Welcome! I’m Amanda Atkinson, phd.
At Limestone Editorial I draw on my scholarly and pedagogical backgrounds to help academic and trade authors regain control of the writing and publication process. Whether I’m working with an academic author publishing an article for a tenure file or helping a fiction author polish a historical novel, my goal is to give authors a clear, stress-free path to publication.
Since earning my PhD. in English Literature in 2022, I’ve taught English, Composition, and Humanities at Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University. I’m an award-winning scholar whose research and publications explore the relationship between literature, science, and philosophy in Renaissance England. I know firsthand the stresses of academic publication: too many obligations! No time to write! The pressure to be original and paradigm-shifting and prolific!
I’m also a long-time educator with almost two decades of teaching writing. This means that my editing comes with the warmth, encouragement, and practiced eye gained from helping to shape thousands of pieces of writing.
As a die-hard learner, I’m always working to grow professionally. Recent professional development includes the ACES Editing Certificate and various programs offered by the Editorial Freelancers Association.
I was born and raised in Austin, but now I live in Fort Worth with my husband Will, kids Hank and Emmylou, and black labs Hal and Falstaff. In my spare time I love cooking, gardening, and travel.
why limestone?
You may never have spent much time considering the rocky limestone that underpins the Central and West Texas Hill Country, but it is the foundation for this region’s famed beauty. In the spring, rocky outcroppings form a rugged counterpoint to fields of colorful wildflowers: the famed bluebonnets, Indian paintbrushes, Black-eyed Susans, and Mexican hat flowers. The sturdy grasses that grow in the thin soil overlaying the limestone make fine grazing land for cattle, goats, and sheep. Spring water is filtered clear through limestone aquifers, joining blue-green ribbons of rivers that run for hundreds of miles.
The photos on my website are primarily from around Texas, showcasing how limestone offsets the beauty and strangeness of Texas flora, like the prickly pear and ocotillo cactus you see here.
stories that stay. Language that lasts.
At Limestone Editorial, my goal is to work in the background, helping you build a solid foundation for the ideas that make your writing original and important.
Santa Elena Canyon, Big Bend