Testimonials

When it comes to manuscript assessments, Peter Matheson is just plain brilliant. I’ve worked with him several times – most recently on Museum of Thieves, a children’s fantasy novel – and each time the work has leaped to a whole new level as a result of his comments.

He has a terrific sense of structure and how to shape a story. He asks the hard questions, makes you dig deeper into the characters and work out what they need for their journey. He skewers the weaknesses in your work, pinpoints what isn’t clear, what you haven’t yet come to terms with.

It’s not a comfortable process. If you’re looking for a nice kind assessor who’ll pat you on the head and tell you reassuring lies, you’d better give Peter a miss. But if you want to learn, if you want to make your work as good as it can be, if you’re willing to listen to constructive criticism and act on it, then I can’t recommend him highly enough.
Lian Tanner

Lian Tanner’s novel Museum of Thieves will be published by Allen and Unwin in Australia, by Delacourte (Random House) in the US and Canada, and by Hachette India in late 2010. It is the first book in The Keepers trilogy. Lian is currently working with Peter on the second book, City of Lies.

Peter Matheson has been my ‘first editor’
on junior fiction projects for over a decade.
He reads. We discuss.
Face to face. Phone to phone. Written.
Plot, characterization or language. If there’s something out of place
or not in place, he sees it and he’ll point it out. Carefully. Knowledgeably.
I think his findings often prove the difference between publishing and not.
Sue Cason

Publications that have passed by Pete.
Dragon Trouble - Longman (now Pearson)
My Dog F.I.D.O. - Longman (now Pearson)
The Problem with Red - Harcourt
The Thunder Egg Thief - Koala Books
The Soccer Expo - Thomson Nelson
Beast Catcher; Courage of a Lion; Stone Mason’s Apprentice - Clean Slate Press
The Wizard’s Child - HarperCollins - under the name Rita Booke
Chalk and Cheese, Boris, Bonnie and Greedy - Ziptales online

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