About Garden House Editorial

Hi! My name is Allison Richard, and I’m an editor and writer in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Garden House Editorial grew out of my own writing life. As I worked on my creative projects, friends, family, and fellow writers began asking me to read their work and offer feedback. I quickly realized how much I loved the process.

There’s something deeply rewarding about stepping into another writer’s imagined world. I love beautiful language. Language that shocks or dazzles, that clicks into place like a puzzle, or bewilders you with its wisdom. I love discovering new techniques and bringing my own writing experience and editorial training to the authors I work with. I love finding the brilliant story hidden in a messy first draft. I love to teach, to help authors write better, almost as much as I love learning.

After a few years of editing for fun, I decided to pursue formal training in professional editing at Queen’s University so that I could offer authors a strong editorial skill set. Garden House Editorial was born!

I’m drawn to fiction that feels atmospheric and emotionally rich—stories with strong characters and a pull that keeps you turning pages long after lights out. I work with romance, upmarket and women’s fiction, historical fiction, young adult, literary suspense, literary horror, cozy mystery, adventure, time-slip, and magical realism—but I’m open-minded and always happy to delve into something new to me.

When I don’t have my editor hat on, I am usually tending to my vegetable and perennial garden, or swimming somewhere. On quieter, cooler days, I am on the couch next to the fire with a hot cup of tea, a good book, and my Goldendoodle, Fred.