Let’s talk creativity, expression, and connection
Liana Black is a reader, writer, developmental editor, and your new best friend until you tell her otherwise.
The laundry lists
I love: blue skies, coffee, single-cam TV comedies, laughing and goofing off with friends and family, drinking wine and crying while watching John Farnham videos, sport, anything a la Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Avatar: the Last Airbender, ENSEMBLE CASTS, complex relationship dynamics, villian-joins-the-hero trope, anything to do with Ancient Greece, and my shih tzu puppy, Gene, named for Bob’s Burgers.
I read: broadly, but admittedly slowly. There’s few genres I won’t dabble in, but some of my favourites are Secret History by Donna Tartt, Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard, Book Lovers and Happy Place by Emily Henry, Normal People by Sally Rooney, Maurice by E.M.Forster, The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break by Steven Sherrill, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, anything by Elizabeth Gilbert, and anything Ancient Greece—especially women-centred retellings like anything by Natalie Haynes, Clytemnestra by Costanza Casati or Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker. Also, anything, I mean ANYTHING, Achilles and Patroclus.
I write:
contemporary novels (from bildungsroman to rom-com) injected with strong first-person voice, close-knit friendships, and in-the-room dialogue, that centre messy women/LGBTQIA+ people making mistakes, forgiving themselves, and finding their ability to love
poetry and short stories about the joy and rage of womanhood
musings on all things creativity, expression, connection, life, and fun
I’m happy to work with anyone on their line-level writing and story development, but the following are NOT a great fit for me for full-length manuscript assessment or developmental editing: poetry, novels in verse, picture books, horror (I slept with the light on until I was 17), dark dystopian, hard sci-fi, spy or military novels, and stories without women. I will happily work with creative non-fiction writers (personal essay and memoir) on their writing craft, but please be aware that my publishing knowledge for non-fiction is limited.
About me
Hi, my name is Liana. I have been writing professionally as a marketing and communications executive in Australia’s sports industry since 2018. I began freelance editing and critiquing works of fiction in 2020, and have helped develop works to the point of publication, including short stories, personal essays, and full-length novels.
A queer woman with ADHD and a severe case of extroversion, I don’t really know how to do things the ‘normal way’. I always have ten projects on the go, I’m the last person to leave the party (honestly, I’d move in if you let me), and I never shut up.
Unlike a lot of authors, I didn’t start voraciously reading or writing fiction as a kid; I had to learn by becoming obsessed with learning. Every lesson I absorbed, line I wrote, line I rewrote, and friend I made along the way breathed magic into my life.
My happy place is a trip away with friends—days spent lounging, exploring, writing and reading (both books and brunch menus), late night’s talking, playing games, laughing, and drinking. My novels always seem to be injected with this love for close-knit friendship. My dream is to run a writers and artists’ retreat and live in this aura.
I love nothing more than sharing my work, reading others’, and talking about writing and editing. Lianablack.com as a project invites you to join in the conversation, whether that’s as a reader exploring creativity and expression, or as a writer feeding their learning obsession with the magic of story and writing craft.
Thank you for hanging out with me x
It all started in a Melbourne carpark
21-years-old and desperate to get some peace away from the two-bedroom apartment I shared with three boys (it’s a long story), I would park my car after hours at the local library and work until either my laptop died or I really needed to pee. This hyperfixation time was a shot of adrenaline into my ADHD heart and it also exhausted my brain enough to help me sleep. So, to keep it up, I decided to write a book.
My best friend, who is brilliantly intelligent and who was doing her BA majoring in English Literature, was on exchange in Japan at the time. We spent hours on Skype going through each chapter at a line level. This tight feedback loop was even more addictive than my writing sessions in my car.
When I sent her the first chapter, she was happily surprised, “This is actually pretty good! You should keep going!”
Then we got to the third and the tune changed… “Girl, you need to learn how to write.”
Those eight words, said with UTTER LOVE, changed my life. I drove my car out to the library that night and spent hours researching imagery, and setting, and effective prose. As a result, the fourth chapter was miles ahead of the others. That night, I found my life’s insatiable mistress—learning about and improving writing craft.
In the years since, I devoured podcasts, read dozens of books, consumed an endless stream of blog posts and youtube videos, attended seminars and writing retreats, made writing friends, did chapter swaps, and after all of that, came to realise that… I’d gotten quite good at identifying, explaining, and editing for writing craft and story development. I’ve edited for beginner, emerging talents, and published authors on all sorts of stories and novels.
And now we’re here.
Here’s your permission slip (as if you need one)
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