From the president/committee
by Caroline Simpson
Kia ora,
I’ve booked my flights to Wellington. I’ve booked the July workshops. I’ve joined the Facebook study group. It appears I have now committed to the idea of doing the accreditation exam.
When I first joined IPEd, I thought I would like to sit the exam in the future sometime, but it had seemed unattainable because it would involve a flight to Australia and all the associated expenses. With the exam being held in New Zealand, however, it became a real possibility.
The more I found out about it, the more I could see that following a program of study could only benefit me and my work, and so sitting the exam became a probability. Then I had the final push of talking to a colleague who was talking about sitting it too. That probability became a certainty.
So over these next five months, I will be studying and cursing myself in equal parts. Cursing because there will be times when I will be tired from work and family life and wishing I was doing anything other than study. But I also know I will fall into step with other editors studying for the exams and enjoy the camaraderie of striving for that common goal. Maybe I’ll see you there?
Ngā mihi,
Caroline Simpson
EdANZ Branch President
edanz.president@iped-editors.org
New members
We are pleased to welcome a new associate member, Jacqueline Stephenson.
New member profile: Jill McCaw
What drew you to writing and editing?
I have always been a writer. I have notebooks with scribblings from back at primary school. I always wrote fiction, but after being laid up with a broken leg in 1988, I did a correspondence course on freelance journalism. A few years later, married to a farmer in the Hakataramea Valley, I had the good fortune to become the Waitaki Valley stringer for the Otago Daily Times. That only lasted a year, as we moved to town the following year, but I kept looking for writing work. I had a cooking column in The Press for several years and started writing stories for aviation magazines.
Gliding was my sport and other types of aviation were of interest to the whole family.
I became an editor by accident when a friend and I decided it was time Gliding New Zealand had a modern, glossy magazine (the one at the time was a ghastly A5 booklet). I put in a tender and won the contract. SoaringNZ, with me as editor and publisher, launched with the December–January 2007–08 edition. It ran bimonthly for some years before becoming quarterly. I have just about wrapped up Issue 61, which sadly will be the last, as it is uneconomic to keep producing it.
I’ll be moving on and am looking at editing in various guises, and will actually get some qualifications to back this up. I could wing it when it was my own publication, but paying customers will expect a level of expertise that I don’t actually have. I am also looking forward to having time to devote to both fiction and non-fiction books that I have in the works.
Do you find that you wear a lot of hats? What’s the best part of this diversity? What’s the most challenging?
I don’t really think about the hats I wear when producing SoaringNZ. There’s just me, so of course I do it all. Although I do pay a designer. My skill would probably have been adequate, but not superb, which is what I’m after.
But yes, I’m a writer and I write a diverse range of things. I’m established in New Zealand as an aviation journalist and am well known in the field. I’m a member of two of New Zealand’s writing organisations, the Romance Writers of NZ and the NZ Society of Authors (NZSA). I’ve just stepped down from 18 months as chair of the Canterbury Branch of the NZSA. It will be so nice to just go to things without having to organise them first. My writing covers several genres and sometimes combines them. At the present I have a non-fiction book, a gay romance, SciFi space opera, and a murder mystery in progress.
I have a huge range of interests and skill sets and adding copyediting to my list is exciting.
What do you love about aviation?
Aviation people.
Back in my youth when I decided to see what a work colleague was on about and have a go at gliding, I had no idea that I was getting into a sport that would become such a huge part of my life. I was absolutely entranced with the way that an aircraft with no engine could be flown for limitless hours and hundreds of kilometres using the energy in the atmosphere. All that was needed (apart from that energy actually being in a usable form when you wanted it) was for the pilot to be skilled at reading the skies and using that lift.
But I also found, at a very formative age, a group of people who were exciting, inspiring and downright fun to be around. And I’m still hanging around them. I married a glider pilot and my kids learnt to fly. My son has represented New Zealand at world level as a glider pilot. He’s the youngest pilot in the world to have flown a 1000-km glider flight, at the age of 18. He’s currently the Chief Flying Instructor of the Canterbury Gliding Club.
Through gliding and through writing about gliding I’ve been introduced to the wider aviation world. I’ve been writing about general aviation to aviators, and when I had no clues about what I was talking about, I’d always ask a source, ‘Tell me what you find so fascinating …’ Works every time.
And truly, aviation people are good people. The village that helped raise my children were aviation people and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results.
What’s a job you’ve had that would surprise others?
There have been several. Years ago I worked in a travelling circus in Australia. And not so many years ago I worked for the Department of Conservation doing a study to determine whether it was safe to use herbicide spray in an area where the native katipō spider lives. I had to find, keep alive and test spray around 600 spiders (related to, but not the endangered katipō) with varying herbicides. Not my favourite job.The answer: herbicide does not hurt spiders. But the surfactant used to make it stick to the leaves does.
Regional events in June
Auckland editors’ catch-up
Saturday 13 June 2020
The second Saturday of the month at the start of the second quarter: an easy-to-remember date for our winter catch-up for Auckland editors. The last time we had met was days before the country went into lockdown. This time around we were fresh into Level 1 and enjoying the freedom. We swapped stories of working at Level 4 (not so very different from normal work, except with more interruptions for some) and indulged in general chit-chat. The pub was snug and the fire was warm. We stayed later than normal before braving the overcast Auckland skies.
Next time we meet will be Saturday 12 September. If you would like to come along, we welcome all editors, IPEd members or not. A reminder that the Mt Eden railway station will be closed for the great City Rail Link overhaul, so buses may be a better option for those who choose not to drive.
Caroline Simpson, a freelance editor, and EdANZ Branch President and can be contacted at edanz.president@iped-editors.org.
Enjoying the midwinter catch-up at Galbraith’s.
[Photo credit: Caroline Simpson]
Events
Zoom for editors working with academic writers
Date: Monday 20 July, 7.30pm
This Zoom meeting is for editors who work with academic writers (including students) and publishers of journals and other academic works. It’s a chance to get together and discuss the issues we face in our work. If there is something specific you want to discuss, please email Joan Gladwyn at edanz.website@iped-editors.org by 16 July.
Book here.
Zoom for editors working with trade publishers
Date: Tuesday 21 July, 7.30pm
This Zoom meeting is for editors who work with trade publishers, either in house or on a freelance basis, to get together and discuss the issues we face in our work. If there is anything specific you would like to discuss, please email Susi Bailey at edanz.training@iped-editors.org by 17 July.
Book here.
Zoom for government and business editors
Date: Wednesday 22 July, 7.30pm
This Zoom is for editors who work with government departments, NGOs and businesses to get together and discuss the issues we face in our work. If there is anything specific you would like to discuss, please email Helen at edanz.ab@iped-editors.org by 18 July.
Book here.
Zoom for editors working with self-publishing writers
Date: Thursday 23 July, 7.30pm
This Zoom is for editors who work with indie writers of fiction and non-fiction books to get together and discuss the issues we face in our work. If there is anything specific you would like to discuss, please email Marja at edanz.socialmedia@iped-editors.org by 19 July.
Book here.
Wellington editors’ catch-up
Date: Tuesday 4 August, 11am
Frank’s Coffee and Eats, 116 The Terrace, Central Wellington (04 499 3679).
Wellington editors, let’s catch up with each other over a coffee. It has been a while, so we’re looking forward to seeing you there.
Special advance notice:
Do you want to become an editor?
Date: Monday 10 August, 7.30pm
Are you thinking of turning your love for language into an editing career or know someone who is? Just qualified as an editor but wondering how to proceed? Grab this chance to Zoom with our panel of experienced editors as they answer your questions about working as an editor and give you the benefit of their collective years of experience. We will solicit your questions by email in advance so we make the most of the session for you. See the IPEd events page for more information.