Romance Author Hotspot

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?

1. a.     Twitter:  @RieL_Editor
2. b.     Facebook:  www.facebook.com/rie.langdon
3. c.     Website:  www.rielangdon.com
4. 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.