Home Page of Anne Ashby Writing Warm Fuzzy and Fun Stories

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Go the Stags!

What a day to be a Southlander. Congratulations to our mighty rugby team on their winning of the Ranfurly shield. And particularly a huge thank you to Jimmy Cowan for his attendance and encouragement on the side line. He's probably the highest paid water boy around. I'm sure his support helped an already motivated team succeed. I only wish I could have been at Invercargill airport at eleven this morning to welcome home our victorious Stags and the mighty Ranfurly Shield. But I was there in spirit as I'm sure so many other ex-pat Southlanders were. Our rugby boys have done us proud over the last couple of years but last night's defeat of Canterbury, and the winning of the 'ole log of wood' has caused such an outpouring of pride. Well done the Stags.

Worthy of note was the attendance and support of the waterboy. Epitimising my own feelings about Southland being in our blood forever, Jimmy Cowan showed that just because he was slipping on a different coloured jersey didn't take away his responsibility to Southland, and more importantly, the team who helped him win that coveted black jersey. I never noticed any of Canterbury's All Blacks in attendance, then again I acknowledge I could easily have missed seeing them. Perhaps a little verbal support from them might have spurred the Canterbury team though.

19 October

I've just got to share this article my hubby saw in "The Dominion Post" on Wed 14 Oct. I'm not sure who to accredit it to but it's in inverted commas because I'm re-writing it word for word. Otherwise no one will believe me.

As headlines are supposed to, this one definitely grabs at you. "Better than sex" It could only be referring to a great quality wine or delicious chocolate, surely?

Nah - wrong, hold your breath and wait for the punch line.

"Who needs foreplay when you have a mobile phone? An online survey of Chicago residents showed three out of ten people would give up sex for a year rather than sacrifice their phone. The survey of 300 people, commisssioned by Samsung, found that when asked explicitly which they'd prefer - sex or to have a mobile phone - 36 percent of the women and 15 percent of the men interviewed chose the phone."

Perhaps the 300 were all under ten. I would add - or over ninety nine - but I don't think too many folks of that age would really want a phone, either.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

New Contract

What great excitement for me this week. It began with what every writer strives and dreams of achieving, a new contract. I received the offer from The Wild Rose Press a mere 6 weeks after submitting my ms. Their amazing turn around time makes this publisher well worth checking out. Knowing your work is acceptable, or not, in this type of time frame allows so much more scope. Instead of waiting over a year with the larger publishers while you query, then submit a partial, then a full only to wait months more to get a result. TWRP system works so much better for me - they don't force those long agonizing months on you. That alone makes them look like a pretty good company to me. Check them out and see what you think. To say I was flying up in the clouds for days would not have been an exaggeration. Unfortunately some of my enthusiasm for my WIP has evapourated as I'm keen to begin the editing process with my wonderful editor. We can't make a start until the signed contract is in the hands of TWRP so I'm stuck in limbo. What an excellent time for me to begin redesigning my website.

8 October

Thanks to my lovely editor, I now have a better understanding of this "Chicago" system used for editing. No, that's not quite true. I know what she is referring to now but understanding it? I doubt if that will ever happen. English English is confusing enough, add New Zealand idioms and the murkiness becomes cloudier. I think I'll pursue my learning of American English to little bits at a time. Maggie was kind enough to give me the appropriate Wikipedia reference so I could really dig deep and figure it all out. "The Chicago Manual of Style (abbreviated in writing as CMS or CMOS, or verbally as Chicago) is a style guide for American English published since 1906. Its 15 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing. The CMS deals with aspects of editorial practice, from American English grammar and usage to document preparation." I was tempted to explore the numerous links available from that Wikipedia entry but after a couple my brain started sizzling and I thought it better not to confuse myself any more than I was already confused.

The never ending instances of learning opportunities we can pick up when we least expect them always adds to the excitement of this you-never-know-what's-going-to-happen-tomorrow career. I love it.

6 October

Just when I thought it was safe to begin bragging about my soon-to-be-published book I get an email from my editor with another "final" lot of galley proofs to check. I discovered something that makes no sense to me at all but is obviously vitally important if you are a grammar guru. Maggie, my wonderful editor - who has worked so diligently to ensure I have the story the way it was meant to be - apparently was not working with the 'Chicago system' of punctuation. Wonder if that could be because she lives in San Diego? But this Chicago system is the norm for The Wild Rose Press, hence one more final lot to check. Has anyone ever heard of this punctuation system? I'd love to hear if anyone has struck it before.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Chicago Manual of Style and editing gurus

This week I have been introduced to something previously unknown to me, and probably millions of other people. A "book of rules" for American English. I admit to being less than perfect when it comes to my use of grammar/punctuation etc - way beyond less than perfect, I'm sure my editor would attest to. Even with a very switched on critique partner I doubt I could ever achieve the perfection necessary to abide with these "Chicago" rules. Seeing just how exacting they are, it's time for me to pay homage to the lady who adjusted my writing to fit. I still cringe when I remember how many errors she managed to find in my "perfect" manuscript. The worst thing of all, though, was how obvious all those mistakes actually were. I owe her, owe her big time.