Editing and More
Losing More than Memories
I was privileged last week to participate in an intimate meeting with Julia Brownley, the woman who represents my area in Congress. It was an honor to be able to shake hands with Rep. Brownley and then sit down with five other women to discuss an issue that is near to...
Talking Shop with Write Now Editing
I admire writers and editors who diligently update their blogs and keep adding fresh material. I know how hard regular posts can be, which is why I've not been nearly as active on this site as I planned to be when I launched it a few years back. Karin Beery at Write...
An Editor at a Writers Conference
I was fortunate to get a chance to hang out for a few hours on Saturday at the 2016 AWP (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) Conference and Bookfair at the Los Angeles Convention Center. AWP is like Disneyland for writers and writing professors and writing...
Best Wishes for a Wonderful 2016!
I'm grateful for the more than 30 authors, publishers, and organizations who allowed me to be a part of their story in 2015! I'm looking forward to a great 2016, and I hope that you are too.
Merry Christmas, 2015 Style
The stockings were never hung this year; the ornaments I’ve carefully collected on vacations and memorable occasions didn’t make their annual trek from my garage to the living room. Neither did the ceramic Christmas tree my grandmother made for me a few decades ago or...
My Annual Review Chat
Business owners are commonly told that they should set aside time at least once a year to review their business, to take a look at where they have been and set a course for where they want to go. Following this good advice, however, is often harder than it should be....
Looking for a Perfect Match
Wherever two or more writers are gathered—from local critique groups to large national conferences to digital group hangouts—the topic of editors is bound to come up eventually. Almost all writers and publishing professionals say a good editor can make or break...
Watchman vs. Mockingbird: An Editor’s View
Last week, like book-lovers around the world, I read Go Set a Watchman, the newly released manuscript by Harper Lee. Then I re-read To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee’s beloved novel released in 1960. Because I had already seen some reviews and articles about the two books, I...
Go Set an Editor
In February, I noted how announcements regarding Harper Lee’s novel Go Set a Watchman provided a glimpse of an editor’s role in creating To Kill a Mockingbird. Now that Watchman has been released, Lee's editor is getting even more attention. I have not read Watchman...
Holding My Work in Hand
It’s always great when I get a chance to hold my work in my hand--literally. Helping an author take words and ideas and shape them into a book is the most rewarding part of my job. So it's been fun in the past few weeks to receive copies of the final products from...