Every manuscript we proofread, every eBook we design, and every paperback we publish, is the result of our amazing team all working together to make one another’s ideas stronger. At Rowanvale, this is possible because every one of us strives towards a common goal — creating the best experience for those embarking on their self-publishing journey.
Find out more about the amazing people behind Rowanvale below.

Cat Charlton

Managing Director

Cat is Rowanvale’s Managing Director. A force to be reckoned with, she is the driving force behind sales, marketing and strategy. Cat founded Rowanvale Books in 2012, after her father had a poor experience with a big-name self-publishing company. Having studied Psychology at Exeter University, she has since completed further studies in Leadership and Management. In her spare time, Cat can be found raising her two sons in the Welsh countryside and going on various road-trips around the UK.

Mingyu Wang

Scheduling Assistant

Alice Hunt

​​​​Senior Designer

Mingyu has a background Accounting & Finance from Cardiff Business School. His experience at an American advertisement agency provided him with sound financial analyst skills and business ethics. After finishing his undergraduate degree, he decided to stay in Cardiff and experience more of the life and culture of Wales. He has a passion for music and enjoys OST and classical genres the most. He is a member of the Quaynotes Choir, based in Cardiff Bay. ​

Having loved books for as long as she can remember, Alice knew she wanted to have a career in publishing. She graduated with a first class degree in Graphic Design, helping her to live out her dream of designing books for a living. In her spare time, Alice loves to explore nature, learn new crafts such as knitting, and of course, read. Her favourite genres include fantasy, thrillers and recently discovered, non-fiction.

Emily Abdel-Megid

Jaspreet Makh

HR & Recruitment Administrator &
​BAB Service Co-Ordinator

HR & Recruitment Administrator

Emily has a BA in Literature and Creative Writing and specialises in Scriptwriting, but she first discovered her love for publishing when she worked as an editor for a children’s book, and again as an undergraduate at Cardiff University. Her favourite genres are fantasy, romance and murder mysteries, and she loves to enjoy them on a comfy sofa or at the beach! 

​Jaspreet has a background in HR and Business from university, where she developed strong people skills that complement her lifelong love of books. Her passion for reading has only deepened over time, especially when it comes to romance and mystery stories. In her free time, Jaspreet loves to go shopping and spend time with her friends and family! 

Nadir Ahmed-Ali

Finance Administrator

Nadir’s background in finance has given him a strong affinity for numbers, and he’s particularly detail-orientated. When reading, Nadir usually leans towards non-fiction books, as he enjoys gaining knowledge from his reads. He spends most of his free time playing football. 

Nawal Jamshid

Social Media Assistant & Marketing Researcher

From a young age, Nawal has always loved reading and writing stories and she’s never grown out of it! She loves coming of age fiction but also enjoys reading memoirs too. When Nawal’s not reading, she enjoys playing and watching hockey matches with her university team!

Khadijah Begum

Social Media Assistant & Marketing Advisor

Khadijah’s bright and curious personality has drawn her into the world of books. She has a thirst for knowledge and enjoys discovering something new with each read. She has a keen interest in romance and fantasy stories. In her spare time, Khadijah enjoys cooking and experimenting with new recipes.  

Cat M'Crystal- Fletcher

Project Account Manager

Cat is a lover and a do-er of all things beautiful and creative whilst living in a windmill in the glorious Vendeé countryside. Due to her childhood living in a country of censorship, she holds communication as an entity to be protected; the written word as precious and books sacred. On her checklist of life is a bullet, ‘author’; until her manuscripts are ready, she is passionate about supporting those brave enough to become one.  
​

Yolanda Martinez

Project Account Manager

From a young age Yolanda has had a fascination with reading and learning. After completing her BA in English Literature at Nottingham Trent University, she went on to complete an MA in International Relations. This love of books has brought her into the publishing world and she is excited to be a part of Rowanvale.
In her time off, Yolanda loves travelling and has an extensive list of possible destinations (all recommendations welcome). She also enjoys the gym, going on long walks and getting lost in a good book!

Millie Tynan

Project Account Manager

Millie joined the team as a Project Account Manager, bringing a strong background in English Literature and a passion for guiding projects from concept to completion. Outside of work, Millie enjoys spending her evenings and weekends hiking the trails of Staffordshire, Cheshire and the West Midlands. She enjoys combining her love for storytelling with her organisational skills to support independent voices in publishing.

Emily Blackburn-Jones

Project Account Manager

Emily has a background in operations management and events management, including working with the Hay Festival. Her background supports smooth project coordination and strong communication, helping guide authors through their publishing journey. Outside of work, she enjoys a good murder mystery novel and going for scenic walks.

Rebecca Harrison

Project Account Manager

Becca studied Ancient History at Cardiff University. Watching worlds come to life on the page is what sparked her passion for the publishing industry. She enjoys trying new genres from dystopian fiction to historical fiction.  When she is not losing herself in a book you might find her crocheting with her cat or off on a scuba diving trip.

Effie Taylor

Senior Publishing Advisor

Effie has a degree in Creative Writing and Journalism. Having had an affinity for reading and writing from a young age, she enjoys helping authors establish themselves in this competitive but thrilling and worthwhile industry. In her spare time, she loves reading, crafting fiction stories, and learning languages. One of her must-read books is 'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, which she first discovered while studying A-Level Literature and has firmly encouraged everyone she meets to appreciate ever since. ​

Nikola Andrzejczyk

Publishing Advisor & Social Media Assistant

​​Nikola has a background in Psychology and Marketing, two interests she’s very passionate about. As a lifelong book lover, she especially enjoys getting lost in fantasy and murder mysteries. Her love for stories combined with her interest in marketing has led her to the world of publishing. In her free time, Nikola enjoys travelling with her friends, playing guitar, and immersing herself in books!

Indianna Richmond-Turner

Writing Advisor Team Co-Ordinator

Indianna has a background in Medieval English Literature and is eager to bring her love of history and reading to the publishing world and help authors achieve their goals. Whilst she enjoys all forms of fantasy and historical non-fiction, her favorite authors will forever be Suzannah Lipscomb and J.R.R Tolkien. When she’s not working her way through a very long book, she enjoys embroidering secondhand clothes, playing cozy games online and collecting vintage leather hardbacks, of which she currently has 9! 

​Ellie​

​Writing Advisor​

​​Ellie joined Rowanvale in 2017 and has been Senior Writing Advisor here since 2018.  She and works on and enjoys books from every genre and market but has a particular love for science fiction and fantasy. If she had to pick, she'd say her favourite authors are Joe Abercrombie and Tamsyn Muir. When she's not reading, writing or editing, she can be found playing Dungeons and Dragons, watching anime and getting far too emotionally invested in video games.
She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP). As an author, she is represented by Harry Illingworth of DHH Literary.

Jaide

Writing Advisor

For as long as she can remember, Jaide has been obsessed with the magic of words. After completing a BA in Media, Communications, Politics and International Relations, she interned at an Australian travel magazine publisher. After taking a few years off to have three children, Jaide returned to the publishing world and joined Rowanvale Books. In her spare time, Jaide watches movies of all genres (except horror!), plays boardgames with her kids and explores her local Vendée countryside. She also enjoys the odd puzzle or classic novel with a glass of red wine!

Alison J

Writing Advisor​​

Alison is an experienced editor after more than ten years of working with many fabulous authors. Specialising in fiction, she loves the rich variety of author voices and feels privileged to be a part of the publishing process.

Alison B

Writing Advisor

After a long career as a clinical scientist in Europe's largest teaching hospital, in 2018 Alison had something of a midlife crisis and retrained as a copyeditor and proofreader. This turned out to be her dream job – so much so that she is now an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) and an Approved Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi). 
During her career, she has edited material on subjects as diverse as nanomedicine, property developing and Swiss cheese. Although she has a particular expertise in material with a medical or life science slant, she is equally happy editing a wide variety of fiction genres, from hard-boiled police procedural to historical romance.
She aims to bring a friendly, open and collaborative approach to all of her work and prides herself on having a wide general knowledge and interest in the world. When she isn’t working, she can often be found reading literary fiction, playing GeoGuessr, or building Lego sets that she pretends are her son’s.

Miluna

​Writing Advisor

Miluna specialises in proofreading for fiction and non-fiction manuscripts. She is a former Freudian–Lacanian psychotherapist who worked clinically for ten years and has seventeen years of experience in psychology. She also has an academic background, having founded and edited a peer-reviewed psychoanalytic journal for three years. She has collaborated with The Oxford Editors, BookPOD, Chiron Publishing, Plumfield Publishing, Charles H. Kerr Publishing and Spring Cedars Publishing, supporting authors across five countries and at all stages of manuscript development. Alongside her editorial work, Miluna is a portrait and figure artist and publishes a reflective writing series--The Intellectual’s Meal and Psychoanalysis for Writers—exploring psychoanalysis, existential thought, literature and art. She has also authored three works of fiction. 

Josh

Writing Advisor​

After graduating university with a degree in Creative Writing, Josh started working with authors and publishing houses as a freelance editor. Seven years later, with further publishing training and a Professional Membership with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, they have hundreds of edited titles under their belt. Though they specialise in literary and genre fiction, they are a reading omnivore, working on everything from YA fiction to academic publishing on literature and history. They do have a soft spot for experimental fiction (think Mark Z. Danielewski and B.S. Johnson) as well as translated fiction and fresh, strange titles (say, K. Ming Chan, China Miéville, and Julia Armfield). In their free time they can be found writing on the coast, gaming, or trying to untangle cryptic crossword clues. 

Lila

Writing Advisor

Lila's lifelong love of reading and order led her to obtain a certificate in copyediting from the University of California-San Diego Extended Studies program. Now, she spends her time helping authors feel confident in their writing. While she enjoys reading most contemporary fiction, Lila especially loves stories that feature women protagonists. Most of her editing experience has been within the genres of women's fiction, romance, and psychological thrillers. When she's not reading or editing, Lila spends time outside, usually photographing flowers of all kinds.

Matt

Writing Advisor

Matt would like to say he’s been obsessed with books since early childhood (like everyone else in the field, it seems). But if he did, he’d be lying. Admittedly, his foray into fiction didn’t get going until he’d picked up Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights somewhere around the age of 15. The rest, as they say…   Now you’d be hard-pressed to find him without his nose buried in a book; his favourite authors include Robin Hobb, Philip Fracassi, and Adrian Tchaikovsky (and, of course, Pullman). After a long stretch of working in retail, a plot twist saw him earning a degree in English literature and philosophy before training as a proofreader with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), of which he is a Professional Member.   He adopts a friendly, encouraging, and honest approach during every working relationship. In his spare time, you’ll probably find him building a book nook, watching TV shows, or adding EVEN more books to his TBR pile.

Vanessa

​Writing Advisor

Vanessa Finaughty grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, and still lives there with her husband and her four children (two human and two furry, four-legged). She has more than 17 years of experience editing, proofreading and writing for magazines, national newspapers in South Africa, Oxford University Press Southern Africa, book publishers, individual authors and website owners across the globe, and the International Trade Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, to name a few. Vanessa is also a short story competition judge for On the Premises, an online fiction magazine that hosts short story contests throughout the year, and she is the editor of the Grumpy Old Gods short story anthologies.
Vanessa enjoys reading many genres, with her absolute favourites being horror, thriller, fantasy and science fiction – but really, anything weird or in the speculative fiction genre is right up her alley! Her interests include photography, the supernatural, mythology, aliens and outer space, ancient history, life’s mysteries, and martial arts, in which she has five years’ experience.
The best part? Vanessa is also a published author, which means she knows exactly how important your books are to you and what you need from an editor.