About Wilde(st) Dreams

I like to say that my first year of life defined my future. Born in Princeton, New Jersey but raised in the Bronx, I’m a cultural amalgamation of Western, Eastern, and pretty much everything in between—with one foot planted in a classical, canonical past and another in a multilingual, multicultural world. Growing up, I listened to Grimm’s fairy tales in addition to Chinese folk tales. I read Jane Eyre while reading translations of the Chinese classic, The Romance of Three Kingdoms. and I watched The Marriage of Figaro while learning about Chinese opera. 

 

Brought up in a family where English was a fourth language for my parents meant that I became quickly attuned to words, with all of their various meanings and connotations. No conversation at dinner was ever complete without some discussion of the different uses of words and expressions in various languages. For instance, the verb “wear” would differ in Taiwanese when referring to clothes, headgear, and footwear. Not surprisingly, then, I acquired an even greater sensitivity to language, especially when I came to learn German from middle school through college. 

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So was it entirely surprising that I came to be fascinated by literature—even if my parents had every intention of forcing me into the sciences, particularly medicine. I joked that I would prefer to be a “doctor of words!” Eventually, particularly  after having read a good deal of Oscar Wilde, I decided to apply to Oxford University. Hoping that I would somehow manage to absorb a bit of his legendary wit and wisdom at “the dreaming spires” of his alma mater. But even more importantly, I wanted to study with the world-renowned Romanticist, Marilyn Butler, who displayed such erudite yet unpretentious knowledge in her scholarship. 

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Today, I am a freelance academic and general editor, associate teaching professor (and former caregiver!) with significant experience in writing and editing. I emphasize my writing skills because I am still of the old-fashioned belief that a good editor must have solid writing skills in addition to proven chops in the publishing world. My publications not only include my textbook, The Routledge Guidebook to Paine’s Rights of Man (2020), but articles in peer-reviewed journals and a number of essay collections, including English Rebels and Revolutionaries (2022); Frankenstein Reanimated (2022); Histories from Loss (2023); The Palgrave Handbook to the Vampire (2023); Vampires and the Making of the United States in the Twenty-first Century (forthcoming, 2025), as well as various volumes of the Scribner’s British Writers series (2009, 2012, 2016, 2017) edited by Jay Parini. 

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Now, you will hear some book coaches and editors brush aside the necessity of publishing experience as a writer, asserting that such an expectation is somehow “elitist.” But nothing could be further from the truth—especially if you seek a traditional publisher. Prospective writers need an editor who’s jumped through hoops and hurdles: so don’t let anyone convince you otherwise!

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No less substantial are my actual editing chops. Although I started as a Revisions Editor at Manuscripts in early 2023, I helped produce 8 first-time authors win awards—with 5 winning multiple awards: These include:

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Dr. Syreeta Bond’s Unleash Your Inner Bad Bitch (2024)

Lucy Chen's Build Resilience (2023, 4 awards)

Wes Love’s Culture Catalyst (2024)

Marnie Maton, Vote for You (2024, 4 awards)

Cheri Mason, Dare to Relate (2024)

Loren Rosario-Maldonado's Becoming the Change (2023, 2 awards)

Naomi Vladeck’s Braving Creativity (2023, 3 awards)

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More recently, cardiologist Jonathan Fisher won 2 highly prestigious silver awards for his book, Just One Heart, from the 2025 Independent Publisher Book Award for Healthcare/Medicine and the Independent Book Publishers Association for Health and Fitness. 

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Not least important are my teaching skills. At Oxford University, 75% of students received Alphas (A’s) on the subjects I taught them.  And at The New School, I not only received superlative course evaluations and faculty observation reports but was nominated for a teaching award in 2011. 

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So come on and take a walk on the wild(e) side for your next top-notch writing project and email me at drfranceschiu@gmail.com.

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