Is it real or is it ChatGPT? (and does it matter?)
Over the past several months, every day seems to bring news of another leap forward in artificial intelligence (AI).
Getting published: A smorgasbord of choices
Here are some of the pros and cons of publishing your manuscript with a traditional publisher or self-publishing.
Editing, writing, training for 30 years
May 2022 marks 30 years since Nancy Flight, Anne Norman, Claudette Reed Upton, Lois Richardson, John Ricker, Barbara Tomlin, and Yvonne Van Ruskenveld formed West Coast Editorial Associates (WCEA). What do you give a partnership on its 30th anniversary? Pearls?…
Everything in its place
As an indexer, I tend to be obsessive about organizing things alphabetically—the books on my shelves, the spices in my cupboards, the DVDs and CDs in the basement . . . Of course Joan Aiken should come before Kate Atkinson,…
Watching our language
One of our neighbours has been downsizing recently, and discards from her bookshelves have shown up on the curb by her house. One volume I snapped up was Watch Your Language by Theodore M. Bernstein, described on the cover as…
Summer viewing, on the ice
I don’t watch a lot of television. And though I’ve seen numerous clips from America/Britain/Canada/Outer Slobovia’s Got Talent! circulated by friends on email, I’ve studiously avoided getting hooked on reality TV shows . . . until this summer. Over the…
New Year’s resolutions
’Tis the season of New Year’s resolutions—with a constant stream of articles, TV and radio news stories, and online clickbait telling us what we need to do to have better health, better productivity, and a better life in 2019. I’ve…
Aids to editing
When I’m not editing, one of my favourite activities is horseback riding. For 10 years I owned my own horse, Cannon, a retired Quarter Horse “schoolmaster” with a huge personality—think Alistair Cooke with a glass of port and a wry…
Our evolving language
As we have celebrated the 25th anniversary of West Coast Editorial Associates in 2017, we’ve looked at our past, present, and future, as well as a few editorial highlights of 1992, the year WCEA was formed. I have recently been…
Behind the scenes at the word museum
In August 2016 I wrote about the Library of Congress in Washington, DC—a must-see for any language and literature buffs visiting the US capital. A January 25, 2017, Washington Post story reported that a new attraction for word lovers is…
