More About Our Editors & Coaches
Kathy Ide
Kathy Ide is the author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, and the Capitalization Dictionary as well as the editor/compiler of the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series. She’s been a professional freelance editor since 1998. Kathy owns and manages Christian Editors Association, parent organization to the four divisions she founded: The Christian PEN: Proofreaders and Editors Network, The PEN Institute, PENCON, and Christian Editor Connection. CEA sponsors the Editors’ Choice Award. Kathy has spoken at numerous writers’ conferences for over ten years and directed three of them: Orange County Christian Writers Conference, SoCal Christian Writers’ Conference, and Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. She has also put on Christian Writers Retreats. She is now the managing editor for Redemption Press. To find out more about Kathy, read her blog, or sign up for her newsletter, visit www.KathyIde.com.
Ray Dittmeier
Sr. Editor
Ray Dittmeier is a freelance copyeditor/proofreader living and working in Louisville, Kentucky. He graduated from the University of Louisville with a degree in philosophy in 1987 and worked as a writer for the Cobb Group, Ziff-Davis Journals, Business First, and other publications. Subsequently, Ray came to specialize in business communications, writing company newsletters, press releases, and other materials for companies such as GE Appliances, BellSouth, and more. Since 2011, Ray has worked full-time as a copyeditor and proofreader, and in recent years, his path has taken him more deeply in the direction of Christian publishing.
Denise Weimer
North Georgia native Denise Weimer has authored over a dozen traditionally published novels and a number of novellas. She holds a journalism degree from Asbury University with a minor in history. As a freelance and small press editor, she's helped other authors reach their publishing dreams. A wife and mother of two daughters, Denise always pauses for coffee, chocolate, and old houses.
Diana Flegal
Diana Flegal served as a Literary Agent with Hartline Literary Agency for eighteen years where she represented fiction and nonfiction general market and inspirational titles. Her past sales included Appalachian and romance fiction, cookbooks, how to books, and personal story on topics such as anorexia and Sudan’s lost boys.
Inger Logelin
Inger Logelin is a senior editor of Redemption Press, author, speaker, freelance book coach, content editor, copywriter, and article writer. The co-author of Triumphant Faith with Susan Mackrill, and co-author with Athena Dean Holtz of Full Circle: Coming Home to the Faithfulness of God. A former missionary among the Inuit of Canada’s Northwest Territories, she has directed a wilderness Native youth camp in B.C., and done short-term ministry in Belarus, Greenland, Holland, and Liberia. She and her husband of 59 years have two grown daughters and three grandchildren, and live in Eastern Washington where they enjoy roads least traveled and funky country cafés.
James Watkins
All you really need to know about James Watkins is he is a journalist saved by grace.
Jim—James is just for book covers and bio sheets—is the author with 20-traditionally published books, five self-published books and hundreds of rejection slips. Four of his books have won national awards with Christian Retailing and Christianity Today. He also received five Evangelical Press Association awards for editing and writing.
Jim taught writing at Taylor University for 15 years and at hundreds of writers’ conferences throughout the United States and overseas. He served as editor for The American Bible Society and editorial director at Wesleyan Publishing House. At the same time he wrote a weekly humor column for three newspapers. The ordained minister’s undergraduate degree is in theology and graduate work in journalism.
More importantly, he’s a husband of nearly 50 years, dad to two adult children and eight grandchildren.
Jennia D'Lima
Jennia is passionate about everything related to the publishing industry and has written or edited for academic work, newspapers, university presses, and everything in between! She loves connecting with her authors and sees each project as a unique and exciting collaboration. In addition to editing, she is a book awards judge for IPNE and the creative nonfiction expert at NAIWE.
Her lifelong love of learning led to a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a master’s in applied developmental psychology, and post-baccalaureate accounting courses. She continues to learn by attending webinars, conference panels, and enrolling in various editing and writing related classes whenever possible. When she is not editing, she enjoys reading, visiting coffee shops and independent bookstores with friends, traveling with her family, and cuddling and playing with one of her family’s many pets.
Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards is a professional editor, author coach, and self-publishing consultant serving Christian authors and publishers. She specializes in nonfiction, having worked on manuscripts ranging from Christian Living to memoirs to systematic theology. Jennifer thrives at drawing content out of authors and smoothing things out to help make the manuscript shine for their readers. Her master’s degree in Biblical and Theological Studies from Western Seminary has proven invaluable by providing a critical eye for content, a thorough understanding of Scripture, and insightful theological thinking.
Jennifer lives with her husband, Mike, near the San Juan mountains of Southwest Colorado. They have 2 grown children and a little white dog named “Bear.” She enjoys hiking, camping, spending time with friends and family, and traveling. For more about Jennifer, visit www.jedwardsediting.net.
Judy Hagey
Words matter.
I’ve been a logophile since I could read. I hid under the covers late at night to finish the latest Pippi Longstocking book and checked out every volume in the We Were There series of children’s historical novels from the local library. It wasn’t until (ahem) later in life that I realized I could (almost) make a living doing what I loved without being a classroom teacher.
When I was downsized out of an administrative position in 2009, I decided to follow my heart and put my love for grammar and passion for excellent writing to good use. I’ve edited dissertations, nonfiction and fiction manuscripts, newsletters and websites. Helping writers convey “what’s burning inside” them with clarity and conviction is what lights my fire.
Katie Yee
Katie Yee is a freelance book editor with a focus on fiction, memoir, and Christian nonfiction. She is the owner of Blue Jay Editing Services. Authors find her professional and dependable but also likable and flexible. She is a Christian PEN Gold member and a member of Christian Editor Connection. Katie volunteers as a fiction and creative nonfiction submissions reader for Heart of Flesh Literary Journal. When she gets the chance, she loves learning a new game to play with her husband and four sons (Catan, anyone?).
Kim Silva
With a love for writing and a degree in journalism from the University of Southern California, Kim’s career spans corporate marketing and communications to current roles as a church communications manager and freelance editor. She is a gifted writer, with articles, blogs, and marketing copy to her name, as well as a skilled editor, specializing in copyediting and line editing. She especially enjoys editing Christian memoirs. Kim and her husband live in Northern California and have three young adult children and a 140-pound dog! When not on her laptop, you’ll find her walking or jogging the trails in her community, boating, or planning a trip to visit her college-aged daughter out of state. Kim is a member of The Christian PEN.
Lesley Ann McDaniel
Libby Gontarz
Libby Gontarz edited a book for the first time in 2008, fulfilling a childhood dream. As a child, Libby had been excited to learn about editors. Imagine how wonderful to work making books better! Since that first book-editing experience, Libby has helped multiple Christian nonfiction writers bring their own dreams into focus and reality. She enjoys working with first-time as well as experienced authors. Libby earned the Christian Editors Association’s Excellence in Editing Award 2022 for her copyediting on Thomas Stewart’s On Wings like Eagles (Redemption Press).
Libby has taught in the classroom and provided professional curriculum assessment and training across the nation. She wrote or edited elementary and high school instructional and assessment materials used internationally in public classrooms, private Christian schools, and homeschools.
Libby is a Silver Member of the Christian PEN.
She lives near the base of Arizona’s Superstition Mountains. libbygontarz.com
Lin Johnson
Lin Johnson has decades of experience as an in-house and freelance editor, proofreader, and writer. She specializes in proofreading, copyediting, and working with nontraditional manuscripts like Bible curriculum. She is the editor-administrator of The Christian Writers Market Guide; former editor of Christian Communicator, Advanced Christian Writer, and Church Libraries; proofreader for Israel My Glory; and author of more than 70 books, with a specialization in Bible curriculum.
Lin has a BA in Christian education from Cedarville University, a BA in Bible-theology from Moody Bible Institute, and an MS in adult and continuing education from National-Louis University. She has taught writing at Taylor University and teaches at writers conferences around the world.
When she’s not working, Lin likes to travel, read mysteries and suspense, and ride roller coasters. She’s been to all 50 states, two dozen countries, and five continents; but Hawaii is her favorite place.
Lora Doncea
Lora Doncea thoroughly enjoys editing fiction and nonfiction books for Christian writers. She views editing as a ministry, partnering with authors to help make their writing polished and professional. Check out her website at EditsbyLora.com for a variety of editing services, advanced writing skills courses, published books she’s edited, endorsements, writing tips, and more. Lora is the Assistant Director of Christian Editors Association. She is a Gold member of The Christian PEN and a certified substantive editor and copyeditor for CEC (Christian Editor Connection). She taught two workshops for editors at PENCON and is a judge for several writing and editing competitions. She won the Editor’s Choice Award in 2023.
Lori Stanley Roeleveld
Marissa Earl
Ocieanna Fleiss
Ocieanna Fleiss has written several books including her memoir, Love Like There’s No Tomorrow: How a Cardiac Arrest Brought My Heart to Life, and Awaiting the Manger: Whispers of Advent in the Old Testament. She has been an editor for over twenty years for hundreds of books. Ocieanna and her husband have four kids and make their home in Washington State.
You can find Ocieanna on Facebook, Instagram, and her website, ocieanna.com.
Rachel Overton
As a freelance editor for more than thirty years, Rachel Overton knows a good word when she sees one and can polish the rest till they shine. Rachel edits both fiction and nonfiction, always striving to maintain the author’s voice and style while carefully addressing the details and technical elements of their work. She understands the close-knit relationship between an author and their manuscript, as well as the effort that goes into creating and perfecting it. Along with the work she does for Redemption Press, Rachel has edited for Worthy Inspired, Harper Collins/Thomas Nelson, Harlequin’s Love Inspired imprint, Kregel Publications, KOJ Ministries, and numerous indie authors.
Rachel E. Bradley
S. Robin Larin
S. Robin Larin is a freelance editor and writer who holds graduate degrees in literature and creative writing and an editing certificate from Simon Fraser University. She specializes in developmental editing and stylistic copy editing of fiction (especially SFF and children’s). She is also the featured volunteer coordinator and profile writer for Editors Canada. A lifelong logophile, bibliophile, and ailurophile, Robin lives in Ontario, Canada, with two feline editorial assistants and more books than she can count.
Sam Severn
Sam Severn is a best-selling, award-winning ghostwriter, book doctor, screenwriter and writing coach. Mentored by Academy Award-winning writer Stewart Stern (Rebel Without A Cause), Sam served as consultant for the #1 best-sellers Tears For My City and The Revved Life. He also served as consultant for Robert Beatty’s #1 best-selling children’s novels Serafina and the Twisted Staff and Willa of the Wood, published by Disney Hyperion. Sam’s published more than 3,000 news stories, and ghostwritten or consulted on 50 published books, 14 of which have become #1 best-sellers. He's written for rock magazines and pop culture websites, film reviews and for the blogs of #1 best-selling Christian authors. A speaker at the 2022 and 2023 Killer Nashville writers' conference, he's currently coaching three writers on completing their first novels.
Sandra Holcombe
Sandra Holcombe has proofread and copyedited for publishers such as WaterBrook and Kensington along with various nonprofits, universities, businesses, and magazines. She had the honor of proofreading Cheryl McKay Price’s Never the Bride and Pat Robertson’s The Sheperd King: The Life of David. In addition, she’s proofed transcripts for Disney, Universal, Warner Brothers, ABC, CBS, NBC, ESPN, and the History Channel. Holding a B.A. in English and theatre, she also has a master’s in humanities, an M.F.A. in script and screenwriting, and is a member of the Act One: Writing for Hollywood community. Besides the written word, she loves the spoken word and enjoys voiceover work. However, even though bringing characters to life on the page and behind the mic is one of her passions, her greatest love is Jesus.
Staci Mauney
Staci Mauney is a freelance writer and editor and independent author from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the owner of Prestige Prose, a professional freelance writing and editing company. She is a Gold member of the Christian Proofreaders and Editors Network (PEN) and a member of the Christian Editor Connection (CEC).
Her writing background includes published short stories and magazine articles, as well as grant writing and ghostwriting website content and blog articles. She has published six devotionals in the Echoes of Joy series and the first novel in a Christian cozy mystery series titled Death by Dice: A Bunco Club Mystery.
She volunteers for a variety of organizations, is a frequent guest speaker and teacher for local writing groups, and is a past president of the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation Inc. (OWFI).