Big Bear Lake

To complement the gorgeous East Coast pictures, here's one from the West Coast, of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains. We spent Thanksgiving week in the area, and it was truly breathtaking.

Also taking my breath away, shopping Pavilions (Vons) in Mission Viejo today and seeing one of the overhead directory signs that read "Jucies."

Seen on the side of a truck today

It was a huge ad that read "Store closing. Your gain is our lost!"

NBC is the biggest loser

Last night I was putting together certificates/ribbons for the PTA arts contest I co-chair, and was half-watching a TV show I'd never seen before -- "The Biggest Loser." Going into a break, they had a bumper graphic with trivia, and the word "vaccuming" was spelled in large letters. It appeared later in the show as well. It's a good thing I didn't have anything to throw at the TV. How does that graphic survive intact after being viewed by countless producers, editors, and directors who work on a show like this?
I'm going to start a new feature of this blog documenting the horrifying misspellings I come across so often.
Meantime, my husband spent part of his day writing to the Los Angeles Times. The first had to do with the word "juggernaut" that was spelled "juggernat" in a headline. I quote now directly from his second letter (Isn't there something seriously wrong when a newspaper like the LA Times can make this kind of mistake? In addition to the reporter's error, where on earth was the copyeditor? Scary!)

The reason that "the principles are not doing much
talking" is that principles can't talk. Why the
principals mentioned in your story aren't talking is
another matter.

Copy editor or copyeditor?

If you're a natural born one of the above, you may have noticed I wrote "copy editor" as two words in the previous post. However, in my profile I spell it "copyeditor. " Which is it, and why wasn't I consistent? The answer is that it can be spelled either way, as can "copy editing" and "copyediting." I prefer it as one word and use it that way in this blog and on my website. But since I was quoting directly from Cheryl Klein and she had used it as two words, I thought it appropriate to keep it that way.

My favorite book on the subject is Copyediting: A Practical Guide by Karen Judd.

Copy editor humor

From Cheryl Klein's website ...

Q: How many copy editors does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: I can't tell whether you mean "change a light bulb" or "have sex in a light bulb." Can we reword it to remove the ambiguity?

My favorite picture from the workshop

More pictures

I had to add these. So beautiful.

Highlights Foundation workshop

I've been meaning to post some spectacular photos taken by one of the workshop participants, Amie Jane Leavitt. She took hundreds, literally, and they were all so beautiful that it was hard to choose. The fall colors were nearly at their peak. Although it rained more in a weekend than it has in a year in Southern California, it was the perfect place for a hike in the woods when it did dry out.
I truly understand the concept of a writer's retreat now. No internet/emails or cell phones to distract; just peaceful, beautiful surroundings to inspire.

Since I've been back home, I've found my writing has improved more than I could have imagined. I cut out nearly 500 words from the original version of a magazine story that I was asked to submit to Highlights after it was critiqued by an editor there. I had thought it was fairly tightly written to begin with, and was surprised I could reach the target word count without decimating the story. I'm also happy with the new magazine story I wrote while I was there, and am thrilled I was able to revise a tired old picture book manuscript. I'm still working on my story for the Highlights fiction contest; something set in the future is a definite challenge, but I've begun a draft of a story for it.

I'm a winner!

I've won a free picture book critique from an active group of writers whose website is called www.thewritemarbles.com. Thanks to my critique partner, Rachel, for letting me know about it! The free critique was inspiration enough for me to dust off an old, troubled manuscript called "The Ribbon Dance." It's been fun revising it. I've cut it by 400 words, eliminated two unnecessary characters, and generally focused it much better, so it feels more like a viable picture book now. I'll be ready to email it to the "Marbles" later today. How fun to get perspectives from a brand new set of writers!