Rie Langdon – Decadent Publishing
Meet Rie Langdon!
Editor at Decadent Publishing!
Rie has been writing since she was old enough to hold a fat pencil, and editing from the moment she discovered the eraser at the other end.
She has been a freelance editor for ten years. For the last four years, she has specialized in editing fiction, primarily in the romance and spec fiction genres. (Rie also keeps herself sharp with non-fiction manuscripts, and edits them whenever she gets the chance.) She got her start as a technical writer, followed by 15 years as a software engineer and engineering manager. Over the course of her career, she has been responsible for more than 500 publications.
Rie is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) and the Freelancers Union, and has taken courses in Police Procedure, Undercover Operations for Writers, and Query Writing.
When she’s not editing manuscripts, Rie enjoys knitting, running, wine tasting, and travel. She wishes there were a way to do all four of them at once.
First question:
Eggnog or Mimosas? Are you old enough to drink?
Why do I have to choose? That seems… sub-optimal.
(And yes, I’m old enough to drink, but I won’t complain if you want to card me.)
We’re also taking pictures with Santa. Please enter. Drinks are served by the elves in the corner.
What’s your favorite holiday and why?
My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, because it’s the most family-focused. We spend the entire day with those we love and take the time to be grateful for all we have. Wish it could come more than once a year.
Did you ask Santa for anything good?
I haven’t asked Santa for anything—yet. I’m told there is still time left…and I’ve been very, very good this year….
What’s your favorite place to spend the holidays?
My favorite place to spend the holidays is wherever my daughters are. (And they’re usually at Grandma’s house, so it’s win-win.)
What is your favorite Christmas memory?
Oooh, several. Being a little kid and running downstairs barefoot on hardwood floors in the middle of a Chicago winter, to see the tree lit up and stacked with presents underneath. Being old enough to drive (at last) shortly after we moved to Southern California. I had a convertible, and it was 80 degrees on Christmas day and a Beach Boys song came on the radio. The place we moved from had 15 foot snow drifts and routinely was 40 below in winter. I stopped missing the Midwest at exactly that moment. Watching my older daughter try to stand up, for the first time, to reach the Christmas tree, and another Christmas a few years later where my younger daughter said her very first word: Daddy.
Do you have personal resolutions for the New Years? Anything interesting?
Ehhh. I probably should have new year’s resolutions, but I usually don’t, just to be iconoclastic. I usually do the taking-stock-and-making-changes around the time of my birthday, which is in July.
What do you do and how did you get into this industry?
I am a freelance editor. My first jobs out of college were technical writing and editing. I suppose you could say I’ve always had a fascination with the written word. I moved into an engineering field early on, but over time, my side job became my “fun” job, and I’ve been lucky enough to make a go of it full-time.
What do you love about your job?
What’s not to love? I get to read all day, pretty much. I get to work with amazingly talented authors and stellar editors, all of whom love words as much as I do. I get to help tell stories for a living!
What type of stories do you love best?
All of them. That’s like asking which I like better, chocolate cake or cherry pie. (cf. question #1 above, egg nog or mimosa.) Don’t make me choose!
Who are some of your favorite authors?
Roald Dahl. Dorothy Parker. Margaret Atwood. C.S. Lewis. Ian McEwan. Susan Sussman. Susan Isaacs. Should I keep going? I can….
What advice would you give aspiring authors?
Read! Read good books. Read bad books. Read until you can tell the difference between the two! (Seriously, I’d say that the more you can internalize the rules of grammar, the more transparent your writing will be, which is a good thing. Bad mechanics can only get in the way of telling a story.)
Are you working on anything fun right now?
Always! I have several projects on my desk, and I’m putting the finishing touches on a class I’ll be teaching spring semester at City College of San Francisco, and another workshop I’ll be presenting at the Romantic Times convention in April, 2012.
Any big projects for 2011?
My big, self-imposed project for 2011 was writing a book. I have one week of 2011 left, so I am hoping I will finish in time!
What news would you like to share with your readers?
If I can keep my you-know-what in the chair and finish this book, it will be available in 2012!
Where can readers find you?
- a. Twitter: @RieL_Editor
- b. Facebook: www.facebook.com/rie.langdon
- c. Website: www.rielangdon.com
- d. Others:
Thank you so much for joining us at Romance Author Hotspot!
Prize: I’m offering a sample substantive edit (or developmental edit, if the winner prefers) of an unpublished work of up to 3 chapters/100 industry-format pages.
Tweet
December 24th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Merry Christmas!! You have one of the hardest jobs in the writing industry.
I just love my job, snuggling up with a good book on a dull dark day . Especially while stuck inside during a snow storm in Alaska.
December 24th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
This is a great prize! Merry Christmas!
tabithablake at ymail dot com
December 24th, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Hi Rie. It’s great to meet you. Reading every day for your job has to be cool! Happy Christmas.
December 25th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
thanks for sharing, hope you have a great holiday season. rougebolo @ aol.com
December 25th, 2011 at 6:44 pm
The cold and snow is exactly why I hate the Midwest this time of year. Luckily, there’s no snow on the ground this year and I couldn’t be happier. Decadent has already released many wonderful books and I look forward to what you’ll bring us in 2012.
joderjo402 AT gmail DOT com
December 26th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Great to meet you, Rie! As a fellow editor, hats off to you! It’s exciting to meet some of the great talents who help bring us the stories we love to read
f dot chen at comcast dot net
December 26th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
i hope everyone had a great Christmas and has a fun new year!!
terri_dion@hotmail.com
December 26th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
Your job sounds like the perfect one for a book lover! I’ll have to try it out in my next lifetime. Too late for this one. LOL.
I’m a reader not a writer, so if I win your prize, please pass it on.
Happy New year and much continued success.
December 27th, 2011 at 12:18 am
Hey Rie,
Merry Christmas, Happy New year! Is that a portable knitting bag in your picture?
December 27th, 2011 at 5:05 am
Yes, exactly! I am very rarely without some knitting joined, literally, to my hip. Oh, and for Firefly fans, that project eventually grew into a “Jayne” hat for a friend.
December 27th, 2011 at 8:58 am
Hello Rie,
What do you think was the best training you had to become a good editor?
Why do you think that children these days struggle with editing? Is it that their work is too personal?
Nice chatting with you!
Melissa
December 28th, 2011 at 1:42 am
Great question! In one of my early technical writing jobs, I was tasked with creating a style guide for the company I worked at. (I laugh to think back and realize I had never even heard of a style guide before that!) That particular task opened me up to so much learning, and gave me new ways to look at the process of editing — that there is a method to it (as well as much wonderful madness). I’m still using the things I learned on that project, every time I edit.
When I began to edit fiction, I’d say point-of-view issues probably gave me the most trouble. (This was me: what do you mean, she can’t know what he’s thinking right now?) So I read every POV book and web resource out there, until I could distill it into a reasonable list of dos and don’ts!
(Not sure about children struggling with editing… from what I’ve seen, most people who want to be published also want to be edited, so there usually isn’t much of a struggle, or really any struggle! And my two cents is that the most personal stories make the best stories.)
December 28th, 2011 at 8:28 am
Thank you Rie for answering my question. Would you consider sharing your dos and don’t list on POV? I do agree that it seems to be the most challenging part of writing and editing.
December 27th, 2011 at 12:18 pm
My dream job would be to edit books for a living. I have put my toe in the door, writing reviews and doing some beta reading, but, unfortunately mostly for free (but I get free books!)
sugerlady@aol.com
December 27th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Rie, one of my favorite editorial types! I’m so happy you found us, and excited you stayed to continue to do great work for Decadent authors.
A JAYNE hat?!?! I love it. SPACE GEEKS RULE!
Heather Bennett
Decadent Publishing
December 27th, 2011 at 3:25 pm
Hey Rie,
Love Firefly! Hoping you’re able to finish that book.
Looking forward to working with you more at Decadent. We have one of the best jobs around. My sister says it’s like getting paid to eat ice cream. I couldn’t agree more except maybe to say it’s more like getting paid to eat cheesecake. LOL
December 27th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
Hi Rie,
Really nice interview. Did somebody mention space geeks? Just my kind of place!
Hope you are having a great holiday!
December 27th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Good luck on getting that book finished. You can do it
December 27th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Being very good is O.K, but being naughty is better.
December 28th, 2011 at 12:36 am
Book sounds great!! I hope you had an incrediable holiday!!
December 28th, 2011 at 9:54 am
Ahhh–so you like to break the rules. Good for you. I hope you can finish that book before the first. That’s a narrow deadline.
Wishing you all the best to your corner of the universe.
December 28th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Your story of your daughter saying her first word made me tear up. Thanks for that sharing.
December 28th, 2011 at 5:52 pm
Looks like your well on your way to the running and knitting! It’s good that you are doing what you love. That makes such a difference. Good luck getting that book done in 2011!
December 29th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
You can do all four at once – knitting, running, wine tasting, and travel – but the trick is finding a way to get PAID for doing all 4 at once!
I’m not an author, so I can make use of your giveaway, but I’m sure there are plenty of other authors who have commented.
December 30th, 2011 at 9:32 pm
Thanks to editors like yourself, we have great books to read!
Have a great 2012!
books4me67 at ymail dot com
January 1st, 2012 at 2:04 am
Hi, loved reading your interview. I also loved your advice to writers! Wishing you and your family and wonderful New Year!!
Patti
January 1st, 2012 at 8:32 pm
Hope you had a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I don’t have anything written for you to edit, but it would be a fantastic prize if I did.
drainbamaged.gyzmo at gmail.com
January 2nd, 2012 at 2:48 am
Hi! Happy new year! Thank you for sharing!