our story.
under the staircase …
A woman sits at a desk. It’s quiet, save for the tapping and clicking of keys, and the gentle snores of a chocolate labrador napping at her feet. She pauses, stretches, and rests her elbows on the glossy timber, a large, beautiful piece custom-made just for her, pulsing with stories of its own. She runs her fingertips over a knot in the wood; polished now, but once raw and gnarled. She follows the spidery veins that diverge from it; they zigzag, evidence of the tree being struck by lightning.
She looks up. There are more zigzags, stairs this time, the underside of a staircase that leads to the real world. That’s where life happens. Messy, mundane, marvellous life.
But here … here is where the magic is. Here is where she is content, untethered; where she immerses herself in words, fizzing with the power and possibility of them all.
a business was born.
In 2020, when a flailing media industry collided with a pandemic, the woman found herself in need of a new direction. And when the dust had settled, she looked around and saw not a setback but an opportunity.
And so, armed with determination, nerves and unlimited coffee (care of the new machine she bought herself as a redundancy gift), Under the Stairs Editorial was born, so-named after the home office where the work takes place: in a sunburnt country, in a verdant town, in a little studio under the stairs.
it’s me. hi. i’m the editor, it’s me.
I’m Carlie Slattery and I’ve had a lifelong affair with the written word. As Carrie Bradshaw once said, “It’s getting serious. I think we’re in love.”
It started when, as a child, I would write cringey poems and inflict them upon family members as Christmas gifts. I would spend hours getting lost in the worlds of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. I even attempted to write my own series to rival The Babysitters Club (it didn’t take off, in case you were wondering).
My commitment deepened when I headed to university and gained a Bachelor of Arts (Communication Studies), majoring in journalism and creative writing. I then spent 15 years in newspapers as a journalist, features editor and subeditor, contributing to dozens of titles, from big daily metro papers to small weekly community ones.
And now, I’m running my own show as a freelance editor with a focus on creative writing. Still hopelessly devoted to all things language, I continue to study the craft, read voraciously and write my first novel (though my BSC dreams have been shelved indefinitely, you will be devastated to hear).
I live in beautiful Northern NSW with my husband, three children and canine editorial assistant, and work with clients all over Australia, the United States and Europe.
TL; DR: I’m good with words and use self-deprecating humour when talking about myself.
“A good editor doesn’t rewrite words, she rewires synapses.”
— S. KELLEY HARRELL