Just as it was in the early days, The Writing Coach team is headed by our Founder Jacqui Lofthouse, supported by a small team of people who share her desire to create a unique, personal and nurturing service for writers like no other.
If you are seeking a coach, mentor or editor for your work, click the button below to find the perfect match for your needs:
Jacqui Lofthouse
Founder
Jacqui Lofthouse is the Founder of The Writing Coach. She is the author of four novels and was nominated for The Booker Prize by Penguin for ‘The Temple of Hymen’. She is also the author of ‘Bluethroat Morning’ (Bloomsbury), ‘Een Stille Verdwijning’ and ‘The Modigliani Girl’. Her novels have sold over 100,000 copies in the UK, the USA and Europe.
Jacqui began her career as an actor touring India as Sheila in J.B. Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’. She went on to study Drama and English at University of Bristol and subsequently worked in radio production and media training. In 1992 she studied for her MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia under Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Rose Tremain.
Jacqui has taught creative writing in a broad variety of settings including from City University to Feltham Young Offenders Institution. She has coached and advised many advanced writers including international prize-winning authors, broadsheet newspaper columnists, academics from the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and many MA Creative Writing graduates.
She is motivated to help other writers and creative artists bring their important stories into the world. She is married to the cartoonist and graphic facilitator David Lewis and they have two grown children. Jacqui is currently completing her first YA novel.
Jacqueline Smith
Client Services Manager
Jacqueline Smith started working with The Writing Coach in 2021 and supports Jacqui in running the business, in particular looking after clients. Jacqueline comes from a background in education within a wide range of settings including schools, Kew Gardens and The Natural History Museum. Originally trained as a Marine Biologist, she is particularly interested in environmental education and is also currently working on her first novel. Jacqueline lives next to Bushy Park with her husband, two grown sons and dog Nell.
Emma Coxon
PA to Jacqui Lofthouse
Emma Coxon started working with The Writing Coach in 2017, as Jacqui Lofthouse’s PA and has been supporting her ever since with various aspects of the business. Emma has a background in sales and marketing, having worked as an Account Manager for advertising agencies in London and then for wellbeing company Pukka Herbs in Bristol. Emma is also a writer and is passionate about exploring the wonder of nature and living a creative life on her blog Little Piece of Wonder. She was also Psychologies magazine’s Food & Living Editor for several years. Emma lives in Wiltshire with her husband and daughter and you can find her writing at littlepieceofwonder.co.uk
Laura Wilkinson
Submissions Manager
Laura has published six novels for adults (two under a pseudonym) and numerous short stories. Her contemporary fiction is published by award-winning independent press, Accent. Her novel, Public Battles, Private Wars, was a Welsh Books Council Book of the month. Her latest, Skin Deep, has been widely praised. See her work on her Amazon author profile. Alongside writing, she runs workshops on craft and has spoken at literary events nationwide. Over the past seven years she’s worked as a developmental editor and mentor, coaching writers to competition shortlistings and publication.
Our Visual Team:
David Lewis
Artist
David Lewis produced the beautiful artwork that decorates this website. He is a professional London-based Cartoonist, Live Illustrator and Caricaturist, with nearly thirty years of experience in the corporate sector. His skills have been used at events ranging from the Shakespeare & Co. Literary Festival in Paris to conferences, workshops, and presentations for multi-national companies in Milan, Abu Dhabi, Detroit, and Stockholm.
David graduated from St. John’s College, Oxford University with a First in English Literature in 1989. Since then, he has built up a broad portfolio of cartooning work, specialising in the business sector. He is married to Founder of The Writing Coach Jacqui Lofthouse and they have two grown-up children.
Jo Waltham and Leeann Stevenson
Callia Web
Jo and Leeann at Callia Web are our superb web design, graphics and development team. In addition to designing this website, they have also designed Jacqui Lofthouse’s personal author site and the David Lewis Cartoons website.