A book I edited was written up in the local paper.
So happy to see Shannon Bohrer's book, Judicial Soup: One Man's Wrongful Conviction and What It Means for Criminal Justice Reform, getting some media attention. This is a very relatable book on a hugely important topic. When you read it, first you'll be angry. Then you'll think, "If it can happen to that guy, it can happen to anyone."
Sometimes a word or phrase has fallen out of favor in our current usage, but it was common in the past. I'm not talking about slurs. I'm talking about things like "presently."
Current usage suggests changing it to "now" or "soon," whichever is meant. However, in the time in which this story is set, the word was commonly used.
I'll address this with a note to the client outlining the issue, and let him make the decision. His work. Not mine.
Helpful podcast from @grammargirl: “Efficiency Hacks for Writers and Editors with Erin Brenner,” author of new #book The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors: How to Take Care of Your Business, Your Clients, and Yourself from Start-Up to Sustainability. https://tinyurl.com/24u5y6td . #AmEditing
There's a brief scene in which the doctor, who's been an alcoholic from childhood, chooses to pour out his flask on a rock before he takes his last breath.
"I done it. I'm goin' out dry."
Something in that image and those words hit me hard just now.
TIL The singular form of "viscera" (you knew that was plural, right?) is "viscus."
A pretty unfamiliar word, sadly, so inappropriate for a fun read (for values of "fun" including cryptid autopsies). We'll stick with "organ." (It's an unknown body part.)
It's tricky, I know, but generally speaking we'll say "the body" when it's a corpse (and has been for some time). When someone's just this moment been killed, it's "her body/his body/their body" as appropriate.
E.g. Someone's been attacked by a creature and flung from a platform. "He was dead before his [not the] body hit the ground."
I don't know of any usage guide entries about this. It's a syntax thing. "The body" in that example could be someone else's.
April was busy, partly because of a big developmental edit.
Today, I start a fun copyedit—a fantasy book for children! So I grab my favorite editing-related mug and eagerly join the young protagonist in a new, magical world.