Red Thread
Editing
Finding the thread that holds your story together
Finding the thread that holds your story together
What I Do
Every writer knows that feeling. Something in your story isn't connecting the way you need it to, but you can't see where. Maybe your beta readers tell you the middle drags but can't say exactly why. Maybe a character moment that should break hearts barely lands. You can feel the gap between your intent and what's on the page, but you can't find it.
My job is to find those gaps, trace them back to their source, and show you how they formed. We work together at the structural level to find exactly what's missing — and how to weave it back in.
Character, pacing, world building, narrative logic: these are the quiet structural promises you make that pay off in chapter four, or book four. When those connections hold, your reader doesn't just read your story. They live in it.
I'm Cadhla, a developmental editor specializing in romance and speculative fiction.
How I Work
My first step is always to understand your story. What is your narrative really about? Who are your characters at their core? What do you want the reader to walk away with? That understanding becomes the foundation for everything I do.
From there, my goal is to translate between what you intended and what the page contains. I look at where your signals might be crossing — where a reader might overwrite your narrative with their own — and I trace that mismatch back to its structural roots.
What feels like five separate problems is often one root cause showing up in different places. I find that root, and we work on it together.
I believe this process works best as a collaboration. I'm not the type to hand you a list of problems and walk away. I work with you, bouncing ideas back and forth, and where I can, I teach. If there's a craft concept underneath the feedback that would help you grow as a writer, I'll walk you through it, drawing on my own frameworks to show different ways into difficult problems. My goal is always to make sure you understand the why, not just the what.
This process is yours. Before we start, we'll establish how you like feedback delivered and what helps you hear it. I want to meet you where you are and support you through the editing process — whether you've never received an edit before or you've had hundreds.
From a Client
“This is not casual or surface-level editing. This is deep diving into what makes the story work on every level.”
“The first time I worked with Cadhla, she picked up on how my character was handling their violin and helped me rework the whole scene so it read as it should. She caught things no one else had told me I needed to work on, and I was instantly smitten. Not only is she thorough, but she is kind in her wording and gentle in her feedback.
She taught me about the sequel — that my characters need agency and cannot share my pinball game of nihilistic fatalism where things just happen and I follow. They need to choose their path, or at least how they will fight the path laid out before them.
Working with Cadhla is less work and more hanging out with a friend, geeking out over writing concepts, characters and story arcs. Any time we are done talking over a part of the book, I cannot wait to get back to writing.”
— Night, author of By the Garnet Sea
Services
Not sure which you need? Tell me about your manuscript and I'll point you at the right one.
A close read of your prologue and/or first chapter to identify the core pattern behind your manuscript's problems.
Includes
Critique letter · line comments on key passages · one follow-up round
For
Testing fit before a larger project · contradictory feedback · a problem you can feel but can't name
Turnaround: 2 weeks · Payment in full at booking
50% credited toward a developmental edit booked within 90 days.
Ongoing monthly work alongside your drafting.
Each month includes
Chapter reading with line comments · one 60-minute session · written notes · questions between calls · targeted exercises
For
Writers mid-draft or mid-revision · applying an editorial letter to the page · learning best in conversation
Monthly pace (words)
Chapters returned within 5 business days · Three-month minimum · Billed monthly in advance
A full-manuscript read identifying the three to five root problems and the order to address them.
Includes
A 10–15 page written assessment
For
Finished drafts with no clear starting point · conflicting beta feedback · diagnosis without line-level work
Turnaround: 4 weeks · 50% deposit at booking, balance on delivery
A craft-level structural read — does not cover market positioning, comparative titles, or agent strategy.
The comprehensive structural edit — character arcs, pacing, narrative logic, worldbuilding, voice, and how they hold together.
Includes
Editorial letter · margin comments throughout · revision roadmap
For
Complete drafts ready for structural revision
Turnaround: 4–6 weeks · 50% deposit at booking, balance on delivery
For scale: a 90,000-word novel comes to $2,250.
Working together doesn't have to end when the project does. If you've been through an edit with me and you're back with a new draft or a new book, get in touch — I keep room for returning writers, and there's no need to explain your story to me twice.
Currently offering introductory rates while I build my client list
About
headshot.jpgI've always been drawn to capturing something about the essence of being human and the stories that come from deep emotion.
Before editing, I was an illustrator, focused on holding that essence of humanity in a single narrative painting. Storyboarding in art school is where I found the collision between writing craft and visual storytelling — where movement and composition convey structure, where the space between beats bleeds emotion, and where narrative is built in the reader.
Cleopatra — original work
Those principles still follow me, and the pattern I trace in them has led me to pursue formal study in Literature and Creative Writing.
I specialize in romance and speculative fiction because I've lived in these communities for twenty-odd years as a beta reader and fan. When I'm not reading or editing, I knit, study, and live with my long-term partner and our two cats, Noodle and Oppenheimer.
Connect
Currently accepting select projects for 2026. Tell me about your story.
cadhla@redthreadediting.com or start with the intake form →