About Me

About Me

Aime Sund- the sapwood...

     Aime Sund is a freelance editor specializing in topics involving plants, horticulture, plant sciences, and the landscape and agricultural industries. She assists authors, content writers, researchers, academics, and industry professionals on their quest to see their work published.

     Aime is a word enthusiast with a sharp eye for detail, an ear for complex Latin and chemical names, and a mind that thrives on logic, experience, and nature. For you the writer, editing and proofreading may be the final items on the list before publishing; for her, the process provides the writer with the confidence and assurance that their work is in the best form possible for consumption. The timeline to publish is foremost in the author’s mind, and it is also her top priority.

     Aime has continued perfecting her proofreading skills as a Distributed Proofreader for Project Gutenberg. She has worked on over fourteen projects, including the botanical compendiums of American Medicinal Plants by Charles F. Millspaugh and Flowers of the Southwest Hills by Leslie P. Amberger. Other works of varied subjects such as E.A.B. Shackleford's Virginia Dare , The ecclesiastical architecture of Scotland from the earliest Christian times to the seventeenth century (vol. 2/3) by David MacGibbon, and Norman Lockyer's Stonehenge and Other British Stone Monuments Astronomically Considered also populate the project list.

    She has completed the General Proofreading: Theory and Practice™ course from Proofread Anywhere , and more recently, Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Copyediting  and Beginning and  Intermediate Developmental Editing of Fiction  from the Editorial Freelancers’ Association.  She is an active member of the EFA, the Freelancers’ Union, the Association of Independent Publishing Professionals, and the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors. She has a BS in Horticulture, with a specialization in Horticultural Industry from Rutgers University, over twenty years of experience in the landscape industry, and a lifetime of agricultural familiarity from her family farm. 

     Reading has always been Aime's favorite pastime. Epic fantasy is her preferred genre to consume, along with paranormal historical fiction more recently. Aime is currently a critique partner for one author, and beta reading for two others. She aims to critique constructively to aid authors in creating their work and honing their craft. She believes unbiased eyes can provide invaluable feedback during the writing process. 

    Aime’s other areas of expertise and passion include holistic healing, astrology, numerology, fitness, travel, paleo cooking and baking, soccer, and by no means least, her dogs. She has managed to incorporate these activities into her daily life with great benefits. She would welcome the opportunity to work with authors and content writers of these topics as well.   

 

...and the heartwood

Now that the formal introduction is out of the way, I can share what really makes me tick...
     I was born an Aquarius under a full moon. I have always loved this fact, it is something I have embraced and embedded in my life. I suppose my mother fostered the idea first, introducing me to astrology early on and recognizing my inquisitive behavior as a thirst for independence and knowledge. To accommodate that, she taught me to read at age three, giving me my first pastime. I read as much as I could, and that holds true even today.

    Soccer had become an after-school ritual for me like many Gen X kids. It followed me through college and across an ocean to Dublin, where I played on the university team while on junior year study abroad. The travel spell had ensnared me in 1992 when I spent three weeks in post-communist Russia on a government ambassador program (People to People). Thus the thought of nine months alone with Europe at my feet was far too enticing to pass up. It will forever be the best time of my life, teaching me more than I ever grasped at the time and still now when I reflect on it. Travel is truly the best teacher, through humble methods.
    By then I was firmly engrossed in horticulture, having abandoned veterinary studies to fears I believed I had (and have since proven wrong). Plants captured my heart, however, and I excelled in studying and mastering horticulture. I held both professional certifications available in MA for over a decade, and a commercial pesticide license. I was the horticulturist for one of the oldest golf courses in the country for ten years and loved every minute until I decided to return home to my roots on the farm, where I continue to grow today.

     Space and astronomy were my first loves. I wrote of my desire to be an astronaut to the new President Reagan in 1981 when I found out we shared a birthday. Shortly after that, I got my 8-year-old self onto the NASA mailing list, which provided me with many remarkable photographs sent back from Voyager. I poured over NASA publications for years; planets, stars, and later fighter jets dancing in my head.
     My brother and I were fortunate enough to grow up on a small family farm in New England. I say fortunate because it undoubtedly instilled in us a work ethic and rhythm of life that cannot be obtained any other way. I was the nature-inclined of the two of us (and the brainy one), meticulously cataloging all the cows born on the farm in my head for at least 10 years. My middle school science project used this information to trace phenotypic traits in our herd according to Mendelian genetics… It is not a stretch to say the next inclination was to become a veterinarian. And with that in mind, my high school academics included a heavy dose of Latin. 


   
    Nowadays I can be found (when I’m not attending to wordsy endeavors) spending time outdoors with my dogs, raising poultry (who knew turkeys could be so engaging?), gardening, landscaping for a select few lucky people, and playing soccer in the evenings. I have also begun writing an epic fantasy novel which I hope will take the genre by storm one day (LOL). I dream of living abroad once again and owning a Tesla. 
    Akin to the protagonist in my fantasy novel, I have discovered that magic is real and of our own making. It exists in the aspirations we achieve. A sort of alchemy, really, of desire into reality. Plants teach us that when their roots are firmly in the soil, they can harvest sunlight, combine it with water and create sugar to continue the life cycle. In similar alchemy, this Aquarius works with the earth, absorbs celestial energy and weaves it with knowledge and desire to achieve dreams and foster growth; a little magic is made every day.  

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