Coffee Chat 22.0 with S.K. Anthony: Editing with Style

Good morning, everyone! I'm finally up early enough to make the coffee before SK gets here. She's usually so early that it feels weird to come down the stairs into a dark living room. [Trips over rug.] That's weird; I don't normally have a rug right there . . . 

[Music suddenly begins to play as colored lights turn on, aimed at a—] Is that a disco ball in my living room? And why am I standing on a long red carpet?

SK: Good morning, Lynda! When I was stalking your blog, I couldn't help but catch your Editor's Notes about Style Sheep, so I decided to bring him here for you to meet. He even graciously agreed to put on a fashion show just for you! [Grins.] 

ER: Well, he certainly is . . . um . . . stylish. I can't say as I've ever seen a sheep with a nicer scarf than I own. And that hat!

SK: Cute! Right?

ER: Uh, yeah. Except I think you may have misunderstood me. I use a style SHEET when I edit. You know, a document that has all the pertinent information about a manuscript. A notebook. A bunch of paper. A Word file. A—

SK: Nonsense! I read between the lines and understood as bright as a star: the style sheep is your first go-to when you start editing. Why is it, though? You dress to match? Like each MS gets a specific outfit that inspires editing?

ER: Really, there is no "between the lines." I really do use words on paper. You know, like a character's name, hair color, job, physical description, quirks . . . 

SK: Well, yeah. I mean of course you'll need to know their name, hair colors, and physical description if you want to dress appropriately to edit them. I so get it. But can you just watch Mr. Style Sheep walk down the carpet now so we can go have coffee?

ER: [Sighs heavily.] All right, get that sheep to walk down the red carpet and get him out of my house. What's up with the animals inside the house? You're freaking out AndyAndy on a regular basis. And now he'll probably want a hat and scarf, too. And for goodness' sake, get the lights and disco ball turned off before Tim comes downstairs . . . can the sheep walk any faster? I don't care if he's trained to take his time and preen for the cameras. [Prods sheep with toe.] Move it, mister.

SK: AndyAndy is in on it; he just frets to you so you can scratch his back. Aww, look at Style Sheep go. Good thing the carpet goes straight out the door. And now COFFEE!

I didn't make or bring anything this time, I hope you have some goodies for us. [Looks around kitchen.] So tell me, when you're editing, it's like Superman isn't it? A secret that isn't so secret identity but can only be done with the cape—or whatever—on?

ER: I don't know how to convince you, but I'll say it again: I have no super-duper secrets when I'm editing. I'm not Superman, wearing a cape. I'm just plain Lynda. I sit down with my laptop and my Chicago Manual of Style, and I write things as I read them. I see a name? I write it. Is he tall? Dark hair? Of course all the best characters have dark hair, right? I write it. Later in the book, if there's a squiggle under that person's name, I check to see if it's really a misspelling or if Word just doesn't recognize it. If an author tells me she doesn't like semicolons, I note that. If he loves adverbs exceedingly much and I think he needs to ditch them, I'll note the ones used most often and count them.

SK: Oh yes, dark hair! [Stares into space.]

Ahem, anyway . . . I almost believed that! You said it with such a straight face, too. Oh man, you're so good! I get it, though. We shouldn't be publicly sharing your editing secrets. [Winks at Lynda.] But since the sheep is out of the bag and we've already officially acknowledge the outfits—

ER: We haven’t acknowledged any—

SK: Can you tell me what this one is about?

ER: Oh. That was when I was working on Kinetic. What's so odd about that? And where did you find it? I was at Wal Mart, shopping for more Red Pens of Doom.

SK: [Frowns.] I don't get it. It's 'cause you're both superheroes? 'Cause I mean, Annie doesn't wear a crown or a one piece swimsuit. And what about this one? 

ER: Uh . . . that was when I was working on The Devil’s Hour. I’m not sure what you’re getting at—

SK: And THIS?

ER: [Looks sheepish.] That’s my Kestrel Saga outfit. It has . . . um . . . a voice-changer . . . and I can make the bad guys sound scarier if I read the text aloud. [Blushes.] Gosh, I guess I never thought about it. I really do dress for success when I edit. AndyAndy doesn't even look scared. The Style Sheep knows where it’s at.

SK: Dressing for success is half the battle. I mean look at me; that’s why I’m naked.

ER: You’re not . . . undressed. And why—

SK: Well, under my clothes I am. I’m just trying to channel my ol’ pal Ernest Hemingway. He wrote naked and made it big! Fake it 'till I make it and all that. [Shrugs.]

Are you sure you want me to take the disco ball with me? Don’t you need lighting when you’re editing?

ER: . . . 

As always:

You can find S.K. Anthony in a number of places. She's one of the founders of Writers After Dark. She's on Twitter @SKathAnthony or @WritersAfterDrk, her website is www.skanthony.com, her Facebook page is S Katherine Anthony, and on occasional occasions, she'll be right here with me, drinking coffee and laughing it up over our latest plans and schemes. And possibly even talking about books and writing. 

You can find me here. I'm always here. 

[Note from March 2019: I'm not always here anymore. Now you can find me at easyreaderediting.com with my blog and editing services.]

Coffee Chat 16.0 withOUT S.K. Anthony: She's Done It Again!

Hi, everyone. Today's post focuses on something I've gone through recently in my life. It's a serious issue I've struggled with, and I'm not sure why it seems to keep happening, but I'm hoping that sharing it with all of you will help to stop the cycle in its tracks. 

Yes, S.K. has once again gone on vacation without me.

I know, you're probably saying it's not a big deal. People go on vacation all the time. And my recent vacation to Nashville really has nothing to do with this, even though I got to see a bunch of Corvettes and a sinkhole in Louisville, Kentucky, on the way down to Tennessee. The point is, this is a disturbing trend. I was left in Pennsylvania when she went to Jamaica—her husband was pretty insistent that I stay here, in fact—and now I'm still in PA while they vacation at Lake George.

S.K. and I used to vacation together quite a bit, back in the day.

I remember her wedding day like it was yesterday . . .
Central Park was the place to be!

And the honeymoon in Chichén Itza? SO much fun!
Climbing the Kukulkan Pyramid was tough, but I managed it with grace and style.

Our trip to Maui was wonderful!
I wasn't able to get the tan S.K. did, but my calves were
in GREAT shape from all that hiking around the volcano.

I'm not quite sure why I don't tan like she does . . .
or why my face doesn't get as golden as my arms do . . .
but our trip to Vegas was still a lot of fun. Here we are at the Mirage!

We went on a cruise, and embarrassingly enough, I forgot my special dress
and had to borrow a suit and tie from her husband. I still looked terrific, though,
since he has good taste.

When S.K. was 28 weeks pregnant, I did it again: I completely forgot my special dress.
Thank goodness her hubby is a good sport, and always packs extra clothes!

Our Dole Pineapple plantation tour was, I think,
one of the last plantation tours we were permitted to do.
It's complicated.

This one? I'm only including it because
I'm pretty sure S.K.'s husband doesn't read this blog.
It's a secret: I did go to Jamaica, just so we could have an ultra-cool duckface smoochie picture for the books.

I think maybe you can all understand now why I'm feeling a little left out this time. Still, I'm pretty sure our adventures aren't over. In fact, I can almost feel another one coming on . . . 

See you next Thursday!

As always:

You can find S.K. Anthony in a number of places. She's on Twitter @SKathAnthony, her website is www.skanthony.com, her Facebook page is S Katherine Anthony, and on occasional occasions, she'll be right here with me, drinking coffee and laughing it up over our latest plans and schemes. And possibly even talking about books and writing. 

You can find me here. I'm always here.