“Sandra approaches editing with a kind and keen eye. She’s also aware of her privilege as a white author, editor, and reader and frames her training, knowledge, preferences, and advice with the limits of dominant western cultural expectations in mind, which makes her coaching and editing feedback more insightful, sensitive, and empowering.

I found this strength of hers especially helpful when I took structural and cultural risks in my writing that pertained to heavy diasporic themes and didn’t feel the need to censor or overexplain the work to Sandra. She has never made me feel othered by my writing or identity as a queer writer. Sandra encourages writers to play and experiment while balancing it with more practical questions like finding a readership and an agent in the Canadian literary market.

Throughout our time together on two manuscripts, Sandra was open to conversation, asking to learn where she knew she needed to and providing measured and wise support where she could, given her extensive experience in editing, publishing, and writing. My writing has grown more polished over the past seven years from her feedback and mentorship—I’ve applied and received writing awards due directly to her encouragement.

She strikes me as one of those rare humans who are incredibly talented yet humble, cheering on authors, and always striving to learn something new. I’m extremely lucky to have met and worked with Sandra.”