by Penny Freeman | Apr 2, 2013 | Editor's Notes
Years ago, I had a coworker who loved to cross stitch as do I. Well I did, but that’s not really the point here. She took her stitching projects with her everywhere. I mean literally everywhere. If she just found a quick 15 minutes, she would pull it out of her...
by Penny Freeman | Mar 25, 2013 | Editor's Notes, Writing
In last week’s blog post, Editor Elizabeth Gilliland introduced some basic dos and don’ts of writing conversation. This week, we’re going to crank it up a notch. A surely as every writer has their favorite way of tagging dialog (their own voice), every editor has a...
by Penny Freeman | Mar 18, 2013 | Editor's Notes, Writing
The Dos and Don’ts of Dialogue I’m going to give you an assignment. Go eavesdrop on somebody: a group of teenagers, a couple on a first date, a mother and daughter having a fight. Creepy, I know, but really listen to the way that they relate to each other. Pay...
by Penny Freeman | Mar 11, 2013 | Editor's Notes
How does your story open? One of the most challenging aspects of writing a book is executing the perfect hook, a beginning that will instantly engage your reader and imbed a raging curiosity that must be satiated. Every hook is different; every story starts in a...
by Penny Freeman | Mar 5, 2013 | Editor's Notes
You have arrived. No more office hours, no more dress code, no office politics, no commuter traffic nightmares. You are the boss. You decide what you’ll work on and when you’ll do it. You have joined the ranks of the work-from-home professional. Once you’ve gotten...
by Penny Freeman | Feb 28, 2013 | Editor's Notes, Submission Guidelines
Hi. I’m Jessica, your friendly neighborhood editorial assistant, and I’m here to help you get your manuscript out of our discard pile and on its way to becoming a Xchyler-certified novel! I started out at Xchyler as a slush-pile reader; that is, I was (and still am)...
