What I Want

I want to be an editor. I want to be an editor very, very much.

I want to be an editor because I love words. Some people love art, or movies, or music, or animals, but I love words.

I love words more than I love stories, or libraries, or the smell of old books. What would they be without words? A book is no book without its story, and a good story –whether news or fiction – is nothing without the right words. Words describe and explain, praise and hurt, show love and show pain. Words have power.

I love beautiful words that mean beautiful, whimsical, tragic things. Quixotic. Nyctophilia. Heliophilia. Acatalepsy. Metanoia. Aubade. 

My spell-checker doesn't even know these words, but I do, and I love them.

I love the things we do with words. Poetry. Music. Conversation. Journalism. Even the way typography constantly improves the way words look. And, of course, I like to read and to write. I read epic fantasies and angst-ridden teen novels. I write science fiction and romantic dramas. I break grammar rules. I use comma splices. I love whimsical, experimental poetry where almost nothing makes sense at first glance. These things make me love words more. They make me love to play with them.

But none of these would be worth a thing without the right, beautiful, captivating words.

And although I like to string words together that I hope are right, to make a story I hope is good, I love reading other people's words more. I love editing.

I love growing to understand the choices behind each sentence and fixing them when they don't match up to their purpose. I love reading these stories and connecting-- at a deep, creative level-- with the authors, then helping them find the right words, the right combinations, the right punctuation, format and style, to make it exactly what they want.

I love the creativity. The creation. The challenge.

A perfectly written book may be captivating, but for me it's also boring. Give me a brilliant plot marred with rapid point-of-view switches, pathetic grammar and continuity errors that make you cringe. Give me news stories with terrible spelling and facts that have to be triple-checked and checked again. I love projects I can tear to pieces and rebuild twice as well. I like interpreting faults in each text and turning them into strengths, working with writers, bloggers and creators to make their work the best it can be.

I can break things down to find their core. I can pick out the poignant moments that make a scene glimmer, rise, or fall. Most of all, I can hear the voice. I can hear the way a story halts and stutters and flows. A wonderful story is wonderful, but a wonderfully written story is beautiful.

I'm creative, but practical. Critical, but constructive. Determined and helpful. Insightful and inquisitive. I understand the problems of both readers and writers because I am both. And though I may be a reader at heart, I am an editor by nature, and I can't imagine a single other thing I want to do for the rest of my life.

I am looking for new opportunities in the Editing and Publishing because this is what I want to do. I want to know the industry inside and out. I want to learn the best way to use every word and how to make each one count the most for its writer. How to use punctuation and grammar and style for the absolute best result, and understand when breaking those very rules benefits the writer -- and their readers-- more than they detract from the text itself.

I've spent the last few years doing freelance editing work for independent publishers, writers, bloggers and students. Throughout it all, no bad story, terrible grammar or difficult client -- no challenge at all -- has turned me away from the field.

This is what I want to do.

Kicking A Cold, Weetzie Style

How I kicked my cold's ass before it even started; in the hippie-dippy way.

I get sick a lot. I mean A. Lot.
In my last year of substitute teaching, I literally got sick every two weeks. Cold, Flu, Bronchitis, Cold, Head Cold, Flu, Strep, Cold.  It was ridiculous.

But I've always fought my illness-induced misery with bottles and bottles of cold and flu medicine. While my beau has always chastised me for it, I've always been more focused on feeling okay than getting better.

But no more.
Due to a possible work opportunity (finally!) and family health issues, me getting sick right now is NOT an option.
Enter my sister at a family get-together this past weekend, and my mom's statement "Oh, she's just got allergies."  Not.
Within 24 hours I was practically feeding her cold medicines and nasal sprays, all while breathing in all her plague germs at night in my parents' 60 degree household.

Come Sunday morning, my throat hurt and my head ached. Damn. Damn. Damn. Among my other stresses, as I said, getting a cold was not an option.


So I hit up the hippie store.
A handful of packets of Emergen-Cs, Echinacea Root, Echinacea Herb, Elder Berry, and Ginger Soother, and I was ready to go. To this arsenal I added honey, white vinegar and "hot honey".

My battle plan:

Three Cups of Cold-Fighting Tea per day.
Morning & Night= Echinacea Root + Elder Berry + Boiling Water + Honey
Afternoons= Echinacea Herb + Elder Berry + Boiling Water + Honey

2-3 Emergen-C drinks per day.

Gargle White Vinegar twice a day (morning & night)

Swallow Hot Honey 3-5 times per day

One Ginger Soother on my worst day (day three) and again on forth & fifth day, just in case.

I also cut out a chunk of my sugar, dairy & caffeine intake, junk food, and tried to drink mostly water, tea, and pure fruit juice. I also got a lot of exercise, but that wasn't intentional, though I'm sure it helped.


I started this on the afternoon of my first day of symptoms.
On my second day, I felt worse. A cold was definitely coming.
On my third day, I felt much worse.

Then, on my forth day, I felt much better. Better than even the first day!

Considering my illnesses always last between one and three weeks, this was a huge improvement and I felt crazy successful. Plus everything had been done naturally, with a steady schedule of immune-boosters, antioxidants, and bacterial killers!
How very Weetzie!

So, having told of  my adventure, you're welcome to stop reading, but I'll list what I used and why for each ingredient beyond the jump.

Ze Inspiration

I don't think I've ever posted this before, so it's important for me to get it done.

Everyone creative, everyone who wants life and love and fun (and success), should see this.

Invocation
by Ze Frank

Beautiful Blogs :: carry me away

"always carried away"

http://mademoiselledeva.blogspot.com/

A beautiful blog of snippets.

Photos (I assume from the internet)

Quotes

And simple blog entries.

Sometimes about life, love, work, or Mademoiselle Deva's personal life.

Beautiful images.

Often equally beautiful words.

I love that this blog doesn't require a lot of commitment or reading. 

Flip through this scrapbook-esque collection of beauty and life.

(With several different formats to choose from)

♥ I am LOVE.

Let's love more.

I love LOVE.

I need love.

I breathe love.

I am LOVE.

I am realistic.

I expect miracles.

I believe in magic.

It's easy to get lost, 

and easy to become enamored.

Perfect for a daily dose of inspiration.

Finding Light when it's Dark Inside

sit outside in the sunshine, even on a cold day. close your eyes and let the sun soak into your skin.
sip hot tea by the window. don't think about yourself, just watch the world outside. watch the sky. watch the trees.
go for a walk when it's bright out. think of songs you love and pretend there's nothing else in the world. hum.
buy flowers for your bedroom. make your living room smell like pumpkin or apple spice or cinnamon in the fall. breathe. relax.
drink iced hibiscus green tea with honey. lie on the floor and watch sunlight on the walls. daydream.
light candles in the darkness and breathe in their warmth. remember quiet times of calmness and peace and simple joy.
lie on the carpet or bed and listen to quiet, beautiful music. let it seep into you and wash the rest of the world away.
eat chicken soup or chinese dumplings. let the heat and flavor roll through you. live in the moment of your taste and savor it.
dance to music that makes you feel alive. close your eyes and see the light of the music pulse as your body moves.
remember the sun. remember the light. remember that things always get better. not right away, but eventually.
find your light. hold on to it. don't let go.

Beauty Treat

Today feels like a cupcake day, doesn't it?

I'm kind of dying to try making these rainbow cupcakes, just so pretty and wonderful.Vanilla cupcakes just sound like such an awesome idea right now!

But...I'm too lazy to bake.

So someone should make some for me...

Beautiful Little Things

I just found the most amazing little e-shop.

Wish Upon A Star (or Space Pearls, I'm not sure which is the right name) is an adorable online shop selling wonderfully beautiful necklaces, lockets earrings, rings, and other jewelry-like lovelies.

I particularly like this Briar Rose ring, as well as the Steampunk charm, Beauty & The Beast rose Vile, and all the adorable Harry Potter and Wonderland pieces.

Everything is so pretty and even the prices are good overall.

(We'll just pretend the Twi****t stuff isn't actually there..>.>....)

I'm totally buying myself a few odds and ends after the christmas season is over and i have some money again....

Kidnapped, no, but yet...

Watching: Castle

Ingesting: Cinnamon & Ginger tea

Reading: On Writing :: Stephen King

I've been away for quite a while, and holy shit how much better my life is now, I can't even explain it.
I'm out of the horrible house situation I was stuck in, I'm completely out of the obnoxiously persistent past issues that were bringing down my life, I have a job (crappy, but money-producing), and things are slowly but surely seeming to grow up and get set!

The biggest thing that will be of substance to this blog is that I am currently (just started) writing a novel this month. Yup, just this month. In the style of NaNoWriMo, I am spending the entire month of October writing the first draft of a novel from start to finish.
This means I have to write 1,613 words every day to get to my goal of 50,000 by the end. *deep breath* this is monumental and possibly impossible.
I was doing okay at first, not happy with what was coming out all the time, but determined to keep going and fix things later, but then some unpleasant computer failure Saturday night dropped me back about a thousand words, and now I'm still about two thousand behind.

But I will continue onward!


If at all interested in my progress (which I doubt anyone is, but you never know), I'll mostly be putting status updates on Twitter when they're interesting. And I'll possibly leave clips and phrases on here when I'm particularly proud or interested in them.
Also, I'm thinking about signing up for the official NaNoWriMo next month, if I don't go crazy doing it this month, so if anyone's interested in being writing/support buddies through it, let me know!


Anyway, just thought I'd stop in, say hello, and wish myself luck ^-^

<3

Nikki in the Sun

Today's HTBH accomplishment: "Go out in the backyard or park on a sunny day and lay down on the grass and watch the sky. "


From an early morning skate to the International Festival on campus to an impromptu visit from my Dad which led to ceviche tacos, a used bookstore, and a Korean BBQ buffet, today was a good day.

My dad continues to bother me about working harder towards being a writer. Did you know that once you've received payment for three pieces of work (I assume literary pieces) you can officially consider yourself a writer? I've been considering a MFA program in creative writing, but I rarely feel like a writer any more, and I'm really sick of school, so I'm not sure I want to bother.


But now, occasionally, you'll see little things like this here, my short writing practices:

For her birthday, Nikki wanted a pony. She wanted a black pony, a pink electric scooter, and a pair of blue and purple Riedell quad roller skates.
On her birthday, she got a yellow sundress Barbie with pink sandals named Jenna.
Nikki smiled thankfully, then stomped around the house, ripping her three photocopied wish lists off of their Bike Rally magnets.
With her her hopes balled up in the trash, she grabbed a bottle of paint and a shallow glass, and trudged up the stairs to dye Jenna's hair blue.


Reason? None. Just a short bit of nothing to get me back into the habit of writing.

For the record, Korean cinnamon tea is one of the most delicious things in the whole world.
I also want to get dark henna tattoos every day. I love them.

<3

How to Be Happy, Draft 1

Run. Go out in the backyard or park on a sunny day and lay down on the grass and watch the sky. Eat something with your hands. Listen to the Spice Girls. Call your best friend. Cook something new and exotic and delicious. Play with animals. Drink champagne (with maraschino cherries) out of plastic cups while picnicking on your porch. Drink sparkling grape juice out of champagne glasses.

Learn to say 'I Love You' in a new language. Discover a new favorite actor and spend a month watching all their movies or tv shows with friends. Grow flowers on your windowsill. Open all the windows, play music, and start your spring cleaning. Listen to poetry by Shel Silverstein. Take a multi-vitamin for two weeks, see you feel any different/healthier. Learn to say "I want to play" in a new language. Smile. Go on a picnic with your partner and/or pet, take a blanket, something to play with, and a basket/cooler with Chicken Salad, Tomato Salad, Sparkling Grape Juice/Apple Cider, and "mushy" Hummus with veggies and pita bread. Learn to say I Miss You in a new language. Buy a small, inexpensive present for your partner/spouse/best
friend. Play scrabble on the floor with friends while listening to Kate Nash and The Postal Service. Make hot tea and drink it by the window.



Write a story about someone falling in love.





Play!

Re-read a book from your childhood. Watch anything with Carey Grant or Marilyn Monroe. Go out for sushi and order one expensive thing you've always wanted to try. Go swimming. Go for a bike ride. Learn how to cook your favorite food. Turn off all the lights and live by candlelight for a day. Dance. Kiss someone. Watch something kick-ass where the good guys win. Tell yourself you are awesome. Eat your favorite candy. Try something different.

Get a haircut. Wear something tacky and bright and crazy and wonderful. Paint your fingernails with rainbows. Go see a free or cheap show. Play tag at the park. Paint all your cheap furniture in bold colors. Pick flowers. Tell someone you like them, just because. Turn fabric into curtains, picnic blankets, table cloths, or sarongs. Learn how to make your favorite drink, and invite everyone over to have one. Call someone you miss. Tell someone you miss -but don't want to miss- that you miss them, in your new language so they don't know you said it. Take a walk. Find a new favorite writer. Find a new favorite coffee shop, restaurant, or park.

Sing.
Laugh.
Love.



To Be Continued...


**ps. all photos were found online (ty stumble) and should link back to original locations upon clicking.