For the 18 and Older Crowd & a Fun Announcement

Just to be clear, I believe that everyone has a path that they travel. Some people do things in the "right" order; college, career, engagement, marriage, sex, kids. Some people have kids, then get married. Many people have sex before marriage. No way is the correct path. And every way is the correct path. I took the path I did, and everything in my life happened the way it did because it had to. If it hadn't, I wouldn't be where I am today, which is getting closer and closer to perfection with every passing day. No regrets. Ever. (Basically, I'm not advocating any specific age to become sexually active, it's right at different times for different people-preferably people who can buy condoms and properly use them, even if it's uber-embarrassing.)

The reason I'm saying this? Because here's my thought of the day: I rarely find myself wanting to be a teenager again. I was awkward and clumsy; unpopular and the "try-too-hard" girl. But sometimes, when life gets overwhelming, I beg for 17 again; those days when all I had to worry about was passing my classes, not getting caught sneaking around, and the scariest thing in the world was an unplanned pregnancy. Dear God, I wish the most stressful thing in my life was slinking into a store to embarrassingly buy condoms and hope like hell our parents didn't find them. 

That being said, my post today is more of a vent, a release if you will. The past year has been trying, with a lot of things pressing down on me, trying to squash my spirit. And as hard as it is for me to hold a grudge, sometimes people say things to you that stick in your mind and can chip away at your confidence. This unhealthy hangup is a nasty habit that I have been working very hard to eliminate. So as you can imagine, being virtually unemployed for the past year has elicited some disparaging, unwelcome-although generally unintentional-digs at my persona. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can break your spirit. And I think a few days ago, I reached my breaking point.

Factoring that in with other stressful situations happening around me to people I care about, I had enough. I felt broken, unimportant, void of purpose, and that all of the things I've done in the past few years have just been unfinished business, a series failures and "incompletes".....Wait. Is that?.... Regret? No! I wouldn't do it. And thank goodness for my husband who tolerates my silly meltdowns and knows how to steer this ship back on course.

It took some talking through, but I've realized that I'm not a failure. I simply refuse to settle. I am good at a lot of things, but just because you are successful at something, doesn't mean it's the perfect place for you to be in your life. For example, I worked very hard to become a certified medical biller. That is some HARD SHIT. There is a SIX hour test to become certified. And I passed. First try. With an 82. And yet, here I am two years later with zero interest in becoming a medical biller. Everything I've tried and moved on from in the past couple of years have just been a series of attempts at finding my place in the world. It's easy for me to see it for what it is: finding my way, even if it's blindly and randomly trying things.

I know I've said this before, but I can never say it enough times; editing is my passion. When I started doing this, I knew it was exactly what I should be doing. And now that my husband and I have had a good long talk working all of this out, we have decided that I should pursue freelance editing as a full-time career. It has all of the components that I have been looking for to fill the empty spots in my life.

I'm optimistic and uplifted, and so happy that my blog followers are following along with me in this journey; not only of discovering and conquering the editing business, but in the journey of life as well.

Have a great weekend!! Thanks for stopping by!

Capitalize your capitals and capitols!

Just a note to open my post today: I will not be doing a Book Store Series this week. I am in the middle of an editing project and simply do not have time to put a proper amount of energy into writing a decent piece. If all goes well, the series will continue next Thursday, as scheduled. Thank you for your patience!

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One thing that writers often stress about is capitalization. It's nothing to worry about, especially if you have an editor! I'm going to give you some quick tips and tricks to get you through the basics.

Firstly, there are two general writing styles when it comes to capitalization: down style and up style. It's pretty much how it sounds; up style means that more nouns and adjectives have upper case initial letters, while down style is the dominant style for writing, and that tends to limit the amount of capitalization that occurs in a project. 

A lot of authors really don't care much where upper and lowercase letters are used in their writing. They simply want to get their story out there and have no preference as to which style is applied to their work. Some authors use capitalization to give importance or entitlement to certain words in their work to create emphasis. For example, I had an author who capitalized the word "District" in her work. Without a proper name to accompany it, there would not normally be an uppercase "D". Because her story revolved around the concept of a "District", that became the proper name of the areas that were being referred to. It really comes down to the style of the work being edited and can be decided collectively by everyone involved in producing a piece. Ultimately, it is the author's decision and approval editors are looking for.

So crash course time:
Proper names/nicknames/suffixes

James Doe

James Doe, Jr.

Jimmy

If someone (ex: e.e. cummings) is "branded" by lowercase letters, it's up to the author how they decide to write these out. Technically, capitalizing is correct and accepted, but if you'd like to stay true to the person's brand/logo, I have only one piece of advice: try to steer clear of beginning a sentence with said person's name. Beginning a sentence with a lowercase letter can be confusing and awkward. Restructure your sentence so the name appears somewhere in the middle.

Titles/Offices

President Obama

the president

American president

American president Hoover

As you can see, combined with the name and office, both are capitalized. 'American' is always capitalized. 

Geographical locations

City names and nicknames are both capitalized. New York City/the Big Apple, Bay Area, Big Easy, etc.

Direction names: going north or west, living in the Midwest, East coast. Using the direction to tell where someone is going; not capital. A region named for the direction in which it lies; capital.

Terms coming from places; not capital. Ex: venetian blinds, arabic numerals

Resident names: New Yorker, Floridian, Hawaiian

Company/Trademarks

Generally, they're always capital. Exceptions, of course, occur here too. Basically, if a brand name is used so frequently that it is part of a society's vernacular, it can be lowercased. For example: jello, styrofoam, ping-pong and dumpster are all brand names, but because they are so widely known, they can be lowercase. 

Titles of work

There are three rules you can use:

Chicago style: All prepositions are lowercase (to, for, with, through)

Four-letter rule: Prepositions longer than four letters are capitalized (With, Through, for)

Five-letter rule: Prepositions longer than five letters are capitalized (with, Through, for)

Those are the most basic rules without overwhelming you. There are many more "sub-rules" and special situations, but if you come across it, you can always look it up. 

Thanks for stopping by!!

**Credit for this post goes to Amy Einsohn, The Copyeditor's Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications. A lot of my information came from this book. Thank you Amy!

Are you awesome?

I'm not usually one for self-help books, but this one grabbed my attention. It doesn't really feel like a self-help, but more of a 'feel good' style book. It's around $4 on Amazon right now I think, but well worth it in my opinion.

How to Be Totally Awesome by Melody Litton. This book is a great way to boost your confidence and change your thinking. I'm quite sure every person can relate to at least one of the chapters. I struggle with confidence and anxiety sometimes, and this book helped me open my eyes a little bit. There are some great strategies to help you become more aware of your surroundings, to live outside your brain and improve your life. Some of it is a little common sense, but sometimes we just need to be reminded of the little things. It truly is a guide to help you become, well, awesome!

Thanks for stopping by!

Don't Be Crood

I love this movie!!

Family movie day:

This movie is awesome! It's great family entertainment. A prehistoric tale with modern hilarity. It has a great moral; don't be afraid to step outside the lines and take chances. You never know what could happen if you just go for it. Just watch it, it's so awesome!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Book Store Series, Part 6

Starting to outline how things are going to play out... getting excited!

If you missed:
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

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I took every opportunity I could to be at the bookstore after that night. The five of us had become quite the family; sharing meals, shopping, and even working together at the bookstore once in a while if the need arose. The closer my connection became with Theo, the more I itched to ask him about his wife and his past. I had tamped down that curiosity until one night when I was in the store alone with him. Sophie, Vin and Milo were unloading stock and doing inventory.

“Theo. I’ve been curious about something, but I haven’t wanted to impose.” I stopped what I was doing and watched his face.

“I seriously doubt that with as close as we have become, that you could ever offend me. Please, ask away.” Theo took me by the hand and we sat on a couch near one of the towering fireplaces.

“Well, I would kind of like to know about your wife. What she was like and how she died.” I looked at him. For a brief moment, I saw a flash of pain in his eyes, but it was gone so fast I thought I had imagined it. I rushed through my next sentence, “But I completely understand if you don’t want to, I just was curious to know, if it’s too painful I promise I won’t ask--”

He cut through my babbling, smiled warmly and started to gush, “Oh, Lily. She was an amazing woman. She cared for us so fully and so selflessly. I had never met anyone so truly beautiful inside and out. She was modest and shy, but gave what little she could offer. She volunteered at soup kitchens and homeless shelters when Milo and Vin went to preschool. I was working at a newspaper press at that time, and made just enough for us to get by.” He let out a deep sigh. “She made us feel as rich as royalty, but I wanted to give her so much more. We were overjoyed when we found out we were going to have another child. She became very ill in the last month of her pregnancy and was made to stay at the hospital. One night, she went into labor. It was all very hectic. I barely remember it, all of it a blur now after all these years. One minute she is breathing through contractions and next thing I know, I’m being pushed out of the delivery room because of an emergency, so said the nurse scooting me out the door. Then I remember them telling me my wife had passed in childbirth. Her heart had simply given up they told me. At that point, I had thought that my heart would give up too. She was my heart, Lily.”

Theo dabbed at his eye with a monogrammed handkerchief that I hadn’t even seen him pull from his jacket pocket; TT in blue embroidered script on a corner.

“Oh Theo, I’m so sorry. What was her name?” I leaned forward and set a hand on his knee.

He looked at me, eyes glistening. “Lillian.”

“Oh. Well, that’s my full name. Lillian. Milo never told me that.” I rubbed his knee, trying to provide comfort as best as I could. “What about the baby?”

Theo froze slightly, and I was worried I had already cut too deep, that he would be angry with me for prodding. But he sighed and quietly said, “Gone.” He took a deep breath and stood with a smile on his face. “And honestly, my dear Lily, I think that is enough sadness for one night! Come, let me make you a cocoa.”

We walked to the coffee cart, our conversation diverted to more cheerful topics.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Later that evening, Milo and I walked up the block to eat dinner. As we sat across from each other, I contemplated the question that had been picking at my brain. After we ordered, I jumped on my concerns, just as I always had with Milo.

“Milo, why didn’t you tell me your mom’s name was Lillian?”

He shifted in his chair. “I don’t know. It’s so strange, you sometimes remind me of her. The pictures and the little I can remember anyways. I don’t like to think about it, so I just didn’t want to bring it up. I didn’t want to have a conversation about her.”

“Okay. No worries, we don’t have to talk about her.” I changed topics quickly, not wanting to upset Milo. A little banter would lighten the mood. “So… did you see any new books I might fall in love with while you were working so hard on that inventory?”

I catalogued Milo’s response about his mother to analyze later when I was home, but I kept the rest of our evening light with our normal ribbing and playing around. I was happy when Milo dropped me off at my apartment with a smile on his face.

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If you'd like to move on, here's Part 7.

Thanks for stopping by!

Writing content: Copyright information

I have recently been tapping into various resources to fine tune my editing finesse, and to make sure that I'm covering everything that I might need to be as thorough as possible.

One source seems silly, but has provided quite a bit of information to me: Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies by Suzanne Gilad. Something that I have limited knowledge in-but in which I have now have officially been schooled-is copyright issues.

I will try to keep it as simplest of terms as possible, but it's quite wordy and "legal".

There are some people who can skirt copyright infringement laws; students, teachers and some nonprofits. But the general population needs to be careful what resources they pull from and how much info they pull out.

Basically, if you're quoting something from a body of work that is over 250 words, as long as you don't reference more than 250 words in your work, you're fine. If you're quoting a piece of work such as a poem, lyrics, etc., then you could run into problems and you're better off either not using it all or getting permissions appropriately.

There is an exception, as there always is, and that is called public domain. These are pieces that are not eligible for copyright or whose copyright has expired and can't be renewed for whatever reason. You can take whatever you want from these without needing permissions at all.

In order to find out whether or not what you're trying to use needs permissions or not, you can search "public domain works" into a search engine. Also, my "Dummies" book suggests this site: www.bartleby.com, which gives you the option to search for works.

I give complete credit for this blog to Suzanne Gilad from her Copyediting and Proofreading for Dummies handbook. I love all the information she has given me and all the new things I've learned about copyediting from her. Thank you Suzanne!

I also found this website on my own: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html, if you were going to ask me how to go about getting permissions, I thought I'd be prepared!

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to Business!

Hello readers!

I've been MIA from my blog for a very good reason! Last week I went to Boston, MA, to tape an episode of 'I Found The Gown' with my sister! She did find her gown, but that's all I can say; it's a secret! So I've been exhausted and trying to get back on track and back into the routine.

I needed to take a break from all things editing and to keep me entertained, I read a quick novel over the weekend. 

This book is a quick & easy read, it's intriguing and had just enough smut to keep you interested, but not so much that it's just disgusting.

The main character, Kate, has just lost her husband in a plane crash. Eighteen months before, she had come out of a coma herself from a car accident and had no memories prior to that time. Kate decides to move across the country when she finds some questionable documents in her husband's desk, and tries to get some answers. When someone recognizes her in her new hometown, life as she knows it spirals out of control.

This is a perfect travelling book, and it stays pretty interesting throughout.

Will desperately try to keep up this week as I get my house back in some sort of routine/order. Thanks for stopping by!!!

A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small

Today I'm more honoring an author rather than a single book.

Dr. Seuss is a classic writer, sprinkling life lessons amidst his eccentric characters and storylines. I think everyone can relate to some story of his, from the Grinch to Cat in the Hat.

There are so many colorful and wonderful stories to choose from. My son has a Dr. Suess baker's dozen book, and we love reading from it. It's a fun way to share life lessons and great stories with your children. Even if you don't have kids, I highly recommend sneaking into the kid's section of your local book store or library and lighten your heart with a little Suess!!

Yesterday my husband took the day off since I hardly got to spend time with him on my birthday (Sunday) and we spent the day finding new babies for our fish tanks. We are up to an insane 4 tanks; 5gal, 20gal, 30gal and 125gal. We're nuts. And maybe a little obsessed. Here is a collage of the fish we got yesterday, I couldn't get good pictures of ours so I just found images that look like ours:

The puffer isn't doing well, so I've been babying her all day long. We'll see if she makes it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Ya Ya!!!!

Sisterhood!!!
My little (she's 23) sister is coming home to New York from Wyoming today for a couple of weeks! She's my best friend and I've been sad that's she's gone. Skype isn't quite the same! But I'm happy for her chasing her dreams and being in love with a great guy.

So today I'm going to showcase some of my favorite movies/books about sisters and sisterhood!

 Ohana means family-nobody gets left behind or forgotten!

  Sisters can have a love/hate relationship, but always stick together in the end.

 Sisters don't have to be blood relation!

 Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned-or her sister!

 Big sisters are important, but so are little sisters!

 Sisters should support each other, whatever hardships they're facing.

Families make us crazy, but we love them.

Nice movie adaptation, great cast!

I'm going to try my hardest to keep up with the blog while my sister is here, but no promises! Have a great weekend and see you next week!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Book Store Series, Part 5

If you missed any:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

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PART 5:

Time flew; busy days at the office followed by weekends at the bookstore. Milo and I got to know each other and found we had a lot in common including books, movies, and food. Sophie was getting to know Vin, and all four of us even went out for pizza one night. We had turned into a group of friends who genuinely enjoyed spending time together. Although only a matter of weeks had passed, it felt like we had known each other for years.

One Saturday, Sophie and I were hanging out at the bookstore. Since it was a slow day, the guys were sitting around with us on the couches we sat on near the registers. We were talking and laughing, enjoying another afternoon of good company. Sophie and Vin snuggled up next to each other, talking quietly, so Milo and I decided to walk to the coffee cart to get some cocoa.

“So my dad is coming in a few days. He’s been so busy we didn’t even get to see him for Christmas. It’s been months.”

“Will we get a chance to meet him?” I was interested in this man who dedicated his life to his sons and his business.

“Absolutely. Dad’s curious to see who these two women are that Vin and I have been spending all our time with.” He smiled as we ordered our cocoa.

“We are excited to meet him too.” I sipped on my cocoa and we headed back to the cozy couches with Vin and Sophie.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

Sophie and I walked to the Italian restaurant where we had all agreed to meet. Our route brought us by the bookstore and we were surprised to see all the lights off and a sign in the door: “Closed for Family Celebration.”

“Look, Lily!” She pointed to the door. “They closed the shop for us. That’s so awesome.”

“We are so harrassing them for this!” I picked up the pace, shivering in the January frost.

We turned the corner past the bookstore and, dodging the giant clusters of soft snowflakes, met Milo at the door to the restaurant. He walked us to the table they had reserved. I knew Mr. Trussman as soon as I saw him stand from his seat. He was exactly how I had imagined based on the description Milo had provided over the last few weeks. He was tall and wearing a bright blue suit with matching fedora on his head and matching Oxfords on his feet. You could see a peek of curly salt and pepper hair sticking out from under the edges of his hat. A teal bowtie completed the ensemble, and he took off his hat and held it to his chest before he bowed deeply as Sophie and I reached our seats opposite Vin and Milo.

“Lily, I presume?” He took my hand and kissed the back of it, and I immediately fell in love with this sweet eccentric man. “A beautiful flower in this wretched weather.” He turned to Sophie. “And you. You must be Sophie, the one my Vincent is so smitten with.” She practically old-school swooned when he took her hand and kissed it as well.

We sat and ordered, then started to get to know Mr. Trussman.

“Please, call me Theo, ladies. No need to be so formal.” He grinned. In fact, he grinned for the entire meal and kept looking between the four of us.

“Well, Theo, we find your sons to be excellent company,” Sophie smiled at Vin, who countered with a goofy grin.

“Yes we do,” I nodded in agreement.

“Well, I am glad to know that I have raised a pair of gentlemen. I worried about them coming to this rough and tough city, I thought surely it would harden them a bit. It does not seem to have though, and for that I am grateful.”

We continued to eat with no awkward silences or uncomfortable conversations. In a quiet moment of us all enjoying our meals, I looked around. This felt like family. Sophie, the guys, a father figure in Theo; it all seemed to fit perfectly. The rest of the night went off without a hitch, and we all went back to the bookstore for coffee-or cocoa-and more conversation.

Milo unlocked the doors and we all went in. Vin lit one of the bigger fire pits on the first floor while Theo and I went to the coffee cart to get some drinks. He graciously held out his arm for me to steady myself as we ascended the staircase.

“So Theo, how long are you here for?”

“I had planned on staying for two months, but I may be convinced to extend my journey if you two lovely ladies keep my company while I am here.”

I felt my cheeks warm. “Well, I don’t think that will be a problem.”

“Well, my dear girl, I have quickly become very fond of you as well. And my son seems to be quite fond of you, too. He speaks of you often, and very kindly. I am pleased that he has found a friend, and that he has found it in you has made it all the more wonderful.” He looked at me with a twinkle in his eye.

We had reached the cart and Theo made the drinks. We carried them down the stairs and after we handed them out, we all sat comfortably around the fire pit; Vin and Sophie snuggled together on one couch, Milo and I cozy on another and Theo in a big recliner.

There we sat until nearly midnight, talking and laughing, spending time with people we were swiftly growing close to.

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Move on to Part 6!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

Hello followers!

Usually I do an editing post on Wednesdays, but to be honest, I bored myself trying to decide what I wanted to write about. So I'm not. Yep, sometimes editing is a boring topic, even to an editor. One of our dirty little secrets.

What I do want to say is that starting tomorrow, I will be working on an editing project that has me tickled pink! I am so excited about it and can't wait until the book gets released. You'll just have to stay tuned to see what is up my author's sleeve.

I have had several people in the last few months approach me about editing projects "in the spring" or "beginning of next year". If you are reading this and you're one of them, or if you are considering hiring me for an editing job in the next few months, please just drop me a line and let me know what kind of time table you're thinking. I'd like to efficiently and adequately schedule everyone so that I can do an excellent job and meet deadlines without any overlap. I worry that in the same few weeks I will be approached by everyone at once, and I understand the excitement of "get it edited, I want to share it!" I will not work on more than one project at a time because I'm easily distracted and have been known to confuse stories and/or characters when I try to read two books at the same time. Nobody wins.

I also want to remind people that I am still looking for guest bloggers on Fridays. If anyone is interested, please contact me. I'd love to give aspiring writers a platform to test their projects and get a feeling of what it's like to put their writing out there. Plus, I just love seeing everyone's different styles and ideas.

Keep in mind that the things you read are coming right out of someone else's brain. It answers that age-old question of "What are they thinking?" Even if the subject matter is fiction, style is an amazing indicator of someone's personality and deepest thoughts. Although publishing is a very public thing, millions of people have access to your innermost thoughts and it's very intimate. That is an uncomfortable word, and as much as authors might hate to feel that way, that's just the way it is-vulnerability. You pour your heart and soul into the ink on the pages of a novel, and it's out there for everyone to see. It's actually a very nice way to get to know someone.

Well, tune in tomorrow for the 5th installment of the Book Store Series. I'm having quite the love/hate relationship with this whole editor-turned-author malarky. I hope you guys are enjoying, and thanks for stopping by!

Chop, Chop

The book I'm going to review today is one that I stumbled upon completely by accident. It's called Chop, Chop. It's part of a series that I had no idea I would love so much.

I always love to peruse the free book lists on Amazon and stack my Kindle full of free goodies. This was a freebie and one day I was looking for something new to read and opened this up. I was amazed. 

To be clear, I'm not an extremely religious person. Yes, I went to a Catholic school for elementary school (7 years!). Yes, I went to church the first Friday of every month and every Sunday. Yes, I performed all of the sacraments up to Confirmation. But really, not much of that was by choice. Although I find organized religion a bit questionable, I did bring away from the experience a belief in God, and a strong faith and spirituality that I tend to keep private (unless, of course, I'm blogging about it). This series does refer to a bit of religious settings and beliefs, but if you liked 7th Heaven, or have any sort of moral standing really, you can appreciate this story. You can read just the first one, and have a full, completely satisfying story, but I don't recommend it. There are several other books in the series, of which I've only read 3 total. Day-Day and Pon-Pon are the next 2 in the series, and I became quite fond of them. I haven't had a chance to read the next couple that are left, but I fully intend to. 

The story is about a young girl who grows her hair out and repeatedly donates it to Locks of Love. When a boy moves into town and finds out, he starts doing it too. This is a coming-of-age novel, and when tragedy strikes, the main characters find their way closer to each other and closer to God. Chop, Chop is a great young adult read, but you can also watch them grow older as you follow them through the next couple of books. I'm curious to see where they go further on, and I will share with you when I find out!

A heart-warming series, perfect for this cold weather if you're here in the northern hemisphere. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! (P.S. As of this blog post, it is free to download on www.amazon.com).

Thanks for stopping by!

We're going streaking in the quad!!!

Today's movie is super fun and silly!



Another Will Ferrell classic. This is a fun movie about adults trying to keep up with college kids. A great comedy for those 30-somethings trying to get themselves to transition into "adulthood" from a college mentality. I know that as a 30-something myself, I have days when I feel like I could run with the college kids, but the 2 day hangover usually puts that sentiment in check. Just a great piece of ridiculousness. I love it, and you should watch it!

Thanks for stopping by!

FIFTY!!!

It's my 50th blog post!!!! It's amazing! It's such a satisfying feeling to stick with something and see it through.

It's also the perfect day to hunker down and watch movies and blog. I live in central New York, and if you don't know anything about the storm Hercules, put the book down for a few minutes and watch a little news. I know, it hurts, but it'll do you some good to know current events, I promise! This morning our actual temperature was -2 and the wind chill was -20, and they closed our school very early today. If you don't know what wind chill is, well, you're not missing much. Our pipes froze over night, and my hubs put a space heater right in front of the pipe coming in the house. The water just thawed after about 7.5 hours of being warmed by the heater, and the first thing my son wanted to do was take a shower because he "smells like a shoe" (his words!). And you don't realize how often you use water until you can't!

Well that's about it for us. We're just snuggling down and watching movies and keeping warm. It's a good day to be comfy!!

Thanks for stopping by, see you next week!

The Book Store Series, Part 4

Part 4 is here!
If you've missed any:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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We walked into the store and up a few flights of stairs to a floor we hadn’t explored yet. We split up; ‘divide and conquer’ Sophie had said, but I had a hunch she was hoping to run into one of the guys that was at the checkout the weekend before. I turned down an aisle, running my finger along the spines of the books as I walked. Science fiction, magic, mythical creatures. Right up my alley. I browsed the titles and before I knew it, I had a stack of books in my arms. I walked to the end of the row, turned the corner and SMACK! I was on the floor, books everywhere, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. I looked to see what had knocked me on my rear, and Milo knelt across from me, picking up the scattered books. He smiled shyly, offered me his hand and helped me to my feet.

“Um. Sorry…I…I was distracted,” I muttered, taking my books from his arm.

“It’s okay, I was distracted too. Inventory,” he said, waving papers that seemed to have lists of book titles on them.

“Well, since this place will probably become my second home, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Lily Stone and I’m addicted to books.” I smiled, hoping my humor wasn’t lost on Milo.

He smiled back and replied, “I’m Milo Trussman, and me too. Um, I’m ready for a break, do you want some hot cocoa?”

I hesitated. This was my chance if I wanted to get to know more about him and this store. “Hot cocoa? What are you, ten?” I smiled and quickly added, “Yes, of course I’ll have hot cocoa, I hate coffee.” Milo smiled at me and I followed him down a flight of stairs to the little coffee cart Sophie and I had found. I ordered a salted caramel hot cocoa and Milo and I walked to a little corner fireplace and sat down in some comfy armchairs. I decided just to go for it. “So Milo, what’s your story?”

He paused, shifting in his chair, took a sip of his cocoa, and looked at me. “I’m 28, graduated from a small community college up north with a business degree, and when my dad opened this shop, my brother and I wanted to move here to run it. He has a couple of other stores, but New York City had a draw that none of the others had. There’s just so much more here to experience than some of the smaller towns that have our stores. I guess that’s the great thing about our dad branching out so much. We had our choice of where we wanted to be. I haven’t had a very exciting life really. A lot of working.” He stopped and shot me a quizzical look. “Wow. I’m generally not so chatty with strangers. Did you slip something in my cocoa?”

“Haha, no. I’m not normally talkative either.” I squirmed in my seat and drank some cocoa, staring into the fireplace. I wanted to know about him, but I hesitated to spill my guts to him.

“Well…okay. Now you know more about me than anyone in New York other than my brother. Spill it. It’s only fair.” He sat back and waited for me to reciprocate the information download.

I stiffened, but it was unfair of me to expect him to tell me all about himself without at least giving him a peek of my life. So I cleared my throat and started. “I’m 25, and I moved here to get away from my tiny little town. It was so boring. I needed to find some excitement, make my own path. I’m also from upstate and graduated from a community college with an accounting degree. I work for a firm downtown. Reading is how I escape the extremely boring life I lead, which is how I ended up here in your store last weekend.”

“Accounting, huh? No wonder you read so much.”

I smiled. We sat quietly for a minute, watching the fire and analyzing each other’s stories. I wanted to know more, but I didn’t want to pry or seem disrespectful. But again, I brazenly dove into interrogation territory.

“So what is your dad like?” I watched him, trying to gauge a response. He had an excellent poker face. I couldn’t tell if I overstepped my bounds, and I waited expectantly for him to speak. He finally looked at me and smiled.

“Ah, Theo Trussman. He’s always been a great dad, a great man. He loves his business….a lot. He’s quirky, some might say eccentric. He’ll be here in a few weeks, actually. He’s going to come check on the store and hang out with us for a couple of months. It’ll be nice, we miss him.” He seemed to get a little reminiscent at that point, and I could see the love for his father right there on his face.

I pushed the boundaries even more, “What about your mom?”

Milo’s face dropped and he stared at his feet. I thought that maybe he’d get up and walk away, hating me for digging into his personal life, but he surprised me by answering. His voice dropped as he said, “She died in child birth a couple of years after I was born. I was supposed to have another sibling, but the baby didn’t survive either. That’s about the time dad opened the bookstore. From what I can tell, he dumped his heart and soul into raising us and managing the store, trying to drown out the pain of losing my mom and a child all at once. Vin and I pretty much grew up in the book store; did our homework there, learned everything about business and books from my dad. He doted on us and that store. I think when we went to high school, dad started feeling lonely and that’s when he started branching out and turned Trussman’s into a franchise. He has four now, all owned and operated by relatives, two by uncles, one by my dad, and this one by my brother and me.” He took a deep breath in and slowly pushed it out, and I could almost see him releasing the sadness in his exhale. He perked up a little, straightened his back and smiled at me. “Well, that’s about enough of that for today. I…I’m not sure why but it’s been very easy opening up to you. I hope we’ll be good friends.”

“I hope so too. I feel surprisingly comfortable too. It’s so strange. But you’re right, enough deep thought for today.”

He stood and tossed his empty cup into a nearby trash can. “Come on, let me show you some books I think you’ll like, judging from that stack you dumped all over the floor.”

“Hey! It’s just as much your fault! You ran into me too!” We laughed and after I ditched my empty cocoa cup, we walked around the store for a while. We kept the conversation light, and by the time I was ready to leave-a couple of hours later-we had built a good foundation for a great friendship.

I said goodbye to Milo as he returned to his inventory and I headed toward the checkout with my books. When I got there, I saw Sophie sitting at a barstool at the far end of the checkout counter, obviously flirting with Vin. I walked up next to her and gave her a little nudge in the ribs. “Hey, you ready, lovebird?”

Sophie’s face turned red, and she giggled as she said goodbye to Vin. He rang out my purchases, glancing back at Sophie the whole time. I dragged Sophie away from the counter and we headed back to my apartment.

“Lil, I’m definitely spending the night at your apartment, you have to tell me what you were up to. We saw you walking around with Milo.” Lily’s cheeks were still rosy, and I doubted it had to do with the snow falling around us.

I smiled, but set her straight. “I think I have made a great friend in Milo, Sophie. He was so easy to talk to. Let’s order a pizza, and we can talk.”

Sophie took out her cell phone and ordered the pizza as we walked. I thought about my afternoon in the book store and the new friend I had made. I don’t know why it was so easy to become friends with him, and I’m glad we broke the ice because who knew that we would hit it off so well? I couldn’t wait to go back and talk with Milo again. 

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If you want to move on, here's Part 5

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Editing Etiquette

Today I'm going to explain one of my pet peeves. Besides being a spelling nut, I hate when words are misused. I hate when the wrong form of the word is used, because I immediately read it in my head as the way that it's spelled and it's distracting to the story.

So I'm just going to make a list of words and the right way to use them. 

they're- contraction for 'they are' (They're in the yard.)

their- possessive pronoun (Their car is in the shop.)

there- adverb specifying a place (It's over there.)

your-possessive pronoun (It's your cookie.)

you're- contraction for 'you are' (You're next in line.)

to- a preposition (We're going to the mall.)

too- meaning 'also' (We're going too.)

two- the number (We have two cats.)

principle- meaning 'basic truth or law' (An upstanding citizen has good principles.)

principal- person in charge of a school (The principal called my parents.)

than- conjunction used to compare (One is better than the other.)

then- adverb denoting time (Just then, there was a knock at the door.)

lie- to recline or rest on a surface (I need to lie down.)

lay- transitive verb, to put or place (The book lay on the table.)

accept- to receive (I can't accept such an expensive gift.)

except- preposition meaning 'excluding' (Everyone except my brother was at dinner.)

These are just the main ones, but I'm sure there are more. Some of these are difficult to mess up, but some are easy to confuse. It just takes practice and studying to get the hang of using words properly.

On a side note, it might be nice to learn the basics so you don't drive your editor insane. Generally, editors are pretty nutty about grammar, spelling and word use, so it might save them some grief if you at least know the difference between 'there' and 'their'.

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