Here I am plowing through the final edit on Secret Matilda, and now seems like the perfect time to give you a sneak peek at the cover!
Ta da! (So much jazz hand)
Isn’t she a beauty? Each time I look at it, I burst with excitement! The book is so close to being done, and I can’t wait for you all to read it!
It’s coming soon, folks!
The work continues…
When I first received the lengthy corrections from my editors, I wasn’t too concerned. At a glance, it looked like there was less red ink than there had been in say… The Matilda. Some sections looked like an absolute breeze to get through while others indicated more of a knock-down-drag-out fight. But with it in hand, I can make progress!
And progress was made…
It took a while (some were an absolute fight… I’m talking tooth and nail here), but all those corrections are done! By the way, can we give some love to the editors? No matter how many times I’ve read my work, I still miss things. Some things are as simple as a missing letter (on vs. one), others are more involved from beginning to end (why is everyone sighing? Why, Jon, why?). I can’t thank my editors enough for the time and focus they take to help my little stories move right long.
Timing is everything…
After all that, I found some spots that need a little more and I have plenty of notes on how to fix this. And, lo and behold, my last beta reader sent me a pile of constructive criticism! Some of it hits on bits I found while others are new and shiny (like diamonds). I’ll be going through the story with a fine-toothed comb and making the last alterations and corrections and then prep it for print.
Secret Matilda is so close to being ready!
Oh! Last but not least, I just found out this morning that I will have a table at Mile-Hi Con! I’ll post more about that as the date gets closer.
This year is chock-full of adventure!
Image by Masashi Wakui from Pixabay
“Red Ink is The Lifeblood of Improvement.”
This is going to be a short one, but the edited book has arrived! And it’s huge! I mean gargantuan! There is a lot of red ink! And if you haven’t figured it out yet, that’s where the quote above came from.
Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me. But the end result is that much closer for release. Now I have to lock myself in for the next bunch of weeks to get this done!
Oh! So close!
Sometimes the sky jelly says, “take a moment.”
After I sent off Secret Matilda to my editors, I jumped headfirst into the rewrite of book 5. Now, it’s not completely written, so this one is a partial rewrite-slash-new stuff experience. I guess I can’t stop myself from trying new ways of doing things. Spice is the variety of life or something…
It was great fun! The story is cranking right along and ideas for what to add to it flourished non-stop in me olde skull. Everything was moving right along and then, 100+ degree days… I don’t know about other people but writing in the summer after working a full day is not easy for me. Toss on 100+ degrees where my office can get into the mid 80’s and it just gets harder.
So, needless to say, work on book 5 has slowed down.
But that’s alright! Just because it’s taking a little longer just means there is that much more blood, sweat and tears involved in the process. I mean, I’m pretty sure I’ve cut a finger or two while working on this. But sometimes, you’ve got to step away for a little. If for no other reason than to clear your head. Luckily for me, a family trip back home was already in the works.
We landed and drove until we hit the beach. It was wonderful to see (and be in) the ocean again. There was a lovely walk in the warm rain at night, fighter jets flying overhead, a concert, good food, coffee and all that. I’m a sucker for old wooden ships and I finally got to see the recreations of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery. They were beautiful.
Then I went to rivers I grew up near and got to wander the beaches amongst the driftwood and shells. I was lucky enough to catch sight of a cast of fiddler crabs as they broke for the trees. And I ate oysters, so many oysters fresh from the water 10 feet away from me.
On top of all that, I got to swim in a mountain lake that had, and I kid you not, an ice cream boat! You hear that telltale music and you perk up like a kid and around the bend came the boat! Another boat pulled up alongside and ordered some ice cream and then disappeared around the bend. I’ve never seen the like!
We flew out of Richmond after some history walks and excellent coffee and tacos and back home we are. It was good to be back and I feel refreshed!
Image by Stefan Keller from Pixabay
And she’s off to the editors!
My alpha reader got back to me and dropped the list of “corrections”, “doesn’t feel rights” and “this is missings” in my lap (There were other things in there too. I mean in the list, not in my lap… I think). I whipped through that pile as fast as my addled brain could handle. And then I went back over it with less addled brains. Oh, brains…
I fine-tooth combed it too! I caught a lot of little things sprinkled throughout and its all in the hope that the editor’s pen of red death leaves fewer lines, circles, and x’s in its wake. I’m sure I will be proven wrong, but hey it can’t hurt to try, right? I feel confident! (though I may have jumped the gun, but I sent it out to my beta readers with that “not edited” quantifier.)
Rewriting this one was an interesting experience to say the least. That continuity check will live in infamy in my mind for a long time to come (and finger’s crossed it won’t ever be outdone). I’m biased but I think it was worth it. Even with the corrections list, my alpha reader said it flowed well and already wants to know happens next!
So, it’s back to the finale I go.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
As I look out at the blanket of snow, I realize I’m going to have to strap on some boots and get to the shoveling. “But it’s warm in here!” I cry. “I don’t wanna!”
The world waits for no one or so I’ve heard. 2020 has really kiboshed my normal idea of plans in general, so I’ve kind of fallen off the rails. Sure, I stuck to my writing, but I’ve let other things settle to the wayside. Like, how does someone go on vacation? Do we actually go to places or is it like a Total Recall sort of thing? Are sweatpants still considered formal wear? You know… stuff like that.
And other things. I am plowing through a bunch of courses on advertising and quite a lot has changed since last year. One activity I haven’t jumped on terribly well is getting reviews. In the beginning (oh, silly me), I thought it was more of an organic thing and while that is true, it is harder to get a foot in that door when you only have a few books out.
While I wait on my alpha reader for Secret Matilda, I am researching the whole “getting reviews” process. Lo and behold, there is a thing called ARC or Advanced Reader Copy which I did not know a thing about. There are many services out there that offer readers for these Advanced copies and I am late to the party.
So, here I am getting into the whole ARC process and realize I haven’t checked for reviews on my books for a long time. Oh! By the way, you can sign up for the ARC for The Matilda on booksprout. For those interested, click on that blue word.
As I peruse for reviews (that is fun to say!) on different sites, I came across reviews for all three books in the Matilda series on goodreads.com from Dr. Susan and… Wow! If I needed a lift, her reviews gave it to me. I can barely focus on the task at hand because I am wiggling in my seat as I try to write this! Thank you, Dr. Susan! You made my week if not the month!
Whew! I had to go stare out the window at the snow again to calm down.
I am back into the breach of classes! A little over three hours to go… with some uh… shoveling in between.
Image by Willfried Wende from Pixabay
Continuity Error… check… check… check…
Has it really been almost two months since my last update? Wow, I knew I’d lost track of time, but I hadn’t realized it had been that much time.
Well anyway, after weeks of checking for and catching continuity errors and the book is done! Whew! You have no idea how much rejoicing there was. I don’t think I shut up about it for hours (to be perfectly honest, I’m still making noises). Now, it’s off to my alpha reader so that they can catch all the things I couldn’t see through the crack of my swollen eyes!
A random bonus point from all that continuity checking is that I had to double-check everything I’d written for Waltzing Matilda as well. So, I’m already knee-deep into the next one!
The plan is to pound away at the next one while I wait for those corrections. Once I get those, then it’s back to Secret Matilda to finish prepping it for the editors.
I can’t wait to see what I missed! (a little editing humor at the end there. Because why not?)
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
I think I can see the finish line… of the first lap…
Remember when I said progress is progress? Well, even slow progress is still a step forward. My progress for this one slowed down quite a lot, it even came to a halt a few times. What with the holidays, the insurrection, and that good ole virus lurking around every corner, the Covid, I’ve got valid excuses, right?
But that doesn’t mean I should have let it get behind and I did let that happen. I expected I’d be further along than I am (I also need to remind myself of holidays and adjust my expectation on progress around them, but that’s another story). So there I was and oh, that crazy work, life, work balance had to take a swing the other direction.
But it’s all good! I had to buckle down for the past month (but is there really all that much going on besides all the madness?) and that lovely first draft is close to becoming a solid second draft.
I can almost taste it… like ozone and metal forks.
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
The instructions were haphazardly written along the edge. Below the earth to find the way, the map said. Enter through the trap door hidden in the dark recesses and the light will eerily glow. There shall you find what you thought lost and your journey complete, but what is the way out? Had the adventurer had lost her way and struggled to remember the steps back?
Would I lose my way?
No. Not on a trip to the crawlspace anyway. Though, it does feel like an adventure in there, sometimes. I recently dragged a couple of old pc towers out of that dark cave. They had fought hard, but both had died an inglorious death about a decade ago. Why did their bodies remain, you ask?
Well, there were a lot of memories stored on them thar thangs! Old video editing projects, forgotten written works in progress, and photos lost to time. One day I would victoriously retrieve them and save my collective… um… past. Yeah sure, sounds good, mhmm.
And I was victorious! In truth, Désha was the one to get it done. But I lugged those heavy bastards up into the light! And a treasure trove she found among the chaff. All those things we had hoped for minus the video projects for they were quite dead.
Considering how January 2021 has been playing out, it was nice to wander through those memories. Oh, not to live in interesting times…
What’s that old saying? Out like a lion and back in like a tornado? Something like that, right? It sure felt like that as it all unfolded on the news. I was planning on writing a post about this month, but I decided I’d rather stay positive. Getting to look back at dimly remembered days, old, salvaged thoughts and the like made for happier thoughts.
Kind of a random entry, I know. Sometimes looking back can help you see the brightness that the future still holds.
Now, where did I leave those shades?
I can hardly believe it. Can you believe it?
The year of 2020 is spiraling into a close… finally. For some lucky time zones, it’s already happened. We still have about ten hours left here but then BOOM! it’s done! Hmm, boom might be the wrong word to use for the last of these ridiculous 365 days, but it’s done!
I hope 2021 is kinder to all of us and we are kinder to each other because of it. I’ll raise a toast to everyone this evening and hope for a brighter, shinier future!
Salud!
Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay
Jon Gray Lang.com 