language – Jennifer Lane Books

Ho hey, it’s MAY! My favorite season of summer is upon us, and I can’t wait to swim in the sunshine and absorb vitamin D.

Just yesterday, Dancing Lemur Press released the latest IWSG anthology, Masquerade: Oddly Suited. I’m delighted to join nine authors penning short stories. Check out all of the blogs to read blurbs and learn more about these diverse, engaging characters!

L.G. Keltner https://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Lane http://jenniferlanebooks.blogspot.com

Deborah Solice https://thefabulistdotblog.wordpress.com/

CD Gallant-King http://www.cdgallantking.ca/

Elizabeth Mueller https://elizabethmueller.blogspot.com/

Chelsea Marie Ballard https://www.facebook.com/masqueradeoddlysuited

Carrie-Anne Brownian http://carrieannebrownian.wordpress.com

Myles Christensen www.myleschristensen.com

Anstice Brown https://dustingthesoul.com

Angela Brown http://publishness.blogspot.com/

Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for starting this awesome support group. Sign up HERE.

IWSG Day Question:
What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

Wow, this question provokes thought. One time that stands out for me is when I learned to be a therapist in grad school. I remember my supervisors teaching me the importance of language for accurate listening and building rapport with my clients. I learned to use the same words as my clients–if they say, “That pissed me off!” then I reply, “You were pissed off.” But I also developed the skill of listening to the unsaid words, empathizing with something like, “Underneath your anger is a deep sense of hurt.”

Thank you to the awesome co-hosts for the May 1 posting of the IWSG:

Lee Lowery, Juneta Key, Yvonne Ventresca, and T. Powell Coltrin

Have I mentioned how much I love the editing team at Omnific Publishing? Jessica Royer Ocken has taught me so much about the right way to write. Mostly I’m grateful for this knowledge.

But there are times when I think I’ve learned too much, like when typos and grammar gaffes interfere with my enjoyment of a novel. I’ll be happily reading a story with good plot and characterization but then halt, wide-eyed, with horror.

Blond is an adjective, BLONDE is a female noun!

A comma doesn’t belong there, people!

It’s effect, not affect, when describing a noun.

Editing know-how also drives me up a tree when friends make an error in language. I mean, really–who cares? I’m nowhere near perfect at the spoken or written word. Yet when a colleague says something like “It’s the same for her and I”, I want to shout “Her and ME! It’s ME, not I!”

Today my psychotherapy client told me she “could care less” about something.

I had to restrain myself from correcting her with a maniacal “It’s COULDN’T care less!!!”

I need help.

And I need validation. Has this happened to you? How has editing made YOU crazy?

Tag: language

#IWSG The Power of Language and New Anthology

Editing Has Made Me Crazy