Constance Hale is a San Francisco based journalist and author. Her three books on language and writing, including her latest, Vex, Hex, Smash, Smooch: Let Verbs Power Your Writing (W.W. Norton, 2012), have earned her the label “the sassy Safire.” Her eight-part series on writing sentences appeared in The New York Times Opinionator section. She has also written articles and essays for The Atlantic, Honolulu, Smithsonian, Afar, The Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and several anthologies of travel literature. More at www.sinandsyntax.com.