During the winter months I like to escape into novels even more than usual. My go-to over the break was Lord of the Rings. Not only did we watch the extended trilogy on Christmas, I started re-reading the books. Coming back to them after a loooong hiatus of many years feels like it's healing a bit of my soul right now (it's a dark time on so many fronts). Following along with the Fellowship and hanging out with Elrond and the elves in Rivendell just hits different when life feels so...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
December is not a time to be working very hard (for me, anyways). My full being yearns for all things cozy, and working a lot of hours is not conducive to doing things like baking scones, doing puzzles while listening to audiobooks, making junk journals, or re-teaching myself how to crochet. So, I learned from last year and booked three weeks off, starting now! Well, starting as soon as I finish this one last email. 😇 So what I did I get up to this year? Let's get into my Editor Wrapped...
3 months ago • 2 min read
This month I attended my first Women in Publishing Summit! It's a virtual four-day event with loads of sessions on all facets of indie publishing. Plus, there were four networking breakout-room chats per day. Talk about working harder (in the sense of more 'people-ing') than I do on a typical workday. It was a lot! But it was also fantastically interesting and fun to meet so many authors, editors, and bookish people all in one spot. On the editing side of things in March, I finished up a...
11 months ago • 2 min read
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 year 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...
about 1 year 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...
over 1 year 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,...
over 1 year 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...
over 1 year 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...
over 1 year ago • 3 min read