I have emerged! Rising up from the depths of my cave like Batman! I poked a hole in the roof this weekend and allowed the sun to caress my way-pale skin for the first time in I don't even know how long.
 |
| The Cave |
 |
| Batman |
Maybe I thought I was OB1 Kenobi and needed to hide in the desert of Tatooine? Lying in wait to save the universe. As awesome as being a Jedi knight would be, it's actually something much simpler and a ton scarier than facing a saber-wielding Sith Lord.
While Erin and I were on the train coming back from our second wedding (and honeymoon!) in the South, I received my first round of content edits for 122 Rules from my publisher, Pandamoon Publishing.
Yikes!
Editing is both an awful and wonderful place, but it always ALWAYS starts in hell.
The night that I got the editorial letter and manuscript comments, Erin and I read through the notes. It took me a little bit to get past the Help! I can't breathe! My book is crap and is going to take a complete rewrite just to be worthy of being on the back of a salad dressing bottle, phase. But we did what we always do when faced with an overwhelming task and just took it piece by piece. I literally created a list of my characters and plot points and under each, a bulletized list of things to change.
The night that I got the editorial letter and manuscript comments, Erin and I read through the notes. It took me a little bit to get past the Help! I can't breathe! My book is crap and is going to take a complete rewrite just to be worthy of being on the back of a salad dressing bottle, phase. But we did what we always do when faced with an overwhelming task and just took it piece by piece. I literally created a list of my characters and plot points and under each, a bulletized list of things to change.
It took hours, but after it was done, I sent it to my editor, Anya Kagan. She reviewed it and within a few minutes we were IMing until we'd agreed on everything that needed to be done. She did a hella good job being able to see something decent in what I've always thought of as just a long-winded email.
I'm grateful for Pandamoon, Anya for her expertise, and for my wife, Erin, a brilliant author, my biggest supporter, and my best friend. Over the years, Erin has edited 122, listen to me drone on and on about plot twists, characters, word choices, so on. She helped write my synopsis letter, and she was the one who insisted that I do PitMad which helped me get onboard with Panda to begin with. So any success from this book--or, let's face it, from me in general--is largely due to her, her efforts, and her love.
Of course, Anya's not done with me yet. Last night we finished. Erin reviewed the book and had a bunch of notes. I dotted the last of the T's and crossed the I's, then attached the behemoth to an email and clicked send, instantly transmitting five year's of work to Anya. Now I wait for my editor to lob it back like a virtual game of Hot Potato. But I'm ready to take on whatever comes next.
Then of course there's our editor cat, Trinna. She's easily the most difficult of the lot to make happy. She spent hours and hours in my lap dictating, supervising, directing, and sleeping as only a cat can do.
 |
| Trinna is NOT impressed by dangling participles |
Name the Character Contest!
One of the things that came out of the editorial letter was the need to rename a secondary character, so I held a Name the Character Contest! And the winner is....Krystal Angela Azucena!
Her suggestion: Coral, it means small stone in Latin. Since she has a small part I thought it an appropriate name for her.
Love it! So, our ill-fated waitress has been named Coral! Thanks to all that played and congrats to you, Krystal!
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment