🕯️ Red Pens, Black Tea, and Editorial Alchemy

A Spotlight on Simon Rhodes, Editor-in-Chief of Wanderlight Press

By Chloe Morgan

Step into Simon Rhodes’ world and you’ll find a mahogany desk, a brass lamp that once belonged to his mentor, and the faint scent of cedarwood curling through the air.

It’s not just an office. It’s a sanctuary.

As Editor-in-Chief of Wanderlight Press, Simon doesn’t just mark up pages. He shepherds souls through story—cutting through chaos, clearing the fog, and illuminating the path a manuscript longs to walk.

“Imagine being part cartographer, part surgeon, part therapist,” he says.
“Publishing may look like books on shelves, but behind the scenes, it’s about trust, timing, and relentless refinement.”

🧠 The Editorial Ritual

Simon’s day begins with black tea—“strong enough to stir the dead”—and a stack of manuscripts in varying states of metamorphosis. His mornings are sacred: reserved for structure, rhythm, and clarity. Afternoons? That’s when he steps into the alchemy of collaboration.

“What I love most—openly and unapologetically—is the moment when a writer sees their own work with new eyes. That shift in perspective, that burst of creative courage, is electrifying.”

He edits with music, always. His soundtrack is as layered as his margin notes:

• Arvo Pärt for the silences
• David Bowie for the strange truths
• Nina Simone for the triumph of breakthrough

💬 Craft Rooted in Compassion

Simon brings a rare trinity to his role: precision, compassion, and reverence for voice.

“Every writer has a rhythm, a worldview, a fire that must be protected even as it’s refined. My job is not to overwrite it, but to deepen it—gently, rigorously, respectfully.”

He recalls working on a memoir that nearly never made it to press. Raw. Fragmented. Brimming with emotion but lacking shape. Through months of editorial conversation, the author rediscovered her own voice.

“When she held the finished book in her hands, she wept. So did I.”

It’s moments like that which remind Simon what this work is truly about.

📚 A Workspace Built for Stillness

The details of Simon’s workspace feel like an altar to the literary life:

• Baldwin, Woolf, and Morrison within reach
• A cedarwood candle lit before each session
• A single red pen always uncapped, always ready

“I like the act of reading to feel a little sacred. These stories deserve ceremony.”

And when the publishing world spins too fast, he’s the one staff turn to for untangling impossible narrative knots or quoting Baldwin at just the right moment.

🐦 The Mythical Editor

Asked what literary creature he most resembles, Simon smiles and offers a blend:

“Gandalf and a slightly weary but wise raven from Norse mythology. Watchful, cryptic, given to both silence and sudden revelation.”

A guardian of stories. A steward of their true shape. A believer that clarity is not just craft—it’s kindness.

Simon Rhodes
Editor-in-Chief, Wanderlight Press
Mentor. Margin whisperer. Literary alchemist.

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