Big news for September: paper proofreads are back. It will be lovely to be take a break from working on-screen, and it will be good to get back to the simplicity of BSI marks. Now I just need to find a local post office that has reliable opening hours and fairly short queues…

What I’ve been working on

I had two projects to finish off from August: the copy-edit of the YA fantasy epic and the critique report for the historical fiction. My next project was the copy-edit of a memoir (I seem to be in the middle of a run of these from a publisher client). Then I moved on to the copy-edit of a novel that is the sequel to a book I worked on earlier in the year. It’s always a pleasure to work with returning clients, and to see how their stories are developing. September concluded with the copy-edit of the latest instalment in a sprawling historical saga.

Goodbye to academic editing

I haven’t taken on academic work in some time. I have been focusing my business on fiction editing, and that move seems to be paying off. I am – at the time of writing – booked up until January 2021. In light of that, I decided it was time to give up my approved proofreader status with Royal Holloway, University of London. It wasn’t fair to the students for me to keep my name on the list when I am highly unlikely to be available at short notice – and when, to be honest, I don’t particularly enjoy that sort of work. I will continue to take on memoirs and other ‘light’ non-fiction books from my publisher clients, but otherwise I will exclusively work on fiction.

What I’ve been reading

The Thursday Murder Club was one of the big releases in September, and I loved it. I read the whole thing in two days. I lent my copy to my mum, and she read the whole thing in two days. That’s a big compliment – she’s had my copy of The Adventures of Maud West for about six months now. Richard Osman has written a witty and engaging murder mystery, with some stand-out characters and moments of great pathos. I’ve started reading Antonia Hodgson’s The Silver Collar, and I am enjoying being back in Thomas Hawkins’ world. Hodgson is already delivering a powerhouse example of absorbing first-person narrative style.