As I mentioned previously, I have two interns I’m training this summer, known as Thing 1 and Th– Wait, no. Intern #1 and Intern #2. There. That’s better.

Apprentices.jpg

Well, okay. They have names of their own. I’ll just let them introduce themselves. First up:

Good evening, all ye who seek wisdom and refuge in this virtual abode. My name is Cat Jackson, and for the next few months, I will be working for our dear Ninja and learning developmental editing as Intern Number One.

Experience with developmental editing is a little tricky to gauge; suffice it to say, I was that one friend in high school who was always overthinking every little detail of any given story. Most of my friends are writers, and I have made a hobby out of playing with fictional societies, monsters, worlds, ecosystems, and magic systems. In addition to this, I have a long-standing fascination with psychology, and love to find connections between the research that has been done in lab settings and the way real people interact in real settings. Much like Hannah, it took me a long time to realize that one could make a profession out of my childhood interests. It was rather delightful to realize that such an unhealthy and undirected curiosity was marketable.

In contrast to Hannah, my fellow intern, I’m not much of a geek at all. I am only a casual LARPer, I barely costume at all, and I mostly enjoy video games when others are playing them and I get to watch. However, I will fight you over time travel mechanics in fiction. And I will lose, because I have no combat experience and weigh less than a hundred and five pounds.

And in this corner, we have Intern #2:

Since Matthew opened submissions again recently, I figured I’d introduce myself. I’m Hannah Sneeringer, and I’m interning as a copy editor and being trained in line editing. I have several years of experience with copy editing. I started casually copy editing in college by looking over papers for my friends in my spare time. I didn’t know it was a thing people did professionally until I attended a career talk at my school.

Aside from my interest in being an editor, I am a massive geek. I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy, watch a lot of geeky TV shows and movies, and play video games. Is it considered geek heresy to say I’m not a huge fan of Doctor Who? I also play a lot of video games, cosplay, and regularly attend a LARP (Live Action Role Play).

So, yeah, I’m a geek who likes editing. I look forward to reading and working on your stories with you!

So there you have them: the two new apprentice Novel Ninjas, who are eager to help out with your manuscripts. You may hear from them a bit more over the course of the summer, even if you don’t submit a book to them.