In addition to all the editing tools I shared on my blog this week (www.righttouchediting.com/2025/09/11/s...), I've got a collection of of tools created by editors for editors: docs.google.com/spreadsheets.... Check 'em out! #AmEditing

@chicagomanual.bsky.social Are you doing OK? Any ETA on fixing whatever's gone wrong? *tries to soothe the hyperventilating list of deadlines*

Here's Alabaster, #StetPet editorial assistant of Morocco editor @geckoedit.com. "Alabaster's favorite spot in summer is on the deck, on this comfy lounger. That is, when he hasn't spent the day fishing. As long as I keep him supplied with treats and scritches, he's content to leave me to work."

My Bluesky account is becoming an "airing my gripes with M-W" account. I do like @merriam-webster.com, I swear. It's my favorite dictionary. My frustration is more with the inconsistencies of English as it is used than with the people working so hard to descriptively record it. #AmEditing

@merriam-webster.com whyyyy? #AmEditing

No one really cares about the Oxford comma. But... @chicagomanual.bsky.social and @merriam-webster.com, the "begs the question" question begs the question: Does this mean war? Is "begs the question" OK for "invites the question?" Whose side are you on? #PedanticNonsense #AmEditing

I've woken up in a very mentor-y kind of mood. So: If you're a fiction editor at the start of your career, or you're stuck on something editing-related, how can I help? I'm great at answering questions on: - Word styling - client management - CPD - efficiency - SPaG #AskMeAnything #AmEditing

I *totally* helped this happen.

I lived in Mauritius in the nineties, when there was a werewolf scare. The police put a notice in the newspaper saying "The werewolf does not exist, but if you see it, please report it..."

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 17387: The world is filled with writing advice. Some of it is personal, some of it is fairly universal. But advice is only ever advice: all authors are different. And if a method doesn't work for you, or get you the results you need, you don't have to follow it.

Genuinely was surprised that Missing White Woman won the Thriller Award for Best Mystery! A huge thank you to ITV, Tosca, Jean, and all the judges. Congrats to all winners and nominees! Bio has been updated.

Come join me on July 14 for some real story nerd stuff – there will be charts and spreadsheets and templates! #AmEditing

Of the many things I resent about the last decade, toward the top of the list is the way my jaw clenches whenever I think of Anne Frank's "I still believe that people are really good at heart."

The unique millennial slow-boiling panic at never having done nuclear bomb drills and being too poor (and disillusioned) thanks to the myriad of economy-crashing and totally avoidable yet unprecedented events to be preppers. #WhatHasHeDoneNow

Fluffy cat tummies. Let's go! #Catsky

My latest @theguardian.com Books cartoon

Who'd have thought that in the twenty-first century we'd excitedly volunteer—even pay—to put ourselves in virtual panopticons to improve our own productivity? #AmCoworking #Zoom #VirtualCoworking #CapitalistDystopia

This is why you don't get invited to parties, M-W. Why is one closed and the other open?

Just looked up whether "butt cheeks" is an open or closed compound because this is my professional, grown-up job. #AmEditing

The two rules that I wish I could impose on authors (and people upstream from me, like acquisitions and developmental editors) are two sides of the same coin: 1. The author should finish writing before copyediting begins. 2. The author should stop writing and rewriting after copyediting starts.

Any second now, a handyman is going to come and caulk my deck. Hard to get any work done with distractions like that. #AmTryingToEdit

Sorry I'm late for work. My cat wanted to hold my hand. #StetPet

Whoever edited the continuity fever dream/nightmare that is Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Memory, you are a god of editing and I hope you've recovered. My brain hurts but I'm here for the ride. #AmReading 📚💙

I've caught the holey trinity of errors today and it's not even lunch time yet. shit ➡ shirt arse ➡ ass (specifically a donkey) backside ➡ back side #AmEditing

I considered not fixing my own typo in some alt text I was writing just to bring a bit of joy to the client's day. "Long-sleeved shit" #AmEditing #AmWriting #AltText

Congratulations to Deepa Bhasthi and Banu Mushtaq, winners of this year’s International Booker Prize. We’re hugely honoured to publish HEART LAMP. Our deepest thanks to the judges and, indeed, to all of you who have read and loved this extraordinary collection.

I'm very excited to share this...for the past couple of months, I've been working on a Radio documentary about Doctor Who, the LGBTQ+ Community, and Wales. 📷 BBC Radio Wales: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... * Monday at 18:30 * Tuesday at 06:31 * Sunday at 19:00

It's not smut if you haven't used the words "feral" and "pistoning". #AmEditing

I don't 'refuse to use' AI, I just don't use AI; in the same way that I don't shoplift, or plagiarise other people's books - it requires no effort of will, it's just not something I would think of doing

Editor struggle #5433: Managing tenses and timelines when editing time travel stories. Ooer, my brane. #AmEditing #ScienceFiction

Mayday = HELP ME May Day = Help me... pick these flowers

7 basic things every professionally trained proofreader should be fixing before they dive into the manuscript: - two spaces to one - straights to curlies - ^l to ^p - inconsistent . . . - manual tabs - spaces around dashes - missing, wrong, and mixed ' ' and " " #AmEditing #HireAProfessional

Have you given your cat an ice cube today? #Catsky 🐈

I'm going to need therapy to process the relentless and exquisite onslaught of all the feels from this manuscript I'm proofreading. #amediting

I have no interest in that TERF who should rot in her moldy castle & leave people alone. And by now, anyone who's willingly signed on to work with her knows exactly what they're supporting. Shame on them. I certainly won't be watching whatever dreck she has hurked up.

People ask me what tech I use to create my meticulously structured novels. Well, here, for example is the tech behind Authority.

I will not get into it here bc social media is where nuance goes to die. But I think there's room to both be disappointed in Murderbot casting *and* to recognize that nonbinary folks (like me) can look any damn way we want and I wish cis ppl would stop saying we "present" as one thing or another.

Alabaster wants to know if you've completed the Cold Harbor file yet. #Catsky #Severance #Management #Supervisor

This thread is both hilarious and horrifying. One might even say it is full of... pain.

What are you working on? I'm gleefully rummaging through primary sources from the early 1900s to verify usage during a proofread of a historical novel that has me on the edge of my seat. #AmEditing #BestJobEver 📚💙

Catching zeroes that should be Os is one of my favorite things. And this is also why Times New Roman is not ideal for proofreading. #AmEditing #CatchOfTheDay

When you're so dedicated to your proofread of a book about the Camino that you walk part of the Camino halfway through the edit. This might be my most amazing #Stetwalk so far. #AmEditing

Last night a production editor at a big five publisher complimented me on my commenting style. So here are some tips! I'm rushing this out while boarding a plane so please forgive typos. #amediting #authors #writing #publishing

I almost missed #Caturday

It's Saturday! But - I've submitted a proofread of a vampire romance - I've done a first quick round (for word stacks, hyphen ladders, and bad breaks) of a sci-fi post-layout proofread - I'm onboarding my next proofread, of a combo litfic/historical novel - I went for a walk! #amediting #stetwalk

E.OLIPHANT loses the intellectual Hunger Games An autistic lesbian falls victim to a near-future post-capitalist hellscape and fails to bring down the oligarchy & the patriarchy #unhingedpit #A #spec

To be fair, it's been stuck in my head on repeat since the Grammys.

I was out on the balcony, reading The Naturalist Society, and a starling (Sturnus unicolor) landed next to me and went on to mimic every single bird within hearing range, even the chickens next door. I think it was teasing my cats. This is the first time I've noticed it. 1/ #AmReading 💙📚