Saturday, June 07, 2008

Presenting...Harlequin Hungary (Photo) and Mary-Margaret Scrimger (Interview)

My conundrum: I had a photo, but no interview. An interview with no photo.

So I decided to combine them, though they have nothing to do with each other, except both represent contributors to the editorial team. Here's a picture of the wonderful Harlequin Hungary editorial team, with a note from their editorial manager, Dr. Imre TÉGLÁSY:

TeamHarlequinHungary 07jpg

"In the background you can see the Picasso painting of the Harlequin child--of course!

"On your left side: Zsuzsanna GLAVINA, senior editor, Vicky SIMORÁDI, senior editor, Dr. Imre TÉGLÁSY, editorial manager, Iren BODA, secretary, Katalin KOLTAY, technical editor, Dora BAKAY, editor.

"Thank you. Köszönöm!"

Imre

Thank you very much--Köszönöm szepen--to the whole editorial team for taking Harlequin editorial to market in your country! (sorry, don't know how to print the proper accents).

I also am delighted to introduce Mary-Margaret, the next installment of the popular editorial interviews:

NAME:
Mary-Margaret Scrimger

TITLE:
Assistant Editor, MIRA Books and SPICE

ROLE:
"My responsibility is varied: I’m responsible for MIRA back covers and prelims; I read a lot of SPICE submissions, particularly SPICE Briefs right now; also, I also work with the Nora Roberts team on Nora Roberts' backlist.

WORK HISTORY:
"I’ve been with Harlequin for 3 years and have recently been promoted to Assistant Editor. Before Harlequin I had a variety of jobs but most of them were part-time or summer jobs to get through school.

WHY PUBLISHING?
"The most important thing for me with work is that I enjoy it and have motivation to do it. If I were working for a financial company or law firm then I don’t think I could get out of bed in the morning.

"Working in publishing is pretty amazing because I get paid to do what I do in my spare time – read. Plus, learning how a book is put together from the inside has given me a new perspective.

FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK
"One of my strongest childhood memories is my Dad reciting Robert Service's poems to us as bedtime stories. Because of my Dad all of my sisters and I have The Cremation of Sam McGee memorized and it is my favorite childhood book.

STORIES THAT APPEAL TO ME NOW:
"I think any story can be interesting depending on the way it is told. I have no interest in brick laying but a few months ago I read a beautifully written story about a brick layer. The author had the skill to pull me into the story and show me a different side of brick laying that I had no idea existed! Those type of books appeal to me--ones that show me hidden secrets that we couldn’t even imagine.

FAVORITE FILMS:
"It really depends on when you ask the question! Right now I’m really into German movies. I bawled in THE LIVES OF OTHERS and GOODBYE LENIN. My all time favorite movie is probably a very unknown movie called SLC PUNK"

Thank you Mary-Margaret for taking the time to share. While I haven't memorized the whole of The Cremation of Sam MacGee (impressive) it is a favorite. And I often flash on the refrain during appropriately strange moments:

There are strange things done in the midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
The Arctic trails have their secret tales
That would make your blood run cold;
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that night on the marge of Lake Lebarge
I cremated Sam McGee.


8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Just to let you know the writers of Seekerville have selected your blog as an E Award of Excellence blog.

www.seekerville.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

And thanks for the really interesting as usual post today.

Isabel Swift said...

Tina, you have totally made my day! Thank you for your kind comments and for alerting me to the seekersville award. Nice!

Jessica Nelson said...

Wow, I've never heard of that poem before. What a dad to read to you at night. That's awesome.
Cool pic. Thanks for sharing, as usual!

Michelle Styles said...

I vaguely remember the poem from my childhood.
I think it fascinating about the Nora Roberts backlist team. I recently read an interview with an assistant editor at Scholastic who was the contiunity editor for the Harry Potter series (she went to my university). I always find the little nooks and crannies of publishing so interesting.

Anonymous said...

Love the poem! Love your blog, as usual. Missed you at BEA,
Susan

Isabel Swift said...

Jessica: I'm delighted Mary-Margaret & I have introduced you to Robert Service. He's written a lot of poetry, but The Cremation of Sam McGee remains my favorite. It's a great poem to read aloud to children, as there's a real story to hear, but a true celebration of the impact of rythm and rhyme--the impact of the sound of words as well as their meaning.

Michelle: Do you remember the guy in the circus that would spin plates on sticks and would get more and more plates up there until there were so many sometimes one would wobble & fall? I thought it wasn't very interesting as a child, but now realize it's a metaphor for life. Keeping all the plates spinning in a large publishing program, adding new plates, but keeping them all going is challenging. And as you can see, teams are created to ensure complex and interconnected programs work, are timely, relevant & salable. Marsha Zinberg's team (recent profile) is charged with creating and coordinating a lot of those programs.

Susan: great to hear from you--hope BEA was good! And hope your plans for the next project are shaping up. I have been enjoying Lakeshore!

Jessica Nelson said...

I'll have to try to check him out sometime. Yeah, any little details about Nora Roberts perk my interest. To me, she's a fascinating woman.