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Biography

Shona Kinsella is a Scottish author of fantasy, horror and non-fiction. Her works include mythic Scottish fantasy novels Rise of a Witch Queen, Daughters of Nicenvin, and The Heart of Winter; dark Scottish fantasy novella Petra MacDonald and the Queen of the Fae; industrial fantasy novella The Flame and the Flood; and non-fiction Outlander and the Real Jacobites: Scotland’s Fight for the Stuarts. Her short fiction can be found in various magazines and anthologies. She served as editor of the British Fantasy Society’s fiction publication, BFS Horizons for four years and as Chair of the British Fantasy Society for five years. 

Shona is an avid reader with a love for language and is most often to be found with her nose in a book. She has worked in varied industries, from acting to the civil service, and has a degree in law from the University of Strathclyde. As well as writing, she currently works as a freelance editor with authors and publishers across the globe. She lives on the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond with her husband and children.

Awards

2026 - Daughters of Nicnevin, shortlisted for Best Fantasy Novel, British Fantasy Awards

2024 - Professor Flotsam’s Cabinet of Peculiarities, shortlisted for Best Short Fiction, British Fantasy Awards 

2023 - Outlander and the Real Jacobites: Scotland’s Fight for the Stuarts, shortlisted for Best Non-Fiction, British Fantasy Awards

2023 - The Call of El Tunche, shortlisted for Best Short Fiction, British Fantasy Awards

2021 - The Flame and the Flood, shortlisted for Best Novella, British Fantasy Awards



Books
Other Writing
Contact

Shona loves hearing from new people. If you would like to get in touch about her books/events/writing, or to discuss editing services, please use the form here.

I am currently accepting bookings for the following services:

Developmental or Structural Edit

In this stage of editing we look at the big picture of the work. Does the plot make sense? Does the pacing work? Are the characters believable? Does the setting feel real? Ina  developmental edit, I provide an annotated manuscript (using comments on the text) noting what’s working well and where improvements could be made, as well as a detailed Editorial Report, looking at key areas such as Plot, Pacing, Prose, Worldbuilding/Setting and Characterisation - please note that the specific areas covered will vary according to each book’s needs. 

If your goal is to pursue traditional publishing, I will also consider things like length, genre expectations, and where your work might sit in the market. 

0.8p per word

Copyedit

At this stage, we’re looking at getting the manuscript ready for publication. I’ll check continuity, crutch words, sentence structure, spelling, grammar and punctuation. I’ll make sure that chapter numbers run sequentially and that design choices are consistent throughout the manuscript. 

0.65p per word

Proofread

This is the final stage before publication and often comes after a manuscript has been typeset and is ready to go to print. Proofreading checks for any last errors, especially in regards to typing errors, missing punctuation and the like. 

0.3p per word

AI Policy
I do not use AI in any of my feedback or editing services and will never feed your work into any LLM/generative AI/Chatbot under any circumstances. I do not give feedback on work that has been created using generative AI at any stage of the process. Please do not send me materials generated in this way. If I begin work on a text and find that it has been created using generative AI, I will return it to you unfinished and charge a flat rate of £20 per hour for the time I have already spent on it.