clairecherryedits

Zoom has broadened my horizons and opportunities.

I’ve joined in more events this year than ever. Video conferencing has been the saviour of 2020. I’d done the odd Zoom before but I’ve at least quadrupled my video conferencing experience this year. And I think it’s marvellous. I mean, yeah, Zoom fatigue is a thing, but it’s just such an inclusive technology. IContinue reading “Zoom has broadened my horizons and opportunities.”

What’s your most embarrassing job interview moment?

Most embarrassing job interview moment? 🎺 It’s a toss up between the short musical interlude I performed using my invisible trumpet… “I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but, do de do de do.” I actually got that job so maybe they liked it.😂 ✍️ … And the time I wrote all over aContinue reading “What’s your most embarrassing job interview moment?”

How can an accountability group help me achieve my goals?

I’m going to blow my own trumpet and reflect that, career-wise, 2020 has gone well. 🎺 This is in no small part due to the motivating coaching call I had with Lisa Carlin back in May. As soon as I came off the Zoom, I sent out feelers to a few others in the sameContinue reading “How can an accountability group help me achieve my goals?”

My career path may have changed, but words are still at the heart of it.

Words. Words. Words. 🥰 At 18, I wasn’t ready to move to a city university. I was a country girl. Keele Uni with its rural campus was the ideal solution and offered me the useful bonus of dual honours. I loved English lit and French and I didn’t know which one to pick, so IContinue reading “My career path may have changed, but words are still at the heart of it.”

Why having my own business means so much to me: the story of my husband’s deteriorating eyesight.

Jon’s deteriorating eyesight is, without a doubt, a factor in why I do what I do. But I’d still work with words regardless of his disability. It’s the self-employed working from home bit that’s helpful in our circumstances. Jon is my husband. A force to be reckoned with. A man who defies stereotypes and labels.Continue reading “Why having my own business means so much to me: the story of my husband’s deteriorating eyesight.”

The joy of accidental reading: how libraries are everything.

Accidental reading. Incidental reading. A chance encounter. A Sliding-Doors moment. It’s getting romantic now. Can you relate? 🥰 And it is romantic! You can meet your very own Mr Darcy this way. You can travel the globe! Or, at the very least, you can decide what to have for tea. Accidental reading can happen anywhere:Continue reading “The joy of accidental reading: how libraries are everything.”

What are your best misheard lyrics? Mondegreens and me.

🎵 Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright / Round John Virgin, mother and child.🎵 🤣 Who’s John Virgin? Is he rotund? Is he somehow linked to the Immaculate Conception? Or else he sounds like a snooker player. No, wait, that was John Virgo. Ladies and gentleman, I present to you aContinue reading “What are your best misheard lyrics? Mondegreens and me.”

Why is there no meat in mincemeat? Etymology.

❓ Why is there no meat in mincemeat? 💡 It’s because the word ‘meat’ has undergone a process of semantic change. 🥗 Meat used to mean food in general, not just animal flesh. 🍇🍊 So all of your dried fruit you’ve chucked in your mixture – it’s all food. It’s all minced. It’s no misnomerContinue reading “Why is there no meat in mincemeat? Etymology.”

What’s the last book that made you cry? James Rebanks’s English Pastoral.

📚 I read a book in a day yesterday. It’s been a while since I did that. And why was I so hooked? 🐄 Because it’s James. And because it’s Little Strickland. 😊 I genuinely feel privileged. I bet few people have the opportunity to read a beautiful, raw and moving book about the exactContinue reading “What’s the last book that made you cry? James Rebanks’s English Pastoral.”

Is it loose or lose? And other top proofreading spots.

🔎 Today’s top #proofreading spots from an adventure Bildungsroman. Including loose vs lose, amongst others… ❌ All hell broke lose ➡ loose ✔ ❌ a eighth ➡ an eighth ✔ ❌ hypthesis ➡ hypothesis ✔ 🔎 A lot of people make the lose/loose error, but it’s usually the other way round. I think it’s becauseContinue reading “Is it loose or lose? And other top proofreading spots.”