I think I have discovered a new personal hero – Ellen Jovin, a published grammar and language specialist in the US, decided to do something deceptively simple. She packed up some reference books, a folding chair and table, and a hand-drawn sign [ read more ]

Is anyone else bereft at the thought of losing WHSmith from the high street (https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-14380565/WHSmith-shut-branches-new-owner-fears-major-job-losses.html)?

Yes, they have started to look a little tired lately, and nobody would ever think of launching such a business now, but I will sincerely [ read more ]

Urrrrrggghhhh …. January.

I envy animals that can simply hibernate through winter, escaping the relentlessly dull, grey, bone-chillingly damp weather.

Every year, I sigh at the sight of Easter eggs on the shelves from January 2, and the uncomfortably long silence from clients who [ read more ]

I usually don’t bother with New Year resolutions, as I find myself making a new resolution at least once a week throughout the year about something, before gradually backsliding into my usual, shameful, weak-willed routine.

“Stop eating between meals”
(I’m nibbling cheese and crackers [ read more ]

Blimey – it’s nearly Christmas, and I haven’t written anything for a whole month … how on earth did that happen?

Well it’s not something that I or any other freelancer am likely to regret, for the simple reason that I’ve had plenty [ read more ]

My business planning approach is woeful – many of the projects I work on are so prone to slippage or re-allocation that I have given up planning further than a week ahead. Spending time analysing work rates on a spreadsheet does not [ read more ]

Have you encountered a scholarly publishing organization or product that you thought was particularly impressive and demonstrated outstanding quality, creativity and innovation? If so, then you can nominate them for an EPIC Award, a new programme launched by the Society for Scholarly [ read more ]

One for the book nerds – check out this little nugget from ‘CMOS Shop Talk’, comparing and contrasting editorial style used in book publishing in the 1700s and modern Chicago style, using Fielding’s ‘The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling’ as an [ read more ]

June Casagrande’s ‘Grammar Underground’ is always a good place for finding clear, well-explained posts on the correct usage of grammar and idiom, and as someone who always doubts their own ability to give advice to others about grammar, I was tickled by [ read more ]

I love language and the way in which we use words.

I also love the sea, and everything in it and on it.

I grew up a few miles from Portsmouth on the south coast of England, which is steeped in royal naval history [ read more ]