Team
We are ghosts. We work on your behalf, unseen and confidential.
We provide literary services inside and outside the publishing industry, in all genres and across a diverse range of media platforms. Story, structure and good writing remain central to our thinking and our business.
We are anonymous, a hidden adaptable team who have both substantial general expertise and key specialities. We don’t shy away from difficult subjects, celebrity memoirs nor an intellectual challenge.
Who are we? A creative team of freelance writers, authors, scriptwriters, editors and journalists who adopt a team approach to literary projects. We provide the full range of author services, from copyediting an essay to writing your film screenplay.
As ghostwriters we focus on the big book projects, helping you write your memoirs or novel. We have the experience to conduct life story interviews and lead you through the process of realising and articulating life events. LGC are one core team and we work throughout the publishing scene with the UK’s most sought after ghost writers, authors and editors. Please meet us, the main gang, below.
Luke Shipman; Ghostwriter, Story Consultant, Founder
Luke’s career in story development began making short films and editing video, which taught him the fundamentals of structure and narrative. He studied film theory, has a BA in Film & Video and an MA in Scriptwriting. After university he went on to write books and scripts as a writer for hire, working for publishers and privately as a ghostwriter. He has worked as lead writer, consultant and editor on hundreds of commissions for companies and individuals around the globe, advising one-to-one and in groups, and he has gone on to establish LGC as a significant literary service in the publishing world today.
He works locally and internationally to guide clients through their creative projects by helping them find the true theme to their story and his knowledge of how experience shapes biography deepens his thematic explorations as a writer, editor and consultant. He likes mountains, travelling with a backpack, boxing, and painting. He loves meeting new people, hearing their stories, and is the go-to man to start your project.
Ruth Learner; Writer, Editor
Ruth’s professional editing experience spans more than twenty-five years. She has edited fiction and non-fiction for trade publishers, ghost writers and literary agencies, as well as non-fiction for government, corporate, non-government organisations, and academic publishers. With decades of experience, a great love of literature and a deep understanding of what makes a story align, Ruth is involved in all big projects at LGC.
As a writer and author, her published work includes non-fiction books, a novel, short stories, features and reviews. She taught for six years in professional writing and editing programmes for RMIT University and NMIT (Melbourne) and has a PhD in English Literature (La Trobe University).
Jacqueline Haigh; Writer, Scriptwriter, Story Consultant
With a seventeen-year career working as a professional writer and story consultant, and with a sideline vocation as a performer, Jacqueline is an expert story consultant, able to re-engineer your creation whilst enhancing its drama and quality. Having written for film, TV, stage, radio and books, she is the brains when it comes to story design and structure. She has script-edited hundreds of films of every genre and for a variety of writers, directors and producers. She has written and directed award-winning short films and stage plays and is currently in development on several young adult and children’s books, is co-writing an autobiography and working as ghostwriter on several memoir projects. As a performer, she has worked with actors and directors in theatre and on screen. She particularly loves comedy and often performs in shows and stand-up. She has a BA in English Literature – Oxford University, and an MA in Scriptwriting – Goldsmiths College, University Of London, where she was awarded the Olive Till Memorial bursary. Having taught scriptwriting for Film London, London Film Academy, and the University of Essex, Jacqueline is our lead writer when it comes to any screenplay. Her favourite genres include fantasy, comedy and British drama. With an encyclopaedic knowledge of anything spiritual, mystical, conspiratorial and all things magic, Jacqueline is our go-to girl if your story takes place in a galaxy far far away…
James Baxter; Writer, Researcher, Tutor, Editor, Proofreader
James is the author of Samuel Beckett’s Legacies in American Fiction which was released by Palgrave in 2021. He has published widely, contributing to academic journals, as well as a variety of arts and culture magazines such as PopMatters, Entropy and The Modernist Review. He has a passion for storytelling and is particularly interested in off-beat writing that is playful and adopts unorthodox formal structures.
James graduated with a BA from the University of Liverpool and then went on to study for an MA and PhD at the University of Reading where he completed his research on the impact of Samuel Beckett in 20th and 21st century American culture.
He is currently an IRC Early Career Postdoctoral Fellow at Trinity College Dublin where he is working on a 2-year study concerning post-45 American periodical culture and ‘mass-market modernism.’ James is an editor for the arts magazine Hypocrite Reader.
The LGC pool comprises of 40 ghostwriters who are brought onto projects when their skill set is required. The organisation includes NY Times and Sunday Times bestselling authors and critically acclaimed and commercially successful writers who are well published and represented at top literary agencies.
Editorial excellence is at the heart of our organisation. The LGC pool of editors includes 30 experienced and trained professionals all with a history in publishing and working with new writers as mentors and copyeditors. Their expertise ranges from academic journals through to culture magazines and the commercial world. They have substantial experience in both the corporate and small press scenes as well as international experience. We work with the CIEP’s Advanced Professionals.