I wasn’t at the SfEP’s conference this year, unfortunately, but I had plenty of other things to keep me occupied in September. I have been working my way through the SfEP’s Introduction to Fiction Editing course, on and off, since May and I managed to complete it this month. It’s a lot more in-depth and complex than the course title may suggest; I’m sure it will have a positive effect on my editing practice. The section on critiques and their structure should be particularly useful.

What I’ve been working on

I finished off the two proofreads I started in August: a non-fiction book on cricket and a novel about bereavement. I followed this with the proofread, for a publisher, of a poetry collection. Poetry is not something I have edited before, so this was a great experience – I love being able to work on a wide range of texts. The last project of September was a collection of stories about British-Indian women. It was a fascinating glimpse into the lives of some truly remarkable people.

What I read for fun

I had a week or so off for my birthday (more on that later), which meant that I had a bit more time for for-fun reading than usual. I pre-ordered the collector’s edition of Leigh Bardugo’s Crooked Kingdom some time ago, and it arrived at the beginning of the month. It’s almost as beautiful as the collector’s edition of Six of Crows. And it gave me an opportunity to use the Boomerang app for the first time. Enjoy:

I’ve had the novella All Systems Red by Martha Wells on my wish list for a while. It was the first book I downloaded onto the Kindle Paperwhite I got as a present for my birthday. Murderbot is a brilliantly written character: introverted, humane, dispassionate and funny. I whizzed through it in a couple of hours and then chose Vivian Shaw’s Strange Practice as my next read. The characterisation throughout could be stronger but I enjoyed it for what it was.

Birthday business

Afternoon tea at Audleys Wood.

I managed to make my birthday celebrations last a couple of weeks. The first treat was afternoon tea at Audleys Wood Hotel in Alton with one of my favourite editor colleagues. I do enjoy posh sarnies and tiny cakes. I had a lovely, chilled birthday at home and then headed up to Yorkshire for a few days away. I stayed in Harrogate, which is a beautiful place. Somehow I had failed to realise the UCI Road World Championships (cycling) would be taking over the area; lots of roads were closed, it was very busy, and there were bikes – almost literally – everywhere. But I did manage to enjoy a good wander round the town and visit the legendary Bettys tea room. There was an Italian restaurant joined to our hotel, and the food there was absolutely stunning.

The local group

Between my birthday and going to Harrogate, I held a lunch meeting of the West Surrey and North Hampshire local group. The topic for discussion was marketing and looking for work, and as usual the group members delivered some great insights and advice. The next meeting will be in November, and we’ll be talking about how to make the most of our professional websites.