Pesach – Enforced Slavery?
The holiday of Pesach (Passover) is fast approaching, and this year, the concept of deliverance from slavery will take on a new personal meaning. I have to meet three deadlines in the week before Pesach, so when Seder night comes round, I will not have to work very hard to summon up emotions of relief as I experience my own delivery [...]
Quote of the day
Where is human nature so weak as in the bookstore? Henry Ward Beecher US abolitionist & clergyman (1813 – 1887) Yeah, I’m with you there, Henry.
At your service…
If you have any questions that relate to editing and writing, and the English language in general, I am at your service. I can’t promise that I will be able to answer all your questions, but sometimes it helps to hear another perspective.
Online socializing – blessing or curse?
Against my better judgment, I got ensnared into joining Facebook. For those of you who are not in the know, Facebook is an online social network that connects you with friends from the past, your next door neighbor, colleagues, ex-flames, you name it…. You can post as little and as much information as you want, and can [...]
Online resource for copy-editors and proofreaders
If you are an editor or proofreader living in Israel, and would like to share or receive information about all editing-related topics in this country, there is an email list to which you can subscribe – COandPI@yahoogroups.com. You need not be embarrassed about asking the most simple of questions on this list. There are editors who ask for [...]
Mosquitoes – the stuff that poetry is made of
I have to be honest: I have never enjoyed reading poetry, and could never understand what all the fuss was about.* In primary school (that’s elementary school to you American heathens), I recall struggling to make my poems rhyme. They went along the following tenuous lines…. “I’m a poet and I didn’t know it…” “The snow [...]
An Ode to Coffee
As I sit here at 10 p.m. on Thursday evening (quite sad, really), willing myself on to edit just another couple of chapters, fuelled by a “supersized” mug of coffee, it brings to mind an astoundingly fresh historical novel that I read last year called The Coffee Trader by David Liss. The novel takes place [...]
Rap music…sounds like somebody feeding a rhyming dictionary to a popcorn popper
The subject of this post is a quote from my favorite writer of all times, Tom Robbins. I start reading his books with the knowledge and acceptance that the world will look radically different once I have finished. When I prepare lunch for myself, I half expect the can of baked beans to start talking [...]
Identify your audience
Before you submit your manuscript to a publisher, or better yet, before you begin writing your book, sit down for a minute and consider the potential readership. Ask yourself who you think will most likely want to read this book. This will influence the tone and direction of your book. For example, if you are [...]
The joys of bathroom reading – Part Two
I just know that you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for a second installment of weird and wonderful words with which to impress your friends, so here goes. I couldn’t resist. (Brownie points to those who already knew these words, and yes, I am spending far too much time [...]
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