This is my twenty-first post, so I thought I would share some updates as well as some other thoughts that have popped into my head that I don’t think I’m going to develop much further. I’m also going to ask for feedback on what some might think is a controversial subject. So, here goes!
The Editor Paradox
A friend, who also happens to be my former executive editor, sent me a recent bundle of reading that included this quote by Mark Twain.
Let’s face it, folks. Being a news editor is more of a calling than an exciting path to fame and riches. (Come to think of it, there are very few famous editors much less rich ones.) You don’t have droves of students eagerly pursuing an editing tract in college, or their parents proclaiming, “Both my children are going to be editors!”
No, you have to love being an editor. There’s no other explanation for why people would spend their working lives in a perpetual state of panic feeling like a thousand birds are tearing at their bodies while facing a metaphoric steamroller. Very few editors gain the public’s appreciation, but they sure can catch the public’s wrath. Yet love it we do! Chalk it up as a strange phenomenon of nature, a genetic quirk.
Still a Book Addict
My book addiction hasn’t abated one whit. In fact, it’s gotten worse! I recently tripped over Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter at Dollar General for $3. (I’ve been told the book is better than the movie. I sure hope so since I didn’t think the movie was that great.)
If that wasn’t bad enough, I found a new website, Bookbub, which sends me daily specials on discounted and free e-books. I’ve already downloaded five free books.
The question is, when will I find time to read all of this? I’m still working my way through an Umberto Eco book and have finally resigned myself that I may never finish Moby Dick. Sigh.
Trying to Let Little Annoyances Pass
I’m working on letting the world’s grammar mistakes, the ones I can’t fix, pass by. It’s difficult. I have to quash militant tendencies when I see the “womens” room. I have to put things in perspective as I grade my students’ papers.
I need to start meditating. I think my mantra should be “commmmm-a.”
The Effective Writer’s Libation
Here’s the controversy: what is the best drink to get you writing?
Most of the time, I do my writing in the morning so I need a cup of coffee to get me revved up. On the other hand, there are times when I get inspired in the evening and a glass of wine (only one; my name’s not Fitzgerald or Hemingway) loosens up the Muses.
Please take the following poll to let me know your preference.
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