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On my last day as the Ace and Roc guest blogger, I have ventured into the wild and captured…editors. In their natural habitats! At left you will see us all smiling and happily sporting our Ace and Roc t-shirts. (Ginjer wanted me to tell you that I harangued them all into wearing matching outfits today, but I think that in the interest of full disclosure I should reveal the fact that we actually all dress alike every day of the week...) Anne wasn’t here today because she apparently thinks it’s “ok” to “take a day off” during “the holiday season.” Whatever, slacker. (Waaaay below, you can see a fantastical take on what might have been—after all, we are publishers of speculative fiction!)
Aside from patiently posing for a photo of the group, many of our editors were kind enough to give us a glimpse into their working environment, and share about a special aspect of their office/cubicle that helps them keep the wheels of Ace and Roc turning smoothly…
*Although Danielle Stockley has been here only a few short months, she has already begun an ambitious project---creating a list of words only used in fantasy novels. If anyone has a word or two to add to her list, feel free! Danielle says, “This is my ongoing list of words found only in fantasy novels. You may question some of my choices, but in this case, context is key. For example, while “whelp” may appear in other books, in the fantasy novel it is applied exclusively to young apprentices, usually before they are savagely kicked (and in fantasy books, all kicks are savage.) And while there are acolytes in the real world, they are almost never servants to some dark and bloodthirsty god from beyond as they are in the world of fantasy.”
*Cameron Dufty is pictured with a few of the creatures that populate her cubicle. Here, she reveals their origins: “Penguin: a beloved Happy New Job! gift from my fabulous roommate (shout-out to Mathu! Much love to the 10026!). He’s on a spring, which my office-neighbor (much love to my office neighbor! [managing editor extraordinaire Crissie Johnson!]) likes to boing as stress relief. The penguin is a good sport about it. Green monster: I lost the tag that said exactly what this fella’ is, but he’s a Maori totem, who bestows all kinds of good luck. Being the generous person I am, I let him look outwards from my monitor, to shoot his luck onto the masses passing by my desk.”
*Anne Sowards is shown here proudly displaying her new (patented) system of manuscript organization. Anne says, “This is my new manuscript organizing/prioritizing system. I work with lots and lots of piles of paper (the true bane of an editor's existence is papercuts), so it's essential to keep them sorted in some sort of way. These piles of paper are all books that are in the process of publication. I have them alphabetical by author on my shelves, which is working for now--but if I acquire a few too many new authors I may have to come up a new plan! The true genius of my system, though, is the bright pink stickies that adorn some of the manuscripts. The pink stickies are on manuscripts that I need to edit or read. This lets me see at a glance how I'm doing and ensures I don't forget about any of my projects. Not that I've ever done that. Really. I'm serious here.”
*Ginjer Buchanan’s office has already been described by daredevil online producer Phil Tucker on this blog, but here’s a photographic rendering. Ginjer says, “That’s me, Ginjer Buchanan, intrepid Ed in Chief, standing by the Chair o’ Submissions (all agented, by the by). It can, as you can see, double as a Jenga game. Why, you might ask, aren’t these manuscripts and books on my shelves? Well, because my shelves are just chock full of toys! A rare Dune sandworm (eating a Hershey kiss). Ewoks. A rubber rat signed by Anne Rice. Kirk ‘n Spock. A Highlander Cabbage Patch doll. A marzipan Klingon Head. A bobble-head Frodo. The Tick. Puss and the Three Blind Mice. Captain Jack Sparrow. A vampire rubber duckie. The porcelain Death (Sandman’s younger sister) is on the top shelve, since it’s fragile. And Buffy and She-Ra are on a ledge where they can be seen for outside my office. So the submissions are on--and under--the chair. There are times when I actually have to borrow an office to have a meeting…Efficient? Probably not. But it do make the place homey (which should tell you a lot about the state of my apartment…).”
*And last, from me, more creatures: the little cheerleaders, the loyal friends, who congregate at the base of my monitor and encourage me to edit harder, better, faster and stronger! There’s the collapsible mummy (a gift from Susan Allison), a funny little knitted fellow (who came from Etsy), a flying pig with a magnet in his nose, and my SFWA robot. He was the favor at the Nebula Awards banquet this year, and that was a banquet I’ll never forget, because of Ace author Jack McDevitt. He was our own Susan Lucci—he’d been nominated for the Nebula nine times and never won. The award for best novel is given at the end of the ceremony (yes, the Nebulas are a lot like the Oscars…) and we had waited all night, fingers and toes crossed, to see if this year 
would finally be his year. And it was! Everyone leapt out of their chairs. It was amazing! Joy abounded!
So I hope you enjoyed a week of my blithering, and that you now have a reasonable idea of what it is we’re all up to at Ace and Roc. Next week, stop back in to hear updates from our fabulous authors and more info about our novels through the years! And remember you can always check out our sf&f special interest page on the Penguin website for exclusive interviews, excerpts, and… well, some other cool stuff! And that’s it for now, ladies and gents! Remember to tip your waitress. Thank you and good night!
---Jessica Wade, Ace/Roc Associate Editor
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