A Few Lines From . . . Joan Hall Hovey

This week, a few lines from The Abduction of Mary Rose by Joan Hall Hovey

The teenage girl hurried along the darkening street, head down in a vain attempt to divert attention from herself as she headed for her bus stop, still over a block away. The car behind her was a soft growl in the still, warm air.  The day was fast fading, the sky a light mauve, only a sprinkling of stars yet. Soon it would be dark... Ignore them, she told herself. But it was impossible to do with the car following so close that the heat from the motor brushed her bare legs, like a monster's breath.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Abduction-Mary-Rose-ebook/dp/B005M4W22I/

Victoria Chatham follows me next week.

 

Ginger's Viewpoint on Editing

How many books have you read that are error free?  I've yet to find one that didn't have at least one or two minor errors, some many more, but I don't judge the creative talent and awesome story plot by nitpicking.

  I've read my books until I was thoroughly sick of them, trying to make sure I'd not overlooked anything.  Spellchecker only works if you actually misspell...it doesn't pick up on the differences between words like think and thing, words missing 'ed' or a and an.  Add in the fact that most brains read what is supposed to be there, and we're bound to make mistakes.  Does that make us a poor writer?

Of course not, but finding minor mistakes seems to be a bone of contention with some who leave reviews.  Besides editing my own work as best I can, each manuscript goes through an editing process with the publisher.  We all want to be proud of what we produce, and most brains read what is supposed to be there and don't even notice the slight errors.  I wonder what pleasure some folks get from shredding a terrific story to bits because they discovered something misspelled or misused?

I recently read a review for a fellow author's book which earned one star for the creative talent that went into the writing.  I was stirred to read the book for myself, and I was amazed how cruel and unfair the reviewer had been.  The author wrote such a fascinating story...and remember, we're talking fiction here, so people need to remember that when they criticize the creativity, yet the reviewer focused only on a few misspelled words, or totally missed the point that the author used the broken English of the western era.  In retrospect, and reviewer came across as the real dummy.

Another complaint was too many story lines.  Are you kidding me?  I love authors who add more to their secondary characters than just a name, and introduce you to back story that ultimately plays into the main plot.  I'm thinking some people should just stick to nursery rhymes...short, sweet, and to the point.  :)  I've going to post my own review of the work in question, and in my mind, just as all the other books I've read by this particular author, she's earned five stars from me.  I can't wait to dig into her next book.  I have only one question, and that's why hasn't mainstream snapped her up?

Don't be swayed by bad reviews.  Remember they are only one person's opinion, so read and draw your own conclusions.  You might be totally surprised.  :)

EDITS – ON THE DEFENSE BY RITA KARNOPP

I’ve often heard it said that writers a bit arrogant, they hate anyone making an off-handed comment about their baby.  What you ask?  The truth is, writing is a lot of pressure; demands, deadlines, choices, habits, goals, and don’t forget we must be creative.  That doesn’t always mean an author is arrogant – they are just protective of their work.  J

So let’s face it, edits are a bit difficult to face.  They really shouldn’t be – but our egos get a bit bruised.  I’ve always had the belief you can either handle it the easy way or the hard way.  Choice is yours.  So what do I mean by that?

So I finished my book; I met my deadline. Yippee.  Yet, I had a lot of personal issues (surgery, work demands, worry about children, etc.) at the time and I truly knew down deep – it was a great suspense – but maybe it needed a little more work.  So my editor gets it and points out a few holes, a couple of issues not resolved, and maybe some cleaning up is needed that should have been done- at least must be done to make the book the best it can be.

Hmmm . . . so this is not what I wanted to hear.  Right?  Right!  Now, there are two ways I can handle this scenario.

The Hard Way – When I first started writing it was soooo hard to hear anything negative about my writing.  Why?  I’m not sure – as time went on – I welcomed those comments from editors, so I could learn – improve – grow – and ultimately write better and better.  I believe this is something the novice writer must always experience – and learn from.

So – the hard way.  Well, it goes like this.  “What?  Holes in my storyline?  Not even possible. I was so careful.  I know there aren’t any holes.  How rude!  Issues not resolves – not possible.  I like how the story flowed and . . . and not every problem in life is resolved.  As for cleaning up – isn’t that what an editor is for??

Okay – the knee-jerk reaction is ‘defensive.’  That should never be the case.  If you want to become a better writer, listen to editors with an open mind.  Why do they feel the way they do?  Would the editor’s suggestions make the book better?  I’ll bet 95% of the time that answer is a resounding yes.  Drop that chip off your shoulder and allow yourself to consider the comments your editor is making.  They aren’t making ‘edits’ to point out how smart they are . . . it’s all about making your book better – and the bottom line – help you become a better writer.

Personally – I believe editors are priceless.  I’m so close to my story – I need the outside, unprejudiced review to see flaws for what they are.  I certainly don’t want my readers to point them out to me.  Yikes!

The Easy Way - This boils down to simply being opened minded and above all grateful the editor cares enough to do a good edit of your book.  Yep, how invaluable is that?  I believe it's priceless.

Another way to look at this is – we all hate . . . hate . . . hate . . . bad reviews.  A good editor will minimize those ‘hurtful one star reviews’ just by making edits that resolve issues you might hear about from readers.  Let’s face it; readers today are intelligent and savvy.  You need to be ‘on your game’ to entertain them.

When you receive edits - have a positive attitude with energy and a willingness to work the problems/issues through – resulting in a tighter, absolutely great read.

Don’t worry – The worst thing you can do is worry or be embarrassed about it.  Thrashing edits through ranting and raving to this writer friend … and to that writer friend is unproductive.  So you thought you were done – face it – you just don’t want to sit down and do the re-write.  It’s work and you want to throw a tantrum first.  That is so counter-productive.

I truly don’t know anyone who has written a book perfect the first go-round.  I like to think I write a very tight, high-octane, totally paced story that will require minimal rewriting.  If that isn’t the case, I’m just relieved my editor cares enough to ‘wake me up’ and request changes to make my story better.

You can either waste days with frustration and anger or sit down – tackle the task, and when you re-submit you know – phew! That really needed a face-lift.  Dear editor - thank you . . . thank you . . . thank you!