| Bless her heart, my mother was a stickler for grammar. Growing up, dinner table conversation in my friends' homes generally revolved around the day's events, who had a new boyfriend or girlfriend, vacation plans, all sorts of "normal" things. Dinner table conversation at our house was a little different. Always the last to sit down after serving our large family, Mom would sprinkle the conversation with word games, points of grammar and syntax, vocabulary builders and spelling tests. Unless there were special circumstances, no one was permitted to leave the table until everyone had finished eating. Mom was a slow eater, even without the grammar lessons, and the discussions were often quite long. We each acquired the annoying habit of correcting others. I still find myself grinding my teeth when I hear mispronunciations or incorrect grammar. In college, I bartered my services editing papers for beer and burgers. As I embarked on my career in graphic design and publishing, I was often called upon to proofread, write or rewrite all manner of copy, from signage and ad campaigns to short articles and newsletters. Later came magazines and books. Somewhere along the line, I became the "resident expert," to whom all questions about English language usage were directed, and I began taking outside contracts to read and "fix" others' words. I love language and I thank Mom every day for instilling that love in me. (I especially miss our wild Scrabble games.) For more information about free-lance copy editing, please e-mail me. To read samples of my work, please see Rounds and the NCRHP annual report, both large pdf files that may take some time to load. My employer uses a "modified" AP style. As I seldom have the last word, there may be certain errors in both publications, the result of others thinking we work at Burger King and insisting on having it their way. This site is a work in progress. Please let me know when you find errors so that I may (or may not) correct them! |
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