So you don’t get bored, I’ll post the question first: In contributor or author bios, why are poets always called “poets,” while fiction and nonfiction folks are called “writers”?

(Now I’ll elaborate and devolve into unrelated things. Like this picture. Sometimes I add a picture to a blog post just to get people to pay attention. What does this say about me? That I don’t trust words alone? Should I be writing picture books? And did you know that a search on Google for “crazy goat lady” brings up almost 200k results. I did this accidentally; I didn’t even know it was a real term. And I’m sure there’s some kind of creepy subtext to be found here, but I’m willing myself not to think about it. Because, well… weird. This is the kind of thing you want to announce on your crotch? Make it stop.) Read more »

It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

As a self-professed grammar geek, I was a little upset to realize that I had somehow missed the news that the 16th edition of The Best Style Book Ever (aka the Chicago Manual of Style) was given a publishing date of August 1 (although Amazon claims I can have it tomorrow if I select one-day shipping—and yes, that hyphen is necessary). Had I known about this glorious event sooner, I might have thrown a party, at which the main form of entertainment would have been sharing our most despised grammar, style, and usage pet peeves (a recent one of mine is unnecessary quotation marks). I even might have served these cupcakes.

But all that aside, I can’t wait to see what additions and changes are included in this new edition. More guidelines for electronic mediums and sources is a given, and Amazon tells me there will even be something called a hyphenation table, which makes me more excited than I care to admit.

The bad news, though, is that without a job I can’t afford this marvelous piece of editorial genius (okay, that might be overdoing it slightly—maybe). Until such time that I can spend over $40 on a reference manual, I know what to ask for for my birthday.

Also, isn’t that cover just gorgeous?