Jada Lightning (she/her) is a writer and editor residing in Washington, DC.

Equally left and right-brained, she holds a BS in Chemistry and an MS in both Systems Technology and International Relations. While her day jobs have included nuclear engineer and military diplomat, her passion lies in unearthing stories and helping authors bring them to life. Her book editing/coaching ethos is equal parts cheerleading and midwifing with a heaping dose of hard work to bring your best book to the surface.  Jada is part of the diverse Tessera Editorial team, and has worked with Bloom Books, Penguin Random House, Harpers Collins, and numerous independent writers and literary agents.

Jada provides developmental editing, manuscript assessments and sensitivity reading. Her focus for sensitivity reads is Black American culture, all aspects of Blackness in literature, LGBTQ+ representation (specifically pansexual and wlw), and military culture. She excels at bringing a historical and socio-political critical analysis of race and racism to any genre, including non-fiction. She is working on her certification as a book coach with Author Accelerator.