Author of Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade Novels
Anne Creal specializes in fiction and offers a unique editorial perspective as the author of eight novels. Her books include contemporary and historical children’s, young adult, and adult literature. She has worked with both small independent publishers, such as Roberts Rinehart and Brown Barn Books, and large publishing houses, such as Penguin Putnam and American Girl. She has seen one of her novels made into film and has won numerous literary awards.
She believes that even in today’s tough publishing climate, it is still possible for new writers to enter the business and succeed. Second to writing her own novels, she loves to mentor others to help them achieve their goals. She knows firsthand how writers benefit from the help and support of others writers and/or editors. Her goal is to help you make your unique writing shine.
Water at the Blue Earth, young adult historical fiction (Roberts Rinehart, 1998)
Nowhere, Now Here Middle grade contemporary fiction (American Girl, 2000)
The Magic of Ordinary Days, adult historical fiction (Viking Penguin, 2001)
Under a Stand Still Moon Young adult historical fiction
(Brown Barn Books, 2005)
Call Me the Canyon, young adult historical fiction (Brown Barn Books, 2006) Nicki, contemporary middle grade fiction (American Girl, 2007) Thanks to Nicki, contemporary middle grade fiction (American Girl, 2008)
Short Stories/Articles
Backwoods Home, Prism, Guide, and Skipping Stones magazines
Stories within Creating a Women’s History Trail Field Guide: A Curriculum for Teachers Grades 4-8
Editor
The Petroglyph, a southwestern Colorado creative arts publication Creating a Women’s History Trail Field Guide: A Curriculum for Teachers Grades 4-8
Awards
Winner, Colorado Book Award for Water at the Blue Earth
Winner, Pleasant T. Rowland Award for Fiction for Girls for A Ceiling of Stars
Finalist, Colorado Book Award for The Magic of Ordinary Days
Finalist, Willa Cather Award for The Magic of Ordinary Days
Winner, Independent Publishers Book Award for Multicultural Fiction for Under a Stand Still Moon
Bronze Award, ForeWord magazine Young Adult Fiction for Under a Stand Still Moon
Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, The National Council for Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council for Under a Stand Still Moon
Finalist, Willa Cather Award for Under a Stand Still Moon
Finalist, Willa Cather Award for Call Me the Canyon
Other
The Magic of Ordinary Days, adapted for the screen and produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions as television movie for CBS, 2005
Currently contracted for story consultation and collaboration with screenplay writer on a sequel to The Magic of Ordinary Days for Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, soon to be produced.
Contemporary and Historical Fiction: children’s, young adult, and adult, all genres
Memoirs
Scripts and Screenplays
Feedback
"Anne provided great input. I appreciate the time she took to thoroughly develop the editorial comments and critique. Also appreciate her expressing concerns on not hurting my feelings. She provided the type of feedback I was looking for providing the guidance I needed to take my project to the next level. Her candid feedback was very much appreciated and I look forward to incorporating all of her great suggestions." (On file with network coordinator)
"Anne's work was exceptional. I presented her with a manuscript that was close to 150,000 words and she helped me to achieve my goal of cutting it by a third. She was accurate in finding all those passages that were holding back the narrative and correct about what to leave in so that the story was intact. Her edits were skillful, considered, and indicative of a very careful reading. Her comments and corrections along the way were also helpful. I feel like I got a tremendous bargain and the book that I want." Clark Carlton
"I liked the bios displayed to help me understand the specialization of the editors. Anne was great. She read my novel first as a fan of the genre, and then went back through and suggested all sorts of improvements to greatly improve the manuscript. Here insight and abilities are rare, and her encouraging and positive feedback was invaluable." Randy Hice
"Anne was wonderful. She went above and beyond. She gave very constructive criticism and praise where both were due. She was worth every penny I paid. It was a very enjoyable experience. Would I recommend her to others? (No, just kidding. I'd rather prefer to keep her all to myself as my private freelance copy editor. I am sure she is in great demand. She taught me so much!)" Tammy Thompson, utilization/review RN
"Anne has provided expert level editing assistance to me in the writing of my manuscript. Her ideas and creativity have been invaluable to me." Kandi Hofmeister, author of the memoir, Held.
"Anne's insight and original input helped improve my novel and matched my expectations beautifully." Andrea Kolub, author of The Lady in the Cape.
"Anne is a masterful storyteller whose novels transport readers to other times and places they won't want to leave. She generously shares her expertise in character, setting and plot to help writers craft the best possible story." Jessica Swaim, author of Nick by Night and The Hound from the Pound
"Making all the elements of a book work into a cohesive story that also reads amazing is one of Anne's strongest gifts as an editor. She also devised a query letter for me that resulted in many requests to read my manuscript. Her help made all the difference." Renee Appleman, author of Would You Ever?
"Ann was wonderful. She helped me bring the story I wanted to tell to life. It was a pleasure dealing with her. I plan on using her for my sequels and recommend anyone who wants a creative angel helping with their vision to try and get Ann as your editor." Diane Duarte (services: developmental edit, query, synopsis)
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Author of Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade Novels
Blue Earth, young adult historical fiction (Roberts Rinehart, 1998)
