Interview with Editor Heather Ryder

Interview with Editor Heather Ryder

Heather Ryder is an editor who has worked in all levels of the field for over fifteen years. When not editing a journal article or the latest in a series of fantasy novels, she can be found hiking, Pokémon Go-ing, reading, or some combination of the three. While she most often gravitates toward fiction, the technical work of editing scratches both sides of her brain pleasantly enough that she will happily work in almost any genre.

She is the editor for Them Outside Cranny Hounds, coming this January, so we sat down to talk to her about the book and it's author Ben Meeks.

Interview with Heather:

(Q): You already had an established relationship with Ben as an editor before he signed with BBI for this book (one that we were only too happy to continue). How did that connection come about?

(A): It started with my partner, Daniel Ryder, who recorded all the audiobooks in Ben's series, The Keeper Chronicles! After that, I got the wonderful opportunity to help edit some of his new sci-fi litRPG series, Paxor 7.

(Q): Inkling Books is a newer company, correct? When did it start, and how long have you been an editor?

(A): We started Inkling Books in 2025, so we're going on our second year now! Daniel and I originally ran our own businesses (editing and voice acting, respectively), but there was so much overlap that it made more sense to just combine forces. I've been offering editing services pretty much since I was fresh out of college, so nearly 15 years now (not to date myself or anything...)

(Q): What all services do yall provide?

(A): We offer all the staples for self-publishing: beta readers, all stages of editing (developmental, copyediting, and proofreading), book formatting, cover design, and, of course, audiobook recording and/or audio production!

(Q): What was it like editing this book? It’s fairly different from most of Ben’s work to date, especially the books you’ve been editing for him.

(A): This story line is so much fun! I'm always a sucker for a good magic system, and the vibrancy of this rural southern town had everything jumping off the page. Ben had really well-formed characters and dialogue for each person, so the majority of my editing on this one was largely punctuation - those commas are pesky things!

(Q): Inquiring minds want to know: what is Ben’s worst writing habit? The one that you will eventually break him of by god, or die trying.

(A): Hmm... I think the concrete imagery and action that make the story feel so real can also result in a lot of repetition of the same noun. It brings to mind, "A rose is a rose is a rose," or perhaps in this case, "A hound is a hound is a hound." :) So while I'm all for specifics and accuracy in word choice, sometimes you gotta gussy things up a bit to vary your verbiage.

(Q): What do you think Ben does particularly well as a writer?

(A): His dialogue is so crisp! It's got the perfect balance of idiomatic expressions and patterns of speaking, it has notes of accents without going overboard, and each character has a distinct way of talking that you can immediately "hear" in your inner ear.

(Q): For (eldritch) reasons we can’t go into without providing spoilers, this was a fairly tricky book to write. Did it make it a challenge to edit as well?

(A): In almost every book, timelines and continuity errors abound, because if you've done it right by writing/reading/rewriting/rereading your story several times, details are not going to be consistently changed throughout a whole story. That being said, for this particularly "tricky" storyline... Ben crushed it. He had all his t's crossed and i's dotted for this one!

(Q): Lets end on a high note: did any scene stand out to you as particularly creepy/scary? No spoilers!

(A): Oof, SO MANY! But honestly, anything to do with these mysterious hounds... I don't often get shivers when reading things that are disturbing, but these creatures from "the outside"? Yeah, I was getting the creeps, and not just because it was close to Halloween.

Want Heather and Inking Books to work with you on your book? You can find them here:

https://inklingbookspublishing.com