Welcome to the June round-up! We’ve done half of 2020. To be honest, June felt like a very long month. But things are, at the moment, looking up. My mum has finished her radiotherapy treatment, I’ve got a whole heap of bookings for the next few months, and the weather can be described as moderately warm rather than absolutely baking. Lockdown restrictions may be easing but I won’t be rushing to the pub or the hairdresser any time soon (I don’t think my hair has ever been this long before).

What I’ve been working on

It is a relief to be able to say that my workload is continuing to build back up. June was a busy month but I was fortunate to work with some lovely authors. I finished the edit of the sci-fi thriller I started in May. It was a heavy edit encompassing a lot of point of view tweaks, and I’m really quite pleased with the final result. It was a total change of mindset when I moved on to the proofread of an accomplished mystery thriller. The copy-edit of an adult dystopian epic will take me into July, as will the copy-edit of a fantasy short-story collection. In more good news, publisher work seems to be starting to trickle back in – I’ve got the proofread of a YA fantasy romance to keep me very busy.

Professional development

I surprised myself by managing to fit in some training in June. I took Louise Harnby’s course How to Write the Perfect Fiction Editorial Report. It provides a lot of valuable information and advice, and I’m looking forward to putting it into practice for my future copy-editing commissions.

What I’ve been reading

M. B. Vincent’s A Death in the Woods was my companion for the last of my waits in a hospital car park. It’s the sequel to Jess Castle and the Eyeballs of Death (a much more intriguing title, that). I don’t think it’s going to win any awards for originality, but there are times in life when you don’t necessarily need that. It’s a comfort blanket of a book (despite the serial killer). It’s funny and the characters are likeable, and the series deserves more attention than it seems to be getting.

Looking ahead

After the success of the last meeting, I’ll be hosting another Zoom catch-up for the West Surrey and North Hampshire Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading local group.