CALL ME SNAKE

This has been a good week for me, mail-wise, apart from the fact that no checks have arrived while several new bills have been added to the pile that threatens to overrun my office. Earlier this week, I received an advanced copy of one science magazine for which I had the cover story and, to my surprise, it read pretty well. That rarely happens after an untold number of editing rounds.

Today, an advanced copy of another magazine–a fierce rival of the first–arrived with another feature article of mine in it, and it looked great with all the graphics, though I was disappointed it wasn’t the cover story. (All right, I shouldn’t be so greedy.”) I read the article just as soon as it arrived, as I know how things can pile up. To my surprise, this one read pretty well too, except for one problem. Or actually two problems: To save space, the word “that” was removed from two sentences. Afterwards, the sentences read poorly, little snags in an another seamless tapestry. Two minor rough spots in an 8-page article shouldn’t be enough to ruin your day–unless you happen to be a fastidious stickler like me, that is. Or should I say–with the “that” removed to save space–”a fastidious stickler like me is.”