editor

Christian Editor Network

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I am now a member of the Christian Editor Network, which connects authors with freelance editors. I found out about the group in May when I attended the Christian Writers Conference in Orange County. There is a stringent “testing” procedure, to verify that editors can perform at a certain high level. Tough tests, but I passed. Now I can advertise on the site for copyediting, substantive editing, and all other editing levels an author may require. I can also advertise my skills as a writing coach or mentor, an endeavor in which I am particularly skilled.

I currently work as a freelance editor for several publishing companies, but the CEN will connect me with individual authors as well as with publishers. I’m looking forward to a long and rewarding relationship with the group.

All writers, nascent and experienced, come one, come all. The doctor is in.

The People You Meet

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I had an amazing interview with a liturgical artist yesterday, George Hoelzeman. I’d introduced myself to him via email a month ago and arranged to interview him for an article for Via Lucis Press, and what an interview. George is an amazing font of knowledge. He can talk knowledgeably about almost any topic for minutes on end, and leave you wanting more.

We spoke about sacred space and about mankind’s search for beauty, about the theology of light and the transformational power of light, and about how a church should call a person to a physical encounter with Christ. All of this is hard to comprehend in this rational society in which we live, but for the people of the Middle Ages, this encounter with Christ would have been physical, sensual, and natural. They understood the physical aspect of faith and religion, and built their churches accordingly.

George and I spoke for almost an hour and a half and eventually I had to end the call because  too much was swirling in my head. I asked if he would be willing to speak again later, after I’d written the first article. He graciously agreed and I look forward to our next encounter.

An amazing artist, a Renaissance thinker, and a nice fellow from Arkansas. I would never have met him on the street, but through the delight that is my chosen career, I had the opportunity to speak with him in an interview. Such are the perks of being a freelance writer.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Yesterday, I finished editing a dissertation into a book for Dr. Saba Soomekh of Loyola Marymount University. She had asked me to help her edit her Ph.D. dissertation into a book, which SUNY has already opted to publish.

It was an extremely interesting project, concerning three generations of Iranian Jewish women who have immigrated to Los Angeles. Fascinating reading, which was a good thing, since I had to read it, and very carefully, six or seven times. But I completed the project with time to spare and Saba was delighted with my work. In fact, she wrote a testimonial to my editing, which I shall now share here.

“I cannot thank Ann Aubrey Hanson enough for all her help in editing and proofreading my manuscript. Ann took my 400-page Ph.D. dissertation and helped me turn it into a 300-page book which will be published by SUNY Press. She read my manuscript a number of times, paying attention to grammar, syntax, and content. My manuscript had a glossary of foreign words that I had defined. Ann, of course, found words in my manuscript that I myself did not realize I had missed. That shows her wonderful attention to detail. Plus, she finished editing my manuscript two weeks before the deadline I gave her. She is an excellent editor and she is incredibly efficient and professional. I wholeheartedly recommend her to everyone!”  Dr. Saba Soomekh, Theological Studies Department, Loyola Marymount University

High praise indeed and I am delighted that she was pleased with my work. This is what makes my job so entertaining and enlightening.

The Writer’s Life

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

As I meet one deadline, writing for St. Mary’s Press, Catholic textbook publishers, I turn now to several other projects that I have lined up. I’m currently editing two academic books, one on Iranian Jewish women immigrants in Los Angeles, and another concerning the women’s plight during the Holocaust, both of which are riveting topics. I am also editing a series of mysteries that take place in the fashion industry of New York City. How’s that for diversity?

Cover for "Elder Care"

I am also delighted to announce two new publications. Dr. Alex Kodiath’s just-released “Elder Care: Precious Presence,” a book about the healing power of presence in dealing with the elderly and the dying. I edited the book for him. Maria Csanadi, a Hungarian immigrant, just published her memoirs of the family’s escape from Hungary in 1956, in a book entitled “Precious Legacy.” I worked with Maria for several years to help her write the book, and then edited it for her. She is delighted to have finished the book and have it to pass along to family, other immigrants, and any university departments that might be interested in first-hand history of that time.

Cover for "Precious Legacy"

Both books are available online, simply by searching for the titles or the authors in Google.

I enjoy the projects and cannot believe how fortunate I am to earn my living as a writer and editor. The long hours are easy to accept when the work is so diverse and entertaining.

Christian Writers Conference

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I just spent Friday night and Saturday at the Orange Country Christian Writers Conference. I have to say, what a great group of people. And, as at the other writer conferences I’ve gone to, the majority of attendees were women, though there were men, as well. I was there in the guise of Editor for Restorative Press, a publishing company I am helping to get started for a dear friend, the Rev. Carmen Warner-Robbins. She is the Publisher, I am the Editor, and Leslie Emmanuel is the Marketing Guru. We will publish books about people who have suffered trauma and successfully overcome it, as a means of encouraging others to work for healing in their lives.

It’s an offshoot of Carmen’s Welcome Home Ministries, which works with women in jail and prison and gives them a hand when they get out, so that they don’t fall into the same spiral that landed them in jail or prison in the first place. When these women successfully turn their lives around, they become peer mentors and reach out to other women whose lives have landed them behind bars. For the majority of these women, prison is simply the last step in a life of abuse, degradation, and hopelessness. Welcome Home Ministries offers these women something they’ve never had before: hope and a helping hand.
We have high hopes for Restorative Press as an avenue for publication of books of hope and healing. I’m proud to be part of the enterprise.

Memoir Writing

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I think one of the greatest legacies a parent can leave for their children is their life story. This is why I teach a memoir writing workshop in the community every Wednesday morning. Yes, I get a small stipend for teaching the workshop, but that isn’t my primary reason for doing it. I get great delight in helping the members of the class to recall their lives and put them down on paper, for family, friends, and others to enjoy.

We are all put down in a running river of life: our families came before us, and more will follow, but we live for a moment in that river, live a life that no one else lives. Our lives are worth recording, if only to preserve our memories. But there is another reason: our lives will never be repeated. Our times will never be repeated. So often, I have to tell members in my class that people no longer know about things that were commonplace in their lives: from one-room schoolhouses to automated cafeterias, to chokes on cars or “pinning” your girl.

Each life is unique and each should be captured on paper. Not all must be published, but they should be shared. Future generations will enjoy these personal snapshots of life.

Left Coast Crime Conference, Review

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Well, the 2010 Left Coast Crime Conference has come and gone, and what a great affair it was. I got to meet and speak with one of my favorite authors, Laurie R. King, who graciously bought me a whiskey one evening (I threatened to keep the glass but settled for the napkin as a memento). I met and hobnobbed with several other authors, including some of the “freshmen” class who were there marketing their first novels. And, best of all, I had days to hang out with Meg Gardiner, creator of Evan Delaney and Jo Beckett, talking writing, novels we’ve read, and really bad movies we’ve seen. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Also spoke on the “Social Commentary” panel, which started out a little rocky but quickly developed legs of its own and took off to a splendid end, if we do say so ourselves.
While I thoroughly enjoyed the four-day event, the proof of its worth will come in any contacts I made for my editing business. I put out plenty of business card and many, many of them disappeared into peoples’ pockets…so we shall see.

Meanwhile, raring to go on working on my own novel(s).