Whist, Blood Pudding, and Pride & Prejudice

A lot has happened in the past month, causing me to neglect the dear blog. In the past four weeks, I had a nasty cold that held on for at least two of those weeks, both parents came to visit, I worked on no less than five editing projects, and a number of books that I worked on were published. In particular, I copyedited a novella collection that will come out from Sourcebooks this winter, which gave me the opportunity to not only work with two authors I’ve sincerely enjoyed working with before, but also gave me the chance to work on a novella for the first time (pretty much the same as other fiction, only, you know, shorter) and work with a debut author on her Pride & Prejudice re-imagining (which is also a kind of A Christmas Carol re-imaging—very cool). All this to say, I have worked on a number of Pride & Prejudice spin-offs, sequels, re-imaginings, etc., and they run the gamut from picking up where P&P left off,  showing what would have happened should Elizabeth and Darcy have made different decisions during the happenings of P&P, to even focusing on side characters or family members we didn’t hear about in P&P. –> Continue Reading!

Beautiful People (Wendy Holden’s, not Marilyn Manson’s)

This week, I’m finishing up a proofreading job for Sourcebooks Landmark by the talented Wendy Holden, and it occurred to me that this amazing author’s first book to come out from Sourcebooks Landmark (though previously published in the UK) is coming out in April.

So, yes, I did actually proofread Beautiful People for Sourcebooks, but that’s not actually going to stop me from buying this book and placing it on my shelf as well. Chick lit has become a derogatory term in recent years, and though some remain embarrassed to love anything in this genre, I embrace it, especially when it is populated with flawed yet lovable heroines, shallow villains whose downfalls give you delightful schadenfreude, and witty dialogue. –> Continue Reading!

Happy Grammar Day

Today, March 4, 2010 is Grammar Day! This year, National Grammar Day is hosted by Mignon Fogarty, also known to many of us as Grammar Girl. (Today is also, coincidentally, my father’s birthday; happy birthday, Dad!) So, what does one do to celebrate Grammar Day? Well, to begin with, I’m not going to give you any lessons on correct usage today. I mean, I’m really excited that I know the difference between:

• lay and lie
• differ from and differ with
• the comma splice and a “regular” run-on
• why it actually IS okay to split an infinitive…

Ok. I’m stopping now. The list above is starting to get me in the mood to write some sort of “lesson” or tips, and that’s not what celebrating grammar is for me…yes, I know I just earned my egghead title with that sentence. My biggest interest in grammar and punctuation is actually not the rules; the rules are easy enough to read, memorize, and always go back to check if you are feeling uncertain. My interest in grammar is in the effect that it has on writing and the very strong feelings that grammar rules can incite in writers. –> Continue Reading!

Richard “Book Brahmin” Dawson

In homage to Shelf Awareness’s awesome Book Brahmin feature, and so Gretchen’s reading tastes aren’t all you get to hear about,” I’ve crawled out from underneath my paper mountain to complete an auto-anthropological survey of recent bibliographic habits.

Hang on to your bookmarks ’cause here we go!

On your nightstand now

I’m on page 50 of You Are Not a Gadget by Jaron Lanier. I read Lanier’s “The serfdom of crowds” in February’s Harper’s and found his frank approach to the philosophy of “personhood” in this day of Web 2.0 refreshing, so I grabbed Gretchen and we pedaled over to Powell’s on Hawthorne to pick up a copy. So far the book isn’t disappointing. The author even promises optimism toward the end, so I’m looking forward to that.

–> Continue Reading!

And the Survey Says (I prefer to hear that in Richard Dawson’s voice)

On the Baker’s Mark site in July, I posted a blog in homage to Shelf Awareness’s wonderful Book Brahmin feature. In honor of the fact that I actually have different answers to these questions at this point, and to the fact that I’m crunched for time with deadlines, I have updated it here. I’m going to see if I can get Henry to answer these sometime in the future as well, so my reading tastes aren’t all you get to hear about.

On your nightstand now

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (because it was recommended at Powell’s on Hawthorne and I couldn’t resist), Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis by Cara Black, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow (both of those because I kept seeing ads on Shelf Awareness for them…and I couldn’t resist), The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers (for book club), and Great Maria by Ceclia Holland (because I’m proofreading a new edition and I need the older to compare breaks, italics, etc.).

–> Continue Reading!

Happy Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day Valentine’s Day

Graphic Novel Editing

Growing up, I had a thing for Peter Parker. Not Spiderman, believe it or not; I thought the sweet, bumbling, ultra-smart high schooler was just my type, not the latex-wearing crime fighter. Anyone mocked for being a nerd and a bookworm was…well, someone who reminded me of me to be honest. And basically, my crush on Peter Parker is, in large part, what prompted me to begin working in comics again.

While still working as an agent and editorial director at Baker’s Mark, my fabulous business partner at the time, Bernadette Baker-Baughman, and I bonded over our adolescent love for superheroes and Archie. After realizing our mutual geekdom and taking in the sights and talents at the Stumptown Comics Fest in 2005, we couldn’t resist delving into the category (seriously, folks it’s NOT a genre) with great enthusiasm. And by some serendipitous events, we began working with some of the most talented creators in comics today (Farel Dalrymple, Sonny Liew, Paul Guinan & Anina Bennett, Faith Erin Hicks, and the list goes on and on…).

–> Continue Reading!