Happy 2022!

 Well, <gulp>, it's been quite some time since I last wrote. In my defense...well, I have no defense. Everybody's been busy; everybody's been affected by the pandemic. And I'm no different. 

2020 AND 2021 have been full of challenges, but lots of good books as well. I'm blessed to be able to do what I love, with talented authors and clients who have become friends over the years. Looking at the numbers, I edited through 3,679,121 words in 2021. Although that looks like a big number, it's actually one of the lowest years in terms of word count. I was somewhat distressed by that, until I remembered why that number was so low.

There were authors who had their publishing plans changed because of life issues beyond their control: loss of loved ones, moving challenges, personal health issues, changes in their regular day jobs or family life. 

I took more time off in 2021 than I had in a long time, including a trip to see our family in Denver. We got to celebrate as our son and girlfriend officially got engaged, being there as part of the ring design. They are using the stones from the first wedding ring my husband gave me, so it was wonderful to be a part of that. And we had a great time seeing my husband's mother and sisters for the first time in two years!

I ran my church's Basket Bonanza, which always takes a week of preparation. We changed the format to an all-day preview, with online watching options as we pulled the winning tickets. It was a bit nerve-racking because we'd never done it that way, but we got great feedback from our attendees. And I had some great book baskets to give away, because of the support of some of my authors!

I took time off to work on a personal project, which I've never really done, either. (Usually personal stuff gets pushed to nights or weekends). I'm still working on it (slower than I should, really), but I'm pretty happy with my results.

I've been spending time strengthening my professional network as well. I've been the Chapter Coordinator for the EFA for some time, and now we meet virtually (twice a month at night; twice a month in the morning). With that option available, I've been able to meet some of our EFA members who couldn't make in-person meetings and developed relationships that have been resources for questions and situations that have popped up over time.

And over the course of the pandemic, home life has changed. No longer does my husband travel three out of four weeks each month. I actually stop for dinner, and typically don't work after that, either! It just to be that I'd have a small dinner at my desk, and then work until 9 or 10 before dropping into bed! But now, I'm spending time with the hubby and occasionally going out with friends (masked and in low-density locations...outside back in the nice weather!). 

So even though that's not the biggest number I've ever had for a year of editing, it reflects how the world has changed, and how I've changed with it. 

 

I hope 2022 brings you all the writing success you are looking for!

You Talking To Me? You Talking to Me?

I have to confess, I've actually never seen Taxi Driver. I mean, it came out when I was a kid.  And my parents weren't (and still aren't) movie fans. There was a family rule that no one (maybe it was just me and not my older brothers) could see a movie before my parents saw it and approved of it. This was before the days of PG-13. So it was either a G movie (which I would most likely be able to see) or PG (which was more up in the air...what exactly would be showing up on the screen could be all over the place).

So you can imagine my movie-going was severely limited. And certainly did not include Taxi Driver.

But I couldn't help but think of this iconic scene when I was thinking about repetition in manuscripts:

He repeats several lines here, most famously: "You talking to me? You talking to me?"

There are times when repetition works in a scene. If DeNiro didn't repeat himself here (in a scene that apparently was more off the cuff than on a script page), it wouldn't have such a lasting impact in the film world and be so recognizable.

So writers are well within their rights to have repetition in a scene. Even in a few sentences close together. After all, that's sometimes how people talk.

But other times, it seems as if the writer had forgotten the character had already said that. That's especially true when it's information (Bob's my uncle; have you met Bob, my uncle?) as opposed to a reaction (Oh my God. I can't believe he left. Oh my God. He's gone?).

And there's times I catch exact wording a few paragraphs apart. Those instances make me wonder whether there was some self-editing going on and the repetition didn't get caught.

So if you've gotten a manuscript back from me (or any other editor) asking about repetition, we do recognize it can be an effective storytelling tool. But hey, it's our job to make sure you're telling your story, not getting stuck in Groundhog Day!

Call Me

When you call someone in 2019, it's more likely than not that at least one of you will not be using a  landline, if not both of you.

Or, alternatively, you could be on what some people consider to be the most evil thing ever invented: a conference call!

But what to call those non-landline devices that we seemed to be glued to? It can take a picture, record a video, take you to the internet, has game apps that will keep your toddler (or bored teenager) out of your hair for five minutes, and, in some instances, has actually been used to place a phone call to someone!

In wonderful English language tradition (can you hear the sarcasm there?), it's either a smartphone (one word) or a cell phone (two words). Merriam-Webster has the same basic device with two different approaches: a one-word and a two-word form.{Yes, I know...some will call it a mobile phone.}

Does it make a huge difference if you used cellphone and smart phone instead? Probably not...the reader would still know what you mean. But it should at least be consistent in your manuscript. (And if I am lucky enough to read through your manuscript, it'll be cell phone or smartphone, just like Merriam-Webster likes it!).

Ouch, That Hurts

Hmmm....I've been thinking about this blog for some time now. Mostly about how I haven't posted to it in what felt like forever. And when I look at the date of the last post (Aug., 2018), I feel a little better that it's hasn't exactly been forever. But...ouch, that hurts.

I guess that means I've been fairly busy since August. And that's true enough. For the third quarter of 2018, over 1.5 million words crossed my desk, The fourth quarter of 2018, it was significantly less (at only 912,000 words) - but in all fairness, I was sick for three weeks in December.  Like, in bed, couldn't work, could barely walk the dog sick. Or, if I wasn't sick, I was taking care of the Hubby, who I so lovingly gave my sickness to (I'm sweet that way - what can I say?).

And 2019 looks to be just as busy as 2018 was. Instead of going to RWA this year (even though it's close to me in NYC this time around), I'm going to an editing conference. The EFA will have its conference in August - in lovely Chicago. So if you are going to RWA and want to make a side trip to CT, I'd love to meet you somewhere for a dinner or some shenanigans. Or, if you're in Chicago in August, maybe we can find time then.

And I've got my traditional May vacation to Colorado booked. Yes, actually booked - plane tickets, hotels...the whole deal. I think we were both so tired of winter that the prospect of soaking in the natural springs at Pagosa Springs had us taking care of those details. And this year, we're taking a different route to Pagosa - by way of Santa Fe to check out Meow Wolf. Both my son and his girlfriend, and my mother-in-law and sister-in-law have been and said it's amazing.

But, more importantly than vacations and conferences, I'm looking forward to a year full of great manuscripts, where the characters drag me in and tell me their stories! So contact me to get your next book on the schedule!

Sucker for Romance

It's a pretty well-known fact, I think, that I am a sucker for romance.  Always have been. At least, if you know me, you'd know that. And if you didn't know it, now you do.

My last post included my trip to the RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference in Denver. One of the reasons I went was to support one of my authors who'd been nominated for a RITA award.  About four hours before the award ceremony, she tells me that the winning authors AND their editors go up and say a few words (just like every awards show you've seen on TV). Now, never in a million years did I ever think I'd be having to go up on stage and speak to hundreds of people, including some of my favorite authors! I was in a panic...did I want her to win or not? Now I wasn't so sure.

Yes, I was sure. I wanted her to win.

So I prepared.  I had a few hours and jotted down a quick note:

As an editor, you always hope the manuscripts that come across your desk will be well-written, have great characters, make you feel all the emotions, make you laugh (in the best way possible, and not in a oh-my-God-this-can't-go-out-into-the-world way) and make you cry at the right time. I am so honored that all of that and more came to me in Evelyn's book, Dare and a Deposition. Thank you to the judges for your time and commitment to the process, but most of all, thank you to Evelyn for letting me be part of your journey. 

So, that's what I wrote down. I had some more ideas in my head, because there was more I wanted to say. But having never been to this ceremony before (or watching it online, which, apparently you can do), I wasn't sure of the tone of the night. Was it serious? Crazy? Laugh-a-minute? Tug-your-heartstrings? So I kept my thoughts to myself - didn't write them down so I wouldn't say them out loud unless I read the room and felt it was appropriate.  Or maybe so if someone saw my little speech, they'd be surprised by the ending.

That someone was, of course, my hubby. He came to Denver with me and worked that week with his guys in the area.  He wanted to support me for the award ceremony and generally support my career. Unfortunately, he wasn't feeling well that week, and the day of the ceremony things came to a head. He actually was at a Urgent Care clinic that afternoon, getting some tests run. By the time he was done and back at the hotel, the award ceremony had begun. I was in the banquet room, waiting for him, and he was out of the room, trying to find me. After about ten minutes of miscommunication and missed opportunities and missed connections, we finally met up and I took him to our table.

At this point, it's past dinner time...and neither of us have eaten. I don't know about you, but I can be rather...cranky when I haven't eaten.  And I was nervous. And I was worried about the hubby - because he wasn't feeling well and he hadn't eaten either. We were both stressed, to be sure.

But you know what? He came through for me in true romance-book-hero fashion. He was there. He cared enough about me to do his best to support me, even when he felt like crap and just wanted to grab something to eat and go back to the room to sleep. And he's always been that way. He's always been supportive of my choices and encouraged me to stretch, to grow.

So, to end my little speech, I wanted to thank my husband for always being there for me, for encouraging me to pursue this path, even when he didn't think it would necessarily go anywhere or work out well. I wanted to thank him for putting up with the deadlines and accepting that all my authors were the most important authors ever, and I needed to give up cleaning the bathrooms to make sure that those commas were in the right place. (Just kidding...I never actually really clean anyway!) And I especially wanted to thank him for being my body dummy when I had a problematic scene where I couldn't quite figure out where the guy's hands were in the sex scene. 

And all I could think of was that famous (well, for people of a certain age, I guess) Emmy award speech by Kristie Alley, where she thanked her husband for "giving her the big one." I was sure I was going to channel my inner idiot and say it just like she did:

But I'm kind of okay with that. After all, if you can't admit to loving your partner in a room full of romance junkies, where can you?

More Adventures...

Well, it's been a busy few months. I can't believe it's actually been three months since my last post! I've been on another adventure since then, have another planned, and completed a major project on my list of things to do.

So, about my adventure... I went to RWA in Denver this year. I joined as an associate member, which is what you do when you're an editor, not pursuing a career in writing.  One reason I went was to cheer on one of my authors who had been nominated for a RITA award (totally check out Dare and a Deposition for a great read!).  I also wanted to meet some more of my authors who were going to be there. I had a wonderful time, did a little fan-girling over some of my favorite authors (whether they were my clients or not!), and helped out at the trade show, representing the EFA. I sat in on some interesting seminars and picked up some cool tips to keep in mind while editing.

And it didn't hurt that because it was in Denver, I got to see my boy and my mother-in-law and sisters-in-law.

One of the elevator doors at the Sheraton

Sarra Cannon getting ready for her seminar on Getting Things Done.  She did a great job!

At the IT'SUGAR store at the 16th Street Mall

More from IT'SUGAR

Hey, everyone needed to check Facebook!

The EFA booth on Saturday

I totally grabbed Carrie Ann Ryan when she was walking by on Saturday morning!

I saw this in the restroom at a local bar

My next adventure: Well, it's a bit of a repeat of a previous adventure.  Yup, I'm headed back to the the Niantic Book Barns. This time, it's an EFA meeting at the library, a quick lunch in town, and then time at the book stores.

Major Project Completed: I've been thinking about updating my website (it's been a couple of years!) and decided to hand off the project to someone else.  That's right, I hired someone to take that over.  And I'm so happy with the results. You'll have to check out the website, and if you are interested in any updates for your site, Ogden Studios can help you out.

Book Adventures, Part I

On the second weekend of April, I convinced the hubby to take a road trip up to Burlington, MA.  The purpose: Talkbooks Author Signing Event.

I had two of my authors there: Cali MacKay and Jen Davies. And there were several other authors there I'd either heard of or read. 


So we headed up on Saturday afternoon, with the plan to stay overnight and head back in the morning. We got there late enough in the afternoon that the early birds had cleared out. In fact, Cali was pretty much out of books by the time I showed up:

An almost empty author's table

 I found Cali right away, and funny enough, Jen was across the aisle from her!  They'd actually talked a bit before the show started and it turns out they aren't that far from each other.

I got to meet Jen (finally!). Her book The Witch's Heart is a nominee for the RONE award (Reward of Novel Excellence). If you want to support an indie author, go ahead and register to vote!



As I walked around, I purchased some books, talked to some new authors and some favorites (I got to tell Julia Kent how I stayed up until 1 a.m. reading her Shopping for a Billionaire, pretty much laughing my butt off) and made plans to have dinner with Cali (and our husbands).

Somehow, I didn't get a photo of me and Cali, but I did get a picture of my dinner at the funky place she suggested, The Friendly Toast.

Breakfast for dinner - you bet!

We sat and ate, and talked, and talked and talked.  We were there for two hours, and I think Cali & I could have spent another two hours there without running out of things to talk about!

But the hubby and I had decided to check out The Black Panther, so off we went. I have to say, it was a pretty good movie, and I suspect watching it will help fill in some blanks for the next Avengers movie.

If you ever get a chance to attend a book signing, I'd encourage you to do so. As an author, it's a great chance to meet fans or gain new ones. As a reader, it's so cool to see the people who write these stories that entertain and enthrall us.

Book Adventures Part II

Okay, okay...careful readers of the blog will realize there hasn't been a Book Adventures Part I. There will be, I promise.  But that was last weekend, and I wanted to share my book adventures from this weekend, so I'm jumping ahead.  Hey, haven't you heard...you should start your story in the middle, right?

So, this weekend the hubby and I took a bit of a road trip.  I've been wanting to check out the Niantic Book Barn. (Technically, there are four locations.) And considering he wanted to take a long-ish drive in his new car, a plan was hatched.

This was the first warmish weekend this spring, so it was a nice ride up. And the Book Barn was pretty easy to find - not far off the highway exit. So I went in while the hubby fussed around with his car.

Like any good used (and even new - hey, I won't discriminate!) book store, here are the cats.  They were comfy-cozy when I saw them, so I left them to their own devices. This particular couch was upstairs, where I wandered into the Books/Publishing/Wordsmithing section.  I've never seen them before, but here's actual copies of the Chicago Manual of Style - both the 12th and 14th Editions.

When I started editing, the 16th Edition was in use (now the 17th is out). It was kind of cool to see the changes between editions.

I found a few other gems, too:

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

 

 

 

 

Euphemania

I, of course, purchased them.  I had to buy something, right?

But that book barn was actually not the main book barn.  About 30 seconds down the road, on our way to find lunch, we found the main location.  Food could wait, we figured.

This was even bigger and better than the first one we stopped at. I mean, they had a panda poster:

Live goats (okay, not my best photo...but I never claimed to be a great photographer!)

Interesting and unique outbuildings

A decent selection of romance (okay, I might be a bit biased when they have a nice selection of Barbara Freethy books - even ones I haven't worked on).

Water features:

Hey, there's a cutie here, too!

Gargoyles and wind chimes:

But hunger prevailed.  We found a cute place (between the book barns, so it wasn't that difficult) called East Coast Taco.  It was kind of busy, but the food was pretty good. And the place itself was pretty cool, too.

I mean, a place with license plates from Aruba, Virgin Islands, and the Cayman Islands is not what you typically find in a New England town.


All in all, it was a pretty good day. And...considering we were only twenty minutes away, somebody decided we should go have a donut at Krispy Kreme. (Hint: it was not me.)

Anybody need a paper hat?

My and the hubby at Mohegan Sun...location of Krispy Kreme (and just a few poker machines).

So if you are ever in Niantic, CT, check out the Book Barn (any of the four locations) and enjoy a great day out!

I need help! Send in the ... (fill in the blank)

It's funny how issues come up in bunches, and then they disappear for a long time.  Recently, I've had three or four manuscripts with the same issue, one I haven't had for a few years.  So let's talk about Calvary vs. cavalry. They are spelled differently and one (Calvary) tends to be capitalized in most instances. But they continue to be confused.

Calvary:
There's the (mostly) religious definition:

as a place: place outside ancient Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified (or in Hebrew, Golgotha)

OR a cross with the figure of the crucified Christ typically flanked by two other crosses with figures of thieves and set out of doors as a shrine

It is also an experience of intense suffering; a trial or ordeal (which doesn't have to have the religious undertones).

Then there's cavalry. And when you're talking about getting help, or support, or reinforcements, this is what you are looking for.

This noun has several meanings:

1 a obsolete :  horsemanship <the art of cavalry> 
  b obsolete :  knighthood <the cavalry of the court> 
  c :  horsemen <a thousand cavalry in flight>

 

2 a (1) :  the component of an army that maneuvers and fights on horseback (2) :  a similar component that maneuvers on horseback but fights on foot 
  b :  the component of an army mounted on horseback or moving in motor vehicles and having combat missions (as reconnaissance and counterreconnaissance) that require great mobility 

And frankly, those two are the most familiar to me (and probably you, too).  But there's a third meaning, which I had never seen in use:
 

3:  deep chrome yellow. This is a moderate orange yellow that is redder and lighter than yellow ocher — called also cavalry, chrome yellow orange, medium chrome yellow, middle chrome yellow. And try as I might, I can't find a swatch online that identifies as cavalry. 

Have any of you used cavalry as a color? Inquiring minds want to know!

My Fairy Tale Has A Fairy-Tale Ending

Come closer, child, and hear the wondrous tale I have for you.

Okay, I don't have a tale.  But if you are looking for a list of fairy tales, Wikipedia has got you covered.  I was kind of surprised to see The Wonderful Wizard of Oz listed as a fairy tale but Jack and the Beanstalk and Little Red Riding Hood was more what I was expecting.

But today's blog post is about fairy tales.  Well, actually, it's about hyphenation, but fairy tales are more fun, right?



And it's Valentine's Day, so some of you curmudgeonly types may think love stories are fairy tales, but us die-hard romantics believe! But if you are looking for a new twist on the fairy tale, check these out:

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Rapunzel

Red Riding Hood

Sleeping Beauty

These are super fun fairy tales, very quick and with a bit of a bite. There are several more available and more planned.

Another series to follow the fairy tale format is Laurie LeClair's Once Upon A Romance series. The series starts with the three King sisters and their happy-ever-afters.

Fairy tale is a noun, by the way (remember, this post is about fairy tales writing editing hyphenation, so back to business!). Yes, nouns can sometimes be two words.  (And as a noun, it's two separate words.)  "Read me this fairy tale," says the little girl in her annoying singsong voice.  

When it's an adjective, it's hyphenated: Everyone wants their fairy-tale ending. 


That little hyphen does such a big job: it changes how a word should be used. Sometimes it goes from the noun form (fairy tale) to adjective (fairy-tale ending). Sometimes it goes from the noun form (a jump start) to the verb form (we had to jump-start the car). Sometimes it goes form the verb form (we lifted off) to the noun form (after lift-off, we enjoyed the ride). And when it's missing, sometimes our brains can get caught in trying to decipher what was meant: there's a difference between the man operated machines and the man-operated machines.


Welcome to the English language, where nothing is simple. 

And Happy Valentine's Day!

(I couldn't resist these geeky Valentine's cards, so enjoy!)

Nodding...Shrugging...Blinking

No, that's not me trying to stay awake. It's me wondering why extra body parts are involved in those actions. Okay, maybe not extra body parts, but extra words.


Take, for instance, nodding. 
Is there any other body part that nods besides your head?

Nope.  

Can you shrug anything but your shoulders? (That's not counting shrugging a coat on or shrugging a shirt off)

Leo's got a shrug AND a nod going on here...

Can you blink anything but your eyes?

In these cases, her/his/my head, her/his/my shoulders, and her/his/my eyes act as filler words.  They aren't (generally) necessary for the reader to know what is going on. Maybe I should call them killer words, because I'm going to kill those little darlings for you. (Well, if I'm copyediting.  If I'm proofreading, I will just suffer silently.)

Alternate Reality Part II

As a follow-up to my Alternate Reality post, I wanted to see whether anyone is watching Counterpart on Starz.  Here's a snippet from the IMDB page for the show:

Counterpart is an espionage series about a mysterious world hidden beneath the surface of our everyday existence...

Howard Silk (J.K. Simmons) is a lowly cog in the bureaucratic machinery of a Berlin-based United Nations spy agency. When Howard discovers that his organization safeguards the secret of a crossing into a parallel dimension, he is thrust into a shadow world of intrigue, danger and double cross...where the only man he can trust is his near-identical counterpart from this parallel world. The show explores themes of identity, fate and lost love, posing the eternal question, "What if our lives could have been different?"

Sounds like fun, right? A whole world to explore, with yourself as a mirror to the what-if questions in life.

 I've loved everything I've seen J.K. Simmons in (Oz, Law & Order series, Juno) - although he's such a good actor that I haven't dared to watch Whiplash yet. And the characterization between the Howards is incredible: the way they walk, talk, hold themselves makes it easy to see which Howard is in the scene.  

Alternate Reality

You might have guessed (if you've ever thought about it before - and really, why wouldn't you?), that I was quite the reader as a kid.  I read the expected Little House on the Prairie series, The Wizard of Oz series, the Tintin comics (man, I loved those!). But girls grow up and want to learn about the world around them...and so I started reading science fiction.

Okay, it may have been because it's what my older brothers were reading (although I don't think we read the same books exactly). I know at least one of my brothers was a big Lord of the Rings fan, and (sit down before you continue) I didn't read them until just before the movies came out. I think we did have our Robert Heinlein in common, though.

I had other favorites that I couldn't pass up: Robert Silverberg and Anne McCaffrey come to mind as authors I read everything I could get my hands on.

But there is one book that came out in 1992 (well after my youth - I was in my twenties at that point) that really made me think about what a book was.  It was a book of short stories entitled Alternate Presidents. (I can hear some of you just groaning...or desperately wishing...for an alternate president or two in the last two decades.)

The introduction starts like this:

Playing the Game of WHAT IF?
One of the joys of science fiction is that it gets to ask the question What If?

I would say that any fiction gets to ask the question What If?  You, the author, take the reader on that trip into what-if. You provide that alternate reality where people can explore the what-ifs in the world, whether that's in the safety of someone they relate to or the eye-opening experience of relating to someone they never thought they could. Sometimes that alternate reality makes our reality more bearable; other times, it gives us a chance to see the world from a different point of view.

So on those days when the words just won't come, or those characters have minds of their own and won't do what you want them to, remember that you are providing your readers with the opportunity to explore the what-ifs in the world...and the world would be a poorer place without your gift to it.

Keep writing!



PS- I just checked Amazon to link to the book, and it seems there is a whole series of Alternate Histories: Presidents, Kennedys, Warriors, Outlaws, and Tyrants.  Keep your eyes out for them online or at your favorite book sales!

2017 In Review

Maybe you've realized it (and maybe you haven't), but I have not been very social on social media in 2017.

I have not blogged.

I have not Facebooked.

I have not tweeted.

Well, some of that is technically not true.  I had 4 (yes, just four!) blog posts in 2017 (and that includes this post).  I kept up with my title milestone listings and occasionally checked my professional Facebook feed. I have several tweets set up to automatically repeat, so those have gone out.

But really, I have not been social on social media.  I had plans to be.  I had spreadsheets of ideas to write about, resources to share, and I wanted to spread the love for my authors. But alas, those plans did not come to pass.

Part of that is because I was busy. So very busy. With all good stuff, I swear. Like the 6.7 MILLION words I read for work this year. Like the God knows how many books for fun I read this year. A trip to Colorado to soak in the hot springs and see our son. A trip to Bermuda for a beautiful wedding. Some church projects (like my annual Basket Bonanza and other leadership roles). Like volunteering for my community as we build our library (it's currently in the basement of our town hall). Like coordinating chapter meetings for the editorial association I belong to, the EFA.

But as 2017 winds down, it's time to think ahead.  I'm going to try to up my game on the social media front - maybe it won't be as much as it was three or four years ago, but it needs to be more than it was in 2017. Another ambitious goal for 2018 is to update my website again.  I've got tons of new covers to put up, and it's always fun to give it a facelift! I'm thinking of joining RWA as an associate member and checking out their convention (okay, it doesn't hurt that it's in Denver so I'll get a chance to hang out with my son a bit more!).

What are you planning in 2018?

Not Every Why is a Question

I can hear my grade school teacher's voice talking about the 5 W's: what, who, where, when, and why.  (And just for fun, there was the accompanying H: how.) And her voice tells me that those are all questions that need to be answered.

So, one might think that every time you use one of those in a sentence, you are actually asking a question...and questions need question marks, right? Wrong. Well, right, really, but there's always some sneaky things going on to make things confusing.

And that confusion almost always happens with wondering: I wonder why; she wondered when; he wondered who.

Let's play with some samples, shall we?

ORIGINAL: The cat curled up tighter on my lap. A steady purr filled the quiet of the room. Without warning, the cat jumped straight in the air and landed on my bare legs, claws out and tail all bushed up in fright. I wondered why he did that?

That last sentence has the wrong punctuation at the end. It should be a period. The subject of the sentence is I; the verb is wondered; the rest is a description of what was pondered. But overall, the sentence is a declarative sentence, not a question - so no question mark for you!

OPTION 1: The cat curled up tighter on my lap. A steady purr filled the quiet of the room. Without warning, the cat jumped straight in the air and landed on my bare legs, claws out and tail all bushed up in fright. Why did he do that?

With a quick change of wording, we now have an actual question: why did he do that? The reasoning to put it in italics is to indicate internal thought, so the I wondered is now implied; the reader will assume it's the narrator (or the character in the book) having this thought or internal conversation (I know I'm not the only one who talks to myself...admit it - you do, too!). 

OPTION 2: The cat curled up tighter on my lap. A steady purr filled the quiet of the room. Without warning, the cat jumped straight in the air and landed on my bare legs, claws out and tail all bushed up in fright. I wondered: Why did he do that? What would have caused such a reaction?

In this example, the use of I wondered and the colon gives the writer the opportunity to ask a series of questions...and real questions get question marks, so it's okay to use them in this type of structure. And each question starts with a capital letter (Chicago Manual of Style 6.61: When a colon introduces two or more sentences…the first word following it is capitalized.)



ORIGINAL: The dining room table was cleaned. Well, except for the two place settings, pillar candles, and the small vase of roses. She wondered when he had found time to get the flowers?

As in our first example, the noun (She) and verb (wondered) are easy to spot; the rest of the sentence is a description of what she wondered about. So the ending punctuation should simply be the period (period, no questions!).

But we could also modify it to become an actual question:

OPTION 1: The dining room table was cleaned. Well, except for the two place settings, pillar candles, and the small vase of roses. When he had found time to get the flowers?

Or create a statement:
OPTION 2: The dining room table was cleaned. Well, except for the two place settings, pillar candles, and the small vase of roses. He obviously found time to get the flowers.


ORIGINAL: He wondered who ate his apple pie?

In this very simple situation, it's the same as before: the noun (he) and verb (wondered) are easy to spot. And again, it should have a period at the end, not a question mark. If you want to keep that question mark (maybe you are emotionally attached to it...I make no judgements [well, maybe I do]), here are some options:

OPTION 1: Who ate my apple pie? Bob looked at Faith.  Surely she knew I wanted that last piece.

OPTION 2:  Someone ate his pie; he wondered who would have done such a thing.

(Yes, Faith would have eaten that last piece of apple pie--it's one of her vices! So stop wondering and stop using question marks when you don't need to!)

Writer's Groups

I feel it's safe to say one of the most common pieces of advice for writers is to join a writer's group.  (Heck, I've probably said that myself!).

Now, what you are looking to get out of a group may vary from person to person (or even at different points in your own career), but I can tell you without a doubt that even just a casual group of writers, willing and able to provide general support and guidance, can be invaluable. As an editor, I belong to an editing association, and the internal discussion group there has helped me immensely - just with general knowledge and help with specific questions.

Depending on your needs, you might find a local group where you meet together and review each other's manuscripts. Or learn about storytelling vs. plotting. Or learn about world-building or marketing techniques. 

But now you are not limited to just physical meeting groups - there's the Internet!  The big, wild, wonderful Internet! You can join all sorts of forums, websites, chat rooms - find your fellow geeks or diehard HEA believers, your companions through the seedy side of mystery and mayhem. 

And then there's Facebook...those groups are powerful!  There were over 1 Billion (yes, that's Billion - with a B)  people using Groups to talk with like-minded people.  Surely there's a group or two you as a writer should belong to! 

So, what writer/writing Facebook Groups do you belong to? Or know about, but for one reason or another you are not a part of?

I know of a few: Author Support Network, Indie Author Group, Trauma Fiction.

But I am sure there are a ton more out there.  So, what groups do you belong to? Let me know in the comments!

Pass the Eggcorn, Please!

Yum...eggcorns.  I love'em - don't you? Oh wait, do you even know what an eggcorn is?

When an egg meets that special acorn it's been waiting for (oops...I've been reading too many romances lately - sorry about that!).  Actually, it's a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression.  Maybe you've seen my previous posts (here and here), but eggcorns continue to fascinate me.

There's the list on Wikipedia you can look at (I've seen for all intensive purposes instead of for all intents and purposes but I have yet to see on the spurt of the moment instead of on the spur of the moment - thank goodness!). But it's rather short.

For more fun with eggcorns, you can check out the Eggcorn Database.

Apparently 2015 was the year of the eggcorn, because that's the year Merriam-Webster added it to its dictionary and everyone was writing about it: NPR asked their listeners to submit their favorite eggcorns and settled on the top 100 .

And Time magazine's contribution on the subject mentioned one of my favorites: the you've got another thing coming taking the place of you've got another think coming. (That one is actually on my style sheet setup, I've seen it so often!)

So what eggcorns have you served up lately? Or which ones have you come across on the wild, wild Web?

Year End Review/2017 goals

I've watched a few of these MarieTV spots on YouTube, but I really liked this one for a year-end review process:

So here are my answers to her 3 questions:


1) What did I do, create, or experience this year that I'm really proud of: I am picking experiences here. I am proud of my continued dedication to my swim lessons.  Now, this may seem peculiar, but if you factor in how afraid of water - much less actual swimming - I had been in the past, you can see how sticking to the lessons for a year and a half now is quite the achievement. I really look forward to my lessons: the time in the pool, learning a new skill (I'm currently struggling with the dolphin move) and fine-tuning it until it's just about perfect, and frankly, doing something I thought I'd never do.

The other experience I'm proud of is my attendance at the EFA National Conference.  Again, it might seem weird to you outgoing types, but for this introvert to go into (what I perceived, anyway) a large group of strangers and make it a point to talk to new people - well, it was a big deal.

Dinner out in NYC

Cool book walls at the resturant

Me and Mary Norris, of The New Yorker

2) What mistakes did I make that taught me something?  What lessons did I learn that I can leverage? I'm not sure what I'd consider a mistake in 2016; I'm sure there was something I did wrong at least once. So I think I'm going to say my mistake (and not one isolated to 2016) is my tendency to think I can't do something...that I don't have the skills or the talent or the innate quality to be successful at whatever that particular "thing" is. But the truth is I can do things I think I can't (see above re:swimming).  I'm learning all the time...I just have to realize I can and I am, and feel confident that I even if I am a beginner or novice, every expert started just like me.

3) What am I willing to let go of? This one is a bit harder. I don't like to let go of things (just ask my husband!). But maybe I can let go of my disappointments (I really don't have to dwell on them, especially in the middle of the night!) when things don't go quite my way...or the way they have always gone. I need to let go of that negative attitude, that negative mindset, when it sneaks up on me.

So what about you? Can you take a few minutes an answer these 3 questions? Share in the comments (if you dare!).