As you can see on the pages of this website, I’m an editor and writer living in the Pacific Northwest. I have also lived, and gardened, in eastern Canada, New York City, San Francisco, and on a ranch in Central California.
I began my career in Montreal at St. Remy Press, a book packager whose clients included Time-Life Books and the Smithsonian. From there, I moved to St. Remy Press New York, and then to Reader’s Digest Books in New York where I continued to edit illustrated non-fiction books. I became freelance in 1993 and have since worked as a writer, editor, and project manager for numerous publishers, as you can see on my Book Editing page. During my more than 20 years as an editor, I have been lucky to edit the work of many of the best garden writers in both the US and the UK. Over the last few years, my work has expanded into blogging, social media, and more general communications services.
For the last 5 years I have also been a partner in a boutique spirits distillery, www.victoriaspirits.com.
I believe in fresh food, decent wine, good design, sustainable gardening, and doing what one can to understand and address environmental change.
My other interests include opera, books, theatre, tennis, rambling, and drinking the aforementioned decent wine late into the night with chatty friends. I’m a founding member of #yyj Skeptics, and I lend my time to local school and community gardening initiatives.
I’m a mother of two: Maeve, 18, and Julian, 10.
Please feel free to look at my writing samples, some past and current projects, and community projects.
You can also find me on Twitter (@fionagilsenan, @hi5living, @FairfieldGarden), Facebook, and LinkedIn. (Also Google+, but not often.)
November, 2011