Today’s blog post is a brief explanation of why a sentence may be incomplete without some additional words. It will also help you figure out how to punctuate dialogue and the difference between “lie” and “lay.” (*Originally coined by the writers of The Simpsons, this delightful word for “acceptable” is now recognized by the dictionary!)…
Author: Therese Arkenberg
Current events, constant values
After a few years away, I’ve started to revive this blog and some of my social media as a place to share writing and editing advice and publishing news. Perhaps I’ll also share some personal updates every now and then, but I view this space as mainly professional. I have other outlets for personal expression….
Booklovers, it’s a great chance to stock up with the Smashwords End of Year Sale
If you have a to-read list of independent and small press authors, or if you’re browsing for reading material to tide you over the last few weeks of the year, there are great opportunities for deals and quick gifts on the ebook website Smashwords. Tens of thousands of books in all genres are discounted between…
What do you mean? A Quick Grammar Guide to Pronoun Referents and Dangling Modifiers
While editing manuscripts, I often suggest revising sentences for more clarity or precision. A common reason is because the original version of the sentence had a “dangling modifier” or an uncertain “pronoun referent.” These terms might seem intimidating, but they don’t have to be. In this post, I’ll offer examples of what modifiers and referents…
The Priority Edit
If you think I’m just going to sweep in here and blog again as if several years haven’t gone by…you’re exactly right. Let’s get to it. (What’s been happening? I’ve been doing a lot of editing work with my head in Word files rather than WordPress. Also living my life, volunteering, spending time with loved…
“Ghostwitch”: two thousand words of terror
This an update I actually should have shared over a month ago, but time got away from me. By which I mean, I misremembered “Ghostwitch’s” publication date in the online Two Thousand Word Terrors anthology as August instead of July, and I also have spent the summer in a fugue of work — editing, of…
Two Thousand Word Terrors TOC announced!
My story “Ghostwitch” is one of the 45 short jolts of horror that will appear weekly on the Rooster Republic website. It’s scheduled to go live July 3rd, but until then, to whet your appetite… Ghostwitch “Mad with grief, it’s said. But I’m not.” She looks up from the cast-iron stove, strangely modern in this…
An excerpt: “What’s going to happen after I’m dead?”
“There’s one thing that’s bothered me.” He felt the camera’s gaze and flushed, knowing those at the window would hear. “Maybe I should ask you to excuse me for saying this…” “You will never have to apologize to me for anything.” “What’s going to happen after I’m dead, when John Kosichev keeps giving the Commonwealth…
New ghost story publication and a Year-End Sale!
I’m excited to announce my short story “Ghostwitch” will be published as a free read on the site of publisher Rooster Republic on a Monday in 2023 – which Monday is yet to be determined, but announcements will be coming out in January and February. And then, you’ll probably want to catch all of the…
Open to new projects!
I visited this blog the other day, probably to get the link to my article “12 Words to (Almost Always) Cut” (which today I’d title something more like “12 Words to (Almost Always) Replace” or “12 Words to Watch Out For,” though with the latter I’d lose the cheeky use of two of those twelve…