Laura C. Rader

As an example of confidence and optimism, and an amazing feat of navigation in a day and age without a means to measure longitude (basically, distance across the ocean), the voyage of Christopher Columbus from Europe to North America is impressive. As we all know, however, his misidentification of the Caribbean islands as the East…

I can’t believe it’s happened again. I was enjoying a perfectly good online workshop on editing, until the presenter insisted that using a form of the verb, “to be”, followed by a past participle, would lead most agents to reject a manuscript for using “passive voice.” I politely posted a message in the chat (to…

In the spirit of, “if you aren’t part of the solution, you’re part of the problem,” I’ve decided to run for a position on my neighborhood Homeowners’ Association Board of Directors. I’m the new kid on the block, having moved here from California a year ago, and my first impression of my new community was…