editing

Behind the Scenes, Part 1

October 19, 2009

Last month, I got a chance to sit down with author PG Holyfield and talk on the record about the editorial process. At the time, I was halfway through my first pass on his novel Murder at Avedon Hill, forthcoming with Dragon Moon Press, so it was great to actually meet the author and talk [...]

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What not to Write

September 21, 2009

Just as important as how to write, is what to write. In a panel at Anticipation 09 in Montreal, editor David G. Hartwell said: “The sincere desire on the part of the writer to write the book will communicate to the reader. This is not something that is often said in public, but it is [...]

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Tips for Polished Writing – Words and Phrases to Avoid, Part I

September 17, 2009

Polished Writing – Words and Phrases to Avoid, Part I: Cause and effect, and avoiding passive voice. Obviously, when I talk about a polished manuscript, I’m not referring to any sort of literal shine or sparkle to the page. Polish is an abstract sort of quality, and it’s hard to understand unless you see it [...]

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Personal Taste

August 17, 2009

I found myself mentioning frequently at Anticipation that I work with an imprint (Dragon Moon Press) that specializes in “science fiction, fantasy and ‘gentle horror’.”  To the world at large, this seems like a small range, but within the narrower bounds of f/sf, it’s actually quite broad. I found that a lot of people asked [...]

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Clarkesworld Article – Part 2

August 3, 2009

Long Before They Were Read: Speculative Fiction Book Editors Speak Out is now up. This is part 2 of the Roundtable interview I participated in for Clarkesworld Magazine. If you missed part one, you can find it in the July issue, here. Clarkesworld Magazine has the honor of having been nominated for the 2009 Semiprozine [...]

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Discipline

July 30, 2009

I’m a little over fifty pages away from the end of a manuscript. I’m doing a substantive edit — catching grammar, punctuation and spelling, and making suggestions to tighten up the narrative and improve the flow. Right now, I’m sitting on an action-packed sentence in the last paragraph of a chapter. It’s an awkward sentence. [...]

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Editor Signings

July 13, 2009

My favorite professor and advisor just released a book. He is listed as the Editor and has written a foreword for the book, but the rest of the material in the book is written by other people. It’s basically a collection of non-fiction that he put together about one of his favorite topics. I am [...]

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Phil Rossi’s Big, Dark, and Terrible Machine

July 9, 2009

CRESCENT, the creepy and fantastic podiobook by Phil Rossi makes its print debut today, published by Dragon Moon Press. Meanwhile, Phil’s latest podiobook thriller brings the chills back down to Earth. HARVEY is a twisted tale about a down-on-his-luck musician and a small town that’s more than it seems. In between preparing for today’s live [...]

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Clarkesworld Editors’ Roundtable

July 2, 2009

I’m thrilled and honored to be part of Clarkesworld Magazine‘s interview of speculative fiction editors. I’m in very good company! The two-part article is running in their July and August 2009 issues. Check out part one of two: Dirty Hands and Invisible Words.

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Fiction is Subjective

June 15, 2009

In your interview with Michell Plested, you said that fiction is subjective. What did you mean? To talk about how editing fiction is subjective, it’s easier to start by talking about how editing non-fiction is concrete. In non-fiction, a fact, a grammatical issue, or an ambiguous word choice is more often either right or wrong, [...]

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