Client Spotlight: J. Matthew Saunders

Two of the best parts of being a freelance editor are the number of people I get to work with and the variety of projects they bring to me. I’ve had the pleasure of working with talented writers and amazing human beings. These are people who put a smile on my face each time their name appears in my inbox.

Because of this, I thought it would be fun to feature my clients once in a while and tell you about their projects and why you might be interested in what they’re writing.

J. Matthew Saunders

For this first spotlight, I’m featuring a client who first came to me early in 2015. He had written a vampire book and needed an editor. Was I interested? As soon as I read the opening pages, I knew I wanted to work with this author. These were very different vampire stories, and he was a very gifted writer.

First, let me tell you just a little about the author himself. J. Matthew Saunders isn’t your typical self-published author. He’s got three degrees–history, journalism, and law!–and had already written several short stories before he published his novel. On top of that talent, Matthew’s just a really nice guy and a pro to work with. Want to know more about him? Click here.

Okay, so vampires, huh? Let me tell you, he put that history degree to good use. The Daughters of Shadow and Blood series is about the three brides of Dracula, and he uses flashbacks to tell the brides’ origin stories, the first two of which are set in the Ottoman Empire and Kosovo in the seventeenth century, as well as Eastern Europe (Romania, Germany, Hungary, Bosnia) and Greece in the late twentieth century. He immerses the reader in these foreign, interesting settings in ways that make you feel like you’re really there. The settings really become–as they so often should–characters in their own rights.

In the late twentieth century we have vampire hunters–good ones and bad ones–and everybody’s after Dracula’s medallion. Why? I’ve finished Book 2, and I still don’t know. Can’t wait for Book 3! In the course of vampire hunting, we meet a bride in each book. Yasamin is the focus of Book 1 while Elena stars in Book 2. They are vampires, so don’t turn your back on them, but make sure you listen as they tell how–and why–they became vampires.

The Daughters of Shadow and Blood are treasure hunts of sorts too as everyone searches for the medallion. There are clues all over the place that our twentieth-century folks are searching for and following, and some of these clues tell stories from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well–stories of encounters with vampires–and vampire brides.

Matthew is a gifted storyteller, and it’s a blast to work with him and edit his books. Book 1: Yasamin, came out last year. We are wrapping up editing on Book 2: Elena this month, so I anticipate him dropping it in the next month. Grab Yasamin now–watch out for her teeth!–and you’ll be ready–and dying for–Elena when she’s released.

You can thank me then for introducing you.