Wow, I didn't know winters could be quite this snowy in eastern Ontario! Last weekend we got over 50 cms, which meant seemingly endless shovelling. I insisted we get a picture of this snowbank at the end of our driveway, otherwise everyone would just think I'm exagerating (which is, admittedly, part of my make-up, but still). Feeling accomplished after so much shovelling... Other than shovelling and being cold, I took the opportunity this month to lose myself in a few overlapping editing...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Do you also get the blues in January? I do, without fail, and this January truly seemed endless. February, even with all the snow and endless cold, always feels better because it ends with my birthday. 🎂 I'm actually more excited than normal because I'm turning 40! It feels like a milestone worth celebrating for some reason. This month I wrapped up another fantasy copyedit. 76K words of pure delight. This one leaned more into the realm of romantasy than I usually edit, but this manuscript...
2 months ago • 2 min read
I know there's still a few weeks left in 2024, but as far as I'm concerned I'm shutting down for the year and just relaxing from here on out. Because, if I'm being honest, I can't force myself to do any work at this time of year anyway. It's hibernation time, so I'm making that happen. Next year my plan is to remember this recurring fact about myself and actually build it into my schedule and plan for it. I've been wanting to do one of these Editor Wrapped things, but since I'm not on Spotify...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Happy Halloween! I love this time of year for its gorgeous leaves changing color, crisp autumn walks, and the excuse to get cozy and read a lot, interspersed with horror movie watching, of course. 😱 We just rewatched the classic Spielberg movie Poltergeist and I totally forgot how dramatic it all is! Oh, and baking pies and soups. That's probably the best thing. It's also when my editing business consistently ramps way up. I'm anticipating November will be my busiest month of the year so far,...
5 months ago • 2 min read
It’s been a great summer, but I'm super excited to be entering spooky season! First, a few summer updates. We went on a two-week beach vacation in August, which was so restful and fun. We didn't fly to a resort or anything (not my thing), but instead did a road trip to all the cute beach towns on the "west coast” of Ontario, and you know what? It’s really fun not having a plan, lying on the beach all day (reading and making rock art), and just otherwise taking it easy. We stayed in a lovely...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Summer is in full swing! I did some travelling in June and a whole lot of relaxing via bike rides, TV-show binging (just finished Dark Matter, highly recommend), and reading on the balcony. It’s what summers are meant for. I also visited my parents for a week, and somehow chose the ‘heat dome’ week, go figure. While I was cleaning out some boxes I’d stashed in the basement probably a decade ago, I unearthed a big blue Tupperware bin simply marked “Erika’s Stuff” that I had little memory of...
9 months ago • 3 min read
The last sentence I wrote back in December was "I hope to be more consistent with my emails in 2024." Well... that didn't exactly work out. 😅 Here we are, my first newsletter of the year, halfway through the year. But I'm back and although I can't promise perfect consistency, I can promise to use my curator brain to bring you useful stuff I've scavenged from around the internet on a monthly basis. And to put my digital hoarding tendencies to somewhat good use. The first half of 2024 has been...
10 months ago • 3 min read
Last year I decided I wanted to consume less and create more. I have a tendency to hoard information, endlessly collect interesting things to read or watch (and promptly forget about them), and of course “procrasti-learn” because I never feel ready to do the thing. Just me? 😅 To remedy this, I decided that 2023 would be my year to SHARE and EXPRESS. (Two for the price of one!) I wanted to cultivate an outward presence and produce more content, instead of just sitting on ideas and never...
over 1 year ago • 1 min read
Settle in for some updates from October! I did two podcast interviews about copyediting for indie authors. They’re not published yet, but stay tuned. It might not seem like a big deal, but I can assure you that the “anticipatory anxiety” leading up to them was something to behold. Luckily, one of my superpowers is that nobody can tell when I’m nervous. 😛 The first podcast appearance I ever did, back in March, I nearly turned down because it felt really vulnerable to be seen, especially...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
