Bio

Penelope J. Stokes is a published writer, prolific editor, and former college professor with a Ph.D. in Renaissance literature. More than twenty years ago she left the classroom to pursue a career in writing and editing, and since then has worked with dozens of writers on more than 150 novels and nonfiction books. In addition, she is the author of eleven novels, including The Blue Bottle Club, Circle of Grace, and Delta Belles, and has also taught fiction seminars at writing conferences around the country. She is represented by Claudia Cross of Sterling Lord Literistic in New York.

Penny loves Southern fiction, women’s character fiction, magical realism, time travel, intelligent thrillers, and anything that makes her think. She’s particularly interested in spirituality and progressive theology, and in novels that incorporate spiritual questions and challenges.

She’s a huge fan of the Harry Potter books, Phillip Pullman’s Dark Materials, and The DaVinci Code, as well as the works of Sheri Reynolds, Sue Monk Kidd, and Barbara Kingsolver. Her most recent “favorite novel” is The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.

Please note: As of September 2011, until further notice Penny's availability will be severely limited.

Preferred Genres

Absolute favorite fiction genre: women's fiction

Preferred fiction genres: fantasy, science-fiction, Christian/inspirational fiction, historical, biographical fiction, young adult, humor, satire, gay/lesbian fiction, literary fiction, mainstream fiction

Other genres Penny enjoys working on: action-adventure, forensic, medical, or scientific thrillers, psychological thrillers, romance

Genres Penny prefers not to work on: crime, mystery, detective, horror, military thrillers, conspiracy thrillers, techno-thrillers, eco-thrillers, legal thrillers, erotica, western/frontier, children’s, middle grade, multi-cultural, travel

Absolute favorite nonfiction category: memoir

Areas of interest in nonfiction: narrative, creative, autobiography, memoir, Christian, education, entertainment, gay/lesbian, health/mind/body, history, philosophy, religion/spirituality, social sciences, true accounts, women's studies

Testimonials

"You're providing a very useful service to writers in search of that increasingly elusive commodity: a detailed and knowledgeable critique of a book's strengths and weaknesses. I was very pleased with my manuscript evaluation and will engage Penny Stokes again to read my revision. I found your prices to be fair in terms of the services delivered and the professionals providing them."

Mimi Jones Hedwig
New York, NY

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Submissions

Interested in working with Penelope? Please visit our editor availability inquiry center.