I disappeared again. Sorry about that.

There’s been illness (mine and kiddos – thank G-d, nothing life threatening) and there’s been writing. There’s also been a lot of editing, including a new copyediting gig.

The copyediting is pushing me just a bit out of my comfort zone. While I’m used to editing and proofreading, it’s usually only a few very short pieces a day or a single long piece, and it’s not every day. This job I’m now doing includes at least 10 pieces per issue for a newspaper, and they tend to be a bit longer. I have to keep track of each document, edited and unedited, and make sure I can find them quickly so I can return them on time to the editor. The genres vary much more widely. And since all the pieces are going to appear in the same edition, I have to make sure the spacing, punctuation, and other stylistic issues are uniform. I’m learning a lot – and enjoying it, too. I’m doing this job on a trial basis for two months, but it might get extended if the person I’m replacing decides not to return.

The fiction pieces I just completed won’t run until closer to Pesach, but here are links to a couple of my new pieces that you can find online:

• Profile of Olivia Schwartz in The Jewish Home – L.A.
• An OpEd for The Jewish Journal about how many feminists talk down to or directly insult Orthodox women who disagree with their beliefs.
• My first piece ever in Aish.com, about how a moment of embarrassment forced me to grow.

I’ve also organized a women-only open mic here in L.A. The first one was an amazing success – thank G-d! – and we’re hoping the next event will be even bigger. It’ll be on February 28th, 2016. If you need details on how to find the event, let me know in the comments to this post!