It's Conference Time, Everybody!

Just finished my last editing project of September, and I'll soon be diving into my HUGE stack of advance submissions for the Southern California Writers Conference—and I'm filled with anticipatory glee.
Why? Because this weekend is fun!
I always have a great time at this conference—I get to both learn and teach, which I love. This weekend, I'm teaching a new workshop called “Backstory: Employing Expository like a Screenwriter,” plus doing "Pitch Witches" and much more. SCWC inspires me to be at the top of my game, because everyone else there is!
If you haven't been to a writers conference before, you're probably wondering, "Why should I go to SCWC?"
The biggest/best reason is to connect with a community of writers—and readers (because all writers are readers, no?). Writing is often solitary so we need to meet and talk to others in our "tribe"—to hear people talk about going through the same things we go through; to learn from their mistakes, and to gain insight from their successes.
Of course, you'll also meet and get to chat with agents, editors, and publishers—not to mention people who are successful author-publishers.
The world of publishing is evolving fast, and it's important for aspiring (and published) authors to keep evolving, to keep their strategies always shifting, in order to compensate. Going to SCWC gives you the cutting-edge tools to do that. The panels and workshops include subjects that span the world of today's publishing. Check out the schedule here.
Hope to see you there...
hasta pronto!

The Pros and Cons of Freelancing

 I am updating and re-posting this piece from a couple of years ago, since a new acquaintance recently mentioned how "fun" it must be to work for myself.

When I tell people that I'm a freelance editor, people always say "How cool—that must be fun!" and of course, it is—but, like most everything in life, there are good and not-so-good points about working for yourself...
Most all authors are freelancers, even if they have a "day job" because they are not usually getting paid to write (not as they write, that is—hopefully, they do get paid, but usually months or even years later).

Here are just a few of the Pros and Cons of Freelancing:

Pro: You make your own schedule (plenty of time to read).
Con: You can easily feel guilty if you are not working (never enough time to read for FUN).
Pro: You're your own boss (no one to tell you what to do).
Con: You have to motivate yourself—and on some (sunny) days that is really difficult to do.
Pro: You set your own rates and can ask for what you feel your skills are truly worth.
Con: You don't get a weekly paycheck. (Sometimes more than a few weeks go by!)
Pro: You can work from home (in your pajamas, even; I don't because I feel better when I am "dressed for work")
Con: Your home is your office and your job never really stops.
Pro: Your job is your life and it's fun!

Feel free to add to the list—I'd love to hear from you.
hasta pronto!

My 10 Favorite Adventure/Travel Memoirs

As an editor (and as a writer) I've always been drawn to true stories, and especially to people writing about adventures they have had or about their travels and voyages. Whether harrowing or humorous, these exciting memoirs are always my favorite reads, year in and year out.

Like all my "top ten" booklists, this one is quite personal and highly subjective. I had to leave out some classics like Riding the Iron Rooster by Paul Theroux, because it's been so long since I read it, I couldn't remember what I loved about it, only that I loved it. And I left out Into The Wild because it's not a memoir, it's the story of Christopher McCandless, told by Jon Krakauer, an excellent writer.

Readers may notice a number of these titles are about Baja California and boats. Well, I lived on a sailboat for many years, much of that time spent on and around Baja's Sea of Cortez, so I'm partial to stories about the area, and about sailing, too.

Anyway, here's my current list of favorite memoirs that involve travel or adventure:

Adrift: Seventy Six Days Lost at Sea by Steven Callahan

Almost An Island by Bruce Berger

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Into A Desert Place by Graham Mackintosh

Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles Through Baja California, the Other Mexico by C.M.Mayo

My Old Man and the Sea: A Father and Son Sail Around Cape Horn by David Hays

Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat

The Log from the Sea of Cortez by John Steinbeck

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Coast Trail by Cheryl Strayed

Let me know which of these books are on your top ten list—and which of your favorite memoirs I should check out.

hasta pronto!

Some Spring and Summer Must-Reads

I'm ready for Summer already, aren't you? I'm looking forward to some time on the sand, book in hand, with the sun in a blue sky and a cold blended drink nearby—hey that rhymes! I'm becoming a (really bad) poet.
I'm working today under cloudy skies, anticipating the much-needed rain that's been predicted, and thinking of things I'd rather be doing. (What is wrong with me? After all, I'm in one of the most beautiful cities on earth, I have plenty of work to do that I love, I'm my own boss, and I live on a sailboat—what's not to like?)
So, in order to distract myself from the work on my desk, I thought about some of the new books out for Summer that I'm looking forward to reading. Some are freshly published, and one comes out in July. Here they are, in order of release:
Wild Women, Wild Voices: Writing from Your Authentic Wildness by Judy Reeves (March, 2015).
I am a great admirer of Judy Reeves, not just as a great motivator, teacher, and mentor to writers, including myself, but as a master of the craft, herself. You always learn something (often about yourself) from her, and I always feel inspired to write after one of her classes or after dipping into one of her books. I can't wait to read this new one!
Orhan's Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian (April, 2015). This debut novel by a SCWC conference instructor (formerly a SCWC attendee) has had readers and booksellers buzzing for months. I'm fascinated by the history behind this story, set during 1915 in the Ottoman Empire. The book was recently chosen by the NYT for a piece in the Sunday Book Review.

In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume (June, 2015). What can I say about Judy Blume except her writing made a pre-teen me consider that I might be able to write (I already loved reading!) in the early 1970s, and that her book "Are you there God? It's me, Margaret" was the springboard to almost everything I read and wrote in my teens. Gotta read her new book.

Scents and Sensibility by Spencer Quinn (due July 14th). If you haven't read any of the "Chet and Bernie" series, you are in for a real treat. Narrated by a wordly yet innocent mixed breed dog named Chet, who works with his master Bernie, a P.I. solving crimes and catching "perps by the pant leg" this series is full of laugh-out-loud moments. Anyone who loves mysteries or dog stories will love them, and there are plenty of them to love. S & S will be number 8 in the series.
And last on the list, but surely not least, the final book on my "I've got to read it this summer" list is
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (due July 14). I am so excited to see what this amazing author's original story was like, before she adapted the storytelling to suit her publisher. And because—for goodness sake, people—she's Harper Lee, that's why.
I hope you're as excited about your Summer "to read" list as I am, and I'd love to hear if you have any of the books I mentioned here on your list.
By the way, I had a great time last Sunday, writing all day at the "Blazing Laptops" fundraiser for San Diego Writers, Ink. My heartfelt thanks to all of you who contributed to helping me support this fine non-profit resource in our community. Between the silent auction, the raffles and the many generous pledges, SDWI raised almost $13,000 toward their goal of $15,000. It's not too late to contribute, on their secure fundraising site, right here. 
I loved being back at at the Ink Spot in Liberty Station, it's been too long. I'll be teaching at SDWI again this fall, and I'll keep you all posted as to those dates. Until then...
hasta pronto!

JennyRedbug needs YOUR help!

May was a busy month for me. I've not only been busy with work (see below), and spending time with my mom and the rest of my family—we even got some boat work shoe-horned in there. Russel has been designing and installing new cupboards and storage areas on the mighty sailing vessel "Watchfire 2" and I have had to watch, and give advice. Exhausting. Add to that our anniversary and my birthday and you can see why the posts have not been proliferating here.

Luckily my recent book-editing projects have not been exhausting—they've been challenging and exhilarating. I'm doing a line-edit on a timely and evocative Civil Rights Era novel by an author I met at San Diego Writers Conference. Also doing some content/structure edits on a travel memoir and evaluating a new genre novel by an excellent writer. The summer is booking up with new projects, too. I love my job!

You might have missed my last post—it was a guest blog on my friend Oz Monroe's excellent blog. Oz has a fun (scary) challenge for himself: He lets his Facebook friends pick a weekly topic, and the winning topic (by likes) is the subject he writes about. He calls the challenge, "Throw Oz Under the Bus." A couple of us have allowed ourselves to be "thrown under the bus" too, as guest bloggers—I was the latest. The winning blog topic for me was “A feminist perspective on masculinity in the 21st century.” (WTF?) Here's my post for Oz, based on that topic: Man up?

And now, my friends, it's that time of year again...won't you help me to support San Diego Writers, Ink (SDWI), an important non-profit resource in our writing community? Their yearly "Blazing Laptops" fundraising event raises a major portion of their annual operating funds, allowing them to offer great classes at low rates. I donate time to them every year, and I'll be donating a free book evaluation (value $500 to $1000) to the auction; I'll also be writing all day during "Blazing Laptops" at the SDWI Ink Spot in Liberty Station on June 7th.

Could you donate $5 or $10? We'd all appreciate it! My fundraising page is here.

Thanks for any help you can give SDWI, and...
hasta pronto!