When puddle posted about heading off to the ER, I was in Burlington having lunch with two of the birthday sons. One had a birthday on Monday and another on Wednesday. The third son has a birthday next Wednesday. And just to add to the fun, next's week's birthday son and his wife celebrated their 8th anniversary on Tuesday, and my brother and his wife celebrated their 37th on Wednesday.
The cheesecake was well received, and that you may tie to! :-)
Regarding the photo out front... I was at the Root Center briefly on Wednesday and got some photos of those same grapes, with Flat Stanley. They are delicious presently!! Mmmmm.
Word on puddle? Guess I'll have to backtrack threads once I survive tonight's class. Week 2 and I'm still trying to finish the syllabus. Feeling under the weather and keep forgetting where I put things. Oh, and earlier when I couldn't find the stapler, I couldn't think of the word for it either. So I asked Son if he knew where I could find the little bitey thing (approximating the action of a stapler with my hand) that puts bits of metal into paper.
I can't believe it's the twenty-ninth! Where did September go?
Sorry I haven't been around for a few days, not feeling well. Not to worry, just female troubles. Also something happened yesterday that riled me up good and proper.
So, the Summer issue of Slate and Style arrived - some week after the start of Autumn, but who's counting. My subscription is for e-mail and the issue is always attached, usually as a Word document. This time it was a PDF, which caused me hassle. But, you know, there's a new, young editor, and she has to do everything the hip, mod way, even if that way is inconvenient for old fogies. As you can tell, I started off mildly irritated.
First off, of course, I turned to my contribution, a chapter from Marooner's Haven which I'd given the title "Emma by Moonlight." Not only do I enjoy basking in the sight of my work in print, but the last time Slate and Style printed one of my stories, it was filled with misprints. And, yes, I went back and checked - the submitted manuscript was clean as a whistle. So, I wanted to check for problems that should be brought to the editor's attention.
In a word, she butchered my story. She chop up my sentences and paragraphs, destroying any rythm, flow or continuity the original may have had, so that what remained was a disjointed mess. She reworded much of the text replacing polisyllabic words with monosyllables. And, frankly, her edits were so poorly written as to be embarrassing. But, I was willing to grit my teeth and accept them. She's the editor, she has a right to do whatever she wants in her magazine, however distasteful I may find her editorial choices and writing style.
What made me flip was that she added whole sentences that had no basis in the text. More than that, these gratuitous interpolations as well as many of her editorial changes actually changed aspects of the text. In one case, she changed wording such that the POV changed subtly. In another, she changed the action the character performed.
She maintained to the last that she did not make any substantive changes, that she in fact did no more than clarify the text in order to let my voice come through more strongly. And the worst of it is that both she and the divisional president assure me earnestly that several people have read both my original and her revision and have seen no difference, except perhaps to find her revision better.
Now, I freely admit the prose needs tightening up. Going through it again last night, I spotted several places that need work, not all of which she "edited." I managed to retain sufficient rational thought and civility to be able to tell her this and to thank her for pointing out spots that need work. But she honestly doesn't see that she did more than edit, she rewrote.
The whole thing totally removed my pleasure in seeing the story in print. I can't even show it to anyone now, her editing and rewriting is so bad as to be embarrassing. It's comical, really, poor girl. I remember being young and cocky and trying much too hard, so that what I intended to come out sounding grownup and sophisticated just came out sounding stiltedand slightly ridiculous. I suspect she will eventually become a good editor, because her gut instincts are good. I hope for her sake, as well as that of her editorial victims, her writing improves, or at leaste settles down and becomes more relaxed.
The one good thing is, through the whole thing, I managed to retain some measure of self-control. I didn't rave like a lunatic or even use bad language. And I didn't use any ad hominem attacks. In one of her e-mails the editor did claim that I "accused" her of something, but actually I didn't accuse her of anything. So at least I don't have a mad rampage to be ashamed of. But it was all upsetting and exhaustifying.
Second: Ally is HAMA =Negative=!!! They want us to be in NYC on October 31st for 3f8. We really wanted Ally to be able to trick or treat in town here, so we asked if we could go the week after. We are still waiting to hear back. (It might seem silly to push it back a week just for Halloween, but some of you may remember we had to be in NYC for Halloween last year, and Ally missed trick or treating...except for some REALLY nice neighbors who let her come early, she is very excited for Halloween this year, so we thought...we have already waited 6 months for 3f8, what is one more week?) As soon as we have more details I will post again.
We have heard back: Ally has to be in NYC for Hallowe’en. :-( So, we are thinking of having a costume party before we go.
I just heard from Thankful, who is going to keep me updated (and I you). Puddle has been admitted for tests. Those will take awhile so there's no real news so far. The main issue is her esophagus... the muscle into her stomach is so tight nothing goes through. So they need to figure out why and what to do for her. Thankful plans to go down to help once she's home. ♥
Talking to puddle now. She's had a few tests and they're mostly getting her into good shape for more tests. She sounds good, all things considered. Any questions?
In a major tangent, what you said about PDFs touches on something that cam up at the Disability Pride Parade Board meeting tonight. Do ALL PDFs cause problems for screen readers?
As you probably know, there are two kinds of PDFs. One is created by scanning a printed page. that's an image, and it's obvious that a screen reader can't handle it until it has been run through an optical character recognition program. The other is creaetd by Adobe Acrobat. As far as I can tell, aside from any embedded images it is essentially text. I would think a screen reader can handle it. Am I wrong?
Congratulations for keeping your tempter. Having fiction edited without your input is hard to take. I've been lucky, I guess. My worst experience was when I was doing magazine non-fiction and an editor simply chopped several paragraphs out of the middle to make it fit. Produced a jarring transitionless jump, but I got paid well enough that to assuage the annoyance.
When I was much younger I refused on principle to mess with anyone else's prose. Then a research journal hired me as a freelance editor to improve the manuscripts of people writing in a language not their own. But that was OK because my edits went back to the authors for their approval. Which is the way it should always work.
Howard Dean would say that puddle is First tonight.
ReplyDeleteWould that he could be her doctor at the ER!
(That would sure have made the trip worthwhile! ;-) )
♥ Here's hoping puddle's esophageal troubles are soon mended!!! ♥
I'm 2/3 of the way through the Birthday Blitz.
ReplyDeleteWhen puddle posted about heading off to the ER, I was in Burlington having lunch with two of the birthday sons. One had a birthday on Monday and another on Wednesday. The third son has a birthday next Wednesday. And just to add to the fun, next's week's birthday son and his wife celebrated their 8th anniversary on Tuesday, and my brother and his wife celebrated their 37th on Wednesday.
The cheesecake was well received, and that you may tie to! :-)
P.S. to puddle when she returns:
ReplyDeleteThe Cheesecake Recipe is in the Dean Family Cookbook.
Holler if you need it anyway. :-)
Regarding the photo out front...
ReplyDeleteI was at the Root Center briefly on Wednesday and got some photos of those same grapes, with Flat Stanley. They are delicious presently!! Mmmmm.
The grapes look wonderful, juicy and delicious!
ReplyDeleteI'll be glad when we get word on puddle.
Word on puddle? Guess I'll have to backtrack threads once I survive tonight's class. Week 2 and I'm still trying to finish the syllabus. Feeling under the weather and keep forgetting where I put things. Oh, and earlier when I couldn't find the stapler, I couldn't think of the word for it either. So I asked Son if he knew where I could find the little bitey thing (approximating the action of a stapler with my hand) that puts bits of metal into paper.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a lot of stress symptoms. Here's hoping the stress let's up soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking at a deadline next week, but so far things seem to be moving along surprisingly well.
I can't believe it's the twenty-ninth! Where did September go?
ReplyDeleteSorry I haven't been around for a few days, not feeling well. Not to worry, just female troubles. Also something happened yesterday that riled me up good and proper.
So, the Summer issue of Slate and Style arrived - some week after the start of Autumn, but who's counting. My subscription is for e-mail and the issue is always attached, usually as a Word document. This time it was a PDF, which caused me hassle. But, you know, there's a new, young editor, and she has to do everything the hip, mod way, even if that way is inconvenient for old fogies. As you can tell, I started off mildly irritated.
First off, of course, I turned to my contribution, a chapter from Marooner's Haven which I'd given the title "Emma by Moonlight." Not only do I enjoy basking in the sight of my work in print, but the last time Slate and Style printed one of my stories, it was filled with misprints. And, yes, I went back and checked - the submitted manuscript was clean as a whistle. So, I wanted to check for problems that should be brought to the editor's attention.
In a word, she butchered my story. She chop up my sentences and paragraphs, destroying any rythm, flow or continuity the original may have had, so that what remained was a disjointed mess. She reworded much of the text replacing polisyllabic words with monosyllables. And, frankly, her edits were so poorly written as to be embarrassing. But, I was willing to grit my teeth and accept them. She's the editor, she has a right to do whatever she wants in her magazine, however distasteful I may find her editorial choices and writing style.
What made me flip was that she added whole sentences that had no basis in the text. More than that, these gratuitous interpolations as well as many of her editorial changes actually changed aspects of the text. In one case, she changed wording such that the POV changed subtly. In another, she changed the action the character performed.
She maintained to the last that she did not make any substantive changes, that she in fact did no more than clarify the text in order to let my voice come through more strongly. And the worst of it is that both she and the divisional president assure me earnestly that several people have read both my original and her revision and have seen no difference, except perhaps to find her revision better.
Now, I freely admit the prose needs tightening up. Going through it again last night, I spotted several places that need work, not all of which she "edited." I managed to retain sufficient rational thought and civility to be able to tell her this and to thank her for pointing out spots that need work. But she honestly doesn't see that she did more than edit, she rewrote.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing totally removed my pleasure in seeing the story in print. I can't even show it to anyone now, her editing and rewriting is so bad as to be embarrassing. It's comical, really, poor girl. I remember being young and cocky and trying much too hard, so that what I intended to come out sounding grownup and sophisticated just came out sounding stiltedand slightly ridiculous. I suspect she will eventually become a good editor, because her gut instincts are good. I hope for her sake, as well as that of her editorial victims, her writing improves, or at leaste settles down and becomes more relaxed.
The one good thing is, through the whole thing, I managed to retain some measure of self-control. I didn't rave like a lunatic or even use bad language. And I didn't use any ad hominem attacks. In one of her e-mails the editor did claim that I "accused" her of something, but actually I didn't accuse her of anything. So at least I don't have a mad rampage to be ashamed of. But it was all upsetting and exhaustifying.
*hug* Renee I know. Forgetting the word for something is more distressing than mislaying the thing itself. Sure hope you can de-stress soon!
ReplyDeletePuddle had to go to the ER? I hope she's going ton be all right!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteSending Puddle lots of love and light and good vibes!
ReplyDeleteFirst the Ally News...
ReplyDeleteThursday, September 29, 2011 5:36 PM, EDT
We have lots of good news!
First: Ally's bone marrows are CLEAR!!
Second: Ally is HAMA =Negative=!!! They want us to be in NYC on October 31st for 3f8. We really wanted Ally to be able to trick or treat in town here, so we asked if we could go the week after. We are still waiting to hear back. (It might seem silly to push it back a week just for Halloween, but some of you may remember we had to be in NYC for Halloween last year, and Ally missed trick or treating...except for some REALLY nice neighbors who let her come early, she is very excited for Halloween this year, so we thought...we have already waited 6 months for 3f8, what is one more week?) As soon as we have more details I will post again.
We have heard back: Ally has to be in NYC for Hallowe’en. :-( So, we are thinking of having a costume party before we go.
Now the puddle news!
ReplyDeleteI just heard from Thankful, who is going to keep me updated (and I you). Puddle has been admitted for tests. Those will take awhile so there's no real news so far. The main issue is her esophagus... the muscle into her stomach is so tight nothing goes through. So they need to figure out why and what to do for her. Thankful plans to go down to help once she's home. ♥
More when I have it.
Talking to puddle now. She's had a few tests and they're mostly getting her into good shape for more tests. She sounds good, all things considered. Any questions?
ReplyDeleteThanks, listener! Sending Puddle lots of love!
ReplyDeleteGreat news about Ally!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achalasia
ReplyDeleteOff the phone now. Our puddle sounds just like herself, and is grateful that we're all pulling for her!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cat! :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah! We're pretty excited!!
ReplyDeleteYipee!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this link.
ReplyDeleteIn a major tangent, what you said about PDFs touches on something that cam up at the Disability Pride Parade Board meeting tonight. Do ALL PDFs cause problems for screen readers?
ReplyDeleteAs you probably know, there are two kinds of PDFs. One is created by scanning a printed page. that's an image, and it's obvious that a screen reader can't handle it until it has been run through an optical character recognition program. The other is creaetd by Adobe Acrobat. As far as I can tell, aside from any embedded images it is essentially text. I would think a screen reader can handle it. Am I wrong?
Congratulations for keeping your tempter. Having fiction edited without your input is hard to take. I've been lucky, I guess. My worst experience was when I was doing magazine non-fiction and an editor simply chopped several paragraphs out of the middle to make it fit. Produced a jarring transitionless jump, but I got paid well enough that to assuage the annoyance.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was much younger I refused on principle to mess with anyone else's prose. Then a research journal hired me as a freelance editor to improve the manuscripts of people writing in a language not their own. But that was OK because my edits went back to the authors for their approval. Which is the way it should always work.