Editing costs.

It's interesting how people vary from the "But -- this just takes you reading it, right?" to the "I want you to catch all the things in my writing!" mindsets.  With, of course, variations all along the range there.

This includes editors too.  I have had editors who thought I just took a few moments to copyedit, that it wasn't a process that involved much time at all.

Action, punctuation, dialog!

Punctuating action beats inside dialog.  It's a little tricky if you haven't done it before.

Howe'er, after much hunting, I found the answers in the 2012 Grammar Tip Tuesday: Punctuating Interrupted and Continued Speech.  Which came from PMS's Em dash page.

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.

Recent links: writing/research.

From Daily Writing Tips, prone versus supine.

The kind of water in tropical rivers.  Really cool.  I didn't know "white-water" applied in this manner!

Death by bleeding delayed, per the author of Murder and Mayhem... which is written by a doctor.  Looks like a really good book about medical and forensic questions.  I was quite taken by the answer.

An analysis of Jurassic Park, mainly the dinosaurs.

Types of collisions.  Isn't it cool when you realize you know something, but you just didn't know the terms?

Being a Preposition.  I plan to go back and read all of this later; fairly certain that I saw this on Twitter.

And now I can close some of my legions of screens! 8D

November links. :)

Interesting things I found while researching.  Most of these are death, destruction, weapons, and guns.  I found some of them more fun than others, but hey, I like learning things, including weird things that are theoretical.


A shot to the head.  This is about death, yes; don't think it's something else, because it really isn't.  (Yes, I was looking up injuries and deaths, not planning on killing anyone; sorry!)  The internal links are brilliant!

Two angles, one on choosing handguns and the other about large caliber handguns and women.

How does it feel to receive a bullet?  Authors at the Absolute Write Watercooler.

And because Cracked.com should have the last word whenever possible -- okay, maybe not!  5 Weapon Myths You Probably Believe (Thanks to Movies).

Pretty sure I found that last link when I was searching submarines, but I could be wrong.  :D

Bonus link:  Confusing Words.  It hasn't got them all, certainly, but there are some that this is invaluable for.

Nifty things I just learned about. :D

Interesting things I learned during recent research:

Exurbs.  About wind -- the Beaufort scale.

Pronouncing English... a poem.

One of my friends on Twitter sent me this poem.  It is so neat.  So if you need a moment to just breathe, take a moment and see if you can say all the words correctly... and more, she asked me if I knew all the words.

I guessed one in particular -- and checking it, found I had the who part correct, if not the entire identity.  So I struck out on 3-4 words in total.  :) Try yourself!

Three bits of news, including guest blog. :)

Amazon buying Dorchester and A Willingness to Learn from the lovely Inkpunks.

And news: my first guest blog will be posted Monday morning, 2-July-2012, over at Angry Robot!

ETA: Here's the direct link for my guest blog post.  :)

CE: Handy work aids.

Adjective order.

Grammar index. I have barely dipped into this yet. I was hunting something on Grammar Girl, and then tried the next thing Google found, which was the Grammar site. Wow!

Definitions: Creator.

Cracked.com, bless them -- and I mean that! -- for making a bunch of helpful things. Like debunking Hollywood myths on guns and a host of other tidbits. This is especially helpful when you ask the Interweb an important question and can't get good answers.

Because why should the treats only be candy? ;D