Words Fly Up

Books and writing are the core of my life. I edit books, write books, and teach writing. I love this work, and will be happy to provide any editorial or writing service you need.

Why you need an Editor

Why You Need an Editor

Whether you’ve written a five-hundred-page novel or a one-page piece of flash fiction, a professional editor’s review of your work will make it better. With so many stories and books clamoring for attention, you need to present your very best work.

Ready to Take Flight

Why You Need an Editor

There is more to publishing a book than just writing the book. You have to craft a query letter if you want to find an agent or independent publisher; and if you are self-publishing, you will need to consider so much more.

Online, Not Off the Cuff

Why You Need an Editor

Blog posts may seem casual and easy to toss off, and websites may seem to be more about tag words and good graphics than the text. But good writing is never that simple, no matter how effortless it may seem.

Writing Resources

Writers create in solitude, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need outside inspiration and advice, and a supportive community. Here I try to provide some of the former, and offer links to help you find the latter.

My Blog

As a teacher, I love discussing all aspects of writing and how to become a better writer. As a reader, I love talking about books. And as I writer, I love posting in my blog about these topics and anything else that inspires me.

Testimonials

I worked as an editor for major publishing companies in New York from 1981-1998, and have been a freelance editor since 2003. Here is what some of my clients have to say about my services.

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Favorite Quotes

During a recent class, I discussed rhythm, starting with a passage from Ursula Le Guin’s excellent Steering the Craft, and moving on to Virginia Woolf’s equally excellent explanation: “Style is a very simple matter; it is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong words.” Simple, right? I then read aloud one […]

Summertime Reading!

Two of my clients are publishing books this summer. First up is David Flinn’s Climb Like a Mzungu, which is available through Amazon starting Friday, June 23. My other client, Jasmin Attia, won the 2022 Nicholas Schaffner Award for Music in Literature. Her book, The Oud Player of Cairo, will be published on August 1, […]

The Editor’s Burden; Or, Why We Proofread

Editors read differently from people who are not editors. A part of our brain holds an imaginary red pen and corrects punctuation as we read, chooses stronger verbs, strikes out adverbs, and always, always, fixes typos and misspellings. The red pen doesn’t get too much use in published books, but I am not surprised when […]

Building Characters

I was reminded in class the other day of a writing exercise that I call Building Characters. The idea came to me from a chapter in a student’s memoir, about a bus trip her family took in Great Britain and Western Europe in the early 1960s. The group was an intriguing collection of characters—starting with […]

“I’m Doing the Best I Can”

For my birthday last year, a friend gave me a book, one that I probably would not have bought for myself because it’s a memoir. I don’t tend to read memoirs. But I loved the title: All the Way to the Tigers. Who wouldn’t be intrigued? And the author’s name rang a bell—Mary Morris. I […]

Revisions

Some writers have told me they dread revisions. They love the initial creation of a work—a poem, essay, short story, novel; that rush of excitement as the ideas flow, as the words pour out effortlessly and they seem to enter an out-of-body state. Revisions aren’t like that. Revisions can mean staring at the screen or […]