Nye Writing & Editing Services

I wrote this article that appears in the most recent edition of Long Beach Business Journal. What happy business owners, huh!

I'm working on an article for Long Beach Business Journal about the 2014 economic outlook for Long Beach's retail businesses. Interviewing the presidents of nine business associations.

Sign at a Long Beach coffeehouse: ORGANIC BANANA'S The sign-maker doesn't realize that people like me are waiting for the other noun to fall. I'm wondering, "Wh...at is owned by the organic banana?" Of course, the sign-maker didn't realize s/he was using the possessive and not the plural. You see a lot of that these days. Leave out the apostrophe and let the S snuggle against the A, and you've got the plural: ORGANIC BANANAS

Save your books, folks. Not e-books but real books. In this age of surveillance, manipulation, deception, and corporations' and governments' creeping control of the Internet, what is to say that online history won't be rewritten or deleted? Think of private enterprises like reputation.com, which clean up from digital trail. True, books can be burned, but it's easy to see when passages have been crossed out and doctored.

Working on an article for the Long Beach Business Journal about The On Broadway Business Assn.

Does it bug you when a common word is misspelled? Something like "its" or "it's," "their" or "there"? Let me know. Also, why or why not?

If you or anyone you know needs an editor, proofreader or rewrite editor for a master's thesis or dissertation, please consider my years of experience of doing just that. I specialize in the humanities and the social sciences. I also edit and critique professors' journal articles prior to submission for publication. Please keep me in mind. Thanks much.

Are we losing the hyphen? The hyphen was always my favorite punctuation mark, but it's definitely on the wane. The hyphen is traditionally used to join words: * mother-in-law, attorney-general, ex-husband... * My editor-mother is 55. (Instead of writing, My mother, who is an editor, is 55.) * twenty-five, sixty-seven * And my favorite: the compound modifier! sun-filled room, pie-in-the-sky idea, little-known fact All these instances of the hyphen are fading. Not only is this a tragedy for punctuation lovers like me, but it can also cause confusion. I'll look for some instances of this and post them when I've got a few to share. In the meantime, if you find passages that could be improved with hyphens, let me know. Go forth and use the language wisely.

English has many words that sound similar but have different meanings. Here are two: excess n. a quantity that is beyond what is needed or desirable I have an excess of quarters and a dearth of dimes.... adj. too many I have excess quarters; I have 234 but only need 34. access n. inroad or entrance, either physically or figuratively The commandos gained access to the weapons station. Money grants access to lawmakers. vt. the act of gaining entrance I broke into the governor's office and so was able to access the campaign files.