Rebecca de Saintonge began her professional life as a newspaper reporter. She then worked for many years with the BBC and Granada Television as an investigative journalist specializing in programmes on social justice, the penal system and religious affairs. Later she became a regular contributor to Woman’s Hour and You and Yours. More recently she has written for The Weekend Guardian and The Independent.
Until December 2004 she was manager of The Literary Consultancy in London. Now Britain’s most respected critiquing agency, it was set up by Becky Swift to provide writers with that crucial feedback that publishers and agents don’t have time to give – even to established authors. During her time at TLC Rebecca not only worked with Becky Swift to develop the business, finally moving their offices into the West End, but acted as personal mentor to many new writers.
Alan Wilkinson with Rebecca de Saintonge
In January 2005 Rebecca and fellow author Alan Wilkinson founded LifeLines Press – a unique printing house that designs bespoke books of family histories, memoirs, poetry and biographies. Their short print runs are of exceptional quality.
As a biographer and ghost writer her publications include Outside the Gate (Hodder/Spire), the biography of Nico Smith, a prominent South African anti-apartheid campaigner, and two ghosted autobiographies: Now I Call him Brother (Marshalls), the story of Alec Smith, the rebel son of Ian Smith, who worked under cover for reconciliation in Zimbabwe during UDI, and The Love Hammer (Marshalls), the story of Ken Lancaster, a criminal minder who worked for the Krays.
As an editor and mentor Rebecca has edited several autobiographies including Dear Sir or Madam: The autobiography of a female-to-male transsexual by Mark Rees (Cassell), Rescued by Love, the story of a woman who killed her husband (Hodder and Stoughton) and An Improbable Career, by Anne Seagrim (published privately).
As a teacher she has run workshops on non-fiction writing for many individual groups across the country, as well as coaching individuals on line. For three years she has worked with The Oldie Magazine running writing workshops in London and in March 2010
they plan to hold a two-day writing course at The East India Club.
This February she will again be running a workshop on writing up family histories at the WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE LIVE? exhibition at Olympia.
Rebecca did a part time Humanities degree at Birkbeck College (London) as a mature student, specialising in medieval social history, and has lectured at the college. She is currently half way through a PhD.
She is now finalising her own memoirs and researching an historical novel set in the middle ages.