Please, please, please won't you edit?

I've been reading a fair number of independent and self-published novels of late, primarily as research to see the type of market into which several of my clients are venturing.  What strikes me again and again is the lack of editing, even standard copy-editing (which most people refer to by the misnomer of 'proofreading').  It's really, really hard to take a work seriously when you're looking at substantial errors, errors that could so easily have been fixed.

So I'm extolling the virtues of my own profession, to an extent, when I plead with authors seeking to self-publish, please, please have someone edit your work.  There's nothing worse, in my eyes, than picking up a promising book and getting no further than the first page before you see a typo or a simple grammatical mistake.  So please, please, please ... get your book edited before you send it off into the world.  Trade favours with another writer, if you can't afford an editor, but please have someone (and not just your mother's sister's boyfriend's best friend who reads a lot) edit your book.  (I'll climb off my soapbox now, lol).

More client news: The art of the poet

There's a nice profile and discussion of my client, Raymond Chong, in this month's issue of Sushi and Sake.

This is further publicity for his recent book, Orchid Flower Love Poetry:  Amorous Moods of Sensuous Passion, and gives a bit more background on both Raymond and his recent project.

Busy-ness!

It's been a rather busy week around here as I plan for another year of writing and editing.  With a bit more time this year, I'm doing a bit more, which brings with it having to plan and schedule my writing and editing a bit more than I had been.

I'm working with several new editing clients this year, as I shift my focus away from tutoring and toward editing fiction and poetry.  This brings new challenges, and new scheduling difficulties, but also a more constant workload (and source of income).  I'm looking forward to what the new year brings, and am working toward publishing more, myself, this year ... which means dealing with the pile of unfinished manuscripts languishing on my computer. 

This morning, between the usual weekend chores and the boys' Skylander-ing, I managed to polish and submit one piece.  I have a revised draft of another to sit on overnight, then edit again.  I've been selecting potential markets with deadlines to force myself to actually submit.  So far it seems to be working, so wish me luck!

A literary journey through poetry

One of my editing clients, Raymond Chong, has an article in today's Star Phoenix in which he discusses his writing of his latest book of poems, Orchid Flower Love Poetry:  Amorous Moods of Sensuous Passion.

The article, A literary journey through poetry, is available here, and reveals some of the thought process behind Chong's unique perspective on love.

Book Review: Eddystone Light

Amelia Smith
Eddystone Light
Smashwords, 2012
24 975 words. $2.99
9781301748426

Amelia Smith's novella, Eddystone Light, begins with a conversation in which Jack's father implores him to “marry a land girl. A nice land-girl.” And thus the reader gains insight into Jack's life, his connections to the sea, and his desire for “respectability” above all else. But respectability doesn't come easily to Jack. Not quite part his Aunt Ermintrude's respectable land-society, Jack isn't entirely comfortable at the lighthouse with his father, either. Caught between two worlds, Jack must ultimately decide which one he wants to be part of, a decision that doesn't come lightly.

As the novel begins, Jack promises, if only to appease his father, to marry a “nice land-girl.”  But he also discovers more about his mother, about whom he knows very little. From there, the reader follows Jack through a series of adventures (or perhaps misadventures) as he learns more about his mother and her people. Along the way, Jack begins to realize the true depth of his relationship with the sea.

Smith's novella provides an interesting perspective on and expansion of an early 20th century folk song. It is an enjoyable afternoon's read, complete with several interesting and somewhat quirky characters.  

Eddystone Light is available at:

• Smashwords 
• Amazon

2013 photography challenges

I always seem to be taking photos, especially of the kids, but never seem to *quite* get them to turn out the way I want.  Thus, more practice is required ... especially because I have a tendency to take photos in fits and spurts.  So this year, I'm doing a few things to improve my photography skills.

First off, I'm going to start taking one of my cameras everywhere, rather than letting them languish on my desk.  That means making sure I've got batteries charged for both, and I can see a trip to Costco for a supply of AAs (which is what my elderly Minolta uses).

Secondly, I'm participating in two separate photo challenges.  The first is Picaboo's The Places We'll Go:  A 52 week Project.  This promises to be an interesting project, and I'm hoping to learn a lot more about photography along the way.  I always find Picaboo's tutorials valuable, especially for this distracted photographer.

The second photo challenge is from Capture your 365.  Monthly challenges are listed, which include a list of prompts, and you can even receive daily inspiration via email.  I'm looking forward to this one a lot.  I use a similar process for writing, and have discovered a lot about myself in the process.  Who knows what photos this year will bring!

This year promises to be full of photos (and writing, of course!), and it'll certainly be nice to have a series of photos to add to my journal.  I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to do this yet, but I'll figure it out as I go along.

Watch your office supplies like a hawk

We had an interesting highlighter episode the other day while I was doing some editing.  I'm not sure whether it was Thing 2 or Emmy who first got their hands on a yellow highlighter, but I spent the next day finding pieces of it all over the house.  Who knew a basic chubby highlighter had so many parts?

Thing 2 first coloured all over his face with it, apparently using it much like face paint.  He was rather proud of himself, and quite miffed at me that it had to come off.  A good scrub with waterproof mascara remover, and it was all off, which was a good thing as we were headed out the door shortly thereafter for the city.  I confiscated the pieces I found, but didn't have anywhere near a complete highlighter.

Later that day, I discovered that Thing 2 had coloured all over his jeans, too.  This in the time since I cleaned him up.  No idea when that happened, but he seems to be very artistic.  Oy vey!  Into the washer went the jeans, along with a bit of stain remover to boot.

Then, I happen to look at Emmy.  She's got a perfectly round, bright yellow patch on the white fur of her back.  Yikes!  Thing 2 gets lectured on why we don't colour on our pets.  Emmy now needs a bath, but with it -20 C outside, I think I'm going to have to resort to either dry shampoo or spot cleaning.

The escapade isn't over yet.  I discover the foam center of the highlighter upstairs in the TV room, and subsequently throw it out.  But I didn't do this fast enough, as the right arm of my glider rocker is now covered in yellow highlighter, too.  Ack!  At least it's washable.