Welcome to my website

I’m a teacher, an editor, an author, a speaker, a writer and an artist. Please see about me, list of projects and testimonials.

I offer an array of services:

Editorial Training Services: I regularly teach short courses in grammar and editing. I strive to make my courses entertaining and interactive, and evaluations of them are overwhelmingly positive.

I also offer one-on-one tuition and deliver presentations to writers’ and editors’ groups.

I’m the author of Grey Areas and Gremlins: A grammar and punctuation refresher. The cost of the printed book and its 10 accompanying handouts is $55 (no GST), including shipping within Australia, and the cost of the PDF version and handouts is $35. View and order HERE.

A 45-minute video of my presentation entitled ‘Two big gremlins: personification and the comma splice’, which I delivered to members of the Australian Society for Technical Communication (ASTC) at the society’s conference on Wednesday, 12 October 2022, in Melbourne, is viewable on this home page. 

Public speaking: Listen to my second Radio 2GB interview (‘Back to basics’) on this home page and the blog page, and listen to the first interview (‘Apostrophes across the airwaves’) on the blog page. Both interviews were with the presenter Deborah Knight on her popular program Afternoons with Deborah Knight.

Course notes:  The following five sets of course notes are now available for purchase via my website shop:

‘Grammar and Punctuation: The basics’
‘The Parts of Speech: Nouns, verbs and the other seven’
‘All Your Sentences Sorted: Simple, compound and complex’
‘Perfect Punctuation: Commas, colons and co.’
‘Writing Effective Paragraphs: What you need to know’

The cost of a printout of any set of course notes, secured in a plastic wallet, is $55, which includes $45 for the notes and $10 for shipping within Australia.

The cost of a PDF of any set of course notes is $35.

Living Proof – Book Editing: I’ve been a self-employed editor since 1989, and my services include copy editing, structural editing, preparing editorial reviews, rewriting, converting text to plain English, and proofreading.

I collaborate with a range of companies, government departments, business entities and self-publishing authors in order to produce the best-possible product. Whatever the project, my imperative is editorial excellence.

If you need a top graphic designer as well as a top editor, look no further than my colleague Tracy-lee Adams of justsayah.com.au. Tracy designed this stunning website, and we’ve been collaborating to produce a variety of fiction and non-fiction books since 2008. Having your editor and visuals expert working closely and efficiently together, you’ll save both time and money. 

Writing and copy writing: I apply my wordsmithing skills to many types of publication. Clients have included Government News, Newswrite, Vegan Voice and Concise Writing Consultancy.

Draw On: I’m a long-time working artist who creates black and white line drawings and cartoons as well as colourful illustrations and posters. View and order my ‘Give pigs a chance’ poster HERE.

A collection of my artwork, articles, ephemera and music products is housed at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (the Powerhouse Museum), in Sydney. View HERE.