Continue reading »]]> I had rotator cuff surgery January 31st and the recovery process has kept things interesting, especially editing, proofreading and copyediting while taking Oxycodone; your attention span is about as good as someone with ADHD, falling asleep without warning and having a cat who’s playing what my mother called “nursy, nursy.”

The surgery was to repair 2 torn tendons- the supraspinatus, which is the tendon on the top of the rotator cuff, allowing you to raise your arm to the side and up from the front, and the infraspinatus, which is the tendon that allows you to reach backwards. My vocabulary has been greatly enriched from the details my surgeon used to tell me what he needed to do, and why he was reluctant to perform this surgery on someone with serious Fibromyalgia. I learned afterwards that he had to deal with a calcified bursa sac; I’ve injured this shoulder 8 times now, and my right bursa sack attracted lots of calcium, keeping it from its task of being the shock absorber for the bones and connective tissue. Lastly, he found a bone spur on the Chromium joint, aka an impingement, and had to shave it off. Because of the extras, he was very glad afterwards that he did the surgery because I would have had more and worse issues as time went on.

One of the projects I had to complete immediately after surgery was 50 factoids about the guests of honor for each of the 50 Boskones (the New England Science Fiction Association’s yearly science fiction/fantasy convention), edit them and collate them into a document for NESFA; my one-fingered typing improved enormously as my right arm was splinted and unusable for several weeks. My attention span was limited to about 5-10 minutes at a time because I was taking Oxycodone, the narcotic half of Percocet, leaving me loopier than a sky writer’s flying skills. Since I was wearing a sling with an abduction pillow (to keep my arm in a more natural position while it healed), and Boskone was Presidents’ Day Weekend, I was able to get most of the authors and artists to initial my sling, including George RR Martin. All of those who initialed my sling also promised to donate signed books & prints for my GentleHugs4Paws book auction.

So, the moral of my recent experiences taught me that I need to do what I can and don’t give any hard and fast deadlines for my clients because it was difficult to concentrate on the swirly letters.

Continue reading »]]> I have a lot of author friends on Facebook who are members of the NaNoWriMo group, and many of them have hit their goal for the month- and I congratulate each and every one of them as I don’t have their passion in writing- my passion is in the proofreading & editing process. One that will have them biting their fingers while their baby is under my hot gaze and hands poised over the keyboard to correct mistakes. They know I respect and love their baby as much as they do, but I have the task of parenting the story, and showing them how good it is once all of the typos are found, grammar corrected and story structure is nudged into its proper place. To anthropomorphize again, I guide the story to maturity and adulthood, ready to meet the world, and send it back to its anxious creator, showing they’re ready to face the world and be read by millions of readers.

One friend, Dominique Goodall, hit her 50K just a few days ago, and is looking at continuing this storyline for another 150K, and I’m cheering her on for knowing how much she can do with her writing, and how much further she knows the story will take. Having edited her first book, Echoes of Winter, to be published in just a few weeks, I *know* the quality will be similar, especially because I’ve read snippets of this story. If anything, her characterization of an intelligent animal is in keeping with Tamora Pierce’s “Wolf Speaker” book in her Wildmage series and Jane Lindskold’s Firekeeper Saga, beginning with “Through Wolf’s Eyes.”

I haven’t read any other stories by my other friends participating in NaNoWriMo, but I certainly look forward to coddling their babies through the proofreading and editing process. The best part of National Novel Writing Month is how it encourages so many people to coax the stories from tiny little ideas at the back of their brains through their fingers and into reality. It certainly is with a whimper, but not a “bang” until they find their way to the *right* publisher who will present it to eager readers ready for a new adventure. This is often the best moment for writers, but the process from submission to publication can be harrowing for the author because it takes time- which can be a nail-biting process because their baby is once again out of their possession but working its way to the people who will make it a bestseller on the New York Times Bestsellers as well as others in various papers and larger booksellers. At that point, it’s best to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Continue reading »]]> Berger Proofreading & Copyediting is proud to announce sponsorship (well, both websites are me, anyway) of the book auction for GentleHugs4Paws, an organization on its way to becoming a non-profit! The following is the official flyer information for public dissemination:

GentleHugs4Paws ©

GentleHugs4Paws © is an organization designed to help chronic pain sufferers (CPSers) adopt an emotional service animal. Currently, we are in the process of becoming a Non-Profit; lots of paperwork involved!

We’re already working towards our goal by finding ways of raising money to pay adoption fees &, in the case of younger animals, paying for the first vet visit so they can get their rabies shots. I personally started GentleHugs4Paws, am co-owner of Fibrom-L (an online Listserv group which has been active for years), write FMS jokes & do my best to help children who also have Fibromyalgia (having grown up with it myself, & suffered as an outcast from my peers).  I needed an emotional service animal of my own, &, because I’m unemployed, & recently was even homeless, but have since found a new home. I tried to find an organization to help me find my “purrfect” emotional service cat, but I didn’t find any, so I decided I had to start it myself. I now have Daibhi (Daw-vee) Rian, an adorable tuxedo kitten who chose me (not the other way ‘round)  & he has helped me so, so much I can’t even begin to describe it! The love I get from him has made my life much easier, just because he’s there & we love each other very much.

Living with chronic pain isn’t easy- syndromes & diseases like Fibromyalgia/Chronic Myofascial Pain, Chronic Fatigue, Lupus, Arthritis & many other painful conditions –they sap our strength & energy. This causes depression & anxiety as well as alienating us from our families & friends. The pain we are in limits our contact with “society”… Often, the best medicine comes from our animal companions- cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits; whatever animal suits us best –because they give us unconditional love, knowing when we need them to stay in our laps or at our sides, never asking for more than returning that love & “noms”. They keep us active- dogs need walks, ensuring that we get out of the house & get a little exercise, while cats want to sit on us & purr, get their fur groomed, fed, “worshipped”, not to mention the occasional blackmail for extra “noms”.

One of our activities to help raise money is the brainchild of C.T. Adams, aka Cat Adams; she came to me & suggested having a book auction on the gentlehugs4paws.org website. The response from authors has been a roaring success- I’ve received books from 39 authors, over 60 books total, & expecting more from other authors via mail & Chicon (2012 World Science Fiction Association). What I’m asking all of the authors I know as well as other authors putting the word out for me, is if they could please donate a signed book & send it to me so it can be added to the auction. I’d like to get as many books as possible because there are so many CPSers all over who need the love only an emotional service animal can give.

I’m also getting in contact with animal shelters, Animal Rescue, the ASPCA, pet food manufacturers, vets & networking with many other forums where CPSers congregate for support from each other to keep us going. I know authors who have FMS & who don’t let it stop them. I try not to let it stop me, especially since I’ve lived with it for 37 years; when I was 2, I ran under a swing my brother Tim was on, which triggered the FMS, & ended up needing reconstructive surgery to rebuild my nose & sinuses. In the process, both my immune system & muscular coordination were affected as they weren’t fully developed, so I’m incredibly accident prone & have the world’s longest list of allergies- especially to meds; to the point my PCP in Western Mass sent a note with me when I moved to Boston that said “Please try any new meds on Ginnilee *before* she leaves the office!* My first words to my PCP when I met her were “I hope you like challenges” &, to her credit, she didn’t run screaming.

I need all of the help I can get, and will accept not only books, but e-books, bookmarks, T-shirts (I already have 1 signed T-shirt) if you have them, samplers, magnets, etc. Any help you can give will be gratefully received. I would also love to get stories about the special animals in your life, and what they do for you; they will be collected to be published as a set of essays, and all authors will retain copyright.

Thank you so, so much for your assistance- it will mean much, much more than you will ever know.

To form a Non-Profit, a few people to commit to Annual (or longer) terms of service are needed! Please contact me via whatever address below is more convenient to you, if you are interested in assisting this much-needed, grass roots service organization!

My Address is:

Ginnilee Berger

429 Medford St. #1

Somerville, MA 02145

ladylavenderofteal@gmail.com

Facebook pages & GH4P website:

http://gentlehugs4paws.org//GentleHugs4Paws/

http://www.facebook.com/groups/362203203845471/

http://www.facebook.com/events/362203203845471/

http://www.facebook.com/events/339880179429925

Continue reading »]]> While I know this is a proofreading and copyediting blog, I’m going to indulge on the complaint of getting the current round of what I call the “creeping crud.” Most people would call it a cold or the flu, but I’ve discovered this is a far better term for how it feels to endure whatever symptoms I am currently suffering.

First of all, when you mix Fibromyalgia with any kind of virus, it generally magnifies the aches, pains, sore throat, etc. several-fold; most sickies feel a little achy and tired, but a Fibro sufferer feels like a mountain has dropped on top of us. Yesterday, I was hobbling around, all of my joints so arthritic (I’m only 39, for Heaven’s sake!) it was a miracle that I could even sit at the computer, and my sinuses felt like they were going to explode. Imagine your throat so sore that you’d swear that you’d swallowed sandpaper, rough side out, your tongue feels like someone’s been using a cheese grater on it and chills like you were standing in the middle of a Minnesota blizzard without a coat.

Notice that I have also turned a blog about being sick into a lesson about simile & metaphor- I’m taking my feelings and illness and using sensations and images that you can feel & picture in your head to compare my symptoms. Both are used in writing so the reader can see the picture created in the author’s head; the more descriptive the comparison is, the better the reader can interpret the author’s images.

Continue reading »]]> I mentioned Boskone a couple of weeks ago- the convention hosted by the New England Science Fiction Association. At NESFA, we not only host Boskone, but we also publish the books written by our former Guests of Honor, the most recent being John Scalzi.

NESFA will be celebrating our 50th Boskone in 2013, a major milestone for any convention. We know we’re having it, but we’re not quite sure who the Guest of Honor will be yet- should it be a combination of past GoH’s? Just one? Who would be the best choice to honor such an anniversary? There’s lots of questions and answering them is a challenge. I’d love to have Charlaine Harris as a GoH- she’s popular and a really fun lady who may be serious with her writing, but meeting her in person makes you aware of just how fun-loving she is, and how much she loves to laugh! Another choice might be George R. R. Martin, seeing how popular his books have become in the wake of becoming a TV series. Of course, for all I know, our ConChair may have picked a GoH and is just waiting to tell us at our next meeting thiscoming Sunday at Debrief from the last Boskone last month. Debrief is where we talk about how well the convention went & what problems cropped up, ideas for the next one, and will be a long meeting. NESFA is a non-profit organization, run by volunteers & Robert’s Rules of Order during business meetings.

For the rest of the year, NESFA members have business meetings on Sunday once a month, with the Other Meeting at a members house, mostly for the Executive Committee to meet, but also socialize, spend time talking & eating, discussing other matters pertaining to the Association. One thing about the Boskone & Business meetings, though- you tell a pun, you pay a fine, which is about 20 cents a pun; some members tell puns on purpose, and it keeps things lively. We also have Open Night on Wednesdays from 6PM to 10PM; this is when we put our monthly newsletter- the IM for Instand Message -together- folding, stapling, stickering, mutilating, spindling, etc and, again, socializing. Most of us get dinner and eat it before moving on to the IM- usual favorites for dinner are White Sport Pizza next door & Oriental Chinese across & down the street a little. Dave C, our treasurer, works on our financial stuff & Tim S controls sales for NESFA Press- mailing, taking care of returns, checking new orders, and dealing with customer issues.

New blood is always welcome- stop in at 504 Medford st in Somerville MA, and discover our treasure trove of over 100,000 books, magazines and anthologies. The other major draw on Wednesdays is gaming- the most popular game being Dominion, which can be a fast game or slow depending on which rules are adopted for the current game. If you don’t want to play games, we also will sit in the main room and discuss books, politics and all topics in between.  Some of us spend time on the club’s computers, either for fun or pertaining to NESFA activities, ranging from Boskone to an officer working on their section of the group responsibilities.

Right now, we’re discussing the pros and cons of purchasing a large-screen TV for a multitude of reasons- we can use it for the once monthly game days as some like to play video games, but it means we can also schedule a Media Day once a month as well, to watch TV series, movies and have fun arguing over what to watch. We have a microwave, plenty of popcorn & 2 fridges; one filled w/all kinds of soft drinks & the other is full of water (not to mention sauce packets ranging from ketchup to duck & soy sauce), so, pick your poison.

And all of this is well worth being with fellow sf/fantasy geeks- we have fun, we also work hard to keep NESFA running as a non-profit due to NESFA Press & Boskone. It’s a group of people in groups of committees- the Eboard, Library Committee, Clubhouse Committee- responsible for the upkeep of the clubhouse -Membership Committee, etc. The more we work, the more fun we have, even during the crush of preparations for Boskone- we get extremely busy and run around like crazy, but we have fun doing it!

Check us out at  http://www.nesfa.org/

Continue reading »]]> One of the most important aspects of the publishing industry is networking, and there are a lot of ways in which to do so- Facebook being one of the most popular, but Linked In, Google+ and forums hosted by publishers such as Baen Books & Tor Publishing are some other options.

I belong to several of these network groups, and I think the one that helps me the most is the MasterKoda.com group on FB- we’re a group of nearly 300 people all supporting each other and finding ways to help promote everyone’s books, marketing businesses and proofreading/editing skills. It would have taken me longer to get this lovely website & blog if it weren’t for three very special women- Kim Mutch Emerson aka MasterKoda & marketer extraordinaire, Rebbekah White, my webhost, graphic designer & markerter, and last, but definitely not least, Tasha Turner, my social media coach who worked very hard to help me set all of this up on WordPress.

I also owe a lot to my sister, Kate Johnson (see That Poe Girl on FB),  who designed & drew the dragon gracing my banner & logo, then Amy Winfield for coloring it in, using all the colors I love the most. Unless you’re an artist as well as a blogger/author/proofeader, etc, and can do your *own* logo, it’s another case of networking- I knew my sister could do an awesome job drawing a dragon that fits my style because she’s been an artist ever since she first picked up a crayon. As children, we used to make greeting cards for family & friends- Kate doing the art, I did the poetry -we called ourselves the KGB Card Company for Kate & Ginni Berger; here’s a funny- we’re also part Ukrainian, allowing us to have a lot of fun. I met Amy on MasterKoda.com via FB, and she’s an awesome artist herself- doing book covers as well as writing, and totally comfortable w/working on someone else’s artwork.

Going back to MasterKoda.com, we’re a family, we help each other, and have worked on an awesome story anthology called The Gage Project where the proceeds will go towards 14yo Gage’s medical bills. And the way Inknbeans Press is going about w/how they’re handling the donations to the anthology is awesome- the contract specifies that they’re *borrowing* our stories, artwork, poetry and anything else contributed by eager volunteers. I not only have a silly poem I wrote in high school in there, but I also am one of the volunteer editors- I’m perfectly willing to donate my editing skills to a good cause, and have done so in other cases because I know I’m helping someone else who desperately *need* that help.

It’s an awesome cycle- someone helps me, I help others, and it feeds into a cycle where we all gain advantages. When you give support to friends, you gain their support back several thousand-fold. That’s why I love MasterKoda.

I’m also a member of Baen’s Bar, the forums run by Baen Books where we can kibitz with other fans, but also the authors published by Baen & the grand Publisher-in-Chief herself- Toni Weisskopf. We’re fans from all over the world, and it’s a case of taking fandom & turning it into famdom- when someone needs help, we give it, as well as advice and feedback on short stories as well as novel-sized slush, done chapter by chapter. There’s a Feelings forum, where we can share our frustrations, depression and know that there are plenty of shoulders to cry on, not to mention the Barfly Battalion, designed to help fellow ‘flies (Baen’s Bar, therefore Barflies, shortened to ‘flies) monetarily or care packages.

I’ve both been a recipient as well as a donor; when my mother had one accident too many and had to go into assisted living, my friends in the Battalion put money in my Paypal account so I could come to Boston for job interviews, groceries and emotional support. A friend from the LMB Mailing List also sent me money to pay for my first month’s rent. Then, when Jim Baen, founder of Baen Books, had a stroke & went into a coma for about a month, we mobilized and sent care packages of goodies to the Baen employees in their offices- I ended up heading the Baking Brigade for that one -we also got gift cards to restaurants near the hospital so Toni & Jim’s daughter Jessica could get away from the hospital and get something to eat. Another example of the Battalion is Operation Baen Bulk, where 3 ‘flies were stationed in the Middle East and needed their own care packages. Not only did the Battalion put together what our friends needed, but supplied their entire platoons with disposable razors, complimentary shampoo & soaps gathered from hotels, wet wipes, goodies, etc, everything that wasn’t being supplied to them in the field.

All of these are considered networking- you’re reaching out to others, helping them and, in turn, receiving help. It’s what makes my world go ’round, certainly!

Continue reading »]]> I come across a lot of interesting articles thanks to my friends on Facebook, and 25 Things Writers Should Stop Doing is one of them, off of the Terrible Minds blog-

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/01/03/25-things-writers-should-stop-doing/

I found it really interesting because it points out all of our excuses as to why we don’t write or are scared to write. I feel that one of the most important was stop being afraid to write- many people feel that their ideas are stupid and silly, but my high school writing adviser, Mrs. Swanum, taught us to write down all of our ideas, then put them away and think about each of them. After a while, pull them back out and just look at them, let them filter their way through our brain and wait for the right moment.

One of the things about writing is that we’ll come up with a great idea, but we can’t figure out what to do with it. Ideas are just that- ideas. Sometimes I buy a book, liking the storyline, but it’s not the right time to read it yet, and sometimes it takes as long as 5 years for that “right moment” to totter its way to my hands. It’s the same way with writing. To change the subject slightly, to graduate from college, my classmates and I had to write a thesis on women & minorities west of the Mississippi, so I chose comparing American and Norwegian Women in the American Midwest (and lutefisk makes me *very* happy I’m allergic to seafood), but I hated what I came up with, even though my professor gave me an “A” on it. I looked at it again a few years ago and was very impressed with my writing.You’ll probably go through a similar process, but don’t give up. Ideas take time, and some things can take longer.

Writing isn’t a job that we can churn out like butter every morning- we have to work at it, think about our subject and see where the muse takes us. Again, it sometimes means we need to distance ourselves, but we should never tell ourselves that our work is worthless! Don’t compare yourself with Isaac Asimov or George R. R. Martin; for one thing, George takes forever to get to the next book in “A Song of Fire & Ice”- there’s 5 books now, possibly only 2 more, but I think he’ll be writing more than that.. I remember everyone asking George at Noreascon 4 (WorldCon in Boston in 2004) when the next book was coming out, and he told everyone where they could go- especially my friend Tamora Pierce, who decided to needle him before a panel. That was fun to watch, but writing is a process, not an assembly line.

It’s not easier- writing can be one of the hardest jobs in the world, so don’t tell yourself you’re horrible, none of your ideas will work out and that you’re a failure. It’s not true unless you make it true;  writers are often their own harshest critics, and I was lucky to have a writing adviser who believed in me, and taught me to believe in myself. Trite as it sounds, but, if you’re reading my blog, I believe in you, and that you believe in yourself.

Read Chuck’s blog article and think about it- it’s some of the best advice I’ve seen on writing.

Continue reading »]]> I spent the weekend at the Westin Waterfront here in Boston attending Boskone, the New England Science Fiction Association’s annual convention. I was in charge of the Fan Tables, where volunteers from other conventions & WorldCon bids spent their time garnering votes & memberships to their cons. I also had Operation Hammond- http://operationhammond.com/ -to bring awareness to congoers about emergency preparedness. Everyone had fun and were able to pass their messages.

I also got to go to dinner with Toni Weisskopf, Publisher-in-Chief of Baen Books, with 5 other friends- we went to Legal Seafood’s Test Kitchen, where they were very careful about my seafood allergy, even to replacing the lettuce wraps because the Kimchee had shellfish derivatives in it. I definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Boston and the Waterfront. Toni is a fun lady, and, even though she had trouble with her computer not staying connected to the projector, did a good job of discussing how cover art is chosen for the books Baen publishes. Chuck Gannon (worked with Steve White on Extremis) and told us a little about working with Steve White, and how the cover art worked so well to cover the storyline. One of the best things about Toni’s publishing panels is that she hands out free books throughout the hour, as well as copies of book covers, and it’s always fun to hear about the new books coming out.

I also got to sit down & talk with Jane Yolen about writing childrens books in regard to my writing “Moatmeal for Breakfast” since Mom was too sick to write it. My friend Tasha Turner and I also got to attend a discussion about how not to wreck your career with social media, which was extermely helpful at pointing out what happens to our reputations if we have problems with websites & other social media. Tasha made quite a few good points about what to say and what not to say, even on Facebook & blogs, and I enjoyed learning more about social media & how it works.

Tasha & I were also able to get together for dinner on Saturday so we could discuss my website and what else I needed to do for it. We changed some of the colors, fixed my tagline and have other ideas on our “to-do” list for the future. It really helped me take a more constructive look at my site in a way I hadn’t done so before, so it was worth being together in person so we could thrash out some ideas and see where we can go in the future.

Our Guest of Honor, John Scalzi, is an awesome guy & writer- NESFA published his movie blogs that he writes for AMC.com, and I was one of the proofreaders for 24 Frames Into the Future, so buy it! It’s awesome! He even wrote “thanks for the proofreading” in my copy, so I need to scan that in to a computer & put it up on the website.

Continue reading »]]> My mother died January 6th at age 79. I owe a lot to her, especially my proofreading & copyediting skills, teaching me when I wrote reports for school, showing me how to look at them critically & how to tell when something needed to be fixed. Mom went to UCLA and studied English, and I nearly followed in her footsteps until I realized I was taking more History classes than English, so I switched over, thereby following in my *father’s* footsteps. But her lessons in how to write papers, proofread them & then edit them have never left me, and I didn’t know how much she taught me until I couldn’t tell her because she had Alzheimers.

Mom & I shared something that seems to be rare- we’re both sight spellers, and could tell if a word was spelled wrong even if we had never seen it before. We were also both interested in Etymology, and I would  sometimes mention to her how, if you think about a word long enough, *everything* looks weird, and she would laugh and agree. Of course, her amused opinion of my brother Chris’ doctoral thesis was “We could turn it upside down and understand it just as well,” due to it being a highly technical paper on biochemistry. Too many long words of more than 4 syllables involving scientific terms, biochemical molecule spellings defeated both of us, but she was definitely proud of his accomplishments .

Even though I had trouble with the parts of speech until I started taking Spanish, I was able to tell if there was something wrong with books or papers thanks to her sitting with me when I was writing and showing me how paragraphs should look, and when to create a new one. Punctuation was another thing Mom was a stickler for- how to use semicolons, where to put commas & apostrophes, and how to use quotes properly- everything she felt I needed to know in creating my own writings. I was then able to apply her teachings and proofread & copyedit papers written by my fellow students at Winona State University, making a little extra pizza money for the weekend.

She was a storyteller, telling us stories about her childhood, about her little brother Bill, their St. Bernard Snooky & how much I look like my aunt Ginny, for whom I was named, as well as their cats and my grandparents. She never wrote any of them down, and I never had the chance to get them written myself, but I hope I can remember enough of them to write them for her. I *am* going to write a children’s story called Moatmeal for Breakfast that she always wanted to write. Some of my family have agreed to let me use their names for characters as Mom never had names for them. It’s about a family of dragons who live near a castle & they *love* oatmeal, but the cook has to make enough to almost fill the moat because that’s how much it took to feed them breakfast. Oatmeal cookies are the dragons’ favorite cookie. I’m saving the rest for the story, and you’ll have to read it when it comes out to find out more.

Another thing about my mother was how proud she was of my ability to write, my imagination and my poetry. She was also proud of my sister Kate’s artistic skills- both are traits we inherited from her as well. When Kate & I were in jr. high/high school, we created cards for family & friends as the KGB Card Company- Kate & GInni Berger -and we’re even part Ukrainian! It took us 2 hours to get Mom to sign the first card because it was for our friend Rachel’s mother- Kate drew wilting flowers on the front of the card and the poem I wrote was “The roses are always recalled, the violets are somewhat bruised, hope your birthday’s great and you get your license renewed.” To have this make sense, Rachel’s parents owned a plant nursery in Morro Bay, California. But Mom was very amused that Kate & I figured out how to use our initials to have fun. In high school, I took Honorable Mention in the White Bear Lake Arts Council Writing contest with a poem about our church choir director. It was my first contest and I was totally surprised, and she was so excited that my talents were recognized. Kate’s art is exceptional, and she’s now a professional artist.

There’s so many things she gave me, and Kate, artistically; my writing, Kate’s ability to draw (not to mention her remembering to put tabs on paper doll clothes!), paint & do beautiful calligraphy. I still don’t know everything I learned from her until it becomes necessary, but I *do* know that she was the best teacher I ever had, and I know she’s proud of my following my skills & dreams.

Janine Blevens Berger

October 13, 1932- January 6, 2012