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Kevin called this afternoon, thanked me for going over the most recent set of NY Review of SF page proofs, and asked if I could have another set done by Monday. Sure, two days and I've got a subway trip planned for tomorrow, no problem, I can do this.
I can, but it won't be quite that simple: the reason I've got two sets of proofs to read in the same week is that NYRSF is publishing a supplement entirely devoted to reactions to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
I always read the pages--that's the whole point, to get a fresh set of eyes to catch not only typos, but grammar and the occasional erroneous quotation. I like doing it, and find the material interesting.
I go through them fairly quickly, whether I've read the book being discussed or not. It's nice, calm nonfiction. (Calm for me, that is--the authors being reviewed may have another opinion.)
Not this time. I'm doing half a page, and putting them down for a while. It's still too close, and so much of the same difficult material.
The supplement is also twice the length of a normal NYRSF issue. I'll do as much as I can get through by Monday, then, if it's not done, ask if they want me to keep them another day and see if I can finish.
The reward for doing a job well is being asked to do it again. Usually, I enjoy this job. This time, I'm doing it because it needs doing, and out of friendship. And maybe because, much as this needs to be written and published, I need to read it. I'm not sure.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
silverbird said something like that, and I'm not sure how true it is for me. I didn't want to watch the disaster pictures over and over--11 September is probably the single day of my life I've been most glad not to have a television--but there's no use pretending it didn't happen, and filtering it through words, the words, mostly, of people I know, is easier for me than through pictures.
I can, but it won't be quite that simple: the reason I've got two sets of proofs to read in the same week is that NYRSF is publishing a supplement entirely devoted to reactions to the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.
I always read the pages--that's the whole point, to get a fresh set of eyes to catch not only typos, but grammar and the occasional erroneous quotation. I like doing it, and find the material interesting.
I go through them fairly quickly, whether I've read the book being discussed or not. It's nice, calm nonfiction. (Calm for me, that is--the authors being reviewed may have another opinion.)
Not this time. I'm doing half a page, and putting them down for a while. It's still too close, and so much of the same difficult material.
The supplement is also twice the length of a normal NYRSF issue. I'll do as much as I can get through by Monday, then, if it's not done, ask if they want me to keep them another day and see if I can finish.
The reward for doing a job well is being asked to do it again. Usually, I enjoy this job. This time, I'm doing it because it needs doing, and out of friendship. And maybe because, much as this needs to be written and published, I need to read it. I'm not sure.
silverbird said something like that, and I'm not sure how true it is for me. I didn't want to watch the disaster pictures over and over--11 September is probably the single day of my life I've been most glad not to have a television--but there's no use pretending it didn't happen, and filtering it through words, the words, mostly, of people I know, is easier for me than through pictures.