For the last twenty-four years I have been working offshore in oil and gas exploration, mostly working for the major oil companies as a positioning consultant ensuring the contractor carrying out the survey complies with the contractual agreement. After spending an average of eight months a year away from home the last few years, now that I have been allowed to carry the Gold Card, I am looking forward to spending more time at home. After training as a technical author in the seventies, for the last forty years I have been writing technical documents, safety submissions and survey reports. Not wanting to give up working with the written word, I have trained and qualified as a proofreader and editor so that I can help others ensure their work is as good as it can be before publishing. This course has also helped me sharpen up my writing skills. I am also experienced in historical research and hope to continue with some of that work, whether it is helping an author research historical facts for a book or carrying out family history research. Having grown up in Argentina and been to school there, I am also able to offer a translation service from Spanish into English. My own reading covers an eclectic range of material, though historical, geographical and personal achievement books are the ones I enjoy most, interspersed with the occasional novel. I have not yet written the books that I know lie within me, I am hoping that by joining NZSA that not only can I be available to its members for any assistance I can give, but also that I will be inspired by those around me to become a published author. Please see my website www.crosscheck.co.nz or like my Crosscheck page on Facebook, where I post regular, fun proofreading errors that have been published.

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