative work. Alongside the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, I am also grateful to have received support from the Irish Writers Centre, the King’s Trust, the John Hewitt Society, the Society of Authors, the Bridport Prize, and Writers’ HQ.

I write about the connections that tie people, places, and personal experiences together. Places I am published in or have performed for include Fortnight 51, Bridport Prize Novel Extracts Anthology, Flash Fiction Armagh, Glór na Móna, John Hewitt International Summer School, Limerick Writer’s Centre, the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, and Centre Culturel Irlandais as a Writer in Residence (2023).

Topics I love most include identity, writing and editorial processes, fable, literature and the arts, collaboration and community, travel and adventure, divergent ways of living in the modern world, and social grey areas. Whether you’d like a straightforward article, opinion piece, or report, or for your commission to take on a more allegorical feel by combining fiction and non-fiction, I am happy to work within your brief and specific needs.

To hire for writing commission, ask for more information, or discuss possibilities, please contact me here or at amyelkheart@gmail.com.

Please note: memoir ghost-writing slots are closed until May 2025.