Meet Our Proofers

She also has a passion for people. She earned her masters in human services and worked for several years as a supervisor in homes for teenagers and adults with developmental disabilities. Amber currently resides in Chicago and enjoys exploring the city with her adorable son and husband.

As an adult, Angela who is a military spouse and mom of three, has no less than 3 books on her nightstand in various states of being read and hundreds more on her Kindle so that she can read anywhere throughout the day.  She has her B.A. in Psychology and is working toward her Masters in Healthcare Administration. When she is not studying textbooks, and the chaos around her house simmers, Angela can be found curled up with a cat in her lap, and a book in her hands or headphones in her ears devouring audiobooks.

She gave up trying to choose between them, resigning herself to a life of loving books, stories, listening, drawing (amongst other ways of making pictures) – and most especially the wonderful places where these things co-exist and intersect. She chose to study Illustration and Printmaking before completing a Masters Degree in Sequential Design, with a focus on narrative.

Anne now lives in Edinburgh with her husband, 3 children, dog, cat and multiple teetering stacks of books. She taught in Higher Education, then worked in a pottery for many years. In her spare time, she can often be found running very slowly round Arthur’s Seat, cursing weeds at her allotment or attempting to justify the size of her recipe book collection by cooking from it.

This was followed by a career as a teacher which has already spanned 20 years – loving the challenge of sharing her passion for reading with the children she teaches. She continue to be an avid reader and has a secret hope to one day create a book of her own…

A self-acknowledged perfectionist by age five, she observes and does things with an awareness of symmetry and detail (even food preparation – because the eye eats first!) Cheryl pursued a career in physical therapy, disregarding an interest in words and literature, so initially her proofreading was limited to ergonomic evaluation reports and research proposals; she is still passionate about wellness and movement science. Yet she observes that even seemingly insignificant events along the way were preparatory to what she’s doing now. Cheryl has long watched movies and read with a dictionary or search engine at hand to look things up, and she is writing a book on the history of her childhood home, Burke Hollow, the land having been a grant to an ancestor in return for his Revolutionary War service. Cheryl finds it amusing that she came home from the first day of first grade and sat on the back porch with her mom, crying inconsolably because it seemed impossible that she would learn to READ!

It was a natural progression after that to studying English Literature at university, spending years as a children’s non-fiction book writer, editor, proofer and production manager, moving into communications for the UK academic network, then jacking it all in to train as an actor. After working professionally for a few years, she decided that her brain wasn’t made for the stress of an actor’s life, and she now works as an events manager for her partner’s murder mystery company and loves her ‘second job’ of audio proofreading. Acting is now strictly for fun! She lives in the south of the UK with her long-suffering partner plus a small fluffy white dog who loves mud and a sweet scaredy cat.

Having spent six years studying and then practising law, Daniel has honed his ability to meticulously analyse documents, maintain a strict schedule, and ensure the delivery of a quality product. Upon contemplating the more profound things in life, Daniel has now delved into the world of academia and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Divinity with a goal towards full-time ministry. In his spare time, you will find Daniel cooking up a storm, an audiobook playing along in the background.

Emma is now a full time VO artist working in narration, commercial, animation and podcast production, with an obsession with… pretty much all things storytelling. She loves being a part of the process by supporting authors, other narrators and production teams who are bringing stories to life by speaking them out loud. After many years in NYC, Emma now lives in the Pacific Northwest where on sunny days she hikes the mountains to stare out at the sea, and on rainy days she curls up with one of the 125+ romance novels she reads a year.

While dedicating her college years to earning her B.S. in biology and working predominantly in the cancer research field, her love of literature and immersing herself in what Stephen King referred to as the “uniquely portable magic” of books never waned. This love, coupled with her *slightly* perfectionist personality and the dedication to accuracy, precision and efficiency honed in the laboratory, soon translated into an acute awareness of and desire to fix flaws she detected in audiobooks. When the opportunity arose to translate that desire into the actionable ability to offer narrators the possibility of creating audiobooks that are as near to pristine as possible, she quickly jumped at the chance.

In her spare time, Jovan volunteers, takes an assortment of classes to learn new things (from software programming to music theory), reviews books for websites like Joyfully Jay, and of course, spends as much time as possible in her safe haven—that repository of the human condition which has the power to enlighten, energize, and encourage. . .books.

Her editing contains a perspective informed by a rich experiential and educational background. She holds a B.A. (History) from Wells College in Aurora, NY, a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master’s in Holistic Psychology from the University for Humanistic Studies in San Diego. An avid rower, she competes in regattas and enjoys imparting her love of the sport to adult and teenage novices.

She has also studied some theology and worked in all sorts of churches and Christian organizations in Australia, South Africa and the UK. Working in a chocolate shop and a cheese factory were some of her more curious jobs and had definite take-home perks. She lives with a gadget-guru/guitar-building/sourdough-baking husband, music-loving teenage composer, movie-quoting Tolkien fan, and a 10 year old future author. You can see why she might need to crawl into a quiet corner and escape into a new historical fiction book…

From telling jokes to a room full of family members as a child, to performing for an audience including Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Folger Theatre, Kevin has transitioned into audiobook and podcasting production. He holds a B.A. in Theatre & Dance from James Madison University, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Theatre & Performance from Trinity College Dublin.

Both of these taught her to become very detail oriented.  Megan’s love of stories propelled her into pursuing a Master’s in Theatre from East 15 Acting School in the UK and being a docent at a museum and library in Philadelphia, which specializes in antiquarian books.  Currently, she works as a stage director, actor and singer, splitting her time between Northern California and New York City, where she curates an arts salon, providing a platform for others to share their stories, experiences and viewpoints.

Not to mention his Kindle and audiobook collection. Nathanael currently has the joy of being a bible college student and part-time pastor, spending the vast majority of his time in the library reading or writing essays and sermons. When he gets home, his kids are often waiting, books in hand, ready to be read aloud, absurd character voices and all. When he is not reading or listening to books, Nathanael is fishing… though sometimes the audiobooks come along too.

He got a degree in Psychology and finished his undergraduate by contributing to research on alcoholism and schizophrenia. Since then he has split his time writing, working with people with mental health problems, recording and researching audiobooks, and playing in bands. He loves travelling: having lived in India, Colombia, Spain and Guatemala. He has settled back in London for the immediate future.

Always the curious chap, Otis was most often seen walking around town or school with a paperback poking out of his back pocket like an old man with a wallet too big for his trousers or a rolled up comic book clutched between his hands as he ran throughout the neighborhood with his friends. Never limiting himself to one subject or genre, Otis devoured books encompassing a wide variety of subjects and disciplines. As a young man, while working his way through college as an editorial assistant for a music trade company, as well as stints as a production/writer’s assistant for a couple of syndicated television sitcoms, Otis developed a fondness for music, poetry/spoken word and performance art. Ever eager to learn all aspects of interested disciplines, Otis began to write, record, as well as perform his “art” in its many forms. He also began recording and engineering projects for other budding artists and performers. During this time Otis began his career in education, spending the next fifteen plus years with the Los Angeles Unified School District, working in the special education department, facilitating and supplementing the education of children with severe learning disabilities, autism and mental retardation. Patience, discipline and attention to fine detail are just some of the many skills Otis honed while working with such a diverse student population. Along the way Otis became a husband and later a father. Still reading and ever expanding his informational base, Otis and his wife decided that it was time for a major change in life’s direction. They both took an early retirement, sold all their belongings and along with their three-year-old daughter, packed up and moved out of the United States in early 2015 and relocated to South America in search of the “simple life”. They bought a piece of land, built themselves a home and a charming rental property, had another child and started anew. Homeschooling, homesteading and organic gardening now encompass the bulk of most days. There is now plenty of time for sunshine, love, family and books.

An avid reader since he was child, it seemed only natural to pursue a career in story-telling and imagination. Ryan has spent the past thirteen summers working at The French Woods Festival of Performing Arts, which is largest performing arts camp in North America. Throughout his time at the festival he has written and directed numerous productions and developed a passion for working with youth in artistic settings. Ryan is also the Artistic Director of Suitcase Theatre, which is a Theatre for Young Audiences company based in Toronto which provides arts education to schools in need.

After studying history at university, she gravitated naturally to working with books. She has worked for publishers in Sydney, Cambridge and finally Melbourne, where she now works in textbook publishing during the week, and enjoys a lot of good coffee in her spare time.

After obtaining degrees in music performance and astrophysics at the University of Michigan, she eventually found her way to Chile, where she plays viola in the nation’s opera house, as a full-time member of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Santiago. Being a proofer has given the detail-oriented part of her brain a healthy outlet, and at the same time gives her an excuse to read more books! In her spare time she spoils her rescue dog, is learning to sew clothes, and is attempting to improve her Spanish.

all the times that aren’t day (and sometimes also by day). A lifelong lover of books, Shannon finds working in a library a terrible temptation, since she found out they’re not actually paying her to sit at her desk and read. She took French in college and promptly forgot most of it, except for, perhaps, “I like to eat sandwiches.” She is currently teaching herself Latin, because she is just that cool.

And why was her father surprised when she decided against studying medicine and went from an English Literature degree to a drama school diploma? Since then she has worked behind a mic as a voice over artist and in front of a computer as a writer and editor. Her inner pedant has now found a comfortable home proofing audiobooks. In fact, she thinks she may have proofed the longest audiobook ever, all 126 hours of “The Life of Casanova”. When not reading, writing or listening, she can be found walking her famous lurcher Riley around the streets and green spaces of Cambridge.

She was 12 years of age when the Berlin Wall fell and a new, free world opened up. In 2004 she went to work on a small luxury cruise ship, travelling around the world and visiting places she never dreamt of, including “Robinson Crusoe Island”. After 4 years of an adventurous life at sea it was time to settle and the decision where to go was an easy one. Steffi moved to Edinburgh, Scotland where she still lives with her family. It is of no surprise that you can find books everywhere in Steffi’s home with her daughter sharing the passion of reading English and German literature.

After spending her formative years in Beijing, she has lived in Scotland for the past twenty years . With wide interests ranging from art to statistics, she is a qualified public service interpreter and translator and conference interpreter by day, and a part-time student of data science and any other subject that interests her by night. In her spare time, she also plays the ukulele and the guitar, plays touch rugby and enjoys a dram of single malt whiskies with family and friends. She now lives with her three gerbils, two children and one husband in the shadow of Arthur’s Seat.