Stacia

Just because it ends in "s" doesn't mean it's a plural

2009-12-10T00:18:56Z

Words ending in the letter "s" seem to send people into a panic. They're not entirely sure how to handle them, especially when they're singular.

Today I'm going to focus on body parts. Specifically, muscles. As it happens, some of the muscles in the human body have names ending in the letter "s," for example, trapezius; gluteus; biceps; triceps; and quadriceps.

An apparently little-known fact: These are all singular forms. These words are similar to nouns such as series, species, and chaos. You don't drop the "s" if you're talking about just one of them.

If you're referring specifically to the large muscle on the front of the left thigh, that's the left quadriceps (never quadricep). Similarly, you would refer to the left triceps and the left biceps--NOT left tricep or left bicep.

Oh, there is some good news: for biceps, triceps, and quadriceps, the singular and plural forms are the same (although you can use the forms bicepses, tricepses, and quadricepses if, like me, you enjoy adding "-eseseses" to and generally being silly about plural forms of words ending in "s").

Update on Harlequin

2009-11-20T20:06:07Z

After being de-listed as an approved publisher by the Romance Writers of America, the Mystery Writers of America, the Science Fiction Writers of America, and--according to unconfirmed rumors--the Authors Guild, Harlequin has announced that the Harlequin Horizons imprint will be renamed (without the Harlequin part) and set up separate from the Harlequin umbrella.

No word on the earlier statement that authors who receive rejection letters would be referred to the new vanity imprint. That, for me, is the big issue. I think it's pretty slimy for a publisher like Harlequin (i.e., the publisher of every would-be romance writer's dreams) to say in its rejection letters, "Well, you're not quite there yet, but if you go through this 'feeder' imprint, you'll be a ~~Harlequin~~ Horizons author! And if you ~~get your family and friends to buy~~ sell enough copies, we might take that book on as a REAL Harlequin romance!" while at the same time telling its current authors, "No, no, no! These books will NOT be branded as Harlequins! Nobody is going to confuse the two ~~even though the double-H logo is remarkably similar to the Harlequin Historicals logo~~!"

Also, no word from RWA on why Harlequin Enterprises has been removed from the Eligible Publishers list while Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher that has exactly the same kind of business model in its WestBow Press vanity imprint, is still listed as an RWA Eligible Publisher.

ETA: The Thomas Nelson move may even be slimier than Harlequin's. Apparently the WestBow imprint used to be a legitimate traditional imprint of Thomas Nelson that has been converted to a vanity imprint, meaning some readers may confuse the new imprint with the old one.

Curious to see how this plays out . . .

2009-11-18T20:41:36Z

Whaddaya know? Seems Harlequin has entered the pay-to-play market.

According to Publishers Weekly,

Author Solutions has teamed up with Harlequin to form Harlequin Horizons, a new imprint for self-published romance authors. The imprint will recruit writers in two ways: authors whose manuscripts have been rejected by Harlequin will be made aware of the Harlequin Horizons option and authors who sign with Author Solutions will be given the opportunity to be published under the Harlequin Horizons imprint. According to an Author Solutions spokesperson, the imprint will offer special services aimed at the romance market, including unique marketing and distribution services. All services are on a pay-for-service basis.

My big question is this: How is RWA going to justify keeping Harlequin on as an RWA eligible publisher, given that they now no longer even fit the definition of being a non-vanity, non subsidy publisher?

My guess is that RWA will now begin making the distinction between imprints at the publishing houses that choose this business model, so that Harlequin Enterprises, with the exception of its Horizons imprint, is still an RWA eligible publisher.

Which, if you think about it . . . Imagine RWA's reaction if a publisher currently recognized as non-vanity, non-subsidy (but not eligible) started offering a "service" to its rejected authors--"Hey, we won't pay to publish you, but we'll sell you a publishing package that includes editorial, design, marketing, and distribution services!" I suspect they'd scream bloody murder and not make the distinction between the imprints at that publishing house.

ETA: Wow, looks like I was wrong. RWA just announced that:

With the launch of Harlequin Horizons, Harlequin Enterprises no longer meets the requirements to be eligible for RWA-provided conference resources. This does not mean that Harlequin Enterprises cannot attend the conference. Like all non-eligible publishers, they are welcome to attend. However, as a non-eligible publisher, they would fund their own conference fees and they would not be provided with conference resources by RWA to publicize or promote the company or its imprints.

and they're off!

2009-11-02T19:12:37Z

Last year's NaNo was a spectacular failure. Due to all manner of things going on in my life, I gave up before I even started. But I decided that I want to give it a go this year.

We'll see.

Anyway, good luck to everyone who's participating!

Mixing your metaphors

2009-10-28T21:16:24Z

. . . to use a metaphor :-)

One of the most commonly misused phrases I see as an editor is "to no end."

There is a right way to use this phrase: "She called and called, but to no end; the office had closed for the day"

And there is a wrong way to use this phrase: "It angered her to no end that the phone kept ringing."

In the first sense, "end" means "an outcome worked toward." Thus, "to no end" means "to no avail" or "without success."

In the second example, "end" means "a point that marks the extent of something." "No end" in this sense means "endlessly." Thus, you would use "it angered her no end"--there was no end to her anger. Her anger was endless.

But you would not say "It angered her without success that the phone kept ringing." Because that would be silly :-)

*All definitions taken from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th edition.

Doctor Who

2009-10-24T03:58:45Z

When I edit, I don't usually have the TV or music going, because one of two things will happen:

1. I will stop working and start paying attention to whatever entertainment option I've chosen; or
2. I'll be so engrossed in my work that I won't even know there's TV or music going, in which case why bother?

Sometimes I'll listen to classical or world music--if there aren't words for me to focus on, I'm much more likely to strike the balance between 1 and 2 above. And when I write I always have music playing!

Reese, on the other hand, always has the TV on while she's writing. And this week, she's been watching Doctor Who and Torchwood DVDs. I'm so jealous! I just want to turn off my computer and settle in and watch my favorite episodes--Girl in a Fireplace, Blink--but I'm being very good and staying in my office and working.

Sigh.

RIP Kate Duffy

2009-10-06T14:41:44Z

Kate Duffy's obituary in the New York Times. What an amazing lady. She was always really nice to me, and she always made me laugh.

"of" is not a verb

2009-09-29T19:48:55Z

Sometimes, when writers want to give the impression that the character who is speaking is a bit dim or not particularly well educated, they will have the character say "would of," "should of, " or "could of."

This is the kind of thing that will not tell the reader a single thing about the character, but it will likely lower the reader's opinion of both the writer and the editor.

This construction--using of in the place of have, or more accurately, in the place of 've, is actually a mistake that can occur only in writing; it can't occur in speech.

The study of the sound system of language is called phonology. Think "Hooked on Phonics." There are a lot of terms used in phonology, but I'm going to focus on these:

Voiced (a discrete sound unit made using the larynx, or voice box)
Devoiced (a discrete sound unit made without using the larynx)

In English, some consonants come in pairs: one voiced, the other devoiced. They're essentially the same sound; the only difference is the use of your larynx in forming the voiced consonants. To see what I mean by voiced/devoiced, put your hand on your neck while you pronounce the letters. You'll feel the vibration of your larynx when you pronounce the first letter, but not the second:

B, P
D, T
Z, S
G, K
V, F

So now that you know what voiced and devoiced are, I'll add a wrinkle to this: when a voiced consonant appears at the end of a word, it's often devoiced. For example, if you say the word "rinsed," after the "n," you likely will feel no vibration, even when you reach the "d" at the end of the word (you are, in essence, saying a "t" rather than a "d" here). Or say a word such as "did." You'll notice that the first "d" is much more voiced than the second.

How does this tie in with "would of"? Simple: "V" and "F" are consonant pairs. And sometimes when people hear "would've," they interpret that as "would of." Phonetically, the two are more or less identical because the "v" is usually devoiced, making it sound like an "f." The error is not in the speech (what's being said is "would've"), it's in the transcription (it's interpreted and written down as "would of").

So including "would of" in dialogue is pointless. The person speaking isn't making the mistake, the person recording that speech (i.e., the author) is making the mistake. Save "would of" for first-person narrative, where it's clear that the person recording the events (the "I" in the story) is responsible for the error.

Notes from a copy editor

2009-09-17T19:18:27Z

Several years ago, I was astonished at the sudden explosion of semicolons in manuscripts. For years the semicolon had lurked beneath the radar, yet all of a sudden they were everywhere--setting off participial phrases, dependent clauses, all kinds of crazy things. I could not understand why all of a sudden so many people were making the same mistake--and then I figured it out.

Microsoft Word's grammar checker.

Because the grammar checker could not tell the difference between an independent clause, a dependent clause, and a participial phrase, it changed the comma to a semicolon whenever it encountered any of them, and apparently most users didn't know to override it.

Sigh.

There are two mistakes that I'm running across all the time now, and again, I'm wondering where they came from.

Mistake the first: Ah-ha! I have discovered your secret lair!

Where did this "ah-ha" come from? I've seen it over and over for about a year now. The word is AHA, people, aha. "Ah-ha" is not a word. Stop using it, please.

Mistake the second: He drug the trash out to the Dumpster.

"Drug" is a valid present tense form. It is NOT a valid past tense form. In any case, it has no relation whatsoever to the verb "drag."

/Public Service Announcement

about the weather

2009-09-09T18:33:03Z

After 68 days of 100+ degree temperatures, Austin is back in the 90s. And not a minute too soon, because my air conditioner died a horrible, grinding death at approximately 3 a.m. Friday. Monday was a holiday here in the U.S., and the a/c repairman didn't make it to my house until this morning.

I have ceiling fans, and the central a/c fan works just fine--it's the part that actually cools the air that broke down. So I've at least been able to keep the air flowing through my place, although the skylights ensured that the inside temperature was at least 95 degrees in the late afternoon. It's been a good excuse to lie around and read, as I don't want to use the computers and other electronics any more than I have to--both because it's not good for them, and because it just pumps more heat into the room.

But now I'm waiting on an estimate for a new system (several thousand dollars, looks like) and installation. If the current weather trend continues--overcast, temperatures in the 80s--then I can stay home and be relatively comfortable. But if it heats up at all, I'm setting up shop at the public library, which has working a/c and free wireless.

I've been able to stay on schedule because I do most of my editing on paper anyway. But I'm to the point where I have to enter the changes into the electronic files, and I am very happy that the weather is cooperating. It's a lot easier to work on the desktop computer with the nice, big monitor than on the laptop!

Happy birthday!

2009-09-03T18:13:10Z

Happy birthday to jrosestar !

Excellent NYT article

2009-08-20T19:49:01Z

My cousin is president of The Guerrant Foundation, which has helped thousands of the poorest of the world's poor through micro credit lending that allows them to start their own businesses.

She just sent me a link to this article from the New York Times Magazine. The theme of this edition is Saving the World's Women.

From the article:

The global statistics on the abuse of girls are numbing. It appears that more girls and women are now missing from the planet, precisely because they are female, than men were killed on the battlefield in all the wars of the 20th century. The number of victims of this routine “gendercide” far exceeds the number of people who were slaughtered in all the genocides of the 20th century. . . .

In many poor countries, the greatest unexploited resource isn’t oil fields or veins of gold; it is the women and girls who aren’t educated and never become a major presence in the formal economy. With education and with help starting businesses, impoverished women can earn money and support their countries as well as their families. They represent perhaps the best hope for fighting global poverty.

heat wave

2009-08-19T21:01:50Z

I've been pretty quiet lately. I blame the heat.

Today is likely to be the 60th day this year with temperatures at or above 100 degrees (38C). On average, Austin has 11 days at or over 100, so 60 is pretty dire. The record, set in 1925, is 69 days, and looking at the current forecast (100+ for the next 8 days), we might just match or break that record. This is not something most of us here would like to see happen.

I've been reading a lot lately, mainly because it allows me to position myself near an air-conditioning vent and under a ceiling fan, with an ice-cold beverage at arm's reach. I'm reading some Judge Dee mysteries (after zero2aries mentioned them on reeseszymanski 's lj), and I've been making my way through the stack of RWA books as well.

I'm hoping to see a movie or two this week, depending on how I'm feeling. At the moment I'm afraid I'd pay the admission and then walk into a dark, cool room only to have a two-hour nap!

RIP Les Paul

2009-08-13T16:37:46Z

From an AP article by Luke Sheridan: Les Paul, the guitarist and inventor who changed the course of music with the electric guitar and multitrack recording and had a string of hits, many with wife Mary Ford, died on Thursday. He was 94.

Following the rules

2009-08-06T16:26:49Z

I thought this blog entry was an interesting discussion of societal norms and sexual assault.

The summary:

If we teach women that there are only certain ways they may acceptably behave, we should not be surprised when they behave in those ways.

And we should not be surprised when they behave these ways during attempted or completed rapes.

I can has?

2009-08-06T16:11:33Z

To everyone who thinks I am a native Texan, I offer my apologies.

RIP Merce Cunningham

2009-07-27T14:40:03Z

From the AFP:

Merce Cunningham, the legendary New York-based choreographer who revolutionized modern dance, has died at age 90, his foundation said Monday.

"It is with great sorrow that we note the passing of Merce Cunningham, who died peacefully in his home last night of natural causes," the Cunningham Dance Foundation and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company said in a statement.

The statement hailed Cunningham, saying he "revolutionized the visual and performing arts -- not for the sake of iconoclasm, but for the beauty and wonder that lay in exploring new possibilities.

it's the little things

2009-07-22T22:45:57Z

Maybe it's just me, but I cringe when I see "ad nauseum" in a book published by Penguin (or anywhere, really, but--Penguin!).

It's "ad nauseam," with an a. Ad nauseam.

::mutters as she walks away::

37 Things

2009-07-10T00:43:05Z

Another one of these "get to know you" memes.

1. Do you like Blue Cheese dressing? Can't stand it.

2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? Years and years ago.

3. Do you own a gun? I think I do, in a safe deposit box somewhere--an antique pearl-handled pistol.

4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite? The neon blue kind that looks like the stuff they drink in Star Wars.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Nah.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? ::shudders:: I try not to.

7. Favorite Christmas movies? A Christmas Story.

8 What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Genmaicha, or a good, strong cup of black tea.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? The ankh my mother bought me in Cairo.

11. Favorite hobby? Cross-stitch.

12. Do you have A.D.D.? I don't think so.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? Since I were a wee lass.

14. Middle name? ::redacted::

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. There is no part of my body that does not hurt. Thank goodness for diet drinks with Splenda. Hot tea sounds good right about now!

16. Name 2 or 3 drinks you regularly drink? Coca-Cola, tea

17. Current worry? Deadlines

18. Current hate right now? Deadlines

19. Favorite place to be? with my sweetie!

20. How did you bring in the New Year? with my sweetie and some damn good barbeque.

21. Where would you like to go? Australia and New Zealand; Ireland; Tanzania.

22. Name three people who will complete this. I've no idea.

23. Do you own slippers? Yes

24. What color shirt are you wearing? lavender.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? Not particularly.

26. Can you whistle? Yes

27. Where are you now? at my work desk

28. Would you be a pirate? No - I need solid land and plenty of shade!

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? I don't.

30. Favorite Girl's Name? Fiona.

31. Favorite boy's name? David.

32. What's in your pocket right now? No pockets.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? a joke on TV.

34. What vehicle do you drive? VW.

35. Worst injury you've ever had? Messed up my back.

36. Do you love where you live? YES!

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 1

RIP Steve McNair

2009-07-04T23:22:47Z

Air McNair played college ball at Alcorn State, then was drafted by the Houston Oilers (later the Tennessee Titans) and finished his career with the Baltimore Ravens. He was the first black quarterback to be a top three pick in the NFL draft, the second black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, and the first black quarterback to be a MVP in the NFL.

Birthday!

2009-07-03T15:05:11Z

A very nice birthday, complete with fantastic Thai dinner. And candles. And a really scary movie (to facilitate cuddling, I suspect).

:-)

what a week

2009-06-26T13:59:52Z

So much is going on, from the events in Iran to the mystery surrounding Governor Sanford to the deaths of beloved public figures, to some upheavals in my own life. I've got a ton of work and am trying to focus on that instead of prowling news sites, but it's not always working.

The good news is, I'm working on some really good manuscripts. The bad news is, deadlines approach ;-)

Review of Second Person Queer!

2009-06-13T01:21:21Z

by way of desayunoencama : Second Person Queer has been reviewed in XTRA! You can read the review here. My essay, "How to Be a Visible Femme," is mentioned :-)

Bye-bye, Miss California

2009-06-11T02:50:55Z

I'm not going to comment on The Question, or her response, or her actions since the Miss USA pageant. The whole thing makes me sad.

But the thing that makes me saddest is that one group of people has been forgotten in all of this controversy: the Special Olympics. Her "cause."

::sigh::

RIP Koko Taylor

2009-06-03T22:08:45Z

Chicago blues legend Koko Taylor has passed away.