You’ve written your book, self-revised it a ton, gotten beta reader feedback, and maybe worked with a developmental editor. Now, everyone’s telling you it’s time… Read More »A Peek Into Process: How I Do a Book Copyedit
You’ve written a book, sent it to your trusted copyeditor, and the copyeditor has completed the edit. The copyeditor sends you the manuscript, a cover… Read More »What’s a Style Sheet? Everything Authors Need to Know About Their Book’s Style Sheet
BookFest St. Louis is a wonderful daylong event that lets the St. Louis community hear a variety of authors speak for free. I attended the festival in September with my friend Hannah and her sister and had a great time. Here are the sessions I attended and what I took away from them as a reader, writer, and editor.
Read More »Takeaways From BookFest St. Louis 2018 as a Reader, Writer, and Editor
Summer: It’s too hot to exercise outside, and it’s also too busy to curl up with piles of books indoors in the sweet, sweet central air conditioning of our new apartment. I’ll admit: I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump. Or maybe it’s more like a reading slowdown. And admittedly, I haven’t been writing blog posts or book reviews, either. So before you start asking, “What have you even been doing all summer?” (hint: so much work), here’s what I’ve been reading in summer 2018.
Four Seasons in Rome is a memoir slash travel book about living in Rome for a year. After winning the Rome Prize, author Anthony Doerr… Read More »Four Seasons in Rome by Anthony Doerr
“You fail only if you stop writing.” —Ray Bradbury I’ve always known I was a good writer. Teachers complimented me on my writing and encouraged… Read More »I’m Not a Failure If I Stop Writing
In Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body
Gay holds nothing back. As she says: “I’ve been forced to look at my guiltiest secrets. I’ve cut myself wide open. I am exposed. That is not comfortable. That is not easy.” She isn’t hyperbolizing here—this memoir digs deep into her self and her body. As a reader, I was initially uncomfortable being drawn into such a personal story, but Gay handles this intimacy well. She lays it bare without giving gratuitous details—she says it’s still hard to talk about. I can see why. It’s hard to read about the terrible thing that was done to her and how she’s still healing from it, but it’s important to read in order to understand Gay’s narrative throughout her memoir and the effect that these things have on women on a societal level.
As an editor, writer, and book lover, I’m always looking for excuses to buy and read new books. I’ll be attending the ACES 2018 editing… Read More »6 Books by ACES 2018 Presenters to Add to Your To-Read List
Bookstores are my weakness, and quite unfortunately, I was recently subjected to several tempting multi-level, well-stocked London bookstores. Reader, it was terrible. As I threw more and more books into my arms (and eventually into shopping baskets), I tried to think of some constraints to narrow down which books I would allow myself to buy. I decided upon a few rules to guide my British book buying:
Almost everyone says the same thing about books you don’t finish: Just move on. Read something better, read something that’s more engaging. But for some reason, I stubbornly want to finish books that I’ve started.
If I start a book, I want to finish it so I can either write a review of what I didn’t like or be pleasantly surprised when the book improves as I read. And if I’ve gone to the trouble of buying a book and spent time reading it, it seems like a waste of time and money to abandon it.
Despite good intentions, I abandoned several books in 2017. Here are 10 books I didn’t finish last year:Read More »10 Books I Didn’t Finish Last Year
William Nelson gives the Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison ample historical context and addresses new interpretations of it in light of recent scholarship in Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review (first edition).
Read More »Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review by William Nelson
I was excited to read and review this because I’ve studied Luther and the Reformation in college courses and through my international travels. I’ve read (okay, skimmed) several biographies of Martin Luther, and I lived in Wittenberg, Germany, for two months and visited the Wartburg Castle, Eisenach, and Erfurt.Read More »The Life and Times of Martin Luther by Meike Roth-Beck
