EDITOR@WORK

Photo by Yevhen Timofeev from Pexels

In the '80s, I was writing my sports column at the newspaper office, and I didn't realize there was a lightning storm going on outside. We were in the middle of the building and couldn't hear or see anything, and apparently the storm came up after I went to work.

I had finished the column and was just about to hit STORE when lightning struck nearby, and the power went out for a second! Naturally, the column was gone when power returned.

I went in the bathroom, cussed and kicked the plumbing for a few minutes. Then I went back and rewrote the column, better this time.

I also learned my lesson. I began to hit STORE after every paragraph when I was working on my stories. That way if lightning struck again I wouldn't lose the whole column or story, just one paragraph.

Nowadays, I constantly save my stories, whether there's lightning around or not. You never know...

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

When I was in school, my teachers always said that the placement of the period was everything in math. And they were right.

The local convenience has regular gasoline listed as 3.19 ($3.19) on one side of the sign out front. The other side says 31.9. That sign has been that way for more than a week, and, as far as I know, no one has complained or mentioned it.

Unfortunately, the gas costs $3.19 a gallon at the pump. I know. I wish, however, that the other side of the sign, with 31.9 cents on it, was right.

Update: The price has gone up to $3.25 on one side of the side, and it's 32.9 on the other side.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE