This year has delivered another blow. It had been clear for a while that Sally was feeling her age – and the combined effects of multiple health issues. She was no longer enjoying life, and with kidney failure on the horizon, we had to say goodbye. She was seventeen years old (at least – she was a rescue and she was no younger than three when we adopted her). Here she is (the collie cross on the left) with the rest of my silly gang. The house is so quiet without her and her happy tip-taps.

What I’ve been working on

July was a busy month for work. I finished my copy-edit of an adult post-apocalyptic epic and the proofread of a young adult fantasy romance. The proofread was for a publishing client, and I was touched that the author took the time to request they send me her thanks for my work.

I moved on to the copy-edit of a beautiful collection of short stories. Speculative fiction is my favourite genre when I read for fun, and these stories were excellently constructed and told. I was lucky to follow that work with the copy-edit of a fantasy novel that had some of the best point-of-view work I have read from an indie author. I wrapped up the month with the complicated proofread of a semi-autobiographical novel set predominantly in Wales.

On the blog

I published a long article on how to punctuate dialogue in fiction. The idea behind this post is to support my editorial reports (and it will probably help my critiques, too). It is an easily accessible resource for my clients to consult, and it goes into much more detail than I would be able to provide in each report I write. I find that the punctuation in and around dialogue is one of the things I regularly have to address when I copy-edit, and proofread; hopefully the article will be of help to writers who find punctuating speech difficult or a bit confusing. My aim is to produce a series of ‘fiction essentials’ posts.

What I’ve been reading

I wanted to spend some time hanging out with Martha Wells’ Murderbot, so I read Artificial Condition and thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially appreciated the introduction of ART – it takes great skill to construct a compelling character who happens to be a transport ship.

I’m in the middle (roughly) of reading Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams. It’s a complex novel – in turns funny and heartbreaking, and at times frustrating. On a technical level, though, I love how the author has integrated social media into the storytelling. It works brilliantly. I’m also reading The Black Hawks by David Wragg. I nearly didn’t get past the first few pages – in which the main character poddles about with a hangover and has breakfast – but I’m glad I did. It has an interesting ensemble cast, a likeable central character, and plenty of action.

Looking ahead

I am expecting August to be a fairly quiet month. I have a book to review for the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading, and I am looking forward to taking some time off.