Ol' Mean Ass Cynthia-- my beloved bootleg editor...

Since I've been writing, there have been a couple of people who vigorously go through chapters of my manuscript and make corrections and sugesstions...

One of those people is my fellow chemist Cynthia, or Ol' Mean Ass Cynthia as our beloved secretary Dee likes to refer to her. She's an avid reader, like myself, but a little more diverse in tastes. When I asked her to read some of my work and to tell me what she thinks of it, she agreed to do so.

But she's that strange type of gal, you know. The type that sneaks up behind you, and scares the hell out of you when you happen to turn around and notice her quietly standing there. She's doesn't even have to speak: she just gives you that look, you know, that look. The same look your mama use to give you when you were cuttin' up. That one look that made you stop all mischievious behavior in an instant...

She's that type that walks quietly, but carries a baseball bat...

She sits in a cubicle on the other side of my cubicle, but two cubicles up. When she wants to ask me a question, she doesn't just yell out "Hey oldgirl, come here!". No, she quietly picks up her phone, dials your extension, and quietly hisses "Hello, could you come here for a moment please?" Very polite indeed... but oh so sinister.

She doesn't walk... She glides.

I was thinking about running up on her with a full length mirror to see if she casts a reflection... I trashed that idea because I will be in serious trouble if she doesn't.

She's been hanging in there from the beginning, and she frowned up at my first couple of chapters, almost enough to make me take my manuscript and place it in a file and hide it under my file cabinet. But now, she's becoming a more loving editor, making wonderful suggestions and pushing me forward. We actually had a beautiful yet argumentative discussion about my current chapter in progress, Chapter 19. I finally listened to what she had to say. She's actually shoved me back on the right track!!

So here's to you Cynthia, my "bootleg", i.e., "work for free" editor.

Thanks for helping me out.

Keep doing what you do, girl... with your ol' mean ass self!