Chloë Rayban - Editor
Chloë Rayban is best known for her YA novels. Her wacky, humorous ‘Justine’ novels have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and twice for the Guardian Fiction Prize. One of them was made into a feature film by Columbia Tristar. Over the past twenty-five years, her books have been published by Random House, Harper Collins, Hodder, Headline and Bloomsbury. She enjoys writing for all age groups, YA, Middle Grade and Early Readers. Under her real name – Carolyn Bear – OUP publishes her books for younger children, the most popular being the Scrapman series, which sells worldwide, most recently in China. She says her books “grew up with her children” and she now also writes both fiction and non-fiction for adults. Find out more on chloeraybanbooks.com
Testimonials
- Frances S.
- Rebecca S. L.
- Debbie
- Andy G.
- Tana M-S
WHY WE LOVE CHLOE
Her particular blend of fantasy found in the midst of modern-day life may have something to do with her unusual world-view – possibly caused by having a degree in Philosophy.
WHAT CHLOE SAYS ABOUT EDITING
I’ve generally been on the receiving end of editorial advice and I’ve found the help my editors have given me over the years invaluable. I find it fascinating to see the same challenges being faced by fellow writers. A writer, in the process of creating, often gets bogged down in the nitty-gritty and can’t see where their strengths lie. ‘Looking over a writer’s shoulder’ so to speak, allows an editor to see the bigger picture. If I can communicate where the essence of a writer’s story is, and which elements are really working, I feel I have done my job. The topics I like tackling are story pacing: Where do the highs and lows occur? Is there enough plot knitting. Are the climaxes in the right place? Dialogue: Is it in character? Does it sound natural? Is it moving the story forward? And is there a good balance between showing and telling. I have a little selfish motive too – you learn so much from helping other people with their writing.
What Chloë works on
Manuscript assessment
Agent Submission Pack assessment
Post-editorial guidance
Genres Chloë specialises in
Chloë's published books
Terminal Chic
These days falling in love can happen at the touch of a button and when it happens to Justine, it happens in a BIG WAY! A few e-mails and she’s head over Gucci heels in love with Los, but there’s just one snag: He’s from the year 3001. Justine is going to have to time travel to be with the one she loves but will she adjust to the technically advance society Los lives in? And will Los be able to adjust to Justine’s way of seeing things? All’s fair in love and cyberspace. A fun and stimulating look at life in the future. Will future scientists really prove that love is just a hormone imbalance curable with medication? What will be the role of men as cloning and genetics advance? And as technology and medicine improve – where will we put all our great-great-great-great-great grandparents?
Wild Child
Justine Duval has modest goals in life: to attain celebrity status, earn stacks of cash, be drop dead gorgeous and find pure, unadulterated love. Simple. By achieving her ambitions of fame, money, beauty and a bloke, Justine will cunningly evade ever becoming Grown-Up-and-Past-It. And a bizarre meeting with her future self – ten years older and ten years wiser – gives Justine the chance to really get to grips with her ultimate destiny…in more ways than one.
My Escape to the Chateau
What if you suddenly inherited a chateau in France? Would you take on the challenge? Julia did – and during her renovations came across objects lost, hidden or buried by its former owners. Each had a story to tell: an émigré who fled to England during the Revolution, a doctor who never practised and a novelist whose book led to a mind-blowing revelation.
“My Escape to the Chateau” covers two and a half centuries of the lives of real people woven into the love story of a very unlikely couple.
