DISCONTINUED: Council of Science Editors Book Club discussion

Hi Friends! Just wanted to make a space for us to do some casual chatting and community engagement. Use this space to introduce yourself and let your fellow members learn something about you! Job title, years in publishing, favorite types of books, what you're currently reading outside of CSE, fun facts - whatever you'd like to share!

I'll kick things off: My name is Emily Babcock and I'm the Systems Support Services Coordinator at J&J Editorial. I've been with J&J for 10 years and it was my introduction to the publishing biz. I liked it so much that I never left! I primarily read a lot of sci-fi, fantasy, YA/children's, and graphic novels. I just finished up reading the first three books in the Mirror Visitor Quartet by Christelle Dabos and am eagerly awaiting the last installment coming out in October!

As a fun fact: I've never been much of a dog or cat gal, but I rather enjoy hedgehogs! My hedgehog's name is Hen Wen, after the oracular pig from the Prydain Chronicles books/Black Cauldron movie.

Now your turn! Tell the group a bit about yourselves!

Hi there. Emily, love that you have exotic pets. Hen Wen the hedgehog. :)

Standard pet--a cat--here.

I am currently manager of publications and medical communications at Xeris Pharmaceuticals and have just started a freelance medical writing and editing business--not that I need to work more, but I want to try--only live once.

I am a veterinarian. Immediately prior to my current position (January 2020 to July 2021), I was an assistant editor at the American Veterinary Medical Association--its journals are Journal of the AVMA and the American Journal of Veterinary Research. Working there is when I learned of and joined CSE. So, despite not working for a publisher on journals now, I am on the other side as an author of peer-reviewed manuscripts for medical journals. Still do a bit of practice--2 to 8 days/month for Petco vaccine clinics.

Thanks again, Emily, for leading!
Matthew

Hello! I'm Dianne Dixon and I've been the Managing Editor for International Journal of Radiation Biology for the past 18 years.

I just finished reading The Other Black Girl because it was based in a publishing house. I really liked the story but I'm not sure I love the ending...still digesting it. Lol. I have so many questions that I wish I could ask the author!

I'm a foodie (love to cook) and wine collector so I enjoy reading books about food and wine. I enjoy reading thrillers but I'm open to anything interesting. Another book I read recently was Where the Crawdads Sings. Great read.

Since the lock down, I restarted French lessons virtually. I hope to be bilingual one day and then confidently travel all over France to eat, drink and explore.

I would love to hear some personal book recommendations from the group if you would like to share.

Matthew wrote: "Hi there. Emily, love that you have exotic pets. Hen Wen the hedgehog. :)

Standard pet--a cat--here.

I am currently manager of publications and medical communications at Xeris Pharmaceuticals an..."

Thanks so much for sharing, Matthew! Sounds like you wear about 80 thousand different hats, but I appreciate that one of them is a dedicated CSE Book Club fan :)

Dianne wrote: "Hello! I'm Dianne Dixon and I've been the Managing Editor for International Journal of Radiation Biology for the past 18 years.

I just finished reading The Other Black Girl because it was based in..."

Thanks so much for sharing Dianne! I've been trying to reinvigorate my love for both food and French as well! I minored in French in college, but have never had an opportunity to consistently practice. Been brushing up on my Duolingo and reading a few (extremely basic children's) French books over the past few months.

Food-wise, I've spent the second year of the pandemic brushing up on my pie making skills. Heartily recommend The Book on Pie by Jeanne McDowell. Lots of amazing recipes in there and gives you some great ideas to start drafting your own! https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

It sounds like there are several of us trying to polish up our French language skills! I've been using Duolingo for a while now to bring back my high school (and one college class) French. It's been harder than I thought it would be.

I've been with the American Meteorological Society for over 20 years now and am currently the Sr. Manager for Publishing Operations. My career path has taken me from physics and engineering, to planetary science, to atmospheric science to publishing, working in academia, a large corporation, back to academia, and final to AMS.

I'm a sports lover (primarily soccer, which I also still play, but also baseball and hockey), do some metalworking/jewelry making and mosaics, and try to fit in reading in between. I've ordered our next discussion book but it hasn't arrived yet. I couldn't find it in any nearby library... has anyone else had that problem?

Hi everyone! In my day job, I'm Director of Electronic Publishing and Production at SLACK Incorporated (a health care publisher in NJ), and I just celebrated my 26th year there. I'm also an avid volunteer, serving as Co-Chair of CSE's Professional Development Committee, Co-Chair of SSP's Career Development Committee, and Chair of BELS's Membership and Marketing Committee.

I'm not much of a nonfiction reader and enjoy reading mainly thrillers. My current fave authors are Ruth Ware and Riley Sager (I'm reading Home Before Dark now). I also recently finished The Other Black Girl and can highly recommend!

As for pets, we have 2 cats that are 10-year-old sisters, Brave and Kashmir, and one (very spoiled) dog, Evee. Evee is a Yorkie Pom mix named after the Pokemon (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eevee), and her favorite movie is John Wick.

For fun facts, ask me about laying on a bed of nails (https://www.csescienceeditor.org/arti...) or my love of pencils. ;-)

Hello, again, I am slowly getting my accounts in order and am glad all is good with Goodreads. ;-)
I am retired as of December 2020. In my past life I was on staff of non-profit pubishers, consulting companies, and then my own private practice, Meyers Consulting Services for 45 years.
During that time I, too, was an active volunteer = co-founder, SSP and past president, CSE; chair of numerous committees for both CSE, SSP, AAP/PSP, NFAIS, WNBA, etc. etc. Was also adjunct faculty for the GWU Masters in Publishing for 13 years. Am still involved with CSE as the Infovore columnist for the Science Editor and a chapter reviewer for the updated SSF.

Moved from Maryland to Washington state last year with my husband Steve and one of our cocker spaniels, Ozzy. He was also known as Roadie Dog. We lost his uncle Riley before we left Maryland and alas Ozzy left us the week of Thanksgiving 2020.
We haven't adopted another rescue yet. Want to finish updating our new home before then.

We downsized from 4-bedrooms 3/4 acre to 2 bedrooms and less than 700 feet so it's been a change! I'm looking forward to planning our little gardens this winter so we can "blossom where we're planted."

Stepdaughter, SiL, and 2 grandsons live about 2 hours North. Stepson and his husband are in the Navy currently deployed in the Pacific and California, respectively. Luckily they were in Oak Harbor when we arrived last year and served as our home base whilst searching for a new home.

I'm an eclectic reader but after decades of working with STM and scholarly books/journals my "technical" reading is basically a thing of the past. I enjoy mysteries/thrillers most (currently started on Steve Berry's Malone Series) followed closely by historical fiction (well-researched of course), biographies of influential women, and whatever catches my eye/interest in the bookstore.

So pleased to be connected with you all as I transition from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest.

P.S. Don't hesitate to be in touch if you'd like to bounce around ideas/challenges regarding your publications. I am always ready to talk about publishing and organizational management issues.

Hello! I'm an editor at PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) in Washington, DC. I've been here about 2 and a half years and greatly enjoy the work, as I basically get to read all day. I originally wanted to be an art librarian, but I ended up on a different pathway, and I'm happy to be where I am now.

I've been an avid reader since childhood and love all kinds of books: fiction, nonfiction, literary criticism, poetry, memoirs and biographies, and art books.

It's interesting to see how many participants here are brushing up on their French; I'm trying to do the same. I watch a lot of subtitled French movies and find that I can generally understand nouns and adjectives, but verb tenses remain difficult for me. I also wish that I had a community to practice with, but in the meantime I am reading some French dual-language books as well as books about French history, including Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation by Anne Sebba.

I'm looking forward to reading Handmade; my copy should be arriving any day now. As far as making things go, I write poetry and make collages. I'm not much of a cook/baker, but I love paging through vintage cookbooks and watching videos of people cooking and baking. If there is such a thing as an armchair baker, that's me. 😊

Hello from Maryland!

I'm the Vice President of Sales & Marketing at eJournalPress, a software company providing systems for journals tracking peer review, production, and/or billing payments. I greatly enjoy CSE and volunteer on the Program and Editorial Policy committees, as well as serving on the Science Editor Editorial Board. I also volunteer with SSP and ISMTE and always recommend getting involved because you will learn so much and meet awesome people who actually understand what you do for a living. Thank you very much, Emily, for your work with the CSE Book Club!

I've been reading a lot of non-fiction in recent years, but greatly enjoy Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware series, which I've been reading since Junior High. I don't have any plans to learn French, but will gladly watch Nicolas Le Floch, which thankfully came with subtitles when it was on MHz years ago. I'm adoring Vegetables Illustrated and have found the tastiest way to roast radishes (miso, honey & butter), which is beneficial as we are members of a local community supported agriculture weekly produce pickup.

Our dog Kira is a short haired Saluki from Qatar and we rather enjoy spoiling her, taking her on walks, and visiting dog-friendly patios.