Book Recommendation: The Mussorgsky Riddle by Darin Kennedy

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Last year at ConCarolinas (a convention held in Charlotte, North Carolina, every year), I purchased a book from author Darin Kennedy. I was attracted to the book's cover as I passed by his table on my way to a talk and stopped to look at it. The Mussorgsky Riddle is the first book in the three-book Fugue & Fable series, and once Darin told me the gist, it was an easy sale for him! 

My copy of The Mussorgsky Riddle

Psychic Mira Tejedor is hired by a family to help their son, Anthony, a very special boy who has been catatonic for several weeks. She possesses the ability to connect with the boy inside of his mind, and what she finds there is a fantastical world as Anthony's fractured psyche reveals itself through Modest Mussorgsky's suite, Pictures at an Exhibition. As she works with him, it becomes evident there is a link to a real-world missing person's case: a local teen with a tie to the family has gone missing, and it's tearing both the family and the community apart. Mira, the local police, the family, and an eminent psychologist work together to solve the riddle, but the stakes, both psychological and in the real world, are higher and more dangerous than anyone could have imagined.

This was a book unlike any I have ever read. Between the thrilling fantasy world based on Mussorgsky's work and the suspense of the missing persons case, this book was "un-put-downable"! I read it in a weekend and was so into it that there were several moments when my husband spoke to me and I simply did not hear him. 

The book's experience is enhanced if you listen to the music as you are reading. While the focus is on Mussorgsky's work, there is also a reference to Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. The musical aspect spoke to me particularly because I am a classically trained musician and I majored in Russian, but anyone with an appreciation for a good fantastical thriller and classical music will become hooked by the musical theme as it weaves through the story, giving even more texture and context to this richly layered work. 

[And as a side note to the author if he reads this, I am completely ear-wormed by those thirteen notes, now, myself. I can't get them out of my head!]

I plan to be patient and buy a signed copy of the next book from the author when I see him at ConCarolinas in a few months. Meanwhile, you can find this book and others by Darin Kennedy at any of the following places: the author's site, Amazon, or the publisher's website at Falstaff Books. Your local bookseller can most likely order it, too.

Five stars!

Essential Editorial Project Management Course

I took a course in Essential Editorial Project Management this weekend, and it was very informative. I've been feeling drawn to editorial project management mostly because I have experience managing projects in former jobs, and I'd love to be more involved in book production beyond copy editing and proofreading, so I felt an overview was a good place to start.

I found this little gem of a course offered online through the Publishing Training Centre in the UK (a well-respected place to get editorial training; I found it either through the EFA or through CIEP). I wanted to know the gist of how to apply project management principles to the lifecycle of a book's publication. 

The course was a self-paced e-learning course, with six modules. The first module consists of instructions on how to use the platform, however, so it's really five modules. The course discussed assessment of a project, timelines, project management tools (e.g., Kanban, Gantt charts, etc.) and other considerations when managing a book's publication process.

It was a good introduction, and showed me how to apply those skills I used years ago to publishing specifically. Plus it should come in handy when I publish a book of my own! 

If you're interested, the PTC also has a more robust three-day live course available, but at £720+VAT, I can't do that right now. I'll tuck it into my bookmarks for later consideration, though! 

 

Giving an Editor Credit or Not: What Should You Do?

I've had many conversations over the years about whether an editor should be credited or acknowledged in a book. It has led to some great discussions, mostly with newer editors who want to know how to navigate the issue, but occasionally with authors too. After another of these discussions with colleagues a while back, I came across this article and this one and bookmarked them because I found them to be a good overview of the topic. 

The gist is this: while it's lovely you want to credit your editor in your book, consider asking them for their preference, first. If your editor says, “No, thank you” and you’re confused by this, then below are some reasons your editor may politely decline being acknowledged in your book.

Editors' reputations rely on how their work is viewed by the public, and many people don't understand the scope of different types of editing. For instance, if you worked with a developmental editor to nail down the structure and plot of your story but didn't hire a copy editor or proofreader to clean up the grammar and spelling, you could accidentally create the impression that the editor you credited in your acknowledgments didn't do their job cleaning up the text. But it’s not a developmental editor's job to clean up the text...and because readers don't know that, they may blame the developmental editor unfairly for any typos.

Or let's say you hired a copy editor or proofreader to clean up the manuscript, but then before publishing, you added some last-minute text...including that unfortunate typo right on the first page that Word's spellcheck didn't catch. This actually happened to me with a book that got a lot of visibility, and several people thought it was funny to tease me for that one typo in a piece of writing I never even saw before the book was published. It’s not a big deal at the end of the day, but based on some people’s reactions, you’d think it was the Great Typo Debacle of 2023. 

(And just a note to editors who work on high-visibility projects: get ready to develop thick skin. There’s something about the internet that causes people to poke at minor things. In my case, I was touched that the client was happy with my work and came to my defense, even though he didn’t have to.) 

Here’s another thing to consider: everyone involved in the production of a book—author, editors, proofreader, layout person, cover designer, your cat walking across the keyboard—is human. (Okay, not that last one. 🐈) A mistake can be introduced at any point in the process, and one or two will absolutely slip through. There is no such thing as perfection...but we copy editors and proofreaders will do our utmost to get your work as close to perfection (grammar- and punctuation-wise) as we can. In our industry, there is an acceptable error rate (and depending on who you ask, you might get a different answer), but even the best editors will miss a few things here and there, and we can't control anything that happens to the file after we've handed it off.

At the end of the day, all decisions regarding the book, whether it be research, creative direction, art placement, adding text at the last minute, or accepting/rejecting an editor's suggested changes (and they are suggestions based on our expertise, but suggestions all the same) are up to the author. 

So what should you do if you’re happy with your editor’s work and you’d like to acknowledge them? Simply ask them if they are okay with acknowledgment, and if they say yes, ask them how they'd like to be acknowledged. If your editor chooses not to be credited for editorial work, please don't be offended or worried about it. Other ways to support your editor include:

• recommending their services to other authors
• writing a testimonial
• mentioning them generally in the acknowledgments along with anyone else who helped you

I'm always touched when an author wants to give me some sort of credit, but I am fine with staying in the background too. (Though getting a shoutout from a client during his band's concert was REALLY sweet, I have to admit! 😊) These days I usually opt for a general mention in the acknowledgements. I feel it's my job to support my authors' work and not take any more credit than helping them polish it up, and I try to make that very clear when people ask me about editing anyone's book. Any credit truly should go to the author for the content itself, so if you think you've read a great book, please consider leaving a five-star review for that author and/or reaching out to them (via their newsletter, website, or social media) and letting them know how much you enjoyed it. Authors deserve (and thrive on) that feedback. 

via GIPHY

To all of the authors who have so sweetly supported me in my journey as an editor by giving a referral to your friends or colleagues, writing a testimonial, or thanking me in the acknowledgments, thank you! I really like you, too! 😃

PS: Thanks to the editor who helped me make this a better article than the first draft had been. You rock!

When Intuition Takes Off Like a Rocket, Trust It

(Following links on this blog may result in my earning a small fee. As an Amazon associate I may earn from qualifying purchases.)

One of my goals for 2024 is to be more intentional in the time I set aside for meditation and intuitive practices. I'm trying to do my meditations in the morning instead of on an ad-hoc basis, now, and here is why: once I start working on a book edit or start up with the day's appointments or buying groceries or running errands, then the time I set aside for meditation gets smaller and smaller depending on how the day goes. 

Today was my first day trying it this year, and the result was phenomenal!

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

I closed myself into my study and sat in what I call the reading nook chair. I used a Tibetan singing bowl to clear my energetic field, then centered myself with some deep breathing. For any thoughts that cropped up (like an email I need to send later today), I thanked myself for the reminder and visualized myself tacking a note about it to a cork board to address later. The reminder will be there energetically (and as soon as I finish this post, I'll go send that email, LOL!), but this was not the time.

After a few moments, I pulled out my journal, a pen, and the deck of cards that I use to inspire receiving messages for the moment.

I took the deck and spread them out on a lap desk, continuing to breathe deeply. One of those cards started to look a little bit lighter. It had a little bit of a "pick me" feeling to it. So I pulled it out, but did not look at it, then scooped up the rest of the cards into a pile and put them aside. 

I held the card in my hands face down and continued to breathe and relax my body, and before long, an image formed in my mind of a rocket ship taking off from a NASA launch pad, complete with all the clouds that get kicked up when those huge engines crank up. I'm not an artist AT ALL, but here's the sketch I drew in my notebook after receiving that image:

What I drew in meditation—I promise it is not a pencil! 😂

And then I turned over the card. What do you see here? 

Card from Kim Chestney's Intuition Deck

Okay, it's a lighthouse, right? Not a rocket. 

But look at the general shape of it. It's long, thin, tall...much like a rocket ship. And there are some sort of clouds underneath it, right? Much like those engine clouds I drew. 

And then I softened my focus, breathed deep...and an entire segment of my forthcoming book about my near-death experience just fell out of my pen. 

This meditation experience is a wonderful reminder of how our intuitive language isn't meant to be literal a lot of the time (though it can be). Instead, our receptors are capable of getting the gist of something...in my case, the shape of something long and tall and thin with clouds under it. 

Turning over the card was just a fun little validation of trusting those receptors are working JUST FINE, and then letting the pen fly was an amazing, freeing experience. I often suffer from writers' block, and that rocket ship just blasted through it. 

This is one example of how using meditation and intuition for creative pursuits works for me, and I hope it's helpful to those of you who are just learning about how your own intuition works. 

Have you ever had something similar happen to you? Feel free to share in the comments! 

Have a wonderful day! 🚀

Book Series Recommendation: Oxford Key Mysteries by Lynn Morrison

(Following links on this blog may result in my earning a small fee. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

I did not do as much reading this past year as I did the years before, but the reading I did manage to get in was high quality. I'd like to start recommending books more here, especially as a couple of friends have recently asked me for recommendations. 

So, first up is the Oxford Key Mystery series by Lynn Morrison! 

This series has all the hallmarks of a British cozy with the addition of magic and wonder! Natalie lands a dream job in Oxford as the Head of Ceremonies (basically, an event planner), and while her first day on the job was expected to have a steep learning curve, she didn't realize dead bodies were going to be part of that. 

With the help of new friends and coworkers, ghosts, and a very special black cat (among others), Natalie tries to get to the bottom of the mystery...but the stakes are high as Oxford's magical field is in danger of being destroyed. 

Each book could be read separately, but I do recommend starting at the first and working your way up. The books are available individually on Amazon, but even better, the author has 2 box sets (1–3 and 4–6) up as well, which are well worth it. 

I hope you enjoy them. If you read them, let me know what you think! 

Happy 2024!

The Annual Wrap-Up Post: 2023 in Review

(Following links on this blog may result in my earning a small fee. As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Wow, time flies! There are so many times I wanted to post quick updates here, and then ... didn't. I like to take the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve to do a little reflection on the past year, though, so without further ado, let's get started on the traditional year-end post. 

2023 was an interesting year on so many levels: 

I edited or proofread approximately 26 books this year. (See a portfolio here.) Many thanks to the clients who've hired me as well as to Inner Traditions for being such a great company to freelance for. 

I also edited nearly a million words of copy for monthly retainer clients who have regular marketing and other messaging, and beta read or served as an arc reader for more books than I can count (as I didn't track those stats, but it was in the dozens), plus I read approximately 58 books for fun this year (a lot fewer than previous years, but I was pretty busy).

I grew as a person, too, working hard to become a Certified Intuition Master Practitioner through Intuition Lab. Many thanks to Kim Chestney for her friendship and mentoring, and also many thanks to my fellow students, especially my study group, who were so instrumental in my growth as an intuitive. I will be joining the Intuition Lab faculty in a larger role in 2024. Come join us! 

By the way, be on the lookout for Kim's new book, The Illumination Code, coming out in 2024. You might recognize one of the contributors in a tiny piece of this book. I also learned that one of my fellow Intuition Lab friends lives nearby, so she and I have been having fun going out and exploring the area. 

My friend Jessica and I explored a haunted local restaurant.

I joined a writing accountability group and am finally making progress on two books. The first book is what I learned after a near-death experience (which caused me to turn my life around). The second is about my paranormal experiences throughout life. I decided to write it because I often get into conversations with people about paranormal things, and I realized I actually have enough to make a full book (maybe two), so why not? It's truly my hope to finally publish at least one of these in 2024. 

Also, I went on approximately 10 hospice visits this year, and hope to do at least the same next year. I really appreciate my fellow members in the Long Bay Threshold Singers and have enjoyed getting to know them better, too. One of my fellow singers invited me into a recording studio to record a song she'd written, too, so that was fun!

My friend Charly and I after recording her song at a studio.

I also was able to take several trips:

• To Charlotte for the annual ConCarolinas convention, featuring paranormal, writing, comics, gaming, sci-fi, geek and tech tracks. I think this is quickly becoming my "home" convention despite the fact that it's 3 hours away. I really enjoy everything on offer and everyone I've met there is so nice.

• A 2-week trip up and down the east coast with my parents to see family and family friends. We stopped in several places in Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and Virginia. This was a really special time for my family.

• The 2023 Dogman Conference in Fort Worth, TX, put on by Josh Turner (Paranormal Round Table) and Ken Gerhard (UnXplained, The Proof is Out There, and other shows). They and their team did an amazing job, the presenters were all fabulous, and I met so many wonderful people, including finally meeting 2 clients in person (Josh and Lyle Blackburn)

2023 Dogman Conference, Fort Worth, TX
me with friends (L-R, Top to Bottom):
Glenn Haskins, Nellie Turner, Lyle Blackburn
The Nunnellys, Darrel Denton & Martin Groves, Barton Nunnelly
Craig Woolheater, Latisha Nunnelly, Josh Turner
Ken Gerhard, Dinner Companions, Ron Morehead & Keri Campbell

• A trip to Houghton Lake, Michigan, for the 5th annual Michigan UFO Contact 👽 conference put on by Deb and Arjay DeRousse and Mike Smith. They and their team also did an amazing job, and I've already booked my room for next year. I met so many cool people there, plus I got to spend quality time with friends.

Me with some of my friends at
MI UFO CON 2023
in Houghton Lake, Michigan
Jamilah Simmons-McKenzie, Rev. Michael Carter,
Andrea Perron, Lyn Bowling and Maizy,
and Deb DeRousse

• A quick weekend jaunt to Greenville, SC to see Lyle Blackburn's band, Ghoultown, with my Dad. As Lyle mentioned to my father that night, we'd worked together for years without ever meeting, then this year we got to see each other twice in two months. (That's what happens when one person is in Texas and the other on the East Coast.) Also chalk this trip up to my first editor shout-out during a rock concert! 👍 It was a nice dad/daughter trip, and while there, we stopped and paid our respects to my first mother-in-law, a lovely woman who died too young and is interred with her ancestors in a historic cemetery. 

Dad and I had a fun time seeing
Lyle Blackburn and his bandmates
on tour within driving
distance of where we live!

I even got to march in a Christmas Parade, which had the feel of a small-town Hallmark Movie in disguise! 

While the year did have its downsides, too (all years do!), I feel incredibly lucky and blessed that this is my life. No matter what lumps happened in 2023 or prior years, I will always move forward into a new year with hope, looking forward to what is to come, whatever that may be, rather than doom a year before it even begins (which I often see online). I think it's in people's nature to fear what's coming if they've suffered in a year, but for me, I choose to remain positive but realistic. I know 2024 will have challenges ... it wouldn't be life without them ... but I still embrace it all! 

Wishing you all an amazing, happy, healthy, abundant, and beautiful 2024. Happy New Year! 💛