Do you know why I am excited to say goodbye to 2020? Because I finally get to share my secret identity with everyone!

As you know, back in August, I joined the RS publishing derby. I received a book cover with an image of a woman with a camera and was tasked with creating a novella to match that cover. That book came with the pen name Carrie Latimer.

Now that the derby has ended, I can tell you a little about myself.

Who is Carrie Latimer?
My name is Ashleigh Stevens and I have been writing for over thirty years. After publishing my first book in 2010, I have spent the last decade fine-tuning my voice and finding a tone and genre that really works for me. Working as a freelance editor has also helped to refine my writing.

What does Ashleigh write?
It turns out, a little of everything. Romance is a common theme in most of my writing. This year, I published a science fiction medical romance and a young adult romance. (That was in addition to the cozy mystery I published under the Carrie Latimer penname). I also publish weekly updates to a young adult slice of life webnovel with romantic themes.

Where is the webnovel?
This past year, I started publishing weekly updates to two webnovels - Boarding School Blues and Confessions of a Teenage Celebrity. There are links on my website to previous chapters.

However, the webnovels are undergoing some drastic changes. And, I mean big. As a result, I will be restarting the series at the beginning in January. Stay tuned for more information.

In the meantime, I would love to share some of my other work with you. In addition to the link to my FREE BOOK, I would also like to invite you to become an alpha or beta reader.

What are Alpha and Beta Readers?
An alpha reader reads the rough draft of a manuscript. Every author has a different level of self-editing before sending their manuscripts to readers. For me, I will do a quick spell-check and rough edit, but my alpha manuscript may contain misspellings such as "their" instead of "there" or even "here" instead of "there", since the words are spelled correctly, just misused.

For me, an alpha reader is someone who reads through the manuscript, ignoring those small mistakes while focusing on the larger story. Are there any characters that mysteriously disappear, never to be heard from again? Are there any storylines that go unfinished?

After I go through and read all your comments, I will make a lot of changes to the story. In one case, I even changed the story from a third person narrative to first! But, are those changes any good?

That's where beta readers come in. A beta reader is still reading through the manuscript while focusing on the larger story. Have the changes I made based on the alpha reader feedback improved my story?

The key difference between an alpha and beta reader is that my betas receive what I hope is my final draft. While I don't expect you to find every little mistake (that's a job for my editor), I also welcome feedback on any issues you may have on how something is worded.

What are the benefits of being an alpha or beta reader?
Well, first of all, you are one of the first to read this new book. You are providing the author with valuable feedback to improve the final story. Of course, sometimes there are other benefits.

Personally, I often invite you to read the story again. I might ask alpha readers to become beta readers. I might offer advanced reader copies in exchange for an honest ​review on Amazon or Goodreads. Additionally, I always offer all my readers a free copy of the final book when it is published.

Does this sound like something you might be interested in doing?
I am currently looking for alpha readers for my untitled romantic suspense as well as my young adult slice of life, Hartfield Chronicles. While the Hartfield Chronicles will be available as a web serial, serving as an alpha reader allows you to read the entire story in one chunk instead one chapter a week.