2021, in part.

 I may run late, but I do plan to do an overview on 2021.  

For a brief recap of the past six months, I finally had knee surgery for my right knee, which had two tears in the meniscus. I'm just over two months out from that, and although walking is far, far better now -- stairs, not so much.  

Doing stairs is weirdly random too; I've managed to go into the basement a few times, but other days, my knee[s] will freak out.  Definitely will need to see physical therapists for that next month.

Almost to 2022!

 What a year it's been. I kept hoping I joked when I'd say, "Year Two of the pandemic" while I feared I was not joking. And sure enough, it was not a joke, just a faint hope, swiftly disproved. 

Some c/e highlights...

I do work on a wide variety within genre. Horror, dark fiction, GLBTQ sf/f romances, fantasy, sf/f alternate universes, YA, urban fantasies, paranormal fantasies, and much more. Just because I enjoyed working on a project doesn't mean you'll automatically like reading it, of course.

So I highly recommend checking genre first -- unless you, like me, have widely catholic tastes in reading (catholic the adjective, not the religion). If you like being surprised, then just leap in. That's what I do. :D

=-=

In 2014, I was offered Tekken: The Dark History of Mishima. That was fun. Only time I've ever been allowed to use "cartoon physics" as a guideline.

Tekken was translated into English, by an editor I knew... and who'd recruited me for my first paying gig as a freelancer. I really enjoyed working again with her.

Another January death--STOP IT!!!

One of my editors died today (from Making Light and BoingBoing, respectively).

Astronomicon 12

Except I never edited with David Hartwell, at least not directly.  He was unfailing kind to me.  David knew I was part of NYRSF staff and was very enthusiastic about my work there -- so yes, in a way he was "my" editor.

November 2015: links.

Business Musings: Getting in Touch:  Kris Rusch points out that if someone cannot reach you, then they may not be able to [a] pay you [b] offer you money for something you've already done [c] just discuss a business deal or even meet you.

And if it's your high school pal, your editor, your agent, your fan, a future business partner, or any combination of those... then you failed.  

It's even worse if you happen to be an author whose assistant decides to "help" by denying you those messages.

Consider the folks who want to give you an award, one that you'd love to have -- the Newbery or the Hugo.  Do you really want to be That Author, the one no one can reach for anything?  Really??

Keep in mind that "pay you" part.  That isn't the be-all and end-all of having email where you can be reached by certain people.

It's pretty damned important, however.


I should point out that when I was Steve Brust's p.a., I didn't block people.  He read his own fan mail.  People mostly contacted me about conventions.  Some of Steve's editors did write me, and often I took care of things with his agents, but only certain things.

BTW, Kris's post has made me realize I need a Comment Form of my own.  Expect one to show up sometime in the near future.

Car news: good!

Good news from the body shop on my car!  When I spoke to a gentleman there Monday, he said the repair estimate was a few dollars shy of $1700.00.

This is great as I have owned my poor abus'd PT Cruiser not even a whole month.  Having the repairs be considerably less than its list price of $2995, huzzah.  FYI:  its low miles make my car worth rather more than that.  8)

Keep your fingers crossed, I pray you!

Editing, CE job, Adam and my authors...

Can you teach editing?

Amy Einsohn thinks you can -- check out her PDF, Are Editors Born or Made?

I'd agree.  The people I meet who think they can edit and who prove amenable to being trained... are the ones who I think can learn not only how to edit, but how to become freelance editors.  Not everyone can do both.

Here's the shorter report Amy did for Science Editor in 2004, which includes the initial pages of her longer essay.

The Subversive Copy Editor (Carol Saller) interviewed Amy Einsohn in November 2011.

From Carol's blog I found Zombies and bogeymen, aka the zombie rules in grammar.

Convergence highlights: part 1.

{ Post written last week -- possibly 7-July-15 -- posted today. } 

A few things [maybe] before packing.  For Readercon.

Because insanity is congenital.  :P  Apparently.


The War for the Oaks review off Smart Bitches, Trashy Books via Will Shetterly.

Emma and Toni Weisskopf were the primary panelists at the Georgette Heyer panel Saturday.  About Heyer's writing influence on sf.

The best of panels.  Educational, funny, witty, fun, clever, fascinating -- taught me things I didn't know, and best of the very best, got to sit down with Heyer fans IN PERSON which aside from my folks, I never get to do.

Convergence was a great con.

Words, books, learning.

Jackdaw and the Randoms:  my latest project.  Completed project, that is.

If you're a reader of YA, and/or you like scoundrels, you'll like Jackdaw.  He is who Douglas Richardson (of BBC Cabin Pressure) aspires to be.  No, really.


I was added as an approved freelancer for Tor.com and the Macmillan freelancer pool this month June.  I am working on my first Tor.com novella now.  David Tallerman's Patchwerk.

A few words from our sponsor--

The Internet.

Well, what did you THINK would sponsor an editor anyway?

Cat waxing for fun and profit and... urm.

This is actually to balance out Tuesday's sad news.  We lost Tanith Lee -- see Tor.com, help them keep hanging their poor overus'd site, why don't you.

She died this weekend.  I'll write more about her in the future.  Not today.  Already wrote up a short piece for NYRSF... a love letter to one of my very favorite authors.  Goodbye, Tan.  I wish I'd told you how much you meant to me and how you helped shape my life, mind, heart, soul.

But I didn't.  8(

Links of interest...

Kameron Hurley: The Privilege to Publish; the Power to Persevere at Locus; also Spotlight on: David Pomerico, Editorial Director.

PW's March picks of last week.


Publishing's Big 6:  Who are they? from Scott Marlowe's blog in 2010.

Tobias Buckell's Together, let’s break the Amazon monopoly on Kindles! in 2010.  It isn't entirely what you think it is...  and Toby's piece shows his brilliance. [Context:  this is about the Macmillan-Amazon negotiations of 2010, and I've linked to Toby's blog there.]

He definitely demonstrates the weirdness of the original statement!

When I first asked for help...

... these are some of the people who first helped me spread the word about my crowdfund.

Copyeditor extraordinaire, @ninja_CE needs your help to get to @loncon3 : https://t.co/4DAsYMHL8Q
— Lee Harris (@LeeAHarris) July 6, 2014

This is my blog post explaining what's been making it so hard for me to start my crowdfund, and why I want to go to London.

Let me sum up...

Well, this won't count as summing up if you're Inigo Montoya.

But I think Bothersome Words explains what editing is, and why editors do it, very well.

For which I am very appreciative.


And as I have been very quiet here on my own blog, while I've managed to be somewhat active on my SH fan blog, it seemed high time to post here.  Finally.

Language and writing...

Definitions:  No problem -- an idiom -- and tits up, which in this context was an anachronism.

Meta Monday: Smallclothes.  Which the writer brought up because of history, and yes, GRRM.  Heh.

Recognizing Adjectives (a quiz).

Many helpful links via Ann Leckie, such as how not to cut adjectives and the evils of passive voice.

Framing Devices and Nested Narratives at Tor.com.

Worldcon and Hugos 2014.

Are you going to London for Worldcon 2014?

The hotel listing for Loncon3 is displayed below.

@rnalexander @DrPlokta Hope this helps! pic.twitter.com/3znhH3GVF4
— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) January 2, 2014

Hugo nominations open in just a few hours! Do you have your PINs at the ready? #hugoawards #loncon3 http://t.co/j0ZYj9WDBt
— Loncon 3 (@loncon3) January 7, 2014

And I gotta admit... I've been looking forward to nominating Sherlock season 3 for the 2014 Hugos.  (When you see this season, you'll understand.)  All the eps and the mini-ep too.  8D

The Business Rusch: Submissions and agents. Also publishers...

Kristine Kathryn Rusch says:
August 13, 2012 at 12:17 pm 

All publishers accept submissions. They don’t dare not to. They have to look. (They don’t want to miss the next Harry Potter.) Check out Dean Wesley Smith’s blog, Killing The Sacred Cows of Publishing. Start with this one, but look at the TOC as well. Good luck!

Yes, this is from her 2012 post on The Business Rusch: The Agent Clause (Deal Breakers 2012).

Check it out if you're writing. In fact, read as much of The Business Rusch as possible. It will help you understand current publishing, the past of book publishing, and a great deal more. I cannot tell you enough; just go.

In fact, here's her latest, The Business Rusch: Unintended Consequences. Her blog posts on Thursdays.

Business Rusch: Revisions and editors.

I admit, I'm sporadic about reading blogs, even ones I like...

But if you are in this business, it's important to keep track of what's going on.  So I do my best.  I'm very fortunate that my fellow editors often provide useful links via Twitter.


I look for definitions of editing all the time.  Why?  Because people ask me to explain my job.

Kris Rusch, who is an amazing source of publishing knowledge, provides a little two-week course on editing.

Part 1:  Editorial Revisions
Part 2:  Hiring Editors

If you're a writer do go and learn from her, I pray you.  Whether you're publishing your book, or in traditional publishing, or just trying to find out what all this means, Kris will help you at the Business Rusch.

Training: So You Want to Be an Editor.

This being September, my c/e anniversary month, I suspect more c/e and freelance info will be posted.  Keep an eye out...

Starting with the Editors' Association of Canada (EAC 2011) and So You Want to Be an Editor because So You Want to Be a Wizard is still one of my favorite Diane Duane books.

Make sure you look at that first link carefully...  I'd say that 90 percent of freelance editors still make the lower median wage.


Copyeditor Training Parts 1 (Various Courses), 2 (Other Options), and 3 (More Choices) by Erin Brenner.

KOK Edit (Editor-Mom) adds her views on training -- check her list for many colleges and associations and their editing courses.  Here's how to join the Copyediting-L list to learn more about other copy editors' thoughts on Editing or experience?

She also has the priceless Copyeditors' Knowledge Base.


Does Training Matter? What Publishers Say about Proofreading and Editing Courses by Louise Harnby, proofreader.  Also from Louise Harnby: Proofreaders-to-be: Loving Books Isn’t Enough.

Are Editors Born or Made? by Amy Einsohn [PDF].

Freelance copy editor training.

The importance of training:

Buyer beware!

CPD:  Training counts

Why train?


If you're interested in freelance editing, you should look into training.  I really can't stress this enough.

Some publishers won't hire freelancers without training or certification.  In the USA, we have the Editorial Freelancers Association; they offer online courses.  Other organizations exist, but I check EFA courses first.  The EFA's invaluable.


Margaret Aherne talks about Advanced Copy-Editing

What a publisher looks for before hiring you as an editorial freelancer

[Links broken.]

Many thanks to the SfEP and PTC, who provided these links originally (barring the EFA link, of course).

A favorite anthology: 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories.

Talking to a friend on Twitter... I remembered this book, the anthology 100 Great Fantasy Short-Short Stories.

Edited by Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr, and Martin Greenberg.  I miss you all, guys.  Thanks for collecting so many stories for us all!

I love this antho.  Here's the TOC.


Some of my very favorites:

• "Angelica" by Jane Yolen
• "Apocryphal Fragment" by Edward Wellen
• "But Not the Herald" by Roger Zelazny
• "Controlled Experiment" by Rick Conley
• "Deadline" by Mel Gilden
• "Final Version" by John Morressy
• "Pharaoh's Revenge" by C. Bruce Hunter
• "Some Days Are Like That" by Bruce J. Balfour

I'm fond of an awful lot of them -- my copy pops open to certain pages from frequent reading.  But the book's in storage, so I had to recollect titles from memory.  Some are dark, some are funny, some are wicked, some are clever...

I'd recommend any of these to you.  If you can read the rest, do.  :D  They're like potato chips -- can you just have one??


Thanks to Robert Sawyer for kindly having the TOC on hand!