Apostrophe Catastrophe LLC
Charmaine Cooper Hussain
Editor/Associated Press Style Expert
Welcome! If you were looking to gawk at the incorrect use of apostrophe marks
(a pursuit that I wholeheartedly endorse), I'm afraid that's the other Apostrophe Catastrophe website –
add an S to "catastrophe" in the URL.
If, however, you don't understand why you shouldn't add an apostrophe before the S in "catastrophes,"
you've come to the right place.
Editing is all I've ever wanted to do.
Like doctors and firefighters, I have wanted to be an editor since I was a child.
In high school, my classmates edited my entries in the Grad Night memory book as a prank; that's how far back my rep goes. After graduating from Tulane University with a degree in English (only because there was no journalism track), I was surprised that Glamour magazine did not call with an offer to become their beauty editor.
Indeed, the most glamorous thing I've edited was a magazine about gambling, although I did also edit Catherine Zeta-Jones' biography, and she is exceptionally glamorous. The most boring would have to be the magazine about liquid and gas chromatography (no offense to chromatographers, you are lovely people).
I was the editor at WHERE Dallas and WHERE Fort Worth magazines, where I reviewed restaurants and enjoyed getting free stuff. Years of editing for semiconductor and oil and gas companies have made me immune to nodding off while reading technical content.
I specialize in the application of Associated Press style in technical and corporate communications for clients such as Texas Instruments and ExxonMobil.
Editing examples
Although not all of my projects are available publicly, here are a few that you can check out.
Blog posts
I help Texas Instruments engineers write succinct and engaging blog posts for the TI E2E™ Community.
Corporate citizenship
My favorite project every year. I am so proud to have edited the Texas Instruments Corporate Citizenship Report from 2007 to 2016.
News releases
If it's a news release describing the release of a TI device, I've probably edited it.
Magazine articles
Another favorite project: the ExxonMobil shareholder publication, The Lamp, published for 99 years before its last issue in late 2017.
Contact
Send me an email describing your project and what kind of editing you need.
I also love addressing style conundrums.
Email:
Phone:
504-264-1570