EDITOR@WORK

Word play: I was looking up bastion, and naturally it wound up on this blog. The interesting thing is that bastion and Bastille have similar roots. I think of the Bastille, a prison in France, and Bastille Day (July 14, I think).

bastion • \BAS-chun\ • noun

1 : a projecting part of a fortification

2 : a fortified area or position

3 a : a place of security or survival
* b : a place dominated by a particular group or marked by a particular characteristic

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

Look it up: I found this sentence in a Washington Post story on Jeff Ruland, a former NBA star turned University of the District of Columbia coach. And just as he tries to teach his daughters the lessons he has learned throughout his pertinacious life, he hopes to impart those same teachings to the players on his team.

Naturally, I had to look up pertinacious. It means adhering resolutely to an opinion, purpose, or design; perversely persistent; stubbornly tenacious.

Synonyms: see obstinate.

So Ruland is persistent and tenacious. Actually, that's a perfect definition of Ruland.

Another one: In another Post story, I found this paragraph. Trust dies. The worst people, the natural-born sycophants, attach themselves to the owner.

Yes, we'll look up sycophants. It means slanderer, swindler; or a servile self-seeking flatterer.

Synonyms: see parasite.

The story's about the Redskins (now Commanders), so the term sycophants probably fits.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE