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"You're so right, Laura, about mixing up sentence structure--including starting sentences with introductory phrases that begin with a gerund. As long as they're done right, they can be a wonderful way to keep things from getting boring. Especially with fiction. \n\nHyphenation messes up a lot of people, and I have thought about doing some kind of a Hyphenation Dictionary to go with my Capitalization Dictionary! But if you look up words in Webster's Collegiate, and in general follow the CMOS rules, you can usually find what you need.\n\nThe Oxford comma is optional according to the AP Stylebook, which is used for journalistic-style writing (including your legal profession). But The Chicago Manual of Style, the industry standard for book publishing, calls for its use in all cases.\n\nHope you get a lot out of my book. And good luck on the short story contest!"
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