Changing hats
Although I’ve been a writer and editor for almost 30 years, most of my work has been outside the book publishing world, and I’ve never worked in-house. So when I pitched a children’s book idea to Orca Book Publishers a…
Remembering John
All of us at West Coast Editorial Associates grieve the loss of Victoria editor John Eerkes-Medrano, who died unexpectedly on June 15, 2015. I delivered these remarks at his memorial on June 26. Thank you to his family for including us in the…
Join the exaltation of editors flocking to Toronto
From June 12 to 14, the Editors’ Association of Canada is hosting its annual conference, this year in Toronto (and this year co-presented with the Professional Writers Association of Canada). Dubbed “the first global conference of editors,” the Editing Goes Global…
No foolin’
Posting a blog entry today, I am, of course, tempted to write something farcical, outrageous, or dare I say, even foolish, it being April 1. But humour can be a dangerous thing when shared with readers unknown. Some so-called jokes…
So what do you do?
Imagine being an IMAX screen cleaner: you’d spend hours every day sucking the dust off the giant screens so we in the audience can get the full, vertigo-inducing effects of all the action. As a professional mattress jumper, you would,…
Correctness versus correctitude
If you are an editor, you likely have an opinion about whether political correctness is a force for good or evil, and will have fought your own anti-bias battles against certain words and phrases. Sociologist BJ Gallagher contends that “While the original…
Cut and paste—collage as thinking tool
When I taught business writing, I found many participants grew weary of the “do-the-exercise-discuss-with-your neighbour” training model. Because the course covered a range of strategies for page fright, I hoped that at least one of them would stick. Enter collage…
Giving thanks for plain language
There are two reasons to toast October 13 this year: it’s Thanksgiving here in Canada, and it’s also International Plain Language Day. Though most Canadians will celebrate the former, few have even heard of the latter. Why is that? After…
Get up, stand up
I love my work…except when I don’t. I love that I get paid to read, to work with words, and to collaborate with talented professionals to produce something meaningful. I love the tactile component of editing: consulting reference books, working…
Editing and—beekeeping?
Like other professionals, editors do interesting things when they’re not at their desks. In my “spare time,” I keep honey bees. Now, editing and beekeeping aren’t always the perfect combination. For example, the bees will inevitably swarm just as you…