In a transforming moment several years ago, I discovered that I deeply enjoy spending time with other women's words. Without exception, I am drawn into each poem or story in a very personal way and deeply experience the images and feelings the story evokes. I seek to connect with the essence of each story or poem and then give each the same mindful, careful, and loving polish I apply to my favorite oak table. My strengths include a deep commitment to a positive, respectful relationship with each writer with whom I work. Several years ago I sent out one of my stories and received back what I experienced as a blistering response from the editor. I felt her criticism was, in some ways, certainly constructive yet her critique style cancelled out any relationship I might have tried to establish with her. By contrast, I seek to support each writer's strengths, encourage her growth, and nurture her talent. Other strengths I offer are impeccable attention to detail, strict adherence to deadlines, and strong grammatical skills. My experiences comprise, in large part, editing Story Circle Network's True Words from Real Women pages in the quarterly Journal for the past five years. In addition I edited the annual True Words Anthology in 2007. With each manuscript I edit, I seek to bring, along with my skills, a passion to assist—with minimal intrusion—in presenting the author's words with a pristine sparkle that shows the essence of her words.    More About Mary Jo What I like most about editing: What I like most about editing is my relationship with both authors and their words. My best advice to writers: My best advice to writers is to simply draft out your story without thought of editing until the story is completed, and only then look it over to make adjustments to your paragraph organization, sentence structure, and punctuation. Lastly, be sure to give your story a title. If one does not readily come to mind, you can usually find a very good one right in the context of the story or poem when you re-read it. And, if you seek publication for your work, keep sending out your stories. My favorite genres to edit: My favorite editing genres are women's life-writing stories, memoir, and fiction. Number of years I've been editing: The number of years I've been regularly editing is five, for the Story Circle Journal. I was editor of my high school's literary magazine, The Keyhole, also. Between then and now I've written and edited numerous stories and articles on a less regular basis. Edit hard copy or on-screen: I am comfortable editing either on-screen or hard copy. My "must have" writing reference books: Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, The Longman Practical Stylist, and The Chicago Manual of Style. Favorite background music when I edit: My favorite background music when I am editing is the varied sounds of nature outside my window. Scene outside the window where I edit: The view outside my office window never fails to center my soul. My lawn and flowers extend out to the road where, on the other side, acres of rolling meadows travel back to a lovely section of my beloved Shenandoah Valley Blue Ridge Mountains. I look to the mountains often... Favorite quotes: One of my favorite quotes is: "Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly, and leave the rest to our Creator." Memorable fictional character: My favorite fictional characters (I'm a lifelong mystery lover!) are Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, Susan Albert's China Bayles, and Margaret Maron's Deborah Knotts. Most recent blog/website I bookmarked: The most recent blog/website I bookmarked is SCN member's Katherine Misegades generous blog, where I enjoy reading about two of my favorite activities: knitting and writing. About a week later, I spent some time at Story Circle Network's new blog, Telling Herstories: The Broad View, and read all the postings. I was delighted with what I found: a blog brimming with a myriad of ideas, reflections, and writing wisdom penned by women who are highly successful in their respective literary areas. Susan Ideus' catchy title, "Are there Books in Your Bed?" hooked me initially and I didn't leave the site until I'd read every entry. Currently reading: My current reading includes Dreams from my Father by Barack Obama and Fresh Kills by Bill Loehfelm, both simply wonderful books. I recently finished The Audacity of Hope by Obama and The Last Embrace, a noir mystery by Denise Hamilton, two more that I thoroughly enjoyed.