“A resilient life is generated not from the things that happened to you, but from your reactions to them.” —Patricia O’Gorman, PhD, The Resilient Woman
My father turned 86 this week; our homes are a day’s travel apart—two airplane flights and an hour-long drive at both ends. My father is in poor health, and each time I visit I wonder if this will be the last time I will see him.
If nothing else, my father is resilient. He’s been hospitalized with pneumonia several times in the past six months; his lifestyle has changed from autonomy to dependence on others for many things, yet he refuses to give up anything he doesn’t have to give up. He still shops and runs errands, even though he has to depend on others for transportation; he insists on cooking for himself and even makes a full dinner for a neighbor once a week; he still believes he will be back to driving himself around town one day soon (not a hope I share, by the way); and although he grumbles about all the medications he’s on for his heart, lung, and circulation issues, he is as compliant about following his doctor’s orders as an 86-year-old man can be. My dad probably wouldn’t describe the way he deals with these challenges as resiliency, but I would.
Merriam-Webster.com defines resilience as “An ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.” I’ve learned that I’m resilient, too; in the past year, I: Continue reading “Resilience, Part One”
Imagine my surprise this morning when I found my name mentioned in a new blog post!
Cindy Pasquelene, who writes at The Writer Backblogger, was one of the winners of last week’s drawing for free editing. Cindy sent the first 1,500 words of her NaNoWriMo novel for my feedback, and . . .
I spend some time every morning searching Twitter, blogs, and the Internet for interesting things to post on my Facebook page. If you aren’t already a fan, I hope you’ll check it out here.
I held two drawings last November for free editing: one winner was randomly selected from my blog followers and one from fans of my Facebook page.
The Facebook winner was author Maureen Francisco, whose first book, It Takes Moxie, was approaching the publication date. Because Maureen is a savvy author and a skilled marketer, she knows how important it is to get the word out about her book; she used her free editing to have me work with her on several articles she hoped would be picked up by major media outlets.
I’d like to share a short excerpt from “6 Ways to Improve Your Work Ethic” so you can see how a little tweaking here and there can make a BIG difference without changing the author’s voice. I’ve lined up the original followed by the edited version so you can see the differences:
In the past week I came across two websites that offer unusual editing services. Unusual isn’t bad, but in these particular cases, unusual is definitely NOT good for authors.
One of these companies is a membership site that proposes to save authors money on professional editing by trading editing with other members; in other words, you and another writer edit each other’s books, thereby eliminating the cost of having your manuscript professionally edited.
What’s wrong with that? Nothing, as long as you understand that the chances of having a professional edit your work are slim to none. In reality, this service is a beta-reader service, which is very useful in its own right—but let’s call it what it is. And it is no substitute for professional editing or proofreading.
As I mentioned in my post announcing the drawing for FREE EDITING, I love to start each day by reading other bloggers’ posts and anything related to writing and publishing. I usually find at least one gem to post on my Facebook page, and I love sharing with all of you.
I wanted to encourage more people to “like” my Facebook page, and I also wanted to thank those who are already followers, so I decided to give away FREE EDITING to someone from each group.
Even though my sweetie is still trying to convince me that Valentine’s Day is an every-other-year celebration (guess who hates to shop?), I know he has something special up his sleeve for tonight. I had the perfect gift in mind for him, too, and then I COULDN’T FIND IT locally (guess who procrastinates?). So this morning I was on the hunt for a free, printable gift certificate, and I found one I love here. The templates are super-easy to use and very customizable—a win-win for us last-minute shoppers! 🙂
And while you’re clicking around, don’t forget to check out my Facebook page for a chance at the FREE EDITING I’m giving away to one new Facebook fan! All you have to do is “like” the page for a chance to win.
There is an ongoing debate in the world of independent publishing about the need (or not) to hire a professional proofreader before approving your book for print. Some authors wouldn’t consider pushing “send” without first hiring at least one set of professional eyes, but it seems like many more still have a difficult time justifying the expense. I’m going to show you five reasons why the second group is wrong.
I absolutely LOVE to share good news, especially when it concerns friends and authors—and especially friends who are authors. One of the best parts of my job as a freelance editor is meeting people through my work who then become friends, which tends to happen a lot (lucky me)! So without further ado: Continue reading “Media Alert: Angela Rose and PAVE”
There is an ongoing debate in the world of independent publishing about the need (or not) to hire a professional proofreader before approving your book for print. Some authors wouldn’t consider pushing “send” without first hiring at least one set of professional eyes, but it seems like many more still have a difficult time justifying the expense. I’m going to show you five reasons why the second group is wrong.