Peter FitzSimons and I met at the Sydney Writers’ Festival in 2005. I asked him to give an interview for my monthly Writers magazine, which I was producing at that time. He agreed and asked me how good my German was. Then he told me about his book Tobruk, which he was working on. This is how my work for him started. Peter mentioned me in his book (Introduction):

 

                          Peter FitzSimons' Tobruk - Introduction

 

After this I carried out research for Peter FitzSimons' book, The Ballad of Les Darcy, which is about an Australian boxing champion who did not want to go to war. The book was released on 25 July 2007 by the Books Alive Initiative.

 

Peter FitzSimons' The Ballad of Les Darcy - Introduction

 

Please find here some photos of Peter FitzSimons researching and presenting his book, The Ballad of Les Darcy.

 

At present I am working for Peter FitzSimons on his new book about the Australian pilot Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.

 

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I also work for other authors - on various levels - helping with research, writing, translations, editing, formatting, publishing and international marketing of their books.

 

Concept: Since English is my second language, I do not simply modify the writer's manuscript and then return it. Rather, I highlight words or passages and add my comments in brackets, e.g. when a certain word is used several times, when the content is unclear, where there is a contradiction, a consistency problem, punctuation error or structural issue. I also offer solutions and it's then up to the writer whether to implement them or not. Further I say which parts I enjoy reading. When I send the manuscript back to the author, chapter by chapter, I include overall comments in my email. So far I have worked on the manuscripts of seven authors (mainly biographies but also novels and one fantasy story) and I have found that they value my feedback.

 

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Frank Olivier bought himself a laptop and learned how to use it while writing a book about his mother. Mutti's Story includes many photos, documents and excerpts from his mother's diary and letters from her and Frank's father who fought in WWII. The professional soldier fell at the Russian Front in 1945 and Mutti migrated with four young children to Australia a few years later. This was only possible because Mutti had had a pen friend in Australia since being a school girl. At the book launch, 41 family members (4 generations) were present and celebrated the release of the biography.

 

Mutti's Story by Frank Olivier (320 pages)

Frank mentions me in his introduction (please click to enlarge). I wrote the foreword to his book and gave a speech at the launch.

Frank and I at his book launch in July 2008 in Rose Bay.

 

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Nicholas Henning wrote Brennan Cooper. Almost each chapter describes a relationship with a different woman. The novel is about a man's search for "the right one". I helped editing. Now I'm working on Nick's second book. This is the story of an Australian playing baseball in the United States.

 

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Further projects:

  • A novel about a young man winning US$666 million in lotto
  • A text by an Australian Detective about his work
  • A fantasy story about a couple on a journey in a magic land
  • A biography about a strong and loveable mother in Germany (similar to Mutti's Story)

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Please feel free to contact me for more information. Thank you.